Chapter 238: Silent Storm in the Four Seas

“Bloo bloo!”

The Den Den Mushi rang and Kong answered on pure reflex.

Fishmen had been appearing in greater numbers all across the Four Seas lately, stirring up small waves of unrest.

While their presence didn’t actually affect some affiliated nations or merchant convoys, the locals kept spotting them, which made the number of slave-hunting ships surge. The rising tide of abductions had the people cursing their fate.

If this were the New World, few would dare target the Fishmen. But here in the Four Seas, as long as you acted quickly, no one could trace it back to you—especially since Fishmen fetched millions, even tens of millions of Berries each on the underground market.

As the saying goes, if there’s a 50% profit, someone will risk brushing up against the law. At 100%, they’ll break the law outright. With a 300% profit or more, laws become meaningless—they’ll stop at nothing.

And this wasn’t just any risky business. With zero upfront costs, just catching a few Fishmen could mean a fortune big enough to retire on. The bait was almost too tempting, and greed made folks bold.

But these idiots didn’t realize the Fishmen weren’t so easy to bully. They were all handpicked soldiers under Karl’s command—caught in the act, they fought back hard and sent many slave ships straight to the bottom.

Still, the lure of huge profits kept drawing more attempts, to the point where it began to seriously disrupt everyday life for local residents and even the smooth operation of affiliated nations.

No wonder Kong was getting dozens of calls like this every day—it had become a reflex.

“Hello? What now, another problem somewhere?”

Cook and a few others gathered in a circle, looking surprised at what the Den Den Mushi was saying.

They exchanged uncertain glances. Had anyone even reported the situation to Fleet Admiral Kong yet?

How did Fleet Admiral Kong already know about what happened here?

“Reporting in, Fleet Admiral Kong. We suddenly received a distress call from Hachinosu today, but when we arrived after several hours of sailing, an unknown force had already destroyed the island’s ships. All Navy personnel on Hachinosu are dead.”

Cook recited this with his eyes closed, his voice heavy. It only seemed to weigh more on his heart once he finished.

Julian quickly stepped up and patted Cook on the shoulder.

Kong could barely believe his ears. He asked again, “Are you serious?”

He thought it would be another small uprising somewhere in the Four Seas—not a report from the New World.

Wait a minute. Did he hear that right? What happened to Hachinosu? The island’s wiped out… Could it be the Golden Lion?

His first instinct was the Golden Lion, not Karl. Karl had been missing for quite some time—whatever he was up to clearly wasn’t minor, and he wouldn’t just pop up right now and draw attention.

Plus, their outpost was dangerously close to the first half of the New World, well within Im’s range of awareness. If Karl made a move, Im could easily wake up and retaliate!

What Kong didn’t know was that after unleashing the Heavenly King Uranus last time, Im had fallen back into a deep sleep, senses sealed away. Unless there was a true crisis, the Five Elders wouldn’t dare wake Im.

Cook repeated his earlier report, and soon there was a loud crash as something shattered over the line.

Then came an urgent order through the Den Den Mushi: “Hurry! Check in with every island under your watch and report their status!”

Kong’s worries weren’t unfounded. If even an advanced outpost like Hachinosu could be wiped out by a mystery attack, the other three islands probably weren’t much safer.

He could only hope there was still time—that some Navy stationed on those islands might still make it out alive.

Only now did Cook and the group realize how deep the problem ran.

If Hachinosu was taken out so suddenly, and the timing lined up…didn’t that mean their own islands might be in just as much danger?

They all scrambled for their other Den Den Mushi, each dialing back to their own islands. But no matter how many times they called for minutes on end, no one picked up.

“Forget it. Send a team to scout the former islands. If the others have been hit the same way, withdraw at once.”

Kong ended the call with a heavy heart.

It hadn’t been easy issuing such an order. He’d fought tooth and nail to get the Navy to set up outposts in the New World, and now, with a single command, he was calling it all back. It felt like he was flip-flopping.

This would definitely undermine the Navy’s authority.

But what choice did he have? If he forced them to garrison new islands and that mysterious power struck again, he’d just be sending more Navy Vice Admirals to their deaths—losses the Navy couldn’t afford.

Sure, fresh recruits could fill some of the gaps left by fallen Vice Admirals, but…

Unless they identified the real culprit behind this mess, the plan to root the Navy in the New World would be shelved indefinitely.

Kong immediately summoned Navy Vice Admiral Tsuru, gave a brisk overview, and dispatched even more Navy spies. They needed to find out what destroyed Hachinosu—fast.

Orders from Navy Headquarters hadn’t reached Cook’s group yet. When their call ended, they left a team of Navy soldiers to recover the bodies and rushed their ships back to their own garrison islands.

But when they reached their own posts, all they found was endless ocean.

Cook clenched his right fist so hard his nails drew blood. “Damn it. If I ever find out who’s behind this…”

He closed his eyes, took a long breath, then growled out, “Get in the water. Bring our comrades home.”

They had no choice now but to follow Kong’s orders. Who could say if the attacker would strike again?

All they could do was bring back the scattered remains of their fellow soldiers to Navy Headquarters.

As for why the Golden Lion hadn’t noticed the islands were gone?

Simple—his informants were stationed on those islands, too.

When the islands vanished, so did his eyes and ears. It could be days before any news reached the Golden Lion.

After Cook’s group departed, the sea suddenly erupted with bubbles as a pirate ship shot up from the depths.

“Yahahahaha!”

“So this is the New World? I heard the Navy’s out here. Where are they hiding?”

Ryan, captain of the Black Crow Pirates, possessed a Zoan-type Devil Fruit: Crow Form. It was considered a lesser version of the Mythical Zoan Bloodsucker Fruit.

“Captain, sir, the sea ahead’s empty as far as I can see—no islands, no Navy, nothing. Did our intel get messed up?”

First mate Ares flipped through his notes, baffled.

Back on Fishman Island, they paid good money for info about Navy patrols here, but now that they’d surfaced—nothing. Had they just thrown away half a million Berries on bad intel?

That info had cost them 500,000 Berries, after all.

Ryan just sneered. “Hm.”