Shanks smiled and patted Rayleigh's shoulder: "Don't worry, Whitebeard won't do anything to Ace. Maybe Ace will even join the Whitebeard Pirates."
Rayleigh nodded: "That kid, he runs pretty fast. Do you have his life card?"
Shanks nodded and handed Rayleigh a life card. Following the direction of the life card, Rayleigh jumped onto a small boat: "Then I'll be off. Take care of yourself."
Shanks tried to get Rayleigh to stay for a bit: "Leaving already? Why not stay for a meal before you go?"
Rayleigh shook his head: "No, I need to get these things done quickly for my old bones so I can continue my retirement life." He then sighed with emotion: "The little brat from the ship back then has become one of the Four Emperors. The world now belongs to you young people."
As he spoke, Rayleigh glanced at Shanks' left arm, which was wrapped in Haoshoku. The power contained within it made even Rayleigh feel a bit startled.
"Is that so? Then I won't see you off."
After getting Ace's life card, Rayleigh jumped off Shanks' ship and sailed toward the location indicated by the life card.
Shanks waved his right arm, bidding farewell to Rayleigh.
Beside him, Beckman picked up today's newspaper and handed it to Shanks: "Take a look. There's news about a little one that you should be interested in."
Shanks took the newspaper and looked at it. The image of Hera's great battle with Golden Lion came into view: "Oh, the little one from the East Blue has grown to this level already. She's only 16, right?"
Then Shanks thought of Hera's previous prophecy—that Whitebeard would die because of Ace—and couldn't help but sigh: "First Roger, then Golden Lion? Of the original three legendary pirates, only Whitebeard is left."
Beckman also recalled Whitebeard's physical condition the last time they met. His muscles were wasting away, his body was covered in IV drips, and his ailments were difficult to heal even with Marco's Phoenix flames.
Beckman's expression gradually became serious: "The strength of the pirates is declining. At this rate, the balance of the sea will be broken by Hera."
Shanks wasn't that worried. Seeing Beckman's concerned look, he said: "Don't worry. The Marines have Hera, but we have a new generation on our side too."
Beckman thought of Luffy, who inherited the straw hat, and Ace, who inherited Roger's saber, and his worries about the decline of pirate strength lessened a bit.
Then he said to the crew: "Partners, to celebrate Hera's victory over Golden Lion, let's have a banquet!"
Shanks' crew members cheered one after another.
Beckman said to Shanks: "If Hera's prophecy comes true, the situation of the sea will change again. The current strength of the Marines cannot be underestimated."
Shanks said: "Don't worry, I believe in Luffy and Ace. They will step up after the old generation takes their final bow."
"Besides, before the young people grow up, don't we still have people like us?" Shanks' heroic voice dispelled Beckman's worries, and he joined the festive rhythm of the banquet.
On the small island of Elegia, a red-haired girl picked up a transponder snail that had accidentally drifted there. Gordon, the lord of the island, became excited when he saw the transponder snail Uta had picked up.
"Uta, as long as you sing into this, even on this island, your singing can be transmitted to the whole world."
Uta stroked the transponder snail and looked at Gordon with some surprise. Her eyes, which had been somewhat dim from living in Elegia with her adoptive father Gordon for a long time, became bright:
"Is that so? Through this, I can make my singing reach the whole world?"
Uta held the visual den den mushi in her arms, her mind already starting to conceive what her first song would be.
As she began to sing "New Genesis," in the Gold City on the other side, the Gold Emperor Tesoro was talking to Baccarat, who had eaten the Paramecia Lucky-Lucky Fruit.
The Gold Emperor held a visual den den mushi, frowned, and asked: "You're saying that you, who ate the Lucky-Lucky Fruit, lost a batch of visual den den mushi?"
Baccarat didn't know how to explain it. At that time, her luck value was still at its peak, and then the box containing the visual den den mushi just broke open.
As Uta's voice rang out, the transponder snail in the Gold Emperor's hand began to sing. Tesoro listened to the singing, his eyes trembling: "Where is this kind of singing coming from? How could someone with such a voice be unknown?"
Only then did he realize that the lost transponder snail was a form of luck.
On Hera's side, after eating and drinking her fill, she began to think about the next step of her plan. At this moment, the transponder snail on Garp's person rang.
Sengoku's voice came from the transponder snail: "This is Sengoku. Is Hera next to you?"
Hearing this, Garp handed the transponder snail to Hera: "It's for you."
Hera took it and asked: "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, is there something you need me for?"
Hearing Hera's voice, Sengoku first asked: "There's no one else around you besides Garp, right?"
Hera nodded, and with her control, the City of Devouring Time enveloped this area: "There's no one now. Please go ahead, Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
Sengoku said: "I have a mission for you. We have an undercover agent planted with Doflamingo. According to him, Doflamingo has been in frequent contact with Caesar Clown recently."
"Besides being a wanted criminal with a bounty of 300 million, Caesar Clown is also a scientist who excels at making weapons of mass destruction, and he is the user of the Logia Gas-Gas Fruit."
"After years of investigation, Doflamingo is suspected of selling weapons in the Underworld. His cooperation with Caesar Clown is undoubtedly a dangerous signal. We need to know the content of their cooperation."
Hera nodded: "As long as I catch that Caesar Clown or just kill him directly, it'll be fine, right?"
Sengoku was momentarily speechless: "Your thinking is a bit too violent. It's not that he must be killed. It would be good if his intelligence could be used by the Marines."
Hera nodded. In that case, she would just use Kurumi to subdue him when the time came.
Sengoku continued to share information with Hera: "Caesar Clown is good at using poison gas for attacks. His current location is Punk Hazard, located in the second half of the Grand Line, at the entrance to the New World. It was once detonated by him and is filled with poison gas."
Hera said: "Don't worry, I have someone among my partners who can absorb poison gas. It won't be a problem."
Hearing Hera's words, Sengoku was also relieved. He believed in Hera's strength, but poison gas was different. Even the strongest of experts could be ambushed in an inconspicuous place. He was afraid Hera would suffer there due to lack of experience.
Following Sengoku's reminder, Hera also remembered Caesar Clown, the mad scientist who experimented on children. However, he had only just escaped now, so he probably hadn't had time to meet Big Mom yet.
Hera patted her chest and said: "Don't worry, I guarantee Caesar Clown and Doflamingo won't be making any deals."
While assigning the mission, Sengoku didn't forget to give Hera some incentive: "Defeat Caesar Clown or bring him back to prison, and you'll be promoted to Vice Admiral when you return."
Hera's eyes lit up: "If that's the case, won't I be at the same rank as Grandpa Garp soon?"
Sengoku nodded: "Work hard. The future of the Marines belongs to you."
Then he hung up the phone. As the conversation ended, the City of Devouring Time returned to Hera's shadow, and she handed the transponder snail back to Garp.
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