The area beneath the mother tree soon fell completely silent.
There were no more screams, no more fighting, only the rustling of leaves in the wind.
A Hua and the other two rubbed their sore fists and slowly emerged from behind the mother tree.
They had some wrinkles on them, but no wounds. Of course, there was still the scarlet blood splashed by the pirates on their clothes.
After all, they were not Kong Tai. Although the difference in strength between them and the pirates was like the sky and the earth, they could not achieve Kong Tai's immaculate state.
With their backs to the scorching midday sun, the three rejoined Kong Tai and his group, then turned and walked towards the town.
This time, their entry into the town lacked the enthusiasm they had in the morning.
The villagers were all hiding in their homes. Even though they knew the fighting outside had ended, they did not come out immediately.
At most, they cast their accustomed, somewhat numb gazes through the gaps in their doors and windows.
"It seems we can't go sightseeing," A Hua said, pushing up the frame of his glasses as he looked at the streets on both sides. "I kind of understand why Kong Tai hates pirates and their identity so much now."
"This feeling is indeed not good. Even though we are heroes who saved the island, the villagers will still see this as a fight between pirates. Although it is, we indirectly saved them."
"And they, towards us, the victors, will not be enthusiastic, but rather more vigilant and fearful."
"If we weren't pirates, we would be greeted with roaring cheers!"
Although he had experienced thunderous gratitude in Bass, Alabasta, and Gues, his desire to be admired did not diminish. After all, no one wants to be disliked.
Unless they are perverts, or they actively choose to be.
No one spoke. Kong Tai had understood these truths from the beginning because he was not originally from this world, and his age was not as young as he appeared.
As for Robin and Brook, one was forced to go to sea and had to choose to sink into darkness, while the other pursued ideals. More than pirates, they were adventurers.
But A Hua and the other two were different. They were dragged out to sea by Kong Tai. Although they themselves yearned for the sea, their yearning could only remain a yearning due to their own strength. Like all ordinary people in this world, reality was not as beautiful as ideals, but it was more real and peaceful.
If not for Kong Tai, they would have lived their lives peacefully, just like all ordinary people in this world.
Their deaths might have been accidental, or due to pirate invasions, but they would never have died pursuing ideals or on the path of adventure.
A person's growth is often accompanied by experience. As long as we experience enough, we will gradually see through the essence of the world.
Moving forward, as if they had instantly grown up, the silent A Hua and the other two gave Kong Tai a feeling at this moment that they were no longer clowns.
However, this feeling only lasted for a while.
When Kong Tai retrieved his wine gourd from the tavern for five hundred thousand berries, on the way back to the Freedom, these three guys couldn't suppress their inherent liveliness and gradually returned to their original selves.
Kong Tai just smiled at these three.
People! In fact, it is very difficult to maintain one's original intention. Kong Tai did not like his companions' silence; he liked their funny and goofy personalities.
But following him all the way, A Hua and the other two had experienced various things that ordinary people in this world could not imagine in such a short time.
This was adventure, it was experience, and it was also an sublimation of will.
Of course, it was also a shock to their worldview.
Being able to remain the same throughout shows that they have actually grown.
Therefore, Kong Tai was genuinely happy for them, and also happy that they finally understood that he had not established a pirate crew, but an adventure group.
Upon returning to the ship, everyone went about their duties. They raised the sails and set off, gradually disappearing from this unknown place where the second known Devil Fruit user was buried.
It was fate, and also a twisted fate, and the misfortune of Shiki and Streusen.
These two men met Kong Tai because of a sudden impulse.
If Shiki had not sought out Kong Tai, he would still have been the overlord of his sky, waiting for some chosen one in the future to dethrone him.
If Streusen had not just happened to see an island and wanted to test his newly acquired ability, perhaps he would have become a new Yonko in the future, realizing his ambition and aspirations.
But all of this was no longer important. The smoke had long since dispersed. From the moment Kong Tai appeared in this world, the known trajectory of this world had deviated from its original course.
Speaking of which, if it weren't for Kong Tai, Streusen wouldn't have gotten the Hana Hana no Mi, right?
It wasn't until a long time later.
The villagers on the island dared to show themselves.
Every pirate battle would affect ordinary people, because for teams driven by profit, fighting was also for profit.
Since it was for profit, wouldn't the victors naturally let these ordinary people give them the rewards they deserved after the battle?
And this time, it was the only pirate war they had encountered since being born on this island that they had not suffered any losses.
Just as most ordinary people wouldn't pay attention to who Kong Tai, the newly emerged world's strongest, was, even if they might have heard of him, they didn't recognize him because they hadn't paid attention.
After all, in the eyes of ordinary people, the daily necessities of life were enough to worry about.
In this chaotic New World, where pirates ran rampant, all they wished for was to live each day well and hope that tomorrow would be uneventful.
Breathing a sigh of relief, the villagers gradually emerged from their rooms. The small island, the small town, became lively again under the high midday sun, gradually regaining the human warmth it should have.
In the tavern, three old men looked at the wanted posters the owner took from under the counter, filled with relief at surviving.
They looked at the strings of zeros on the wanted posters and the newspaper detailing Kong Tai's rise to become the world's strongest. They simultaneously raised their wine glasses and downed them.
"So you knew the identity of those two young people from the beginning?" one of the old men, who was asking the owner for more wine, asked him, voicing their doubts.
"Otherwise?" The owner, holding a pipe in his right hand, glanced askance at the old man. "Do you think just anyone can drink my old man's collection?"
"That's true," the old man who sang folk songs nodded.
"I felt from the beginning that these two young people were not simple. I didn't expect them to be the world's strongest they've been talking about recently!" one old man exclaimed.
"Yes! So young." Another old man shook his head. "Looking at them, it's like remembering ourselves when we were young, but the gap in strength is as vast as the sky and earth."
In fact, the three old men and the owner's father had also gone to sea and roamed when they were young, and they had learned some skills.
With their presence, ordinary pirates coming here would not cause much trouble.
Otherwise, this small island would not have been so peaceful.