The Return Journey

"Little Luo Luo, you must take care of yourself while you're out there alone. Be careful not to catch a cold!"

"When you're out there, listen to Boss Ma and don't try to cheat or shirk your duties."

"Remember to save your salary every month, so you can find a wife later. And whatever you do, stop hanging out with those pirate buddies..."

Shadow Isles International Airport.

The Fathead Fish is about to take off.

Two hunched figures, glowing faintly, were talking incessantly.

The towering Trafalgar Law before them was already sobbing uncontrollably.

Before him stood his father and mother.

Although he could not touch them, they truly existed before him.

The past two weeks have felt like a return to my childhood.

And there's no harassment from terminal illness, no fear of death, no heavy burden of life...

Trafalgar Law never imagined that one day he would hear his parents nagging again.

What I found particularly tedious as a child, I can never get enough of now.

"Is this crybaby really suited to be a doctor?"

Nami sat in the cockpit, idly looking at the scenery around her. Her charcoal pencil had unconsciously drawn a ghostly yet warm landscape painting.

The fact that two completely opposite moods are blended together so harmoniously is quite amazing.

Vivi secretly drew a picture on the side. She glanced at Nami's work and then quietly crumpled her own drawing into a ball.

Just as I was about to throw the crumpled paper into the wastebasket, it was grabbed by a pair of large hands as if they were catching a baseball.

"Don't look, it's ugly..."

Vivi blushed, and her little toes, hidden inside her white stockings, curled up shyly.

Ma Qiao smiled and opened it for a glance.

It is indeed quite ugly.

If Vivi's drawing skills were even slightly better, Fujitora wouldn't have been able to travel so freely in Alabasta for more than half a year.

Ma Qiao smiled and ruffled Vivi's hair, "Don't underestimate yourself. You're very talented. I'll get you a Brush-Brush Fruit; it'll definitely have a great effect."

"Does this kind of fruit still exist? It must be very expensive, right?"

Vivi counted on her fingers. "We've already spent a lot of money building orphanages, schools, and hospitals in East Blue..."

"It's okay, it doesn't cost any money."

Ma Qiao shook his head and looked southwest.

Dressrosa isn't just home to the Donquixote Family; there's also a guy who could be considered the world's number one undercover agent waiting for him.

Compared to Vivi's childish undercover work, Kanjuro, who doesn't even flinch when being boiled in oil, is the true god of undercover work.

The Brush-Brush Fruit in his hand can be described as a magical fruit capable of creating things.

However, compared to Moria's shadows and zombies, and Charlotte Linlin's souls, Kanjuro's ink was far too inferior, which greatly limited the creatures he could create.

Of course, whether it's a shadow or a soul, the highest form is still money.

Money makes the world go round; for money, how many people have sold their souls to Satan?

Ma Qiao shook his head, reminding himself once again that he couldn't become a prisoner of money.

Starting today, my monthly allowance must be kept below five million Beli. I will start by eliminating extravagance and debauchery!

·

The Fathead Fish Airship slowly ascended into the air.

The Shadow Isles have shrunk to the size of a grain of rice.

The members of the Heart Pirates peered out the window, curiously observing the ground.

Bepo and the others refused to leave their captain and volunteered to work as volunteers and security guards at Shurima Hospital.

"That's amazing! It's even more amazing than our submarine!"

Don't compare my inventions to your inferior handmade toys!

Heimerdinger jumped up and angrily punched Bepo's knee.

Amidst all this noise and commotion, the airship crossed the Calm Belt and arrived in Alabasta.

Ma Qiao checked the time; a total of seventy-eight hours and forty-nine minutes had passed.

This is roughly the time it took for airships to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the early 20th century.

Given that the Fathead Fish Airship was far more advanced than airships of the early 20th century, it is clear that the distance from the Shadow Isles to Shurima was much greater than the distance from Britain to Canada.

After the airship landed, the Heart Pirates, these bumpkins from the North Blue, were awestruck by the spectacular scenery of Shurima.

After nearly three years of development, Shurima has grown from a desert settlement of a few thousand people into a coastal city with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants.

Although in terms of population alone, it will never be able to compare with those large cities.

However Shurima is a city planned out of thin air, and its urban landscape is unique.

From the aerial viewpoint of the airship, a central avenue running through the city and connecting to the deep-water pier is clearly visible.

The city avenue is lined with uniformly planned residential buildings.

Housing is not expensive in the world of One Piece.

This statement is only for those who are used to making the world their home, or those who live in small towns.

Places like Mary Geoise, Whole Cake Island, Sabaody, and even the former Rainbase, still have relatively expensive property prices.

Shurima is a young city with plenty of affordable public housing available to its residents who work for Boss Ma Qiao.

Of course, if you want a spacious and unique house with a garden and basement, you'll have to spend a lot of money to buy a villa or townhouse in the suburbs.

Along the city avenue, the largest building is Birdnet Cafe.

It's hard to imagine that there's a super internet cafe with two thousand computer seats in the world of One Piece.

It's even more popular than the gym and swimming pool next door.

These facilities are essential recreational venues built by Boss Ma to recycle the Beli from the citizens.

The big bird earns money, the big bird spends it, and no one wants to take it home.

That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but from tobacco, alcohol, and food to leisure and entertainment, from medical care and education to weddings and funerals, the Big Bird Consortium has objectively provided everything for the people of Shurima.

As long as they work hard, they can achieve a comfortable life.

Even after retirement, they may still have some savings to travel around the world.

Of course, more ambitious workers get the opportunity to advance at a young age.

If they could travel to the Sky Island to work, their accumulated wealth would be even more substantial.

Shurima is a transit point, connecting not only the Sky Islands but also the East Blue and the Grand Line.

All sorts of ships are moored in Shurima's deep-water harbor.

However, the most spectacular of them all is the official transport fleet of the Great Bird, built on the basis of giant Den Den Mushi.

Although they are not fast, they have a huge carrying capacity.

When hundreds of giant Den Den Mushi ships appeared on the sea, lined up end to end, even the Sea Kings seemed dwarfed.