"Wow… The total bounty for the six of us is as high as 2,223,000,000 Belly!"
At an altitude of seven thousand meters, Nami held the World Economic News paper and looked in amazement at the four bounties published as the headlines on the second page.
"I just used Negative Hollows to knock out a few CP agents, and my first bounty actually reached 120 million Belly!"
Looking at her picture in ghost form and the nine-figure bounty beneath it, Perona smacked her lips slightly.
"It's because you took them down in one move. Those were people who underwent rigorous training and brainwashing, so they gave you such a high bounty."
"I see…"
Perona, who still didn't realize how broken her Devil Fruit ability was, nodded slightly.
"The Navy created a special bounty poster. Their purpose is likely to let the world know our weaknesses and have other major forces eliminate us before we fully grow."
Carina, sitting on a deck chair, looked at El—who was polishing his sword not far away, seemingly unconcerned about their worldwide fame—and spoke solemnly.
"Nii-san, should we lay low for another three years? Like before, keep a low profile for a while, then enter the New World when we're older?"
"No."
El set down the whetstone, shook his head, and smiled confidently.
"Since we can't go to Fishman Island for now, let's enter the New World openly and announce our arrival in the strongest sea!"
"Nii-san, what's the plan?"
Carina and Nami glanced at each other, then moved to El's left and right in perfect unison. Holding his arms, they asked with smiles.
"The New World isn't like the first half of the Grand Line."
El continued slowly. "If pirates in Paradise are adventuring along the seven routes, then the few pirates who reach the New World are those who aim to conquer it."
"Even if they only seek adventure and the legendary treasure, they'll inevitably be drawn into the struggle for world domination."
Because only by gathering the four Road Poneglyphs and finding someone who can read the ancient text can you find the way to the final island, Laugh Tale. To collect the four Road Poneglyphs, you must clash with the Emperors of the Sea. Of course, El kept these words to himself.
"So, unless we avoid the New World entirely, once we enter, we'll have to compete with those pirates for a piece of the pie."
"The New World's pie has almost been divided up by the Three Emperors and other major pirate groups."
"The remaining islands not occupied by pirates are either resource-poor, uninhabited islands with harsh climates unsuitable for development or base camps, or territories belonging to nations affiliated with the Navy or Mary Geoise."
"Islands with relatively good resources have basically been claimed by the major powers in the New World."
"If we want to take a piece of their pie, we'll have to go to war with them, which could trigger a chain reaction."
He paused, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "If we had no choice, I wouldn't mind acting in line with a pirate's identity and competing with those 'colleagues.'"
"But we have a better option. Before Shiki died, he left us a substantial inheritance."
Hearing El's words, Carina and Nami's beautiful eyes widened slightly. "Nii-san, what do you mean?"
El looked at them and grinned. "Next, it's time to start the Sky City Plan."
Since keeping a low profile was no longer possible, El chose to go all in with a high-profile approach.
Almost as soon as El revealed his decision to the five girls, the Pegasus—which had been sailing leisurely on the White Sea—suddenly ascended and flew toward the sky islands Shiki had left behind.
That same afternoon, the Pegasus arrived at the archipelago and slowly landed.
Soon, El found Dr. Indigo, whom he had released the previous year and who had been unable to leave the sky island.
After forcibly reading Dr. Indigo's memories, El had him serve his final purpose: summoning the residents of the other sky islands in Shiki's name.
Since only a few people were on the main island, and the archipelago had been floating on the White Sea, Shiki's death remained largely unknown.
On the other islands, the humans kidnapped by Shiki were unaware the great pirate who ruled them had died the previous year.
Driven by fear of Shiki, all the residents were soon gathered by Dr. Indigo on a single small island. Then, El manipulated the nearby White Sea and used his Float-Float Fruit ability to create a massive hole large enough for the small island to pass through, slowly descending toward the sea below.
Simultaneously, under the guise of Shiki's command, Dr. Indigo released the residents who had been imprisoned for unknown years—himself included!
Aside from Oto and Kogarashi, whom El had taken earlier, Shiki's corpse was also on that small island.
Although these inhabitants could serve as laborers, El had no intention of ruling over them as Shiki had.
Apart from the departing small island, the main archipelago still consisted of five sky islands: one medium-sized island surrounded by four smaller ones.
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