The next day.
Before the sun had peeked over the horizon, the sky was like a deep ocean, dotted with stars, exuding the unique beauty of the One Piece world.
Below the Royal Palace highlands, on a slightly flat coastline.
With a “bang,” the Freedom dropped onto the sea, stirring up waves.
Kong Tai and his companions discussed and decided to leave quietly, giving King Riku and the people of Dressrosa no chance to express their gratitude.
After all, they had, in a sense, become saviors to all of Dressrosa this time.
Recalling the overwhelming sounds of gratitude from last night, while they felt proud, they also felt a little, a little embarrassed.
These common people did not understand greatness.
Many of them had never left Dressrosa in their lives. Although they were in the Grand Line, in the New World, their thinking was generally more feudal and backward.
Kong Tai and the others coming to Dressrosa to save them was merely a casual act.
What’s more, regarding the battles with Kaido and Charlotte Linlin, Kong Tai could have killed them with absolute power from the start, preventing the aftermath of the battles from damaging Dressrosa.
But he didn’t.
He could be considered quite selfish.
Yet, even so, they treated him like a savior.
Respect, gratitude, they truly regarded him as the hero who saved them from the bottom of their hearts.
And for all of this, Kong Tai honestly felt somewhat undeserving.
Therefore, he prepared to set sail early this morning.
There was no need to disturb King Riku or the hundreds of thousands of people in Dressrosa.
Soon.
The Freedom, facing the rising sun, with Dressrosa, which had transformed from a large island into an archipelago, behind them, slowly disappeared from this sea area.
...
One day later.
“Kong Tai, that’s the Whole Cake Island ahead.”
At the bow of the Freedom, Aro lowered his telescope, turned to Kong Tai, and said with a smile, “The news of Charlotte Linlin’s death has spread across the sea. I imagine the defenses of Whole Cake Island must be in chaos, and they might already be preparing to flee.”
On his lounge chair, Kong Tai put down his newspaper.
Morgans’ efficiency was indeed quick.
The day before yesterday at noon, shortly after Kong Tai killed Charlotte Linlin, Morgans and his firebird came to bid him farewell.
Doflamingo was dead, Kaido was dead, and Charlotte Linlin was also dead. Each of these pieces of news could shake the world, and now all of them together – one could imagine the immense waves the world was experiencing.
Thus, Morgans did not linger in Dressrosa. He had to return to headquarters to personally oversee this earth-shattering news.
The news Kong Tai had just seen was the latest from the World Economic News.
It mentioned Charlotte Linlin’s death, and the deaths of King, Perospero, and his siblings.
Of course, Morgans didn’t photograph the Marines. His photos were all of Kong Tai’s group and the Yonko.
After all, the Marines had only played a supporting role this time. Morgans, being from a newspaper agency, would naturally not include the inaction of the world’s largest official military organization’s top brass in his photographs.
Therefore, in this world-shattering event, the world had no idea that the Marines had also been present in Dressrosa.
“Whole Cake Island.”
Kong Tai sat up, picked up the steaming tea beside him, brought it to his lips, blew on it, and took a gentle sip.
Another reason for his eagerness to leave Dressrosa was his fear that if he arrived too late, Whole Cake Island, under the organization of Charlotte Linlin’s remaining children, might have already fled.
He wasn’t interested in Charlotte Linlin’s children, not even the strongest Katakuri, he had no interest whatsoever.
While his Observation Haki was indeed strong, it could only foresee the future for a very short period. Such a short timeframe wouldn’t be able to stop him.
Moreover, if he didn’t want Katakuri to sense him, Katakuri wouldn’t be able to sense his existence.
After all, the space around his body was an alternate dimension completely independent of this world.
As long as he didn’t wish to reveal his aura, no one in this world could perceive his existence.
He was not interested in Charlotte Linlin’s children, nor in the wealth Charlotte Linlin had accumulated over the decades. What interested him was the red Poneglyph hidden in Charlotte Linlin’s treasure room.
To reach Laugh Tale, the final island, the first step is to find the four Road Poneglyphs.
These four Poneglyphs contained four coordinates, which pointed to four deserted islands. Then, by connecting these four coordinates, their intersection would reveal the coordinates of Laugh Tale.
Otherwise, in this vast ocean, finding an island, especially one hidden in an unknown location, would be absolutely impossible.
If it weren’t for this, after so many years, only Roger would have reached it.
Of course, there was another condition to reach the final island: someone must be able to read the ancient text on the Poneglyphs.
And on their ship, they happened to have a historian, the only one in the world capable of reading ancient scripts, Nico Robin.
Combined with the fact that he knew the exact locations of the red Poneglyphs, everything seemed destined.
His haste to reach Whole Cake Island was to prevent Katakuri and Charlotte Linlin’s other children, upon learning of Charlotte Linlin’s death, from escaping with the Poneglyph from the treasury.
Whether for safety or to avoid trouble from him, if they hid it, where would he find them in this vast ocean!
He knew of three red Poneglyphs.
The first was Charlotte Linlin’s.
The second was located inside the Whale Tree on Zou Kingdom, guarded by the Mink tribe.
The third was in Wano Country, on the site of the old Wano Country, that is, the ancient Wano.
There, only Kozuki Sukiyaki, Oden’s father, now disguised as the swordsmith Tenguyama Hitetsu, along with Kaido and the king of ship pirates, Jack, knew its location.
He wasn’t sure if Queen, one of the Calamities and the only remaining Beast Pirate executive, knew about it. However, even if he did, he likely wouldn’t be able to take the red Poneglyph away.
Three Road Poneglyphs.
The one on Zou was unknown to anyone, so there was no need to worry.
The one in Wano Country, with its isolationist policy, perhaps by the time they arrived, Queen wouldn’t even know of Kaido’s death.
Even if Queen knew, he likely wouldn’t flee with the Poneglyph.
Therefore, only Charlotte Linlin’s was the least secure.
This was why he had rushed to Whole Cake Island without delay.
He had killed Charlotte Linlin and Kaido, and these three red Poneglyphs he knew of had been claimed by him long ago.