Pirates: Building a Pirate Family.

Rayleigh held the wanted poster tightly in his hand, staring intently at the portrait and words on it.

Without even looking up, he asked, "Do you know who's up there?"

His tone was so calm that it seemed like he was just asking casually, but those who knew him knew that at this moment he must have begun to think about various possibilities in his mind.

Xia Qi, who was standing aside, curled her lips. She was already used to Rayleigh's behavior of asking questions without even looking at her.

But it’s better this way, at least his attention is drawn to other things, so I don’t have to worry about him being immersed in the sad memories of the past.

Thinking of the group of energetic boys and girls she met this morning, Xia Qi felt a little more relaxed.

They were full of youth and vitality, which made Xia Qi recall the time full of passion and adventure.

At this time, Xia Qi turned her gaze to Rayleigh, with a confident smile on her face. She said proudly, "That man is indeed quite mysterious, but no one has ever been able to hide the news I want to find out!"

She looked at Rayleigh with full anticipation, hoping to hear a few words of praise from him.

However, disappointingly, since Shanks' death, Rayleigh seemed to have become a different person. He became taciturn and seemed to have lost interest in everything around him.

Seeing that Rayleigh had no reaction, Xia Qi couldn't help but stamp her feet secretly in her heart, but she quickly adjusted her emotions and continued, "It's the Blackbeard Pirates, the Blackbeard Teach who killed the Whitebeard Pirates!"

When saying this, Xia Qi's eyes revealed a hint of disgust.

When Rayleigh heard this, his brows furrowed slightly and he fell into deep thought.

After a while, he asked in confusion: "Why? Didn't Luffy just embark on his voyage? Logically speaking, he shouldn't have the chance to provoke a villain like Blackbeard Teach!"

Facing Rayleigh's question, Xia Qi helplessly spread her hands, shook her head and replied: "I don't know the reason either..."

Rayleigh frowned slightly and tapped his palm lightly with the knuckle of his index finger, making a crisp and rhythmic sound.

He murmured in a low voice: "This is really a tricky problem. Blackbeard is definitely not an ordinary guy. This rookie has just set out to sea and he has been targeted by such a difficult character. I don't know if he can successfully escape this disaster!"

When Rayleigh thought of Blackbeard, a feeling of worry surged in his heart.

Compared to Blackbeard, Crocodile is nothing.

Rayleigh was very familiar with Crocodile. After all, the thrilling battle four years ago was still vivid in his mind.

At that time, Crocodile was severely beaten by Barrett. Since then, he was like a deflated ball, as if he had lost all his fighting spirit and courage at once.

The once invincible Crocodile became depressed and unable to recover. In Alabasta, he actually began to play the role of a so-called hero.

People speculated that perhaps the disastrous defeat dealt a heavy blow to Crocodile, so that he completely lost his former enterprising spirit.

Moreover, since Crocodile had made many enemies before, many of his enemies who had been offended by him saw this opportunity and wanted to take revenge on him.

However, they were afraid of the powerful Buggy Pirates behind Crocodile and did not dare to act rashly.

Even after such a serious incident as Crocodile being exposed for attempting to overthrow the Kingdom of Alabasta, which led to countless member states strongly demanding severe punishment for Crocodile, he was ultimately stopped by the Buggy Pirates.

King Cobra even called the Five Elder Stars personally, hoping to use the power of the World Government to sanction Crocodile, but it was still useless.

After careful consideration, the Five Elders decided that the Buggy Pirates were currently active in the vast ocean of the New World.

This is a crucial buffer zone between the Red Earth Continent and the Rockefeller Kingdom.

After careful consideration, they finally decided to return Crocodile to the Buggy Pirates and did not take any substantial punitive measures against him.

As a result, Crocodile, who should have been imprisoned in Impel Down, was able to regain his freedom without receiving the punishment he deserved.

At this moment, in a corner, Rayleigh leisurely picked up the wine glass and took a sip of the wine.

"Forget it, if you can't even overcome such a small difficulty, how can you be qualified to pursue the throne of Pirate King!"

Hearing this, Xia Qi at the side couldn't help but reveal her surprise and asked curiously, "Oh? Aren't you going to intervene in this matter personally?"

Rayleigh shook his head slightly, slowly put down the wine glass in his hand, and answered seriously: "Let's wait and see, and then we'll make a decision when he can really stand in front of me. After all, this world is full of countless crises and challenges, and I can't always stand up to him when I encounter trouble!"

After saying this, Rayleigh paused for a moment and gazed deeply into the distance.

"But it seems that this kid has disappeared without a trace since he appeared on Gaya Island. My intelligence network there couldn't even find any trace of Luffy!"

Xia Qi frowned, with a hint of confusion and worry on her face.

Hearing this, Rayleigh was slightly stunned at first, but then a light flashed in his deep eyes, as if he had thought of some important clue.

I saw the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a mysterious smile.

"Sky Island!"

Rayleigh murmured the word in a low voice, as if he had seen through everything.

At the same moment, a terrified scream was heard on an island in the sky ten thousand meters above the ground.

"Where's the gold you promised me? Why is there nothing here?"

Nami widened her eyes and looked at the empty, ashes-covered ruins in front of her with horror. She covered her cheeks tightly with her hands, unable to believe what she saw.

Just at this moment, Gan Faul walked slowly towards them.

He shrugged helplessly and said with a relaxed look, "Twenty-four years ago, a group of pirates named Rockefeller came here and mercilessly swept away all the gold in the city!"

After saying this, he shook his head slightly, obviously not taking the stolen gold to heart.

However, just as Gan Ful finished his words, a woman with a slightly darker complexion from the Straw Hat Pirates couldn't help but speak in surprise.