[BONUS] Something is Off

When Kenji fell from mid-air back to the warship, he found that the huge waves caused by his Titan Impact earlier had swept over, even affecting his own warship.

"Oh, sorry, sorry! I accidentally lost control of my strength."

Kenji looked a bit embarrassed as he watched the soldiers on the warship busy themselves, trying to stabilize the ship so it wouldn't be overturned by the waves.

"I didn't expect the same move to change so much in power after the [Physique] trait advanced to gold."

"This move, in the past, would at most make the warship violently shake a few times…"

Kenji was quite familiar with the power of his moves, but that was in the past.

The gold [Physique] trait brought him an all-around rejuvenation, not just in appearance, but also in youthful vitality and energy.

In this world, perhaps exceptionally talented individuals, like Garp and Sengoku, might be able to maintain peak combat strength even in old age through continuous training, but it's basically impossible for them to be as enduring as they were in their youth.

And now, Kenji found that not only had his stamina returned to its peak, but his endurance had as well.

The subconscious effect brought by his powerful endurance made him not hold back his strength as he usually did when he punched just now.

There's no helping it. When you're old, if you don't hold back a bit when fighting, you can easily run out of stamina.

"It's better to be low-key when taking action in the future." Kenji relaxed his fist, then chuckled as he directed his crew to prepare to set sail and search for the target pirate ship.

The power of Titan Impact gradually dissipated from the battlefield, and the wind and waves had subsided by more than half.

The Admiral's warship was sturdy, and it quickly reached the original location of the pirate ship, moving against the wind and waves.

However, the World Pirates' ship was not nearby. This pirate ship had been swept by the earlier giant waves to the vicinity of the pirate island's dock.

The warship continued straight, chasing, and along the way, it occasionally encountered pirates who had been swept off their ships by the giant waves. The soldiers captured and detained these pirates one by one.

Before long, the warship arrived near the dock, and the World Pirates' ship was right before their eyes.

The pirate ship was dilapidated, swaying in the wind and waves, looking as if it could capsize at any moment.

Some soldiers took small boats to search the pirate ship, while Kenji stood at the bow, not looking at the pirate ship next to him, but gazing towards the small town within the distant island.

"These guys really did hide the goods." Kenji silently released his Observation Haki, sensing the presence of Byrnndi and the others in the town deep within the island.

The fact that the other party so decisively abandoned their pirate ship meant, without a doubt, that there weren't many valuable treasures on board.

Given the greedy nature of pirates, prioritizing money over life is their normal mode of behavior.

Moreover, what the World Pirates robbed wasn't just ordinary treasure, it was Heavenly Tribute containing a Mag-Mag fruit!

For Kenji, if he couldn't find that batch of Heavenly Tribute, this trip would be in vain. Catching Byrnndi didn't require him to personally act. Assigning some Vice Admirals would be enough to apprehend him.

"The pirate ship is empty, there's no one on it!"

"We've searched it, and no Heavenly Tribute was found on board!"

"What should we do, Shirojishi Admiral?"

Not long after, the soldiers who went to search the pirate ship returned, and as Kenji had guessed, the pirate ship was just an empty shell.

"Sigh, do I still have to do it myself? These pirate crews in this sea area really don't understand courtesy."

Although Kenji had guessed this point earlier, he still had a glimmer of hope that the pirate ship might contain treasure.

He hoped the other party would voluntarily give up that batch of Heavenly Tribute, which would save him some trouble.

If he, a Marine Admiral, had to chase them down personally, that would be impolite and undignified.

"Byrnndi, that kid, I used to think highly of him." Kenji secretly shook his head, thinking how easily the sea could change a person.

He no longer hesitated, ordering Anna to stay behind with a portion of the squad to guard the warship, and then he led the remaining troops to land on the pirate island.

This pirate island was neither very large nor very small, but the entire island had only one dock. Most of the other coasts of the island had cliffs and were not suitable for ships to berth.

So Kenji was not worried that the World Pirates would escape by sea from other parts of the island.

In fact, before landing on the island, Kenji's Observation Haki had already locked onto Byrnndi, who was staying in the basement of a tavern in the town.

"Hmm? What is this…"

As Kenji walked, a large block of text suddenly appeared in his vision.

[You have encountered the powerful World Pirates. After discovering their hiding place, you are determined to subjugate them!]

[Mission (Side): Transmit a message to nearby Marine units and assist the Marine in jointly subjugating the World Pirates!]

[Reward: Randomly upgrade an owned trait once!]

"The mission only comes now." Kenji noticed that the system missions always had a slight delay, but he wasn't too surprised.

After all, this broken system could delay loading for fifty years. Compared to that, a few hours' delay in mission issuance was considered efficient.

What he was more concerned about at this moment was another matter.

"I feel like this island is a bit strange." Kenji felt a vague unease in his heart, but his Observation Haki didn't detect any other abnormalities.

"I need to be careful. Some guys are not honorable and like to play hidden…"

He led the Marine squad, moving at a steady pace, and although he sensed something was slightly off, this trip couldn't be for nothing.

The Heavenly Tribute, especially that Mag-Mag fruit, had to be obtained. This Devil Fruit was relatively important to Kenji.

Along the way, the group from the World Pirates was continuously locked onto by Kenji's Observation Haki.

At the same time, Kenji was also closely investigating whether there were any other hidden strong individuals on the island.

This world is vast, and there are many powerful individuals, and among them, there are quite a few 'hermits' who are unwilling to be pirates or become famous.

Otherwise, when the Marine later initiated the worldwide conscription, it wouldn't have suddenly produced two powerhouses whose strength was comparable to that of Marine Admirals.

"Are those guys finally preparing to run?" Kenji had already led his team into the pirate town.

Many pirates gathered by the roadside to watch, and although no one rushed forward to block their way, it was evident that these 'New World' pirates were not afraid of the Marine, standing by the roadside, sneering and observing.

Clearly, these pirates didn't recognize that the leader was a Marine Admiral.

Since no one jumped out to block their way, Kenji was too lazy to take action and waste time, leading his men directly to the tavern where the World Pirates were hiding.

This tavern had two floors, and from the outside, one could hear chaotic and noisy sounds mixed with curses coming from inside.

Clearly, the pirates in the tavern were having a wild time, and one could imagine the chaotic and disorderly scene inside just by listening to the sounds.

Such chaos presented a good opportunity for the Marine to launch a surprise attack and make arrests.

However, Kenji raised his hand, signaling the troops behind him to stop.

The closer he got to the tavern, the stronger the unease he felt through his Observation Haki became.