Abandoned dock, eastern shipyard.
The White Shell slowly pulled in, with a smaller cargo ship following alongside it.
"Oi, are you guys all right?"
Glen appeared on the cargo ship's deck, waving his arms vigorously.
Behind him, dozens of children poked their heads out from the cabin.
On the White Shell's deck, Alice hurried to the railing.
Only after confirming that Lin Nuo and the others were all still standing and unharmed did she breathe a sigh of relief, a warm smile blooming across her lips.
By the dock, Lin Nuo and Roy stood facing each other.
"Let me ask you one last time."
Lin Nuo looked Roy in the eyes. "You're not coming with us, are you?"
"Right. I just saved one group of people, but I know another group will need saving soon."
"...The Resistance Group's mission isn't over yet."
Lin Nuo fell silent for two seconds.
"I could turn back and use that gang as speed bumps, you know."
Roy froze for a moment, then smiled even wider.
"Heh... thanks."
"But even if this gang is gone, new ones might crop up afterward."
"And you won't stay in the West Blue forever, right?"
His gaze turned toward the White Shell and the sea.
"So, I'm staying here."
"With the power this fruit gave me, I'll defeat them my own way."
"Just give me a little more time."
Lin Nuo watched him for a while.
"All right. Then I'll wait for you on the Grand Line."
"If you can't pull it off someday—I'll come take this fruit back."
Unlike last night, there wasn't the slightest trace of panic on Roy's face now.
"Of course! If I don't achieve anything by then—"
"Come take this fruit back whenever you want!"
The two looked at each other for a moment.
Then they reached out and bumped fists.
"Let's go!" Lin Nuo turned around and waved to the others behind him.
Ivankov, Ginny, Kuma, and Moria followed in turn.
They crossed the pier and boarded the White Shell via the gangplank.
Alice held out a hand from the deck and pulled Ginny aboard.
Ivankov made an exaggerated leap as he boarded, nearly landing flat on his face before Moria's shadow gave him a hand.
Lin Nuo was last.
He walked to the gangplank and looked back.
Roy was still standing on the dock, seeing him off.
"Raise anchor—!"
The White Shell's sails slowly rose. The sea breeze filled them, and the ship began to drift backward, away from the pier.
The small cargo ship beside it set sail at the same time, heading in the opposite direction.
It slowly sailed away.
Moria stood at the White Shell's stern, watching Roy board the cargo ship.
The two gazed at each other across a narrow stretch of sea.
"Hey—!!"
Ivankov's voice suddenly exploded behind Moria.
"From now on, this is my new base, Ginny! Hee-haw!!"
The purple-haired boy spread his arms and spun around on the White Shell's deck.
Meanwhile, the pink-haired girl slowly walked around the deck, examining the ship's structure.
"All right, everyone." Lin Nuo clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back.
"Let's have a quick meeting."
"A meeting?" Ivankov's face fell. "How about we rest first?"
"Brother Lin Nuo," Ginny echoed softly, "could we at least eat first?"
Lin Nuo looked at their dirt-covered faces and couldn't help laughing.
"All right, all right, we'll change that." He raised one finger.
"After the meeting, we'll have a feast! To celebrate successfully reuniting, to celebrate our new companions, and to celebrate the fact that we're still alive!"
"Ohhhh—!!!"
"A feast—!!!"
Ivankov and Ginny instantly came back to life. With their arms around each other's shoulders, they started kicking and dancing in place.
"Alice, you should join too."
"Huh?" Alice blinked. "Me too? But what about steering..."
"It's fine. You need to rest too."
Lin Nuo looked at Moria.
While they had been waiting for the ship earlier, he had already heard Moria's brief account of how he obtained the fruit.
"Now that we've got such a useful fruit, shouldn't we play around with it a little more?"
Moria curled his lip.
The shadow beneath his feet suddenly spread outward.
Then, a pitch-black figure with an outline identical to Moria's emerged from the ground.
"Doppelman."
After the shadow clone took shape, it casually walked to the helm and took the wheel from Alice.
The shadow did not tire, would not get distracted, and could perfectly carry out its master's commands.
Alice and Teach, who had been following at her feet, stared in amazement.
Then everyone followed Lin Nuo below deck and entered the main cabin.
Lin Nuo took several sheets of white paper and a charcoal pencil from a drawer, spread them out across the table, and began sketching.
Moria leaned over for a look.
"Looks like you're only good at fighting. You've got no artistic talent at all."
"Get lost. I'm just drawing a rough map. Why does it need to look good?"
Ivankov leaned over too, staring at the shapes on the paper.
