Everything is up to you

Old Tom made up his mind. He would devote these old bones of his to the future of Water 7, the city this lord had entrusted with his hopes!

Unexpectedly, the Monkey Mountain United Army failed to disband.

With Iceburg joining them, the organization changed its name to the "Monkey Mountain Brotherhood."

"Iceburg! Now we've got a mountain too. Is there any name more fitting than the Monkey Mountain Brotherhood?" Mont Blanc and Old Tom roared with laughter.

Since the funds used to buy out every shipyard on the seven islands came from Mont Blanc's gold, everyone was now pulling together. The Monkey Mountain United Army, which had spent so long wandering abroad, finally had a home of its own and wholeheartedly supported the plan.

Mont Blanc said, "We're outsiders. Everything is up to you."

Iceburg's eyebrows kept twitching. That sounded fine, but who would have expected his partners to be Shoujou and Masira? Still, with so many underlings suddenly at his disposal, he really could throw his weight around on the islands.

Over the following days, Iceburg began buying out all the shipyards in Water 7. With Old Tom's excellent reputation, ample funding, and the threat revealed by the hydrological report—that the islands would be completely submerged within twenty years—every shipyard began giving serious thought to its future. Some planned to take the money and give up, while others intended to stake their futures alongside them out of pride as shipwrights.

Miming ordered the Marines aboard the Twenty-Thousand-Li Sunny to maintain order on the islands and issued a letter appointing Old Tom "mayor of Water 7."

Before this, the seven islands had each governed themselves, and the mayor appointed by the World Government had barely made his presence felt. But as soon as the appointment arrived, the man abandoned