After spending some time at the bar, Ryuen and Daisy decided to leave.
With Rayleigh absent, Ryuen had nothing to talk about with this group of women—especially with the Pirate Empress keeping a close watch on him.
"Ryuen, should we get involved in Ace's situation?" Daisy casually asked from the backseat of the bubble bike.
"That's Garp's problem, not ours. But that old man sure has a lot on his shoulders..." Ryuen sighed.
A month ago, Ace was defeated by Blackbeard, who then used Ace's special status to secure a position as one of the Seven Warlords.
This news hadn't been made public yet, but the Dream Pirates had their own intel sources within Marine Headquarters, so they found out the moment Ace was handed over.
"Well, it was Ace's own choice. But still, I don't like that Blackbeard guy," Daisy said, her face showing clear disgust.
"Why not?" Ryuen stopped the bubble bike and asked curiously.
"He's too ugly." Daisy answered matter-of-factly.
"You're not wrong. He is ugly. But that guy's ambition is no joke..." Ryuen said before pedaling forward again.
"His ambition is that big?" Daisy asked, confused.
"Yeah. His goal is the whole world."
"But... I wouldn't mind making things harder for him. Let's see if his luck holds up."
"Kehehehe..." Ryuen grinned mischievously. He had just thought of a great idea.
Back at the villa, the others still hadn't returned.
Ryuen had no choice but to continue lounging on a beach chair by the pool, while Daisy went back to her lab to study various medicines.
At the Rip-Off Bar, after Ryuen left, Boa Hancock also took the Kuja Pirates and departed.
Once everyone was gone, Shakky locked up the bar.
She took Ryuen's intel very seriously—she was almost certain that the Marines would use Ace's identity to stir up trouble.
"I need to tell Rayleigh about this." As soon as she spoke, a spider descended from the ceiling on a thin strand of web but quickly vanished into the shadows of the bar.
A moment later, as if she had thought of something else, she opened the door and stepped outside.
More than half a month quietly passed.
For the past two days, the Dream Pirates hadn't gone out. Everyone was busy with their own things inside the villa.
Right now, they were having a party by the pool.
"The atmosphere in Sabaody Archipelago feels strange lately. The lawless zone is getting even more chaotic," Robin said softly.
She had been out exploring a lot recently, and the rising tension made her feel like something unusual was about to happen.
"Who cares? No matter how chaotic it gets, those guys wouldn't dare cause trouble here. *Gulp gulp—ahh!*" Nami chugged a glass of beer and instantly felt refreshed.
"Nami's right. By the way, Ryuen, what have you and Nami been so busy with these past two days? You're out early and back late," Anya asked curiously.
"What else? Causing trouble, obviously," Nojiko answered before Ryuen could.
"Ahem, well... you'll find out soon enough. I promise, it's going to be quite the show~~~" Ryuen coughed lightly, looking mysterious.
"Forget it, I'm not asking you anymore. You always keep secrets. Nami, you tell me—what have you two been up to?" Anya rolled her eyes at Ryuen and turned to Nami.
"We took a little trip to Impel Down and had a quiet chat with Warden Magellan..." Nami giggled as she spilled the details of what she and Ryuen had been up to.
A moment later, the whole crew was left in shock, their jaws practically hitting the floor.
Ryuen was still grinning mischievously.
Back in the day, he was disgusted by that infamous ugly photo of Blackbeard.
Now that he was in this world, there was no way he was letting Blackbeard keep that face.
After all, Impel Down housed Ivankov, the Miracle Worker. It would be a shame not to make use of him, wouldn't it?
Thinking about Blackbeard turning into a beautiful woman, Ryuen found it pretty amusing~~~
On the shores of Sabaody Archipelago, a pirate ship with a lion figurehead was docked.
Compared to their time at Jaya Island, the Straw Hat Pirates had gained two new members—Brook, the Soul King, and Franky from Water 7.
Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Kuro, Chopper, Franky, and Brook.
The Straw Hat Crew now had eight members.
With Kuro around, things were much smoother for the crew than in the original timeline. No matter the problem, Kuro could almost always come up with a solution.
"Sabaody Archipelago looks amazing!" Luffy's eyes sparkled as he stared at the rising bubbles, unable to hold back his excitement as he jumped off the ship.
"Luffy, don't run off just yet! I already gathered all the intel on Sabaody Archipelago. This place is really close to Mary Geoise, so the Celestial Dragons come here often. Don't cause any trouble!" Kuro shouted as Luffy was about to dash away. The source of thɪs content is No(ᴠ)ᴇlFire.nᴇt
But by then, Luffy was already gone.
"Trying to keep him still is harder than reaching Sky Island. I'll go keep an eye on him," Sanji said, cigarette in his mouth and hands in his pockets, before hopping off the ship in the direction Luffy disappeared.
"Well then, I'll go see if there are any strong fighters around," Zoro said, jumping off as well.
"Zoro-san, wait for me! I'll go with you!" Brook, the walking skeleton, followed closely behind.
"These idiots!" Kuro was furious.
"That's just how Luffy and the others are," Franky said. "Kuro, I'll follow the plan and go learn how to coat the ship." With that, he also jumped off.
"Um... Kuro, what are we supposed to do?" Chopper asked nervously, worried that Kuro might leave too.
Kuro adjusted his glasses and said, "Nothing. It's too chaotic here. We need to stay and guard the ship."
"Then I'll go work on my new medicine." Hearing that Kuro wasn't leaving, Chopper instantly felt relieved and happily trotted off to the ship's cabin.
Now, Kuro was the only one left on the deck.
He sat cross-legged on the deck. The reason he had joined the Straw Hat Crew in the first place was because of that fireball years ago.
He had been following news about Ryuen ever since he was in East Blue.
To make it to the Grand Line, he had been preparing for years, even studying navigation. Eventually, he joined the Straw Hat Pirates as their navigator.
"Ryuen, I won't just settle for revenge—I'm going to find One Piece and prove that I'm stronger than you!" Kuro muttered darkly.
On Island #1, nearly all the rookie pirate crews with bounties over 100 million had gathered.
They all had the same goal—to become the Pirate King. A clash was inevitable.
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