"After the Lulusis Massacre, Grimm had already been classified as a pirate with a danger level comparable to Hundred Beasts Kaido and Charlotte Linlin. A bounty of 1.05 billion Beli was entirely justified.
Furthermore, the Navy now believed that Grimm's methods of operation were very similar to Hundred Beasts Kaido's: he liked to act alone, his companions would provide support at critical moments, and, damn it, they were all unkillable…
Tsuru's request to search for Alessia was quickly approved, and she immediately set out with her all-female troop.
However, a few days later, through Kizaru's investigation, it was discovered that after reaching her destination, Alessia bought a small boat alone and disappeared, cutting off all clues.
After pondering for a while, Tsuru decided to search the surrounding waters a couple of times first, try her luck, and then report back to Headquarters.
Two days later, another bombshell news arrived: the Roger Pirates and the Flying Pirates had broken off negotiations again and entered into conflict. However, the Roger Pirates seized the opportunity and escaped, not giving the Golden Lion Pirates a chance. Nevertheless, the two sides had already clashed. However, the battle was temporarily suspended under the intervention of the third party, Whitebeard.
The Roger Pirates and the Golden Lion Fleet left Whitebeard's territory, but it was only a matter of time before they clashed again.
Once the threat of Roger and Golden Lion was no longer present, Whitebeard would have to settle the score with Grimm for killing his beloved son, former Second Division Captain Drulcy.
He had also seen the recent news. After the Lulusis Massacre, Grimm's bounty had surpassed that of any of his own captains. Although bounty didn't equate to strength, Grimm was definitely not someone any of his captains could handle. It seemed he would have to take action himself.
However, although the Whitebeard Pirates' intelligence capabilities were top-notch among pirates, they were far from the World Government's level of reach. The New World's environment was also extremely complex, making it difficult to find Grimm.
Whitebeard wasn't foolish enough to cast a wide net and send all his men out to search. Instead, he concentrated his forces.
Over forty ships and more than thirty subordinate pirate crews were all gathered in the nearby sea, forming a super fleet comparable to Golden Lion's, the greatest pirate fleet on the sea.
With such a formidable formation, they sailed the seas, sending out only a small portion of their forces as search parties.
It had to be said that Whitebeard was truly wise. If he had cast a wide net, his men would have been eliminated before they could even find Grimm.
Concentrating most of his forces and using a small portion for searching was the correct approach.
...
After a week, Grimm sensed through the Holy Light that Alessia had been stationary for over three days. Without a doubt, she had reached the ruins of the Kingdom of Concordia.
"You've made me wait quite a while, Alessia!"
Grimm took a large gulp from his beer mug and ordered Plank to speed up their advance.
It was truly exciting. Even the World Government desired it, to the point of destroying a country for it. It was like the secret of the Void Century, which would be protected by the World Government in the future, similar to the Ohara incident. Interesting. What exactly was this thing that was so interesting?
The Kingdom of Concordia, once known as the "Sky Country" with its unique scenery, was now in ruins. However, from the collapsed buildings, one could vaguely discern that it must have been very prosperous in the past.
To the north of this country, or rather, this ruin, there was a ring-shaped mountain surrounding an ice lake. Just standing by its side, one could feel the layers of cold air rising from the lake's surface.
A woman in white casual clothes with slightly curly flaxen hair sat by a rock on the shore, her body wrapped in thick clothing that couldn't conceal her graceful figure.
On the lake, remnants of the country's architecture occasionally floated. This ice lake was like a graveyard, silent and cold.
Suddenly, in the thick fog, footsteps sounded. Alessia turned her head to look behind her and saw two figures, a man and a woman, emerging from the fog. The man was about 1.8 meters tall, his white trench coat fluttering in the wind. The woman wore a blue magic robe and had a figure no less impressive than Alessia's.
"Was this place also destroyed by the World Government?" Jiana asked, looking at the lake surface covered in debris, a chill emanating from her body.
"Ah… yes!" Grimm replied.
"The World Government is truly infuriating. I can't wait to destroy it!" Jiana's impression of the World Government had hit rock bottom.
Alessia seemed somewhat excited to see Grimm's arrival. She didn't know why she felt this way, but upon seeing Jiana, she felt a sense of loss. It was an indescribable feeling. Hearing their conversation, Alessia said, "This was a place I often played in when I was little.
Now, it's ruined. All of this is thanks to the World Government and the Navy that aided the wicked…"
Alessia's words evoked a sense of sadness in both Grimm and Jiana. Although Grimm was a murderer who could kill thirty thousand people without batting an eye, it was for revival coins. Could that be called killing? It was purification. And those who wielded weapons should always be prepared for death, shouldn't they?
But Grimm was, after all, a person with emotions. If his homeland were destroyed, the sorrow and hatred would be deeply etched into his bones, indelible.
"Shouldn't be any World Government or Navy people following us, right?" Alessia asked, looking around.
The Kingdom of Concordia had already disappeared from the map. The current maps didn't mark this place, and there were no Eternal Pose records of anyone coming here.
It had taken Alessia a great deal of effort to reach this place back then, relying on old maps from ten years ago to barely find it.
"What are you talking about? If that were the case, I would have been killed by the Navy long ago. The Navy is so scary~" Grimm mimicked Kizaru's tone, trying to lighten the mood.
"Anyway, you can't be killed no matter what, so it doesn't matter, right?" Alessia said with a smile. Having regained her freedom, her mood had also improved considerably recently.
Grimm and Jiana walked to the edge of the ice lake. After admiring the scenery for five seconds, Grimm spoke: "Where is the item? Is it at the bottom of the lake?"
"You guessed right!"
Alessia walked to Grimm's side and gazed at the ice lake. "At the bottom of the lake, there's a very well-hidden mechanism. Only someone with royal blood, cooperating with the method my grandfather taught me, can open it!"
"Let's start quickly!"
Alessia stopped talking nonsense and leaped into the ice lake. It seemed this wasn't her first time doing this.
"Jiana, you watch from above!" Grimm said, then leaped in as well, following her down.
Besides ordinary freshwater fish, there were no dangerous animals in this ice lake. In Grimm's eyes, Alessia was like a mermaid from Fish-Man Island, quickly heading towards the lake bottom.
When they reached the bottom of the lake, Grimm and Alessia steadied themselves. From Grimm's perspective, visiting for the first time, there was nothing under their feet except rocks and garbage.
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