"Hawkins doesn’t want to do it anymore."

Lily went straight to the point, "Urouge hasn’t responded either, and Sipher can’t be found, which probably means the same thing."

"Don’t joke around."

Sage sneered, stepping out of the bath naked in front of Lily, stretching his arms out, as a maid respectfully wrapped a towel around him.

"How could they possibly withdraw?"

Within the Disaster Pirates, if someone of the New Star level wants to withdraw, Sage might not care and let them go.

But for the Seven-Star level, even aside from whether Sage would allow it or not, for them, to put it conservatively, they wouldn’t even think about it until Sage had a major failure.

A Seven-Star level pirate is the core crew within the Pirates; if it becomes a pure elite mode crew, the Three-Phase Seven Stars are his important backbone, and there’s no option to withdraw, and they wouldn’t even have the thought.

Saying they want to withdraw, Sage doesn’t believe it at all.

"What? Have they been threatened by someone somewhere? Did they have some dark past discovered by others? Or do they have some secret they don’t want others to know?"

Sage walked to the liquor cabinet to open a bottle, sitting on a spacious chair for resting in the bathroom, taking a big gulp after pouring himself a glass, the red wine spilled over his chin, and as the corner of his mouth curled up, it seemed like he had just savored fresh blood.

"Forget it, I’ll go personally."

"You’re going personally?" Lily frowned, "Isn’t that too exaggerated? I can just go."

"Old Haw and the monk’s strengths aren’t weak; if you get frustrated there, it might take some time, so forget it."

Hawkins and Urouge, with bounty amounts of 870 million and 860 million respectively, are truly great pirates wherever they are.

They and Lily have a gap now; with Lily’s current strength, she can deal with them, but it’s not seamless and will require some costs.

It’s better if Sage goes himself.

"And it’s too slow; travel takes time, I’d better do it myself."

After finishing his drink, Sage got back up, put on a new set of clothes after walking out of the bathroom, slipping into a white pirate shirt with ruffles, black martial arts pants, and boots, then adorned himself with his gold and silver treasures. Then he snapped his fingers, and the cloak, wrist guards, and Black Jade Bead Necklace hanging nearby floated over by themselves.

Lightning, flames, and a scimitar are Sage’s three main items now.

Walking out of the bathroom and into the backyard, Sage kicked down a nearby tree, picked up the trunk, and reached toward Lily.

Lily handed him the Life Cards of the three people, saying, "For navigation, it’ll take half a day to get there; if it’s for you, flying will take just ten minutes."

"Mm... Tell Marika I want stir-fried food for lunch."

Saying this, he glanced in the direction where the Life Cards in his palm were moving. His arms suddenly bulged, hurling forward the tree he was holding.

"A hundred times over!"

Bang!

As the tree left his hands, Sage himself turned into a blur, stepping onto the enlarging tree mid-air, blasting into the sky and disappearing into a small black dot in a blink.

For solo travel, this is far better than clouds and a ship.

Seeing Sage vanish in an instant, Lily shook her head, "When the few return, they’ll have to face punishment; making Sage act personally is embarrassing for the Disaster Pirates..."

A Seven-Star level pirate, calling to say they won’t do it?

It’s an astonishing thing even for her, these three have been following for years, and it’s unlikely they lack ambition. Lily thought some unexpected event must have occurred, but regardless of the circumstances, to utter such words, even if affected by a Fruit Ability, it’s unacceptable.

Disaster Pirates care for nothing except those of extreme chaos that Sage dislikes; otherwise, they would take in all kinds of riffraff, but for cadre of this level, they must have some means.

Seven-Star level might not be ruling the seas, but they can’t lose their spirit or will and say such words... Even if Sage doesn’t mind, Lily is determined to teach them the rules again.

...

Reinsen Island, located in the first half of the New World, is an island yet to be discovered by Disaster Pirates.

There are too many islands on the sea; not only in the vast Four Seas, but even in the Grand Line, there remain many undiscovered places. Most of these islands lack the magnetic field that allows the Log Pose to point toward them; following the direction might never lead to discovery.

Only through the movement of the Eternal Pose might one find such islands in a sea region.

Sage’s territory is vast, merely an extensive area he has outlined as his domain, but realistically not considering Big Mom’s territory, within his own, the amount of unknown islands remains uncertain.

These need exploration and discovery.

Sipher had great luck sailing out to find an undiscovered island still within Sage’s territory.

Because beyond carrying O’hara’s Eternal Pose, he took nothing else, setting out freely, sailing wherever the wind blows, steering toward the wind direction, managing to find one.

But...

This island lacks any towns, entirely comprised of villages, and quite many. From above, you’d find villages all throughout it, mostly formed by about ten houses grouped into small communities.

The island’s environment is pretty nice, surrounded by sea on two sides, two sides with small peaks filled with green forest, and a flatland center; be it fisheries, natural resources, or farmland, it offers vast room for manipulation.

The island’s inhabitants live in tranquility, eating when hungry, sleeping when tired, diverting when upset, savoring peace for every second, with only two large ships bearing the Disaster mark anchored by the island, not a single skiff beyond them.

Outside a village in the outskirts, Hawkins, Urouge, and Sipher lie in the grass, the gentle breeze and warm sunshine coaxing them into closing their eyes, almost drifting to sleep.

"Has it been said?"

Sipher lazily like a sloth, slowly spoke, pulling out a dice from his lap but after a look, tossed it away, "Forget it... I don’t have a gambling urge."

"It’s said."

Hawkins enjoyed the breeze, comfortably closing his eyes, "Never imagined, once calmed down, I’d find such peacefulness, pirate dreams and all, feeling everything is meaningless."

"Yeah, this place is wonderful..."

Urouge extended his hand, slightly blocking the sun, letting rays penetrate between fingers onto his face, "Not even the need for absolution, perhaps, this is the ultimate peace only deities may achieve."

A pirate recently ascended to New Star level, on his way to becoming Seven-Star, and two already at Seven-Star, lost all desires, embodying the calmness of a sunlit afternoon, much like fulfillment after achieving a long-cherished dream.

Tranquility...

Yet something feels off.