That night, the Dream Crew held a big feast with over ten pirate crews—more than three hundred people joined.
These pirates never imagined they would get to party with their idols. They were so touched that many of them were brought to tears.
The feast went on late into the night.
By noon the next day, at the port—
As they watched the pirate ships slowly sail away, everyone in the Dream Crew felt a mix of emotions. Thoughts flooded their minds.
"These people are pretty amazing. I never thought there would be so many kind-hearted pirates..." Nami said softly, full of surprise and wonder.
"Yeah, they really caught me off guard," Ryuen added quietly.
Everyone except Robin and Reina nodded silently in agreement.
Ryuen, Nami, and the others had mostly met the worst kind of pirates back in East Blue—people who sailed just to rob and steal.
Even after entering the first half of the Grand Line, things didn't change much.
It wasn't until they reached the Sabaody Archipelago that they finally ran into some pirates who still held onto real dreams. But followers like the ones they had now—they hadn't seen anything like them back in Paradise.
That's why these new followers felt so refreshing to everyone.
"Alright, we should also hurry and finish our work here.
Oh right, Sengoku already made the call—Punk Hazard will be the place for the fight between Aokiji and Akainu. As for when—it's four days from now.
So? Want to go and watch the show?" Ryuen turned to ask his crewmates.
"I'm not that interested. Rather than watching them fight, we should focus on getting ready. No matter who becomes the next Marine Fleet Admiral, we need to be ready to deal with it," Robin said with a serious look.
Even though she still wasn't sure what had changed in Aokiji that day, in her mind, both he and Akainu were ruthless in their own ways.
So they had to prepare for anything.
"You're right. This is something we really need to think about. No matter which one of them becomes Fleet Admiral, it's going to change the world in a big way," Nami nodded in agreement.
"Then let's have Bellemere start making preparations. The orphanage doesn't have to stay in East Blue anyway," Ryuen said calmly.
"If it's not in East Blue... then where would it go?" Nojiko and Leah were confused.
"Well, if we're talking about the safest place right now, it's got to be a sky island. And I don't mean Skypiea—I mean we build one ourselves," Ryuen said, turning his gaze toward Kuina.
"What does that have to do with me?" Kuina asked, puzzled.
Everyone else looked just as confused.
Building a sky island wasn't the hard part—the real problem was how to live on it. A brand-new floating island wouldn't have any soil or land.
They weren't sky island people, after all. Living without land would be tough.
"I think with the way Kuina has developed her Devil Fruit, lifting an island into the sky with flame clouds should be totally doable," Ryuen quickly explained after seeing their puzzled faces.
"Oh, that's right!" Nojiko's eyes lit up.
Everyone turned to look at Kuina. Her Devil Fruit powers were strong now, and moving an island should be no problem for her.
"I get it now. Of course I can do it!" Kuina said seriously, her eyes full of confidence.
"There's no need to worry too much. As long as old man Garp is still around, the World Government won't dare go too far—unless they're ready to fully drop the act," Ryuen said, his eyes turning sharp as he looked toward the Red Line.
The others thought it over and nodded. What he said made sense.
After all, Garp was a Marine hero, with strength and respect that few could match. His presence alone was something not even the World Government could ignore.
And with the pirate world growing stronger and stronger, if the World Government really wanted to make a move, they'd have to think carefully.
So everyone started getting to work.
The Dream Crew began preparing seriously for the task of building a brand-new sky island.
Nami was in charge of contacting the small sky island, Visalia. The island cloud and the weather setup for the new sky island could be handled by a few old men from Visalia.
Once the island cloud was complete, someone would need to go to the Calm Belt to transport the island.
Naturally, that job went to Kuina.
Choosing the Calm Belt to move the island also helped prevent any early leaks of information. More importantly, the islands there were rich in resources.
The map of the Rainy Curtain Island was nearly done.
Next—
The whole team worked closely together on building the sky island and getting the welfare center ready to move.
```
East Blue.
Welfare center office building.
Bellemere frowned as she set down the anti-eavesdropping transponder snail. She then looked out at the children playing in the yard.
The Bellemere now was no longer the clueless ex-Marine she once was.
Especially after the Dream Exploration Team rose to power, Bellemere had learned a lot about the hidden events going on across the sea.
"Bellemere, was what Nojiko said true? The World Government really might send people here to deal with us?" Genzo had overheard the call and looked very serious now.
Bellemere turned to him.
"If Admiral Akainu wins, would he really follow the World Government's orders?" Genzo asked, hoping for a clear answer.
"I used to be a Marine. I've heard things about how they operate... but I never expected the whole world to really be like this…" Bellemere's eyes were full of disappointment as she spoke.
Genzo lowered his head in silence.
After a while, he looked up and said in a comforting tone, "Maybe we don't need to worry that much. Didn't Nojiko say that as long as Vice Admiral Garp is around, the World Government won't openly step into East Blue?"
"No."
"We still have to be ready. Like Nojiko said, Admiral Akainu is the type who would rather kill the wrong person than let the right one go. We can't put all our hopes on Vice Admiral Garp," Bellemere said firmly.
"I get it. I'll start making arrangements. But should we ask Vice Admiral Garp to help us out?" Genzo asked.
"No need. The Marines are in a sensitive situation right now. It's not a good time for him to get involved," Bellemere shook her head.
"Alright then…"
With that, Genzo walked out of the office and began giving out tasks to the people he trusted.
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