The Star Spirit's mood was just as eager as Roya's.
In only three days, the Hades had been fully refitted.
Its entire hull was now covered with the ship-metal plates stripped from the Pyramid-class vessel, essentially giving the Hades a suit of metallic armor.
On top of this armor, layer after layer of additional compartments were mounted, also built from ship-metal, in order to meet the demands of troop transport.
Before they realized it, the Hades had expanded into a colossal behemoth—twenty kilometers in length, more than one kilometer in both width and height.
This single refit of the Hades consumed one-third of the Pyramid ship's total hull metal.
The main bottleneck was the ship's soul. Even with Roya and the Star Spirit working together, they had no way to conjure a brand-new ship-soul within the pure ship-metal in such a short time.
So the only option was this rather crude method of wrapping layer after layer of ship-metal around the Hades.
As long as it could voyage through space, carry vast numbers of troops, and withstand attacks on par with the Pyramid ship's defenses—it was more than enough.
The preparations were complete. Pirate Star was already undergoing vigorous reconstruction. Roya knew the moment had come: the beginning of their cosmic expedition!
The battle formations and their scale, to depart alongside him, had also been finalized.
The Hades' operational order of battle was divided into three parts.
First came the New Navy, formed primarily of modified navy warriors.
Kizaru, Aokiji, and Fujitora had risen as the three new Admirals, each commanding a corps of twenty thousand navy warriors, still under the supreme command of Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
Next was the Supernova Corps.
Squard, McGuy, Magellan, San Juan, Drake, Kid, and Killer each commanded a corps of ten thousand, unified under Lucci's leadership, to march with the expedition.
The remaining corps leaders and fighters, with Law at their head, were left behind to garrison Pirate Star.
Finally, there was the Pacifista Division led by Kuma.
Originally, Roya had not intended to bring them. But considering they might encounter environments where flesh-and-blood beings could not survive, he detached half of the Pacifistas, sending them under Kuma's command to join the campaign.
Roya had already appointed Im as captain of the Hades, responsible for directing all of its combat forces.
The Whitebeard Corps and the Beasts Corps boarded the Hades as well, though they did not fall under its chain of command. Roya had promised Whitebeard and Kaido that any captured, usable warships would be given to them, allowing them to form their own fleets and then fight alongside the Hades in joint operations.
As for Buggy's Delivery Service, its role could only begin once Vegapunk advanced Pirate Star's technology into the era of interstellar navigation. Then, it would shoulder logistics, supplies, and trade with other planets.
On the bridge, Roya sat upon the throne and gave his order.
The Hades' vast body trembled faintly, slowly rising from the ocean's surface.
Amid the thunderous cheers of Pangaea City, it ascended higher and higher, faster and faster, until it finally vanished from everyone's sight.
Looking down upon Pirate Star from space for the first time, even Roya felt a deep sense of awe.
From here, the massive blue planet below—with its now-impressive Pangaea City—appeared no larger than a palm-sized patch.
Whitebeard pressed himself to the window, peering down, unable to suppress his admiration:
"So this is how it looks from above—how breathtakingly beautiful!"
Kaido sighed with emotion:
"Just months ago, we were strutting across this little ball with our ships, pretending to be kings. Thinking about it now… how laughable!"
Whitebeard replied:
"If you flip your perspective, every planet we're about to reach is just like another island along the Grand Line. The East Blue, South Blue—nothing more than the endless void!"
The others, gazing in wonder at the world of their birth while listening to Whitebeard and Kaido's exchange, all felt waves surging within their hearts.
After all, everything had happened so suddenly. From the sea to the stars—they still needed time to adjust.
Then Imu suddenly spoke:
"Lord Roya, we've detected an unidentified fleet at the edge of the star system!"
Im's body had already been transformed into a beacon, perfectly compatible with the Pyramid ship's components and systems. That was why Roya had appointed her as captain of the Hades. Normally, she interfaced with the ship's soul to handle operations.
This freed Roya to continue his deep studies of the Warp and that mysterious holographic projection. Should Im encounter something beyond her capability, Roya could always step in and take command—it would never be too late.
As she spoke, Imu waved her hand, projecting the data of the unknown fleet into the bridge's holodisplay.
She explained:
"Twenty ships in total. Eighteen of them are fairly large—around five kilometers each. Based on their appearance, they seem to be transports.
The other two are smaller, but their energy readings exceed the total of all eighteen combined. I speculate they're escort warships."
Sengoku suddenly spoke:
"Could this be the Seventh Overlord's supply fleet? After all, if he's completed his harvest, he wouldn't use his personal flagship to haul resources."
Roya nodded in approval. From his throne, overseeing the battlefield through his all-encompassing awareness, he had already identified the fleet—it was a standard transport convoy of the Fearless Dynasty.
Imu, however, was still new to the Fearless Dynasty's systems, and unlike Roya, she couldn't directly parse the silent, wordless communication of the space-necromancers. She still required time to organize and comprehend the data before she could "converse" with them.
In this case, Sengoku's seasoned judgment had allowed him to deduce the fleet's origin first.
Hearing it was an enemy transport fleet, Whitebeard and Kaido exchanged glances—and saw the same burning desire reflected in each other's eyes.
A transport fleet meant weak combat strength—the perfect chance for a trial by fire!
And twenty ships in one stroke!
Even if they only managed to capture half, splitting them between the two would be enough to seed the foundations of their own space fleets.
One small goal at a time, bit by bit—such was always the pirate's way of amassing their fortunes.
Kaido immediately stepped forward, asking eagerly:
"Lord Roya, give the order!"
Roya merely smiled in silence. Im cast him a grateful look, the blue particles glowing in her eye sockets pulsing firmly as her resolve hardened.
She declared in a clear voice:
"Approach the unidentified fleet first. Once their identity is confirmed, I'll issue the specific combat orders!"
With a wave of her hand, the Hades surged forward, turning into a streak of light as it closed in on the fleet at the edge of the system.
Even with its scaled-down warp drive, the Hades could still achieve speeds of up to Warp Five.
In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the system's boundary.
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