Red Copper Island had been unusually busy lately.
Of course, this busyness did not refer to the grueling work of mining. Rather, because of Roy's orders, everyone on the island was forging parts they could not understand according to the blueprints Roy had distributed.
In the past, Red Copper Island had only been responsible for mining, not forging.
But after Owl brought back a group of slaves with forging talent from Alabasta, along with the corresponding raw materials—
Following Roy's extensive renovations, Red Copper Island had now become a massive factory.
And while everyone on Red Copper Island was working fervently for Roy—
To solve Puka Island's famine—
Roy had specifically captured two Sea Kings from the ocean and transported them to the island in the sky via island clouds.
After obtaining ample food, the Sky Islanders of Puka worshipped Roy even more.
Now, Roy's words were the highest will on Puka Island.
Thus, after Roy proposed his plan to transform the sky island, all the Sky Islanders began carrying out the corresponding renovations to Puka according to Roy's will.
Large quantities of basic components were transported to the sky island for assembly.
As for the remaining high-tech equipment, Roy was also spending lavishly to purchase it on the black market.
For the sky island under his command, Roy intended to transform it into an aerial base capable of flying automatically.
And in his future plans, Roy's base would not only fly through the sky; he also had to prepare things like shells and lava one by one.
It could be said that in Roy's future plans, Puka Island would become a flying war fortress.
And Roy hoped that one day, when he faced Aokiji, he could give him an automated Volcanic Meteor.
When a person possessed strength and power, every word he spoke could make those beneath him run themselves ragged.
While Red Copper Island and Puka Island operated according to Roy's will—
Spandam, who was far away on the other two islands—
Had been worked to the bone lately because Roy had remained on Red Copper Island for so long.
Originally, he had had quite a few complaints about this, but after Roy voluntarily gave up authority over one island—
Spandam, that money-grubber, immediately gave Roy a long vacation.
As Roy's savings were rapidly depleted and turned into vast quantities of materials transported into the sky—
Puka Island was now changing almost every day and no longer resembled its original appearance at all.
No one on Puka Island had any complaints about this. On the contrary, they were immensely delighted.
Because as Roy continuously transported supplies to Puka Island, all of its native residents knew that the island's resources had surpassed even its most prosperous days.
Large amounts of soil were spread across the pure white island.
As things that had once been regarded as treasures were now transported into the sky as if they cost nothing—
All the Sky Islanders worshipped Roy ever more deeply, while Roy's control over Puka Island steadily strengthened.
Gazing at the vast white sea of clouds in the distance—
Roy knew it was time to make a move against the Four Island Alliance.
Because in the territory outlined by his plans, a barren Puka Island alone could not meet the needs of his aerial base.
He needed a large amount of labor to build the sky island for him, but most of Puka's population consisted of weak women and children.
In short, Roy thought Puka Island was too small. He wanted more Sky Islander slaves.
Although Roy had recently tried transporting people from the Blue Sea to the cloud islands in the sky, that plan had clearly failed.
The air pressure and extreme conditions more than ten thousand meters above the ground caused the slaves brought here to suffer severe altitude sickness. Not everyone was a member of the Straw Hat Pirates; evidently, an altitude of ten thousand meters was an overwhelming challenge for ordinary slaves.
So under these circumstances, Roy gave up the idea of transporting slaves from the Blue Sea.
To transform the sky island more quickly, he would use Sky Islanders to develop the sky island. This had practically become Roy's only option.
Albert and the others naturally raised both hands in support of Roy's proposal.
The previous defeat in war had undoubtedly been an immense pain for Albert and his people.
And when Roy proposed conquering those four islands—
How could the people of Puka Island refuse such a perfect opportunity for revenge?
Because Roy was confident in his own strength, and because Puka Island was now filled with women and children who still needed to keep working—
Roy only brought Albert with him. Then, controlling a patch of island cloud, he began flying rapidly toward the Kalia Alliance.
The sea of clouds where Puka Island was located was called the Roiling White Sea by the Sky Islanders.
Puka and the four sky islands of the Kalia Alliance were currently the five strongest islands in the Roiling White Sea.
Puka Island was located in the southwesternmost corner of the Roiling White Sea.
Although the four islands of the Kalia Alliance were also scattered apart, compared to Puka Island, they were much closer to one another.
In ordinary times, whenever war broke out, Puka Island would usually suppress and attack those four islands.
If not for the Locust Fish Swarm, an extinction-level disaster that had struck the Roiling White Sea this time—
Then based on Roy's assessment of the current situation, the four islands of the Kalia Alliance would likely have eventually been swallowed by Puka.
Perhaps the Kalia Alliance's upper ranks had noticed this as well. So, taking advantage of the Locust Fish Swarm disaster, they had set aside their hatred for one another and formed an alliance, turning instead against Puka, their strongest enemy.
As for why they had not attacked Puka after the defeat of Puka's army—
According to the explanation Roy had received from Albert, although Puka had suffered severe losses, the Four Island Alliance had also been crippled.
Under such circumstances, while they could pursue Puka's army over short distances, launching a long-distance expedition was no longer realistic.
After all, according to the information they had obtained from prisoners, Puka had already been gnawed into a barren wasteland by the fish swarm.
The island cloud Roy controlled was nearly dozens of times faster than Puka's War Island Cloud.
Following the direction Albert pointed out—
And using the Echo Map to search—
Roy soon discovered an island hidden in the sea of clouds, only about one-third the size of Puka Island.
"Is this Kalia?"
Before you continue