Kaku didn't answer his question but instead looked around and exclaimed:
"Quite a bustling place, I've always heard about it but never actually been here. Hey, Jabra, you're living quite comfortably here, I wonder if your skills have deteriorated."
"Don't worry, I'm stronger than you!"
Jabra sneered mischievously: "Want to compete?!"
"Forget it, I'm not here to indulge in such trivial matters."
Kaku shook his head, "As a special agent, there's more important business to attend to. Sage... where is the captain?"
Jabra was about to continue provoking, but he paused and glanced at Kaku, slightly furrowing his brows. He peeked at the people bustling in front of the port, thought for a moment, and then turned around, shouting:
"You guys, get to work properly!"
With that, he walked off in one direction, weaving his way from the port city into the royal capital.
The city had been rebuilt earlier, removing the walls and leaving only an arched gate to separate the port area from the royal capital.
Jabra navigated through easily and after several twists and turns, he entered a deserted alleyway, finally coming to a stop.
"Glad to see your skills as a special agent haven't diminished."
As he stood still, a voice sounded behind him, and Kaku, with crossed arms, leaned against the wall, grinned at Jabra sideways.
"I'm equally glad that your ability to hide hasn't waned."
Jabra turned around, sneered and said: "You came here in person instead of using a radio, and now you're hiding in a deserted place. Are you afraid of being discovered? Speaking of which, we have a lot of hidden agents here, I don't even know all of them."
Although Jabra might act foolishly at times, he was quite adept when it came to his expertise as a special agent.
Kaku's recent behavior immediately tipped him off that something was amiss.
Among them, these special agents had no sentimental ties.
Kaku surely had a matter to discuss, but if using the radio was off the table, it meant the radio snail might be monitored.
Being here in person and deliberately hiding to avoid being seen meant the matter was kept secret from the World Government.
"Dealing with rats is an inevitable issue for all types of great pirates."
Kaku said indifferently: "Especially for captains like ours, who recruit pirates without a care for background, they'll use just about anyone."
"Well, for a special agent, infiltrating is a task that requires full-hearted effort."
Jabra shrugged, "But we've got screening measures here, roughly grasping some situations, so there's no need to worry."
"I am not worried. We're agents, not the World Government."
Kaku continued: "And the captain, I need to report something quickly, I don't have much time."
"The direction I'm taking you is exactly that way, let's head out of the city first, still a little bit of distance to go."
Jabra laughed: "Don't fall behind."
Saying that, he moved swiftly, his form turned into a blur and vanished.
"I already told you, I'm not interested in competing over such pointless things..."
Kaku slightly pressed down his hat and followed promptly as Jabra disappeared.
In the expansive Storm City, within the deserted alleys, two shimmering blurs sliced through like phantoms, stirring up fast winds that fluttered the curtains of nearby buildings, clothing on drying racks, and hanging noodles, darting out of Storm City and heading straight towards the outskirts.
On an island's riverbank, amidst the lush greenery, Sage sat on a gem-encrusted stool, holding a golden fishing rod and intensely focused on the river ahead, motionless.
Besides him, Bella had set up a picnic cloth laden with exquisite food. She opened a bottle of wine, filled the glasses, and then quietly approached Sage, saying:
"Master, lunch is ready."
"No rush, look..."
The river's water was reasonably clear, allowing the shadows of fish swimming with the stream to be seen beneath the surface.
Sage fixated on a fish circling near the bait, and said excitedly:
"It's about to bite, and then we'll have grilled fish, or rather get Marika over here; it deserves the extravagance of Marika's cooking skills as the first fish I've caught!"
"Shh, keep it quiet, hush! Hey, you two at the back, put more effort! Urouge, chant, Hawkins, start your magic!"
Behind him, Hawkins and Urouge stood on either side, exchanging a glance at his words, both sighing.
Urouge lifted a hand in a prayer position and said: "Is this really going to work? How many times now, the captain and fish aren't destined together."
"Sorem wa dokana."
Hawkins pulled out his tarot cards. "Fate is meant to be broken; there's always a chance... magic!"
Rapidly shuffling them, he drew the top card to show it outside, "Upright, the magician, can make things twice as effective."
Indeed, he activated his abilities!
Simple divination was of no use, even if Urouge prayed, increasing 1% to 2% chances felt like nothing.
When they returned here after resolving matters, they had a break, and accompanied Sage to fish.
Today marked the fifth day.
The crux was that all five days were at the same spot, not knowing which fool leaked it out that this river has plentiful fish, yet previously, it belonged to noble lands where any activity was forbidden.
But since Sage showed up, everything opened up. Though it's still his property, Sage doesn't restrict anyone as long as they acknowledge his ownership of the land.
The local villagers occasionally came to fish and add a little natural flavor.
Sage once witnessed a young boy using a rudimentary wooden stick tied with a piece of string, not using proper fishing line. He simply tied a worm onto it and tossed it into the river, catching a fish almost instantly.
His eyes heated up, leading to him camping out there.
Even with five consecutive days of catching nothing, he wouldn't get annoyed.
A mere five days wasn't enough to trigger his irritation.
Even when kids could fish at random, Sage, an esteemed fishing master with top-tier equipment from rod to bait, couldn't possibly fail.
Momentary defeat meant nothing; Sage was all about perseverance!
He even recruited Hawkins and Urouge for amplification.
So...
The two of them accompanied him for five days, yet nothing happened.
Hawkins became fed up and directly used his abilities today.
His fruit abilities, used skillfully, could indeed work miracles.
"It's biting, it's biting!"
Right as the ability was activated, Sage spotted a large green fish about to take a bite at the bait, immediately shouting in excitement.
"Captain!"
Suddenly, a somewhat foolish, hoarse voice sounded behind, unclear if it was due to the sound waves or the river's rush, startling and causing the fish, about to bite, to shut its mouth tightly and swiftly swim downstream with the current.
Leaving behind Sage with a frozen expression.
Twice as effective...
The fish twice as effectively ate the bait and fled.
Sage blinked his eyes, suddenly turned his head and glared furiously towards the back.
"Damn it, which fool! My fish was hooked!"