Volume 1 - CH 77

The next day, early morning.

After bidding farewell to Koala and the others, Rhodes came to the shore and took a boat out to sea. After some twists and turns, he boarded a very luxuriously decorated large merchant ship.

This is a team of full-time businessmen who specialize in working for the world government; you can call them, government businessmen, since they have the responsibility to collect rare treasures and hand them over to the Celestial Dragons.

Rhodes will take this ship to the Red port, and then go overland to pass through the holy land of Mary Geoise.

Although it’s a pity that he can’t appreciate the scenery of Fishman Island, which is 10,000 meters underwater, it is also a good thing to be able to see Mary Geoise, the most powerful holy land in the world.

Besides, the road to Fishman Island isn’t easy to take. One accident happened, and you’re dead.

However, he will always feel confident while he’s traveling on land.

Rhodes himself is a good citizen who doesn’t even have a reward on his head. On the front, he even has the good identity of being Gion’s disciple. It might seem dangerous to be in such a place, but in fact, it’s the safest way.

“Young man, what’s your name?”

Rhodes turned around and saw a middle-aged man approaching, with a red face and luxurious clothes. Behind him, there were two bodyguards in black. They looked very powerful.

This guy was in charge of the ship. His name is Soros. He is a high-ranked official and businessman under the command of the World Government. It is said that he manages a large area of industry. He is probably equivalent to the chairman of a state-owned enterprise in his previous life.

Of course, in this world where power is paramount, a mere businessman’s status may seem to be a bit sad, but in fact, with that status, he can get whatever he wants.

“I’m Rhodes.”

Rhodes nodded slightly. After all, it was his ship, so can’t offend him.

“The young man has ventured into the New World at such a young age. He’s really promising.”

Soros looked at Rhodes secretly.

It’s not a big deal to take people across the Red Line. They used to do it so often that it was not worth his attention.

But after hearing that it was such a young man, Soros became a little interested.

As a businessman, it has become his habit to make friends with strong people or befriend young people with great potential.

Only by constantly expanding your network and making friends with strong people you can stabilize your position.

This is the experience that Soros has summed up after working for the world government for many years.

However, Rhodes didn’t want to attract too much attention, so he didn’t plan to chat with Soros.

But this guy is too enthusiastic, his eyes are extremely vicious, and he acted as if he has already seen something in Rhodes, so he tried to force Rhodes to chat with him.

He even brought some rare bottles of wine with him to smooth things up.

All that he wanted to know is who is this young man?

Two drank the wine and chattered.

He knew that such a young man won’t be able to control his liquor as well as him so he kept pouring Rhodes’ glass time after time, but the latter kept his composure the entire time.

It wasn’t until night fell that Rhodes took his leave and returned to the cabin to continue tempering his internal organs.

“This young man…is quite interesting.”

Soros was a bit surprised.

Under normal circumstances, youths of this age are the most unflattering, especially after drinking, but Rhodes has remained unbelievably calm, and even someone as experienced as Soros couldn’t see through him.

“So what if he’s calm? No matter how strong you are at such an age, your strength is always limited.” A black-clothed bodyguard said disdainfully.

Another bodyguard in black also agreed: “Being young means that you haven’t fully exercised and pushed your body to the very limit. It’s impossible to hone your skills to the top level.”

“Physique is the foundation of everything. I can beat ten of him with one hand.”

The bodyguard in black was very confident.

He used to be a well-known mercenary in the underground world. He had killed even powerful pirates who had rewards of over 100 million on their heads, and he looked down on young strong men the most.

Besides, if Rhodes is really strong, why would he leave the New World and return to the first half of the Grand Line?

Soros shook his head lightly when he heard these words, “No matter what the reason is, it’s never wrong to make new friends.”

“Who knows when this guy will be one of these famous strong men of the sea?”

“Ah.”

Both of the two bodyguards sneered and didn’t bother to argue.

The two of them have an employment relationship with Soros, not a superior-subordinate relationship, so naturally, they don’t need to show too much face.

The following journey was very smooth.

Rhodes has been training in the cabin. Except for the time of eating he doesn’t go out at all. This made Soros feel a little helpless. He could only shake his head and give up on befriending Rhodes. He thought that Rhodes may be humbled by the strong pirates in the new world.

This kind of thing is not uncommon.

The strong people who came to the new world, after witnessing the gap between heaven and earth, often suffer from mental breakdowns and even commit suicide.

Otherwise, the first half of the Grand Line would not be called a paradise by the people of the new world. When the pirates from Paradise break into the New World, there will often encounter bloody storms.

On this day, the clouds were thick and the sea was churning.

The ship was swaying, Rhodes had to stop his practice, came to the railing of the ship, and looked into the distance.

Crack!

The weather in the New World has always been unpredictable. One moment the sun was shining brightly, but the next moment it was already covered with dark clouds, and the sea was set off by stormy waves as if it was the end of the world.

The thunder was roaring and Lightning was flickering. The torrential rain followed immediately.

Such heavy rain could drown such a huge ship if one isn’t prepared.

“I hope we’re not out of luck today.”

Rhodes said to himself lightly and waited intently.

If it was a normal storm, he could cut through it with a single sword and save the ship, but if it set off a natural disaster-level tornado, he could only protect himself and leave early.

Crackling!

A bolt of lavender lightning pierced the sky, stretching for tens of hundreds of miles. It was stunning and domineering.

“This how real thunder is…”

A flash of thunder flashed in Rhodes’ eyes, revealing yearning.

If one can master such a terrifying power, even people like the Yonko can be easily defeated.

Time gradually passed.

Rhodes was lucky. The storm didn’t cause any major natural disasters. The ship sailed out of the area without any risk, and the sun was shining brightly again.

Looking back, it was less than a kilometer away, and there was still a huge storm, with turbulent, and terrifying waves.

“A magical celestial phenomenon.”

Even if he saw it more than once, Rhodes couldn’t help but be amazed.

With such unreasonable, terrifying, and extraordinary changes in the sky, it is no wonder that any pirate group must recruit qualified navigators to venture safely into the New World.

On the sea, no one, no matter how powerful he is, can withstand a real natural disaster.

That is, even epic battles between legendary characters such as the Pirate King, Gol. D Roger and the Golden Lion, Shiki, can be stopped by a huge natural disaster.

“That’s not right. I feel that someone like the Whitebeard in his heydays would be able to stop such natural disasters with his  fists.”

Rhodes was a little lost in his thoughts as he was about to return to the cabin but suddenly raised his eyebrows, as if he had sensed something.