Chapter 491 - 491: He Returns to a Grand Welcome—and That Brat Went to Sea Again

'What is that?'

Crocodile shot to his feet, eyes wide as he stared at the brilliant light pouring in from outside.

The oppressive weight that had been hanging over him for weeks seemed to disappear almost instantly, and only after a long moment did his expression finally relax into a bitter smile.

"To think I used to have ambitions that big. Guess I only understand now that ambition has to match your strength."

Without enough power to support it, overwhelming ambition didn't raise a man higher. It simply crushed him under its weight.

Fortunately, that was no longer his problem.

From his last conversation with the Chairman, Crocodile had genuinely wondered whether Cyrus would ever return.

Now that he had, every headache that had accumulated in his absence suddenly seemed far less serious.

Crocodile also knew that Cyrus's disappearance had encouraged certain people to develop ideas they would never have dared entertain before.

Whatever schemes they had been nurturing, though, they could now swallow them back down and bury them somewhere deep.

The sound of a cane tapping against the floor came from behind him.

"Vice Chairman."

"Mr. Issho? Now this is rare. You actually came here on your own."

Crocodile smiled as Issho entered.

"Lose everything gambling again?"

"Lose? This old man won quite a bit this time. Something obviously happened."

Issho walked into the room and turned his sightless eyes toward him.

"The Chairman is back."

"I see."

Issho slowly nodded.

Crocodile's smile widened.

"I'm sure you wouldn't want me telling the Chairman that the moment he disappeared, you crawled into a casino and practically never came back out."

Issho stiffened.

"The state of the world has changed. It remains chaotic, but overall things are moving in a better direction. This old man is only one man. There is only so much I can do."

His grip on the cane tightened slightly as he gave the excuse with a perfectly straight face.

Crocodile looked delighted.

"Do you think the Chairman will believe that?"

Issho sighed.

"Very well. This old man will make himself useful afterward."

"That's more like it."

Crocodile stepped outside and looked up at the second sun hanging in the sky.

"Now we just need to figure out where the Chairman actually is. That thing certainly isn't going to tell us."

…

In the Calm Belt, the Rose Hunter cut rapidly across the sea while Sea Kings fled wildly beneath the surface.

"We're not teleporting straight there?"

"No rush."

Cyrus stood near the bow and looked toward Hancock.

"Want to stop by home?"

He was naturally referring to Amazon Lily.

Hancock hesitated, visibly tempted, but eventually shook her head.

"No. I already left everything that needed handling to my sisters. They'll manage."

Much like the empresses before her, once Hancock had followed a man away from Amazon Lily, she apparently had little desire to return anytime soon.

Cyrus didn't insist. The ship maintained its course without turning toward the island.

"This place really is nice."

Starrk sat on the railing and stared across the endless sea with open curiosity.

"Definitely better than staring at sand in every direction."

"My power is weakening."

Nelliel turned toward Cyrus as she spoke.

"That's normal. Give it some time. Once the spiritual energy flowing through the passage begins mixing with this world, you should be able to maintain yourselves without outside help."

Cyrus nodded, having expected exactly this reaction.

Within half a day, the Rose Hunter left the Calm Belt. After confirming their position, Cyrus changed course toward the Sabaody Archipelago.

That part of the journey took considerably longer.

Enel, who had been stationed on Skypiea under Cyrus's orders, used the advantages of his Devil Fruit to locate them before anyone else and boarded the ship along the way.

Cyrus hadn't deliberately announced his route, but the Rose Hunter was now the most famous ship in the pirate world, without competition.

Plenty of people recognized it as it crossed the seas.

By the time Cyrus finally reached the former Sabaody Archipelago, a massive crowd was already waiting at the harbor.

Standing at the bow, Cyrus surveyed them and smiled.

"Quite the turnout."

Representatives from the Revolutionary Army, the Marines, Fish-Man Island, several former World Government member nations, Germa 66, and many other major factions had gathered at the docks.

Anyone without a serious reputation or enough influence simply couldn't squeeze their way into the reception.

Then Robin suddenly froze.

Her gaze locked onto a giant standing behind the crowd.

"Is that…?"

Her eyes widened.

"Saul!"

Jaguar D. Saul stood among a group of giants.

Cyrus narrowed his eyes slightly and looked toward the red-haired man standing near the front of them.

Shanks met his gaze and smiled.

Before the Rose Hunter had even finished docking, booming laughter rolled across the harbor.

"Bwahahaha! I thought you'd finally gotten yourself killed, brat!"

Nearly everyone turned toward the speaker at once.

When they realized it was Garp, most simply looked away again.

"Tch. You'll die before I do, old man."

Cyrus shot back before jumping from the ship and landing on the dock.

"Chairman."

Crocodile stepped forward and dipped his head slightly in greeting.

"Cyrus! I seriously thought you were dead!"

Zoro glared at him through gritted teeth, while Kuina stood beside him with tears gathering in her eyes.

Their father, Shimotsuki Koushirou, was there as well.

Koushirou regarded Cyrus for a moment before smiling.

"I truly didn't expect you to accomplish what you said you would, much less take things this far."

"I told you I would."

Cyrus spread his hands.

Zoro immediately cut in.

"You also said that once we became the world's greatest swordsmen, you were going to freeload off our reputation for food and drinks!"

The surrounding crowd struggled to keep straight faces after hearing that.

Cyrus's mouth twitched.

He glanced toward Robin, who had already rushed through the crowd toward Saul, then waved everyone forward.

"Come on. We'll talk after we get back."

The crowd immediately opened a path.

As Cyrus walked through it, he glanced toward Garp.

"You came too? What, did the Marines merge with the Hunter Guild while I was gone?"

"That's not something this old man gets to decide."

Garp casually picked his nose as he walked beside him.

"But there is something along those lines to discuss. Not a merger, though. Cooperation at most."

Cyrus nodded, then abruptly changed the subject.

"Your grandson didn't run off to become a pirate, did he?"

Garp's face instantly darkened.

He stared suspiciously at Cyrus.

"You bastard. You didn't put any stupid ideas in Luffy's head before you left, did you?"

As it happened, Luffy really had taken advantage of Garp's absence to escape to sea and become a pirate.

"Don't look at me."

Cyrus immediately waved him off and pointed toward Shanks.

"If you want someone to blame, blame that guy."

He redirected the entire problem without hesitation.

Garp stared at Shanks for several seconds before looking away again.

"I'll deal with that after I finish what I came here for."

"Then talk to Crocodile."

Cyrus waved dismissively.

"I didn't handle administrative work before, and I'm definitely not starting now."

Behind him, Crocodile's smile froze.

He fell silent.

There really wasn't anything he could say to that.

Once they returned to Hunter Guild headquarters, the many people hoping to meet Cyrus were stopped outside.

Their names might carry enormous weight elsewhere in the world, but here, none of them were important enough that Cyrus was obligated to see them.