"Just ask me, Gion. If you have questions, ask. There's no such thing as being rude or not,".Gion, with great interest, stopped in her tracks, turned around, and looked Conia up and down, her gaze carrying a hint of amusement and scrutiny.
'Judging by her looks, she is the type that girl Rosse would go after.'
'Most likely, she'll be our companion in the future.'
Thinking of this, Gion subtly rolled her eyes at Rosse, though she didn't say anything. As long as Rosse could continue to meet her needs, she wouldn't care about the rest.
Besides, for the sake of their ideals, they indeed needed more companions.
Though Rosse really was enjoying himself, getting to experience different travel pleasures.
"Lady Gion, um... I'd like to ask. Why did you all come to the White Sea?", Conia carefully considered her wording, paused, then added, "Maybe, I could help you."
She just wanted to quickly send this group of people away so that Skypiea could return to its previous peace.
"For what?", Gion instinctively looked up, glancing at Rosse and Sora.
This kind of question usually wasn't something she answered.
And when it came to the goal, she couldn't just directly say "to occupy Skypiea," right?
On the other side, Conia saw Gion glance at Rosse and Sora, and her heart sank halfway.
'Crap! I seem to have asked the wrong person.'
"How much do you know about the world below?", Sora suddenly asked.
"Ah?", Conia turned her head in surprise to look at Sora.
Although Sora hadn't spoken much until now, her presence didn't seem strong.
But Conia keenly noticed that from the beginning, Rosse had held Sora with his left arm, and even when handing the gun to Pagaya, he only let go of the arm holding her.
Moreover, she noticed that in Rosse's intimate actions, there was a trace of protectiveness.
That was enough to explain.
This seemingly weak woman, in Rosse's heart, definitely held a very important place.
Conia didn't dare to be careless. After thinking a bit, she said, "I don't know much about the Blue Sea. It's just that a few years ago, a group of pirates led by someone named Roger came by. They stayed here for a while and told us some things about the Blue Sea."
"Tell me what you heard," Sora gently nodded.
Answering a newbie's question might seem simple, but Gion certainly couldn't handle it.
Even if she could answer, it wouldn't achieve the effect Rosse wanted.
After all, when it came to being naive or simple-minded, Gion was probably about the same as Conia.
"Okay!", Conia obediently nodded, without a hint of hesitation, and directly spoke out clearly, "I know the Blue Sea is very vast, divided into four oceans, the Grand Line, and the Red Line. If our Skypiea were placed in the Blue Sea, it would probably just be a tiny, insignificant island, so small as to be negligible."
"That's not wrong. Your land area and population are both too small," Sora casually commented, paused, and then said, "Continue."
"Mm, okay."
"I've heard that the entire Blue Sea is ruled by a giant organization called the 'World Government.' The World Government seems to be composed of countless allied nations and possesses extremely strong power."
"As for pirates, they are a group of people unwilling to be bound by the World Government, struggling in the cracks to pursue freedom," That was everything Conia had heard.
After all, she was originally just an ordinary resident of Skypiea, with no chance to directly interact with Roger's pirate crew.
To know even this much was already very rare.
"People fighting for freedom? Pirates really like to paint themselves as heroes," Gion raised an eyebrow, muttered under her breath.
Conia silently kept it in mind but didn't say anything more.
Both sides were people she couldn't afford to offend, and who knew if Roger's group would return to Skypiea again.
"The World Government has nearly two hundred allied nations. Among them, each allied nation has hundreds of thousands, even tens of millions of people," Sora suddenly dropped a heavy bomb, her tone calm, but it exploded like thunder in Conia's ears.
"Ah?", Conia was shocked, her eyes widening, her small mouth forming an "O," her face filled with incredulous astonishment.
'That is... way too many.'
The total number of Skypiea residents she knew of wasn't even 100,000.
Angel Island had just over 10,000. The rest of Skypiea's residents were scattered across other islands in the White Sea.
That meant even a single allied nation had tens of times more people than they did.
This gap was truly massive.
So big that Conia couldn't even imagine it.
"Then, are you from one of those allied nations?", Conia guessed.
She had once observed Roger's pirate crew from afar. Whether it was their clothing or mannerisms, they seemed rugged and bold.
The styles between the two sides were worlds apart.
Rosse and the others, in their every move, exuded an elegant and noble air. In both clothing and behavior, they far surpassed Roger's group.
If the two stood together, one side looked like bold and forthright warriors, the other like aristocrats of extraordinary temperament. They were completely incomparable.
In Conia's understanding, Rosse and his group should be stronger than Roger's. At the very least, they must be nobles from some allied nation.
"Allied nation?", Sora smiled slightly, "The allied nations under our direct administration currently number 2. Those we can indirectly control, or rather, those that obey His Highness's commands, number nearly 200."
Since the people of Skypiea didn't know much about the situation in the Blue Sea, she needed to instill a first impression in Conia.
Let her develop a grander, more shocking understanding of Rosse's power.
However, everything she said was real, without the slightest exaggeration or falsehood.
"200? Eh? Isn't that almost all the allied nations?", Conia exclaimed.
She never expected Rosse and his group to be from such a terrifyingly high background.
But she didn't suspect that Sora was lying to her.
That genuine pride, and the teasing tone when joking, Conia could tell the difference.
When talking about this, Sora showed no guilt at all; she spoke as if it were perfectly natural.
And Rosse and Gion's expressions were equally calm and terrifyingly composed, as if things were meant to be this way.
'But this can't be, right?'
'The last ones to come to Skypiea were just ordinary pirates.'
'How come this time, it is bigshots from the Blue Sea?'
Conia's emotions couldn't calm down at all.
At this moment, she was even more unsure.
'What on earth does the White Sea have that made this group go to such trouble to come?'
"Um... My lord... Just what kind of identity does His Highness have?", Conia sneakily glanced at Rosse, her gaze more reverent than ever.
Hearing what Sora said, she became even more curious about the affairs of the Blue Sea, and Rosse's identity.
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