"The Marine G-51 Branch at Master Port was attacked three days ago. Branch Captain Aster Campbell was killed, along with Steward Mantar Das of the Nismael Kingdom's royal family."
"Custody Unit Captain Roy Amos, who was in the nearby sea, urgently returned to Master Port and led the branch marines in a night-long search for the attacker's trail, but found nothing."
"Furthermore, according to the World Government's assessment, there is a possibility that Steward Mantar Das exposed the location of the Heavenly Gold, so a ship will be dispatched to move the Heavenly Gold from Arashit Island."
In the center of Arashit Island, within the Great Arashit Forest.
A Marine with a cigar in his mouth was lying on a deck chair, basking in the sunlight filtering through the ancient, giant trees.
Leaning against the deck chair was a large silver tachi.
And reading the intelligence report at this moment was one of his subordinates.
"Leave."
The Marine with the cigar said in a deep voice.
"Yes, Commodore Lan Li."
The Commander subordinate nodded. "They want us to leave, but before that, you need to contact the warship coming to transport the Heavenly Gold and confirm the evacuation time..."
But before he could finish, he saw the Commodore in front of him glare at him irritably. "Idiot, I meant for you to leave that spot."
"You're completely blocking my sunlight, can't you see?"
Hearing this, the Commander was taken aback.
Only then did he realize that he, holding the intelligence report, was indeed blocking the sunlight—mainly because in the Great Arashit Forest, with its massive trees often exceeding fifty meters in height, the scattered sunlight was already precious.
So the Commander hurriedly moved from that spot, chuckling awkwardly. "Sorry, Commodore... I didn't notice."
"Be more careful next time. In my hometown, blocking someone's sunbathing is a serious crime."
Commodore Lan Li snorted coldly.
"..."
Hearing this, the Commander thought to himself, what kind of godforsaken place has a rule like that, while obediently nodding in agreement.
However, Commodore Lan Li then snorted again.
"As for moving the Heavenly Gold... a bunch of cowards!"
The Commodore sneered, clearly displeased with the World Government's judgment.
He turned his head and saw the huge building hidden in the forest behind him.
"This Golden House is located in the center of Arashit Island, an excellent stronghold concealed by the great forest."
"There are four bases on the four coasts near the island responsible for guarding it. The nearby sea is also strictly off-limits to ordinary ships, and it's extremely close to the Calm Belt, so there are large whirlpools in the sea near the island that can swallow even large ships."
"Who could possibly attack a place like this? Not to mention, it's less than a month until the Heavenly Gold is transported... Moving it at this time? Have the people upstairs lost their minds?" he complained.
"But it's an order, Commodore."
"And the message came from Vice Admiral Momonga himself."
The Commander could only reason with him.
He knew very well that the Commodore Lan Li in front of him was a Marine supernova, already a Commodore at the age of thirty-five.
He had mastered two types of Haki and was proficient in swordsmanship, his strength formidable. It was believed that he would almost certainly be promoted to a headquarters Vice Admiral within a few years.
And the only person who could persuade or even command him was his master, the veteran Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, 'Momonga'.
It was strange—Vice Admiral 'Momonga', known for being gentle yet powerful, had a disciple who was unexpectedly insubordinate.
And as expected.
Upon hearing that the order came directly from Vice Admiral 'Momonga', Lan Li's brow furrowed.
And then...
"Need to contact the warship, right? Give me the Transponder Snail."
He reluctantly raised his hand.
So, the Commander, thinking to himself it worked, quickly handed over the Transponder Snail.
"Commodore, there are five warships coming to move the Heavenly Gold. You can use this Transponder Snail to contact them separately. This is a special Transponder Snail made by the World Government that can communicate on separate channels and even has a message function... Oh? There's already a message."
As he spoke, he noticed that the Transponder Snail had already started talking.
"Commodore Lan Li, this is the 'transport ship' coming to move the Heavenly Gold—but we encountered extremely strong winds on our way, so our journey may be delayed by about half a day. We will enter the island from the port of the southern base."
"Beep, the above message has existed for: three hours."
The Transponder Snail briefly reported the message and how long it had existed.
Commodore Lan Li's brow furrowed.
"Commodore, don't be angry, it's a sea voyage—it's inevitable to encounter wind and waves that delay the trip."
