Arrangements

Regarding the development of this Contract ability, Dawn's idea was to establish the conceptual aura of "Contract" within the "Void" aura, then combine it with Ouroboros to develop this ability.

And if Ouroboros could become a soul construct similar to a "Nen Beast," then a conscious soul construct would naturally be able to oversee the terms of a Contract.

This Ouroboros would record the Contract between two people, and once someone violated it, Ouroboros would destroy that person's soul.

It was like opening a gap in the soul. It might not be as overbearing as the Soul Fruit, capable of directly taking souls, but it could still restrain others.

Even if he developed the Contract Aura using only the Aura Fruit, it would be useless, because it was far too complicated. After all, how could something without consciousness determine whether a Contract had been fulfilled?

Dawn had not developed some powerful ability akin to the rules of the world.

But if he could "activate" a portion of the other party's soul and have it oversee the Contract on its own, things would be much more convenient.

However, that first required Ouroboros to become an intelligent existence.

Then, by using the Contract Aura's "one Contract, two copies" division, Ouroboros could gain the ability to enlighten the other party's soul and turn it into an Ouroboros.

After all, every Contract came in duplicate, so it would naturally have a "division" effect.

And if Ouroboros could control the portion of the aura that entered the other party's body, fuse it with their soul, and turn it into an entirely new Ouroboros, then this ability could naturally be developed.

But if that was the case, Dawn would first need to let Ouroboros grow, then have it absorb the Contract Aura before he could develop this ability.

If it truly worked, then doing anything in the future would become much easier.

After thinking it over, Dawn gave up on the tempting idea. He buried his urge to develop this ability immediately and treated it as a mid-term goal.

Because the prerequisite for all of this was sufficient strength. That was the foundation of everything.

His most urgent task now was to improve his strength first, then develop this ability for his future plans and arrangements.

And at this critical time, when the era was running wild, the arrangements for Dawn and the others were finalized as well.

Aokiji would lead Dawn and the others to North Sea for live combat training. They would eliminate any pirates they encountered along the way, and after settling Dawn and the others in the Ishtar Kingdom, Aokiji would lead the fleet in suppressing North Sea.

After the upheaval following Roger's death, it would not have been an exaggeration to call the world utterly chaotic. The Marines were severely understaffed.

After Kong and Admiral Sengoku discussed the matter, they decided to have Aokiji take charge of suppressing North Sea. Garp would naturally be responsible for East Blue, while Kizaru and Akainu would take South Blue and West Blue respectively.

With those four present, nothing could go wrong in the four seas. Aokiji would also conveniently leave Dawn and the other trainees in the Ishtar Kingdom of North Sea—Dawn's homeland—for further training.

This would also conveniently bring Dawn and Adolf back to the Ishtar Kingdom.

After Admiral Sengoku contacted them through a Den Den Mushi, the king and queen of the Ishtar Kingdom—Dawn's father and mother—were eagerly awaiting their child's return.

Since they already had close ties, they naturally agreed with heartfelt gratitude to Sengoku's request that Dawn and the others be stationed in the Ishtar Kingdom.

In his view, it was merely an excuse to give Dawn the opportunity to remain in the Ishtar Kingdom for an extended period.

Gaius was deeply grateful to the Marines for helping him find his child, so he naturally agreed without hesitation to Sengoku's request that he assist in training and looking after these promising recruits.

Sengoku was also very satisfied with this arrangement. Though these Marine prospects were still young, most of them had already mastered part of the Marine Six Powers.

With Dawn, such an outstanding prospect, leading them, they were growing much faster than the previous batches. They could begin live combat training ahead of schedule, but more importantly, there was no longer any spare manpower to guide Dawn and the others.

They were desperately short on personnel. Not only did they need to suppress the four seas, but he and Zephyr also had to join the Vice Admirals in suppressing the Grand Line.

The only advantage was that they no longer needed to guard against the New World. That counted as good news.

No one had caused trouble during Roger's execution. Now, the pirates of the New World were fighting over territory so fiercely that they had practically beaten each other senseless, so they naturally had no time to return to the Grand Line.

Moreover, Marine Headquarters was located nearby. They only needed to station personnel in the New World and keep watch on the movements of those pirates.

After Roger ushered in the Great Pirate Era, the Grand Line and the four seas all began to descend into chaos. The Marines had no choice but to deploy more personnel to guard the four seas and the first half of the Grand Line.

Under these circumstances, having Dawn's father, Abraham Gaius, whose strength was roughly at the Commodore level, stationed in North Sea meant there was basically no issue with security.

He could also help train them, making him an excellent choice. After all, although he also held a Marine position, his primary identity was still that of a king. It was impossible to assign him elsewhere.

Because Roger had plotted against the Marines before his death, a constant stream of people across the world had begun setting out to sea to become pirates.

Sengoku had already sent Aokiji to lead a force in guarding North Sea. They would prioritize eliminating the stronger pirates, while the minor riffraff they had no time to deal with could be left for Dawn and the others to hone themselves against.

This arrangement was also born of necessity. The distances between islands were simply too great, often requiring ships for transport.

Even if Kuzan could ride a bicycle across the sea and split from the warships to suppress pirates separately, it was still impossible to suppress every pirate in an entire sea.

Therefore, in order to avoid causing major unrest and commotion, they could only sacrifice the small fish for the big ones and deal with the more promising pirates first.

As for the riffraff and cannon fodder, the Marine Branches on each island would naturally handle them.

Stationing Dawn and the others in the Ishtar Kingdom was also meant to let them train by dealing with those pirates.

After all, they were still too young. Someone needed to ensure the safety of these future pillars.

And Dawn's adoptive father, as the king of a nation, not only had close ties with the Marines and considerable strength himself, but also had a royal guard that could ensure their safety while guiding their training.

It would repay a favor, resolve the issue of arranging Dawn and the others, and deepen ties with the Ishtar Kingdom—a single move with multiple benefits.

Aboard the warship, once Hina and the others learned that they would be stationed somewhere for an extended period and undergo live combat training, most of them began celebrating together.

After all, staying in the training camp all the time was incredibly boring. And since they were going to Dawn's homeland, everyone became curious about Dawn's parents.

Most importantly, the Ishtar Kingdom was also known as the Island of Delicacies, leaving everyone filled with anticipation.

Watching the others frolic nearby, gentle breezes gradually began to stir the once-calm sea within Dawn's heart.

At that moment, he could not put his feelings into words, but witnessing Roger's death had made him feel as though he had undergone some kind of transformation.