Lily was quickly counting the personnel, and the more she counted, the worse her expression became. Finally, she boarded the ship and walked to the bow of the Death Star, standing behind Sage.
"Sage..."
"Speak directly."
Sage picked up the Gemstone Wine Glass and poured himself a glass of wine.
Lily pursed her lips and said, "At least over two hundred..."
No need to say more, Sage understood what she meant.
In this world, the most ordinary people who haven't been trained are still normal, but those who have undergone some training and possess some skills have terrifyingly high physical qualities. The deadly injuries he once knew are simply not fatal to them.
Things like gunshots, knife cuts, and sword wounds wouldn't easily kill them; the more resilient ones wouldn't die even if their skulls were shattered or their chest penetrated, at most they would be heavily injured, and with enough recuperation time, they would recover.
The subordinates he recruited were of the type that wouldn't die easily.
But not dying easily doesn't mean they won't die.
Severe enough injuries can still kill a person.
In this battle, he lost over two hundred subordinates, who are forever left on this warship.
"When I recruited them, I said that following me means going to die."
Sage slowly stood up, gazing at the densely packed people lying on the deck below, most of the corpses were his subordinates, but the majority were the Navy.
From his perspective, the number of Navy casualties exceeded half, and the rest were heavily injured, unable to rise. Without timely treatment, more would likely die.
Facing a force of over one thousand with five hundred, with the enemy's total defeat, only suffering this level of loss is already quite acceptable.
The commanding officer of the enemy's warship was only a Colonel, leading basic Navy personnel from the Grand Line; if not, this level of loss would certainly not suffice.
The higher the rank, the more numerous and elite the personnel on the warship.
If it were led by a Vice Admiral, it would definitely be a grand warship, with at least fifty Colonels, which would be tougher to handle.
Sage could certainly use Supreme King to stun the Navy here; considering their strength, if one could remain standing, it would be impressive.
But he's not here to play family games at sea with his subordinates; he can do this now, but in the New World, can he still do it?
Without awareness, dying sooner or later is just a matter of time.
He turned to look at his subordinates on board, "Do you regret it?"
"How could we!"
A subordinate, clutching his chest, collapsed on the deck. Upon hearing this, he struggled to raise his head, letting more blood spill from the corner of his mouth, yet still grinned and said:
"From the moment I set out for freedom, I've been a man of the sea. A man's final resting place is above the ocean, Captain!"
Other pirates either showed smiles or excitement, and even those on the verge of death showed fear, but to say regret... none of them had that sentiment.
"Ahhhhh!"
The mute Mute just placed two subordinates down and raised his fist, yelling with a defiant expression as if he still wanted another fight with the Navy.
"Good."
Sage tilted the Gemstone Wine Glass, spilling the wine into the sea, saying, "This is just the entrance to the Grand Line, and our destination is the New World! Keep working hard, guys, until you catch up to my pace, catch up to my ambition!"
"Oh!!"
No matter the state of injury, whether heavily injured or those who could stand, at this moment, they all shouted in unison.
"Lily, it's up to you."
Sage uttered casually and turned to walk towards the captain's cabin.
"I understand."
Lily nodded, looking at Sage's back, clenching her fist tightly.
She must become stronger!
Otherwise, not to mention Sage's ambition, even her own dreams will be hard to accomplish!
Only when Sage's figure disappeared, entering the captain's cabin on the second floor, did Lily come back to her senses and went below to loot the remaining two warships.
And the one warship that was taking in water was gradually being submerged by the sea.
Not long after, the remaining pirates completed the looting, treated what needed to be treated, and rested as needed, all returning to the ship, while those lucky or unlucky pirates, previously knocked out by Sage's Supreme King in dealing with Sea Kings, also began to wake up.
Upon learning about the battle that had just occurred, some were filled with unwillingness, while others were fearful, but regardless, to vent their frustration, they fired cannons to sink all the warships.
"Sage, it's been tallied."
Lily pushed open the door to the captain's cabin and walked in with Marika and Renedia, holding several objects like hourglasses, with glass-like spheres inside, each containing a suspended pointer.
"We have four hundred and twenty-one people left on the whole ship; those who didn't participate in the battle are fine, but among those who did, over a hundred are heavily injured, others lightly injured. They've been bandaged simply with medicine, but those severely injured can only have their basic vital signs maintained; we need a doctor."
"Find an island with a town to rest, get a doctor to treat them; did you get the Sea Map?" Sage asked.
The Log Pose is the most crucial; it's indispensable in the Grand Line, but the Sea Map is also vital, as at least they need to know where they're headed.
Hoping for a full-area Sea Map is hopeless; even in the East Sea, after capturing so many warships, the obtained maps are only of the local sea area. As for the basic world map, whether they have it or not makes no difference.
The world is vast, with countless islands, the world map is merely a rough outline, relying on it to find geographical locations, they might as well not even bother trying.