Seeing this, the Commander thought the Commodore was angry again and quickly comforted him. "Besides, it's only been three days since the attack on Master Port. The fastest ship from Master Port to here would take at least a week. There's no need to be in such a hurry to move the Heavenly Gold..."
But he was interrupted halfway by Commodore Lan Li's sharp shout.
"Idiot! Something's wrong!"
Lan Li said, sitting up straight from his deck chair.
He was a sharp man and had already realized something was amiss.
"This is Arashit Island, an island near the Calm Belt... The surrounding sea might not see a single major storm in a year."
He looked at the Commander. "Contact the south base, confirm the climate conditions in the southern sea!"
"Yes... yes!"
So, the Commander immediately gave a military salute and hurriedly took out a Transponder Snail to make a call.
"Buru Buru!" "Buru Buru!" "Buru Buru!"
The sound of the Transponder Snail's call echoed through the quiet forest.
But until the very end, no one answered.
And so, the quiet forest seemed to become even gloomier.
"Call the other three bases' Transponder Snails."
Only when Commodore Lan Li's voice broke the silence did the Commander quickly obey, continuing to pick up the remaining three Transponder Snails to call.
And similarly.
The sounds of those three Transponder Snails continued to ring out 'Buru Buru', but there was no reply.
"Com... Commodore, this is..."
By now, even the Commander had realized that something was wrong.
"Contact the watchtower."
Commodore Lan Li had already picked up the large tachi, standing up with both hands leaning on it.
The Commander's expression changed drastically again.
The watchtower—the second-to-last line of defense for this 'Golden House', located outside the great forest.
But although he couldn't believe the situation had deteriorated to this point, he still followed the order and made the call.
"Buru Buru!" "Buru Buru!" "Buru Buru!"
The Transponder Snail rang as usual.
With each ring, the Commander felt as if his own heartbeat was roaring.
And until the very end...
"Ha... ha... ha..."
The call was finally connected.
But what came from the other end of the Transponder Snail was only weak panting.
"Who is it? What happened?"
The Commander immediately asked loudly.
And from the other end of the Transponder Snail came a broken reply, "I'm the watchtower... guard... ha... ha..."
The person was clearly extremely weak, and his voice was now a bit muffled and unclear.
"Attack... gale... monster... from the sky..."
His words stopped there, and the Transponder Snail suddenly went silent.
Just like this quiet Golden House.
And so...
"Commodore, I'll go and confirm the situation immediately. Oh, right... and the defensive wall, I'll go and raise the defensive wall of this forest immediately!"
The Commander said immediately.
Yes—as the storage place for the Heavenly Gold, the Golden House was also specially built with defenses.
It was a giant wall that, once activated, would be difficult for even a thousand troops to breach.
"Commodore?"
But soon, the Commander found that Commodore Lan Li did not answer him directly.
On the contrary, the Commodore was just carrying his nodachi, letting the blade hang slightly by his side.
He took a few steps forward.
The Commander recognized it—it was the Commodore's fighting stance.
And this stance was only used when facing a truly strong enemy.
And then...
"No need."
The Commander heard Commodore Lan Li's reply, and at the same time, he saw the Commodore raise his head towards a certain direction.
"They're already here."
"And this presence... heh!"
Already here?
Hearing Commodore Lan Li's words, the Commander also subconsciously raised his head to look in the direction he was looking.
But the moment he raised his head, he noticed something was wrong.
The wind had come.
Not the gentle breeze common in the forest, nor a violent but understandable hurricane.
It was a destructive airflow, accompanied by a huge sound!
"Boom!"
It was the sonic boom produced by something massive flapping at high speed in the air.
The huge gale made the Commander feel as if he couldn't stand firm at all, and his face was stung by the sand and stones in the wind.
And along with the wind came darkness.
Yes—at this moment, the precious sunlight that had been filtering through the gaps in the leaves in the forest had completely disappeared.
Of course, it wasn't that the sunlight had actually disappeared, but that it was blocked.
By something colossal.
"What... is that?"
Yes, the Commander could already see it.
Above the huge forest, above the countless trees, a huge silhouette had appeared.
It was a creature that should have disappeared from this era.
Its spread wings seemed to cover the sky, the wing membranes a rocky blue-gray.
"What is that? Do you even need to ask?"
But compared to the Commander, Commodore Lan Li was smiling.
He tightened his grip on the large tachi, and a fervent battle intent flashed in his eyes.
"That's... a monster!"