In the middle of the sea, there was several ships that were cut apart and had smoke rising from them as some were covered with flames.
The smell of blood lingered in the air along with the smell of smoke which was accompanied by a gruesome sight of blood and gore.
Many heavily wounded pirates were lying in a pool of their own blood with deep cuts all over their bodies.
Some among them were no longer moving and had died but others seemed to still be moving and breathing a little.
The ships were cut up and one among them was cut in half while a figure could be seen resting on the top of one of them.
It was Clifford who had progressed greatly during his sword training during the time passed.
The Sulong bloodline limit was not as easy for him to accomplish what others had when he was training on the island that helped hone his swordsmanship further but his fur had become grey and longer while a small part of his eye had become red.
A newspaper dropped down and interrupted his light nap then he opened it up and read through it. "They are having fun without me again.. this place is no longer any fun and I am lacking a good challenge."
Clifford had been hunting down pirates for their bounties to relieve his boredom but he mainly targeted a certain type of pirate group.
The adventurers group of pirates that caused no problems in the world or were helpful to others were not targeted by him but those that often looted places and went around killing others were targeted by him.
If he encountered them and they were the bad type of pirate that was doing bad deeds or if they attacked first then Clifford would not show any mercy then would collect the bounty on their heads.
His unique appearance had gained some attention from slave traders and those connected to them so he dealt with a lot of similar groups.
His brutal sword style caused a lot of death and destruction to his surroundings which resulted in the many deaths and the destruction of the ships around him.
When he entered a state of combat, it was difficult for him to hold back and he did not need to do so when he was up against opponents that were after his life.
The main problem was that his present strength and mastery over his two sword style was far above many groups within the first half of the Grand Line.
The amount of deaths he had been behind on the seas and his merciless swordsmanship had earned him a lot of attention which helped to raise the fame of the White Storm Mercenaries but had made many more wary of him and others affiliated with him.
If he killed or harmed others outside of his targets that were wanted criminals then there would be many that would use his current reputation to brand him as a brutal murderer that needed to be caught or killed before he caused further harm to innocent people.
The present 'bounty hunter that is ruthless against criminals' could easily be changed to 'ruthless murderer on the loose' in a single instant.
The line between how the public viewed good and evil was very thin and anyone within the view of the public could have their name tarnished with a single article and slightly incriminating photo.
Those waiting for the opportunity would take the chance to tear another down from their position and there were many competitors with the White Storm in business, those that held a grudge against them or those affiliated with the World Government that wanted to remove a future obstacle.
One wrong move by anyone that had a high position in the White Storm was in the exact same position as Clifford and could affect the overall public view of the whole group.
——
Within a castle that was within Rica island, a woman wearing spectacles and dressed in a lab coat with a striped jumper was working on something until something appeared behind her and spoke. "Master, the news has arrived."
Ein did not take her eyes away from her project and spoke. "Read it to me."
The details of the newspaper were spoken word for word by the figure behind her then she finally finished the part of her project.
She turned around and looked towards the tall figure that stood there with a helmet and armour on their body. "Thank you Shiki. Go back to assist Whitebeard with the protection duties."
The dead bodies had been recovered after their deaths and there were three that had strong physiques that could be remodelled.
Dr Indigo, Whitebeard and Shiki were modified bit by bit until they were completed and were given life as automata that would assist Ein in her work or would provide protection around the castle.
Among the projects that she had been working on, the mech and mechanical suits were things that were not so easy to reveal all the time whenever there was any troublemakers around the castle or anyone that was trying to break in.
Any threats had been dealt with by the animal automata and the traps that had been set but Whitebeard and Shiki provided extra protection against any more troublesome intruders so that her secrets could be prevented from leaking out into the world.
They all wore a combat armour and helmet to keep their identity hidden from those that encountered them when they were carrying out their duties.
Ein spun a pen between her finger while sitting down with her legs crossed with a bored look on her face. "I am tired of building up these walls of protection in this place.. there is no real way to test how effective my inventions are. I wish Alyssia would call us over already. I really want to see what kind of thing she has created while she has been away. I think it will not be too long before those nobles start causing problems again so I do not really wish to remain here that much longer."
One after another, the people connected to Alyssia that remained in the first half of the New World were growing bored and saw the newspaper articles.
In other parts of the world, there were others that had their own reactions to the newspapers being spread out.