The next morning.
Spring Island Pier, crowded with people.
Everyone on Bass Island was squeezed onto the banks on both sides of the canal, and further away, on rooftops and hills.
They were all there to see off their heroes, the silver-haired crew.
Despite the large crowd, it was remarkably quiet.
They simply watched the Freedom, watched the silver-haired crew on board, their eyes filled with boundless gratitude.
At the side of the Freedom, Bada’s subordinates…
No, at this moment they should be the Royal Guard of the Bass Kingdom, standing solemnly, continuously loading jars of "Bass Wine" onto the Freedom.
Their hearts were filled with endless gratitude for Bass’s heroes, the entire silver-haired pirate crew.
Hua and the other two stood by the ship, watching the subordinates still loading wine jars. They quickly shouted, "Alright, alright, if you keep loading more, we won't be able to fit the food."
"Don't worry, honored brothers, we've calculated the Freedom's load capacity."
One of the subordinates smiled faintly at Hua and the other two, quickly passed them by, handed the wine jar to a subordinate in the cabin, and turned to move other items.
Besides the wine, there were other things on the pier. In addition to the usual food, there was a special gift.
It was candy and dolls from the hundreds of children in the cellar.
They were all packed in a small cardboard box.
And the small cardboard box was now held in Kuina's arms.
Since receiving this gift, Kuina's smile had not stopped. She loved this gift so much.
"All good things must come to an end. Bada, this is as far as we go!"
At the side of the ship, Kong Tai turned to look at Bada and Liya, who were following him.
"Can't you stay a few more days?"
Liya, dressed in an elegant princess gown, stood beside Bada, holding Kuina's hand, her face full of reluctance. "I can't bear to part with you!"
Kuina turned to look at Liya's face and said gently, "You have your life, and our lives are on this boundless sea."
As she spoke, her gaze passed through Liya and looked towards the hundreds of children on the shore. "You are a princess, the princess of a kingdom. Take good care of those dear children."
Although the children's gifts were not very precious, they were the most valuable things they could offer at the moment.
Therefore, this sentiment was so precious and so heavy.
She sincerely hoped that they would be safe, happy, and grow up joyfully.
"Of course."
Liya followed Kuina's gaze towards the children, her eyes firm.
Bada glanced at Liya and Kuina, a smile appearing on his lips.
Although Liya had experienced misfortune, she still yearned for the light. He believed she would definitely be a good princess.
Thinking of this, he turned to look at Kong Tai and said, "Boss."
Kong Tai frowned slightly. "Your subjects are all around! How can you call me that!"
He said, shrugging.
Bada turned to look at his subjects on the shore and in the distance, his eyes filled with a smile, then turned back to Kong Tai and said, "Even though you don't like it, I still want to call you boss. This is not just my voice, but the common sentiment of over twenty thousand subjects in the entire Bass Kingdom!"
The slaves rescued from the ore island had all joined the Bass Kingdom, so the population of the Bass Kingdom was now larger than before.
There was only one drawback, and that was that there were more men than women.
It seemed this place would become a bachelor island in the future.
Otherwise, they would have to find partners elsewhere.
Kong Tai looked at Bada, at the countless Bass subjects on the shore, his gaze lifted, looking at a flag with a windmill pattern flying on top of the highest royal palace.
"I hope the windmill will bring good luck to this unfortunate country!"
Since he had promised Bada from the beginning, and he wanted to hang it, let him have his way.
He thought that with his strength, he should be able to protect the Bass Kingdom.
Moreover, this fellow Bada's strength was also exceptionally strong.
When he sparred with him yesterday, he realized that this fellow not only had Conqueror's Haki, but his Armament Haki was also not weak, and he even had Observation Haki with a special innate ability.
This explained why this fellow trusted him so much.
Bada, having endured so much pain, would not easily trust a pirate, just like his subordinates. At first, they didn't believe Kong Tai at all, and even harbored hostility towards him.
"Boss…"
Bada was about to speak when Kong Tai interrupted him with a hand gesture. "Alright, alright! Once is enough. If you keep calling me… I'm going to get angry!"
"Alright!"
Bada shrugged, took out two Log Pose from his pocket, and handed them to Kong Tai. "Kong Tai, here are the permanent Log Pose for Drum Kingdom and Alabasta Kingdom that you wanted."
"Thank you."
Kong Tai took them and looked at them curiously.
Unlike regular Log Pose, permanent Log Pose were larger and could not be worn on the hand. Instead, they were inlaid in hollow wooden tubes.
He glanced at them and lost interest. He turned and shouted to Alo, who was standing by the ship, "Alo."
"Yeah!"
"Catch."
Alo watched the permanent Log Pose that Kong Tai threw at him, fumbled to catch it, looked down at Kong Tai, and complained loudly.
"Can't you be more careful? This thing isn't that durable!"
"Don't I trust you?"
Kong Tai looked at Alo and laughed heartily.
Alo couldn't help but roll his eyes at Kong Tai's perfunctory reply, then carefully put away the permanent Log Pose.
Although they didn't know why Kong Tai wanted to go to the islands where these two kingdoms were located, they fully supported Kong Tai's decision.
Kong Tai turned his head and looked at Bada's subordinates, who had finished loading the goods and were standing behind Bada. A smile flashed in his eyes.
Then he looked at Bada and said with a smile, "Your subordinates seem to have adapted well to their current roles!"
"Them?"
Bada chuckled. "They're just putting on a show. In private…"
"Boss, no, Your Majesty…"
When the subordinates heard Bada's voice, they all shouted in unison.
"Hahaha!!"
"Your subordinates are still so amusing!"
"Alright, it's time for us to go."
Kong Tai's laughter stopped. He patted Bada on the shoulder and said, "If anything happens, you can call me."
"It should be fine. The World Government's attention is all on you. They won't have time to bother with a small king like me!"
Bada looked at Kong Tai and chuckled.
"Yes, that's true."
Kong Tai withdrew his hand, turned and jumped onto the ship, and shouted to Hua and the other two on the deck, "Brothers, let's set sail."
"Okay."
Hua and the other two replied loudly and quickly got busy.
Below the ship.
Kuina looked at Liya and reached out to rub her head.
"Take care."
With that, she jumped onto the ship and stood beside Kong Tai.
A moment later, the sails of the Freedom were full, and the ship slowly sailed out of the pier, heading towards the sea along the canal, facing the rising sun.
The Bass citizens on both banks watched the Freedom, watched the figures on the ship, and one by one, they slowly knelt down.
Their voices, initially quiet, then merged into a single chorus, and finally became deafening, echoing throughout the island.
"Thank you."
Hua and the other two, along with Indigo, heard the sound and quickly ran over, standing beside Kong Tai, watching this incredibly moving scene.
They felt an indescribable excitement. Such a scene of being thanked by thousands would surely be etched in their hearts, never to be forgotten.
"This is too much!"
On a small boat behind the Freedom, Firebird and his assistants, their faces flushed, were holding cameras, documenting this incredibly moving scene.
Firebird raised his camera, glanced at Kong Tai, who was standing by the Freedom, and thought of what he had said.
"Is this what you wanted?"
"A friend of justice!"
Even an outsider like him, witnessing this emotion, could tremble all over, let alone the person involved.
What kind of enjoyment would that be?
He didn't know.
However, he could feel it from the smile on Kong Tai's face.
It must be an unprecedented spiritual enjoyment.