God's Island, Cloud Beach on the edge of Upper Yard.
A gentle breeze swept over the white sea of clouds. Carina sat before a broad wooden table, its surface covered edge to edge with a detailed map of the first half of the Grand Line. Beside her lay hundreds of specially treated ancient gold coins.
"Beli! Send the seagulls from the third squadron to the sea routes near Jaya Island. Have them drop these coins precisely into the blind spots on the decks of passing merchant ships!"
Carina marked the map with a red pen.
"Got it! Caw! Drop coins! Get rich!"
Macaw Beli gave a proud squawk and took off. It let out a sharp cry, and dozens of massive Sky Island birds of prey immediately picked up the coins in their beaks. Like a squadron of bombers, they pierced the clouds below and flew toward the Blue Sea.
Ace had just finished a regular session of weighted training, his muscular upper body bare. He wiped away his sweat with a towel and walked steadily over to the table.
"How's the progress, intelligence officer?" Ace pulled out a chair and sat down, then poured himself a glass of water.
"It's going smoothly, Captain."
Carina rubbed her aching brow and pointed to the map on the table. "As long as these coins fall into the hands of merchants or get picked up by pirates, I can track their movements on the map in real time. But with hundreds of channels of noise flooding into my mind at once, I don't have the energy to monitor them all."
"You don't need to monitor them all."
Ace set down his glass and studied the map, his gaze steady as he laid out a tactical idea far ahead of its time.
"Set up