At the entrance of the research institute.
Konata appeared soundlessly.
Kuina, Robin, and Indigo were already waiting for him there.
Behind them, a group of children, a few years old, followed.
Upon seeing Konata appear suddenly, the children instinctively hid behind the three of them, then looked up, timidly watching him.
Looking down at the little ones, Konata opened his mouth, a gentle smile on his face, then looked up at Kuina and the other two.
"Konata," Kuina met Konata's gaze and stepped forward, saying, "These children were found in an empty room."
"I asked them, and they all don't know where they came from. They only know they fell asleep at home, or were shopping with their families, suddenly fainted, and reappeared here."
Seeing Konata looking at the children behind her, Kuina continued, "What about these children? There's no one here, and we can't just leave them here, can we!"
The children, hearing Kuina's words, also looked at Konata with hopeful eyes.
Although they didn't know where they were, they knew for sure that this was not the island where their homes were.
The beautiful sister saved them, so of course they hoped she could send them home.
However, it seemed that the one in charge was this older brother.
Konata smiled slightly at the children, then looked up at Kuina and said with a smile, "Simple."
"Simple?"
"Yes!"
Konata nodded as he replied, "We don't know where the children's homes are, but the Marines must know."
Saying this, he looked out to sea, a strange smile on his face.
Seeing Konata's oddity, a flicker of electricity appeared in Kuina's eyes, and she also turned her head to look out to sea.
"That's?"
"An undercover agent who is in the Marines but whose heart belongs to pirates."
Konata chuckled, then withdrew his gaze.
Vergo was like a tiny ant in his eyes. A Hua and the other two were at the dock, enough to capture or kill that guy.
"Alright, let's deal with the children's matters first!"
"We are not far from an island with a G5 branch guarded by the Marines. Just call Marine Headquarters and have the Marines come pick them up."
After speaking, Konata pulled out a Den Den Mushi from his pocket and tapped his chin as he thought.
Then he dialed a number on the Den Den Mushi and made the call.
The last time he spoke to Sengoku in the waters outside Alabasta, he remembered the call number.
Burgle burgle burgle!!
Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral's Office.
Sengoku was engrossed in writing at his desk.
With a vast organization spanning the entire world and all seas, countless matters, big and small, occurred daily. Although he only processed the summarized reports sent from below, it was enough to keep him busy.
Since becoming Fleet Admiral, he had not taken a single day off.
He couldn't even remember when he last took a vacation.
"Alas! A life of toil."
Stopping his pen, Sengoku picked up a sheet of paper in front of him, placed it on another stack of papers to the side, and then looked down at the next sheet.
After reading for a while, just as he was about to start writing, the Den Den Mushi on the right corner of his desk suddenly rang.
"Hmm..."
Sengoku looked up, staring at the Den Den Mushi, a hint of confusion on his face.
Generally, if there was no important matter, the phone in his office would not ring.
Especially not at this time when he was working.
Without hesitation, he put down his pen, pushed the document he was about to process aside, picked up the Den Den Mushi from the right side, and quickly lifted the receiver.
"Moshi moshi! This is Fleet Admiral's Office, I am Sengoku, is there something?"
Just then, a stern voice came from the receiver, "Fleet Admiral, Silver Hair is calling, he wants to speak to you, shall I connect him?"
"Who did you say?"
Sengoku's expression became visibly serious.
"Silver Hair, the captain of the Silver Hair Pirates, Silver Hair · Konata."
Holding the receiver, Sengoku sat up straight, his eyes filled with gravity.
"This guy has been quiet for a month, and the moment he appears, he looks for me. Did something happen?"
He thought of the sky-shattering rift a month ago, which had affected nearly half of the Grand Line.
A month ago, at the auction house in the Sabaody Archipelago, the Silver Hair crew had rescued a young girl. According to the reports, that girl was the princess of Cocoyasi, Cococoyasi · Sophie.
And a month ago, according to news from the New World, the explosion that caused the rift should have occurred above Cocoyasi.
This was later confirmed.
Cocoyasi had vanished.
Although Cocoyasi disappeared, the Silver Hair Pirates and the people on Cocoyasi did not.
They had all migrated to Gess, an island that had been destroyed decades ago.
Most people in this world did not know about these events.
But the Marines were an exception.
Although the Marines did not have much territory in the New World, their intelligence work was not something other forces could compare to.
While they could not clearly ascertain what had happened above Cocoyasi.
However, the main character in this incident was undoubtedly Silver Hair.
Thinking of the rift that had affected nearly half of the Grand Line, he couldn't help but shudder.
It wasn't that he feared Silver Hair, but rather the instinctive feeling of humanity facing the might of heaven.
A month ago, facing the rift that spanned the entire Red Line Continent, although it lasted only about ten seconds, it was enough to engrave itself in his memory for a lifetime.
That... aura, which he felt through the rift, not belonging to this world, made him realize for the first time that beyond this world, there was a greater expanse.
And he...
Was like an ant.
That feeling made him extremely uncomfortable and also generated an intense sense of crisis.
And now, Silver Hair, possibly one of the culprits behind the rift, was calling him the moment he set sail, which forced him to take it seriously.
"Hello! Hello! Hello! Is this Mr. Sengoku? This is Konata."
Just then, the young voice coming from the Den Den Mushi brought Sengoku back to his senses.
He looked at the Den Den Mushi in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and then said sternly, "Yes! I am Sengoku, is there something? Sil-ver Hair."
"Haha!! Don't be so formal! Sengoku-san, you can just call me Konata. To be honest, I don't like the nickname Silver Hair. Really, you guys were too perfunctory! Silver Hair, Blue Hair, if others didn't know, they'd think we were competing with that guy Shanks for the strongest hair pirate crew."
"You know that guy is very strong!"
"And I'm in the New World now, with no territory and no subordinates. If I meet him later, won't I be severely ridiculed by him? And the title of the strongest hair pirate crew would have to be handed over with both hands."
"Although I don't care..."
"..."
Sengoku listened to Konata's long monologue quietly. There was no change in his expression regarding the nickname Konata spoke of.
At that time, he had indeed casually given him a nickname out of perfunctoriness.
However, he would absolutely not admit to this matter, because the nickname Silver Hair had already spread throughout the world with Konata's fame, and this was unchangeable.
So no matter how much Konata complained, he would pretend not to hear.