Ignis had returned to the Kronos Kingdom.
He had handed Vegapunk's brain over to the Paros Auction House.
As the brain of a Brain-Brain Fruit user, it was bound to interest plenty of factions.
Even the Kronos Kingdom wanted to examine it and see how a brain enhanced by a Devil Fruit differed from an ordinary one.
If the research led to something that could boost intelligence, it would be priceless.
For now, his first priority was settling the scientists he had recruited.
NESTS' headquarters, Sky Base, was still under construction. It would take another year or so to finish.
Unlike Paros Island and the Sky Arena, the Kronos Kingdom would not devote much effort to building the headquarters Ignis wanted.
That also had to do with how far Ignis had come in building his organization. He still had only a handful of people. What use would such a huge base be?
So far, NESTS had grown to more than fifty members. Progress was slow, but they had strength and potential.
The organization currently had two bases: one on Paros Island and another on a deserted island beside the Kronos Kingdom.
This group consisted of two top scientists and thirteen other researchers, fifteen people in all.
After they reached the Kronos Kingdom, Misty took them to the deserted island.
It was called a deserted island, but quite a few people already lived there.
Misty's trading company had grown. With funding from Ignis and the backing of the Kronos Kingdom, it operated across the New World and the North Blue.
It had also acquired a number of businesses.
Over the past year and more, Ignis had secretly brought several small factions under his control. He helped them grow, expanding his own influence in turn.
Through the trading company, Ignis had recruited