February 13, 1514, West Blue, Borudoana Island.
One week remained until the Celestial Dragons' Hunting Season.
Jake stood on the deck, watching the island's residents busily loading their belongings onto the Ark Maxim.
Wearily, he turned to Monet beside him and asked:
"Monet, which group is this?"
"The 58th. Almost everyone on the island has been evacuated by now."
Her voice carried unmistakable fatigue.
Over this period, even Monet herself had lost count of how many times she had reinforced the ice bridge.
Borudoana was a summer island, where the climate remained warm year-round.
Though it was February, this was actually the hottest time of the year.
To speed up the evacuation, Monet had constructed a massive ice bridge across the central lake.
However, due to the scorching heat, the bridge required constant reinforcement to prevent collapses and accidents.
The residents had only three days to evacuate—an unavoidable constraint.
It wasn't until February 10th that the Marines and the World Government finalized the Hunting Season's location.
This time, the Celestial Dragons' usual method of selecting hunting grounds by dice roll was completely disregarded.
Naturally, the Five Elders were furious at the Marines's defiance, but there was little they could do.
The Marines had taken an unyielding stance, even at the risk of budget cuts.
Though baffled by the Marines's unprecedented boldness, the Five Elders couldn't afford to escalate tensions into outright conflict.
If they did, Im-sama might very well replace all five of them on the spot.
They might treat their subordinates as expendable, but when their own positions were at stake, their judgment remained sharp.
After all, it was just a change of hunting grounds—not a cancellation.
With the Great Pirate Era at its peak, letting the Marines have this one victory wasn't entirely unacceptable.
Once the decision was settled, Jake and his allies swiftly mobilized into action.
The reason for choosing Borudoana Island was quite simple.
This island currently had the smallest population and was located in a remote area.
The nearest island to Borudoana required about two days of sailing to reach.
Even if it were ultimately destroyed, very few people would notice.
Upon arriving on the island, the first thing Jake did was mobilize a large number of Marine Headquarters soldiers to help the residents with moving their belongings.
During this process, some residents naturally expressed confusion, while a few elderly residents stubbornly refused to leave no matter what.
Even when Jake told them the island would soon be destroyed by a tsunami, those obstinate elders still wouldn't budge.
In the end, Jake grew so frustrated with them that he used his Rumble-Rumble Fruit to split an entire mountain peak in half.
After that, the relocation work proceeded much more smoothly.
Often, appropriately demonstrating one's abilities could greatly assist in getting things done.
Jake's display of power clearly had an effect.
After he cleaved that mountain, there were practically no residents left who disobeyed orders.
The reason the two of them were so exhausted was simple: from the scheduled date of February 10th until the afternoon of February 13th, neither of them had gotten a moment's sleep.
Monet had to constantly maintain the stability of the ice bridge while also periodically cooling down the residents and soldiers transporting belongings.
Otherwise, the summer island's peak temperatures could reach fifty degrees—weather that most people couldn't endure.
As for Jake, the reason for his exhaustion was even simpler.
Borudoana remote location made evacuating so many residents in such a short time far from easy.
Deploying a large fleet of warships would undoubtedly attract attention from the World Government.
That left only one option: air transport using Jake's Ark Maxim.
This method avoided detection risks, and the Ark Maxim's massive size made it ideal for transporting the residents.
The only real consideration was Jake's stamina.
But Zephyr just chuckled and patted Jake's shoulder, giving his word on Jake's behalf.
And it was this promise that left Jake without a single moment of rest over those three days and nights.
Piloting the Ark Maxim was already a tremendous test of his Rumble-Rumble Fruit abilities, let alone doing so continuously for three days straight.
Even though Jake cast Healing Prayer on himself and Monet without pause throughout, both of them were still on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.
At this moment, Kizaru walked over from nearby.
Seeing the two of them too tired to even speak, he wore a faintly helpless expression.
"Hey~ you two~ no need to look so down. At least thanks to your efforts, all the island's residents were saved, right?"
"Borsalino-sensei, your task was way too easy! All you had to do was provide some light at night and hunt a few large Sea Kings during the day to supplement the residents' meals. The rest of the time, you didn't have to lift a finger! That's just sneaky!" Monet couldn't help but complain as she looked at Kizaru's relaxed demeanor.
At this, Kizaru stroked his chin with a mischievous expression and said.
"How terrifying~ Little Monet actually harbors such resentment toward her teacher just because she can't stand others having it easier? Looks like I'll have to retire immediately once little Monet outranks me, otherwise she'll work me to death with assignments~"
Listening to Kizaru's sarcastic remarks, Monet rolled her eyes at him irritably before falling silent, too exhausted to engage with him.
Jake let out a long sigh and asked Kizaru in a hoarse voice.
"Borsalino-sensei, the evacuation of residents should be wrapping up soon, right? Tomorrow's the prisoner transfer from Impel Down—can I take a day off? If I have to keep sailing, I might just throw up."
"Don't worry, little Jake. I've asked Dr. Vegapunk to install a simple energy booster on your Ark Maxim. It's powered by my Glint-Glint Fruit, but the effect isn't great—it'll only last about five hours."
"Then let me sleep for five hours first!"