Chapter 549: Farewell, Fish-Man Island
Fish-Man Island had existed in this deep water for longer than anyone could say with certainty.
Now it was quiet.
The streets of what had been called the most prosperous city in the world stood empty. The factories and mines that had hummed with constant production had gone silent. The island was a shell of itself - every light still on, every building still standing, and not a soul remaining.
In the Sea Forest, the Ark Noah floated in the dark water. Several Sea Kings measuring in the thousands of meters held the ship's enormous chains in their mouths, lifting and pulling. The vessel carrying five million Fish-Man Island residents rose into the deep sea, and around it a further escort of Sea Kings maintained their positions as a protective formation.
Alongside them were Fish-Man Island's armed forces - both the regular Ryugu Palace military and the Sea Beast Units of the Immigration Authority. Everyone was ready to move.
Brett and Pluton arrived back at this moment.
He set the ancient warship down on Noah's deck and landed beside it. Jinbei and Neptune were there immediately.
"All preparations are complete. We can depart whenever you give the word." Jinbei kept it direct.
"But Brett," Neptune asked, the worry visible on his face, "where are we actually going?"
This was not a handful of people slipping quietly away. This was five million. Finding a place to put them was already a substantial problem, to say nothing of the ongoing question of feeding and supplying an entire nation once the food they'd brought ran out.
Neptune had no answer and could only look to Brett.
"I've already chosen somewhere," Brett said. "Keeping everyone alive in the short term is not going to be a problem."
"The Fish-Man Island Logistics Company is still operating. They can move goods from anywhere in the world through the deep-sea currents. Supplying basic necessities to the whole population, at least temporarily, is well within what they can manage."
That was the purpose the logistics network had been built toward. Even if most of what had been accumulated on Fish-Man Island was now left behind, what had been brought along - combined with the financial reserves the island held and the support available from the revolutionary forces and NEO Navy - was enough to sustain five million people for as long as was needed.
Brett was not worried about this.
Neptune let out a long breath of relief. If Brett said it was manageable, then it was manageable. This man had never once given him a reason to doubt him.
"Have Shirahoshi tell the Sea Kings to get us moving," Brett said. "Into the New World."
Though calling it the New World seemed uncertain now. The Red Line had been torn open. The Grand Line's first and second halves were connected for the first time in living memory. The magnetic fields would eventually link together, the currents would cross over, the climate would begin to change. What it would be called going forward was anyone's guess.
But the name would do for now.
Neptune nodded and went to find Shirahoshi.
Brett asked Jinbei to hold things together in the ship's interior, then dove back down toward the Sea Forest.
He came to the area near Vegapunk's laboratory, deep in the forest. Waiting there were not just Vegapunk but Tesoro, Rayleigh, Shanks, Master Tom, and Tom's apprentices.
"Brett, what's the actual situation?" Tesoro didn't wait. "The Red Line was really destroyed by that thing?"
"A large section was blown open. Fish-Man Island isn't safe to stay at any longer. Get ready to move into the New World." Brett looked around the group. "Is everyone accounted for?"
Tesoro confirmed his side was.
"But Brett, Pluton isn't finished yet!" Tom's voice was not quiet about this. The master shipwright stepped forward with an expression that made clear he found the idea of abandoning an unfinished vessel intolerable under any circumstances.
"Who said anything about abandoning it?" Vegapunk said brightly. "Brett's obviously going to take the whole base with him."
"Of course." Brett nodded. "Pluton and the Seraphim project are both coming. Neither of them gets left behind."
Tom's face broke into a broad grin. "Now that's what I like to hear from a man!"
"Then let's not waste time."
Brett rose into the water and let the flame clouds go. Not a few loops - everything he had, released outward in a spreading mass that moved past the base's protective bubble and descended around the entire facility from all sides.
The clouds drove down through the bedrock.
Then they lifted.
Everything came up together - Vegapunk's laboratory, Tom's shipyard, the Seraphim cultivation chambers, the partially completed second Pluton - the entire base, bubble and all, rising off the seafloor and into the deep water.
The time had come.
From inside Noah, Shirahoshi gave the command. The giant Sea Kings began pulling the great ship forward through the dark water.
At the same moment, Brett fell into place alongside Noah, carrying the entire base with him as he moved.
He turned and looked back at Fish-Man Island.
It was still beautiful. The same as it had always been.
It was a pity that today had to be the day it ended.
The artificial sun that had circled the island now drifted above Noah's deck instead, casting light across the ship and the dark water ahead.
Fish-Man Island receded behind them, and the dark swallowed it.
Goodbye, he thought. My home. I'm leaving you in the dark for now.
But don't be afraid. We'll be back before long, like lightning.