In the end, Michael still let Stussy leave with the news that the Old Geezers Pirates had agreed to join.
After all, having jumped around the seas for so long, he had never been part of the World Government before.
What the World Government wanted was just a group of powerful temporary workers to wreak havoc freely on the seas—strength was enough, identities and backgrounds didn't matter.
They wanted chaos...
And the time it would take the Angel Alliance to deal with that chaos.
In a way, this was actually a stalling tactic.
This only further confirmed Michael's earlier suspicions...
The World Government was planning something big—or rather, Lily was planning something big.
And this big move was likely related to Lily's own condition.
Beyond his confusion...
Michael was more worried.
Of course, he wouldn't mind if that "Imu-sama" kicked the bucket.
But he was also concerned about what had gone wrong with the little girl he had raised.
One person, yet stirring two extremes in Michael's heart.
In the end, all he could do was sigh.
"But... can we really trust this Stussy?" Garp frowned. "Even if you say she's Vegapunk's person..."
"Don't worry about that. If she wanted to betray me, she would've done it long ago," Michael shook his head.
Back in the Pleasure District, he had already gotten a sense of this woman.
She wasn't loyal to any faction.
She was loyal only to Vegapunk.
As long as Michael stood firmly on Vegapunk's side, Stussy wouldn't betray him.
"Hey, why are all you old guys gathered on the deck all of a sudden?"
A voice came from behind. Michael turned to see Imu, who had just finished bathing.
"Ahaha, nothing, just admiring the moon."
Garp laughed loudly, trying to brush off the topic.
But Imu looked up at the sky, at the moon obscured by dark clouds and the increasingly bright stars...
She shook her head, muttering as she walked back into the cabin.
"Sigh senile dementia... completely hopeless."
Garp's jaw dropped, pointing at his own face in disbelief.
Sengoku and Zephyr burst into laughter without a shred of dignity.
Even Michael couldn't help but chuckle.
"Hey, what are you laughing at!? That little brat just called me senile! She slandered me!"
"Well... it's not entirely slander..."
Kuzan muttered under his breath, but before he could react, Garp's fist—the size of a sandbag—came flying at his face.
"Beating disciples on rainy days! Idle hands need work!"
...
Sabaody Archipelago.
Under Robin's governance, this island—along with Fish-Man Island—served as the gateway to the New World, acting as a filter from the very beginning.
With the gradual rise of the second Great Pirate Era, Sabaody had become the dividing line between the strong and weak among pirates.
The strong entered the New World, where the sea was vast and the fish could leap freely.
The weak remained in Paradise, only to be captured and judged sooner or later.
The so-called "Supernovas" were naturally the cream of the crop.
But that didn't mean Supernovas were guaranteed to become regional powerhouses.
They merely had a higher starting point.
It didn't guarantee their survival in the New World today.
If luck ran out—like the Kidd Pirates, who arrogantly challenged the Red Hair Pirates immediately upon entering the New World...
Then even a crew that was once second only to the Angel Pirates could vanish without a trace from the seas.
Many now speculated that the Kidd Pirates had disbanded or even been wiped out.
After all, there'd been no sign of them for so long.
Now, a new batch of "Supernovas" was about to arrive at Sabaody Archipelago.
But it was the captain and officers of the Old Geezers Pirates who genuinely excited every spectator.
After all, bounty hunters exceeding one billion berries before even entering the New World?
Whether there'd be successors remained unknown, but they were certainly unprecedented.
Everyone now wanted to witness the Old Geezers Pirates firsthand.
Including all major factions.
As the supreme leader of Sabaody Archipelago and its surrounding waters, Nico Robin naturally found herself with another headache.
This time of year was always her busiest.
She had to ensure civilian safety while simultaneously shepherding these powerful pirates into the New World's crucible—not letting them linger in Paradise to cause trouble.
Balancing this was... tricky.
"This year's other so-called Supernovas are irrelevant. That 'Wet Hair' Caribou—a Logia user with barely over 200 million bounty? He's an embarrassment to Logias!" Robin multitasked in her office, several Flower-Flower Fruit hands scribbling furiously as she complained.
"Ulti and Page One are already our people, now sailing with that idiot Yamato's crew... Meaning our sole focus this time is just the Old Geezers Pirates."
"Robin... aren't you being too impatient?"
The woman at the adjacent desk looked up.
Silver-haired, with features nearly identical to Robin's—her identity obvious.
Olvia, Robin's mother.
"Can you blame me?" Robin sighed. "With the Angel Alliance confronting the World Government in the New World, we can't afford instability in our Four Seas and Paradise strongholds. This second Great Pirate Era, fueled by the World Government's targeted propaganda? It's clearly designed to destabilize our rear and sway public sentiment. They're desperate—without these underhanded tactics, they know the Angel Alliance might actually defeat them."
"So we should calm down and think deeper," Olvia said softly.
"Sometimes, what they flaunt so ostentatiously... may not be their true purpose. Just like how the World Government erased that hundred-year history from eight centuries ago, yet now they're personally promoting the legendary Joy Boy as 'the world's first pirate' and such... Is it really just about igniting a second Great Pirate Era? Or is there something they can only accomplish when the seas are chaotic enough?"
Robin shook her head.
Though she understood everything her mother Olvia was saying...
When actually managing things, it was impossible to think too far ahead.
"Oh, Robin," Olvia suddenly remembered something and turned to her. "Princess Vivi of Alabasta is coming to Sabaody Archipelago soon."
"Hmm? Vivi? What's she coming for?"
"As Alabasta's goodwill ambassador, she's been active across the Four Seas and Paradise these past years."
Sigh...
"Another person to protect. What a hassle."