Somewhere above the Calm Belt, the Dream Exploration Team’s new sky island hovered quietly.
Everyone except Ryuen had returned here. In the future, once they finished mapping the world, this place might become their home.
"Bellemere, it’s been so long! I missed you so much!" Nami shouted the moment she saw Bellemere, running toward her and hugging her tightly.
"Nami! Nojiko! You’re finally back!" Bellemere was just as emotional.
These were her daughters, after all.
"Bellemere, Genzo, everyone—it’s been a while!" Nojiko quickly greeted them all.
Seeing this, Kuina and the others also gathered around, everyone greeting and catching up with each other. The air was filled with laughter and excitement, and the whole scene was full of warmth and joy.
Now, the entire village of Cocoyasi had moved to live on this sky island.
Seeing Nami and the others again—people who had become local legends—made everyone incredibly emotional. Ryuen, Nami, and their group had long been seen as heroes in the village.
After chatting for a while, the villagers finally started to leave, though a bit reluctantly. Nami and the rest returned with Bellemere and Genzo to their villa on the island.
Everyone was now gathered inside the villa.
Bellemere and Genzo were full of feelings. They had never imagined that the kids who used to run around everywhere had grown into people who achieved so much.
"Bellemere, Genzo, how have you two been lately? Running such a big orphanage must be hard on you," Nojiko said, feeling sorry when she saw the tired look on Bellemere’s face.
Genzo even had white hair now.
"Silly girl, helping you all makes Genzo and me really happy. In fact, we should be thanking you. Honestly, our lives now feel more meaningful than ever," Bellemere said with a smile.
"Exactly. Life is busier now, but it’s way more fulfilling than before," Genzo added with a relaxed look.
If it hadn’t been for Ryuen, Nami, and the others, they probably would’ve just spent the rest of their lives in Cocoyasi Village, doing nothing much. They never would’ve had the chance to do something this meaningful.
At that moment, Sugar’s older sister, Monet, returned as well.
"Sis! I thought you didn’t even know I was back!" Sugar shouted and ran straight into her arms the second she saw her.
In this whole world, only Monet could make Sugar put down her blueberry bucket.
Just as everyone was getting curious about the situation on the sky island, several black intel birds shot through the air like dark lightning. Each of them had important intel tied to their legs.
Nami quickly waved to them, and the intel birds flew straight toward her.
Ryuen had given them instructions—while he was in seclusion in the Calm Belt, all intel they gathered would be sent to the rest of the Dream Team in the form of drawings and written reports.
Everyone’s attention immediately turned to Nami.
Nojiko and Robin walked over too. They opened the reports brought by the birds one by one and started passing them around.
"I didn’t expect the Wano Country situation to end ..." Nojiko said, frowning as she stared at the papers in her hand.
The others were just as shocked.
After all, in their original plan, the best outcome for them would’ve been a fierce battle between the Red-Haired Pirates and the Beasts Pirates. That would’ve worked perfectly in their favor.
"Looks like we were right. Shanks definitely has his own plan. The only question is—does that plan have something to do with Imu?" Hogg said with a serious expression.
"And what’s with Luffy’s weird new form? Is that the Nika form after awakening?" Daisy stared at the photo of Luffy—it just looked strange no matter how many times she looked.
"Also, look at how much energy this Devil Fruit burns through. He only used it for a short while, but it drained his life force that fast?" Leah pointed to the photo where Luffy already looked much older.
"But that’s not what we need to focus on right now. The Red-Haired Pirates are clearly in a rush to find all four Road Poneglyphs. I’m starting to wonder... did Pirate King Roger tell him something before? Is that why he suddenly headed for Laugh Tale?" Robin said seriously as she glanced at the group, sharing her thoughts.
"We won’t know until we get to Laugh Tale ourselves," Nami said, then gathered up all the intel they had.
"We’ve already got two Road Poneglyphs. The one in Elbaf should be within reach soon too. It’s just the one in Big Mom’s hands that’s going to be hard," Anya said, frowning as she tried to think through the problem.
"The Red-Haired Pirates are definitely going to Whole Cake Island. When that happens, maybe we’ll get a chance—if they start fighting each other, we might be able to grab the Poneglyph during the chaos!" Kuina said, sharing her idea. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹~𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮~𝚗𝚎𝚝
"We might have to go ourselves. Big Mom guards that one heavily. Ryuen’s birds probably won’t be able to steal it," Nami said as she thought it over. But in her heart, she’d already made up her mind—this time, she was going to take action personally.
"I’ll go with you," Kuina said calmly.
"This job doesn’t need too many people. Just Nami and Kuina should be enough. The rest of us should stay behind and sort things out on Skypiea for now," Nojiko added.
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Alright, now that we’ve finished talking business, isn’t it time to eat? I’m telling you, Genzo and I haven’t eaten anything all day!" Bellemere said with a big smile once the conversation wrapped up.
"Yes, yes, yes! Let’s eat!"
"Food comes first! It’s been forever since I had Bellemere’s cooking!" Daisy got excited right away the moment food was mentioned.
"Who would’ve thought? Little Daisy, now famous across the seas, is still such a foodie," Genzo laughed loudly from the side.
"She’s always been like that," said Anya, who knew Daisy the best.
The group headed to the dining hall together. It had been a long time since the family had sat down for a meal . Too bad Ryuen was still deep in training somewhere in the Calm Belt.
While Nami and the others were enjoying a feast in Skypiea...
The Revolutionary Army and the Marines had already started moving. Both sides had sent all their mid-level forces out across the Four Seas. They had to make sure everything stayed under control next month—no matter what.
This strange move made people around the seas start wondering...
Were the Marines about to go to war with the Revolutionary Army?
At Mary Geoise, the Five Elders had summoned Akainu directly.
They wanted answers. They needed to know why Akainu had done this.
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