"Lin Nuo, is that blob you drew... a storm cloud? Or cotton candy?"
"An island! It's an island!" Lin Nuo snapped irritably.
He heavily marked a spot at the far right of the page.
"Here." Lin Nuo circled that point with the charcoal pencil.
"This is our next ultimate destination: the New World, in the latter half of the Grand Line."
Alice said, "The New World... Lin Nuo, what are you going there for?"
"I'm going there to find someone and take something." Lin Nuo's gaze sharpened.
"But before we enter the Grand Line, we need to solve the route problem first."
His charcoal pencil moved across the paper, drawing a dotted line leftward from the area representing the West Blue.
"According to the mayor's map, the shortest route from the West Blue directly into the Grand Line is through the Calm Belt."
"But there isn't any wind in the Calm Belt. The White Shell relies on sails for power, and..."
"That's the breeding ground of Sea Kings. With our current strength, we can definitely beat them, but sailing will become extremely troublesome."
Everyone fell into thought.
Kuma slowly spoke. "So we take a detour?"
"Right."
Lin Nuo's charcoal pencil continued leftward, drawing a mountain range that stretched across the page.
"We'll go via the Red Line, pass through Reverse Mountain and Twin Cape, then enter Whiskey Peak, the starting point of the Grand Line's first half."
"The currents at Reverse Mountain are fierce, but the White Shell should be able to hold steady with its size."
"At Twin Cape, we can also find a way to recharge the Log Pose's magnetism."
"Then we'll make a short stop at Whiskey Peak for supplies and information before officially entering Paradise, the region in the first half of the Grand Line."
"That sounds like a very complete plan." Alice nodded. "But Lin Nuo, this thing you drew..."
She pointed to a cloud-shaped symbol on the map, far from the main route.
"What does this cloud mean?"
Lin Nuo's gaze fell on the cloud.
"That place..."
"Is Sky Island Shandora."
"Sky Island?!" Ivankov was the first to jump up. "Do islands floating in the sky really exist?"
"They do." Lin Nuo answered firmly. "And I need to get something there."
He looked at everyone.
"Besides the ancient Poneglyphs, there's an especially precious treasure there."
"The Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit, located amid thunderstorms."
The cabin fell silent.
"The Rumble-Rumble Fruit?! It sounds incredibly powerful!" Ivankov's eyes sparkled.
"Of course it's powerful."
"In some respects, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit is even stronger than my Phoenix Fruit."
"It can transform its user into an element, control lightning, launch precise attacks over extreme distances, and use electric waves for Mantra sensing."
"It's a top-tier ability that's powerful in every way."
Ivankov pursed his lips, his expression clearly growing more serious.
"However," Lin Nuo changed the subject, "this is only a rough route plan for now."
"I don't know what we'll encounter along the way."
This was thirty-eight years ago. Some fruits that only appeared in later generations might already have been eaten by someone.
Some islands that were only discovered in later generations might still be sealed off.
And then there was Imu and the World Government's pursuit.
"If you're scared, it's not too late to get off the ship now." Lin Nuo's gaze swept across everyone.
"Heh, I won't blame you."
Silence—
"Ha, what nonsense."
Ivankov was the first to slam the table. "I climbed out of a hell like God Valley."
"What could possibly be scarier than that?"
"I'm not scared either!" Ginny puffed out her little chest. "I'll find a way to get stronger. I won't hold everyone back anymore."
Kuma nodded, his meaning perfectly clear.
Moria crossed his arms and snorted. "I haven't fully developed the Shadow-Shadow Fruit's abilities yet."
"I have quite a bit of sailing experience. I can still be useful." Alice smiled.
Two-year-old Teach crawled out from beneath the table and poked out his little head.
"I'm hungry. When are we having the feast?"
Everyone froze, then burst into laughter.
As Lin Nuo watched them, the tense string in his heart gradually loosened.
"All right." He tossed the charcoal pencil onto the table.
"That's it for now. Meeting adjourned!"
He raised an arm and shouted.
"Let's have a feast—!!!"
"Whoooo—!!!"
Cheers nearly blew the roof off the cabin.
Noisy, chaotic, full of life.
Lin Nuo watched it all, the smile on his lips deepening.
However.
Amid the jubilant atmosphere—
A notification suddenly appeared before his eyes without warning.
A light screen unfolded before him, lines of text appearing one after another:
[Third choice unlock command received] [Activating basic system functions...] [Automatically claiming basic function unlock gift pack...] [Claim successful] [Drawing a weapon from the Supreme Grade Blade series for the host...] [Drawing...] Lin Nuo: "???"
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