Noah and his group defeated three Shichibukai in succession, and more than three months passed.
It was now July of the year 1510 in the Sea Circle Calendar.
More than three months have passed since Sakazuki destroyed the node island.
During this period, the Sky Empire remained quiet.
However, the Navy and the World Government soon stopped laughing.
Because Shiki expanded the Sky Province three times in size at once, directly moving the Fusang Province and the Gale Province to the Cumuloregalis Cloud that had been prepared in advance for the Sky Province.
At the same time, the Rainbow Province was quickly moved to the vicinity of the Baku Province in the North Blue.
This resulted in the Sky Empire having only the Torrent Province remaining in the New World's seas. However, Torrent Province was also reinforced and rebuilt, making it strong enough to withstand major earthquakes and tsunamis.
Once these things are done.
The Sky Empire launched a swift attack, conquering six Affiliated Nation and five non- Affiliated Nation in less than a week.
The Navy's previously high-sounding Mutual Destruction Plan has failed to demonstrate its intended deterrent effect. Instead, it has now forced the Navy to deploy a large force to defend Hell Valley Island in order to prevent the destruction of this last ley line node.
The North Blue region was thrown into chaos once again.
The island nation that gained access to the Sky Empire's controlled territory was already crying out for help, Affiliated Nation immediately begged the World Government for military assistance, while non- Affiliated Nation quickly banded together for mutual support.
Doflamingo, who had previously been too afraid to enter the New World, was now almost numb.
He had originally planned to restart his plan to seize the country, but the Sky Empire's invasion of the North Blue led the Navy to implement a " Mutual Destruction Plan, forcing him to abandon his plan.
After all, the Dressrosa Kingdom is in the New World. If the Mutual Destruction Plan is forced to be launched, then the fruits of his hard work in stealing will be reduced to ashes along with the New World.
Now things are even worse. The Sky Empire is invading the North Blue without any restraint, and soon he won't even be able to protect his home base.
Even if the Sky Empire's large-scale invasion is stopped by the navy, the navy's power in the North Blue will expand accordingly. At that time, what chance will his Donquixote Family have?
In other words, regardless of whether the Sky Empire controls the entire North Blue, it will be difficult for his Donquixote Family to survive in the North Blue.
After weighing the pros and cons, Doflamingo had no choice but to suppress his heartache and abandon his base in the North Blue, instead heading to the West Blue to develop his career.
As for staying, don't be ridiculous.
Doflamingo isn't stupid; staying here now would only make him cannon fodder.
If the Navy or the World Government and the Sky Empire go to war, they will definitely recruit him, one of the Shichibukai. He had witnessed the Den Den Den Mushi Shiki Red-Haired Shanks. The terrifying strength of Shiki and the Sky Empire was simply beyond his ability to contend with.
Therefore, before the World Government could make a decision, Doflamingo quickly packed up his family's treasure and, with his elite members, fled towards the West Blue.
He never imagined that this decision would save his life.
If he stays in the North Blue, Noah and his party will soon head North Blue.
Now that Doflamingo has left the North Blue with his subordinates, Noah is in a difficult position to make a move along the way, because CP Agent, the Navy's SWORD, the Revolutionary Army, and underground giants will all be secretly watching.
After all, Doflamingo and his group will definitely be on high alert while on the run, making it extremely difficult to subdue them silently.
Therefore, as soon as Noah received this news, he abandoned his idea of taking action midway.
However, Doflamingo and the Donquixote Family cannot escape; once they enter the West Blue, they will essentially be lambs to the slaughter.
Noah and his group secretly entered the North Blue.
They appeared in the very homeland of Liar Rolando – the Kingdom of Rubenir.
In the harbor, more than a dozen luxurious large sailing ships were gathered together.
A large number of horse-drawn carts brought over wooden crates, and the dockworkers worked hard to carry the crates onto the ships.
Meanwhile, dozens of richly dressed nobles were on the deck, gesturing wildly, roaring, or bowing their heads and wiping away tears.
Clearly, the Sky Empire's ruthless massacre of those nobles had terrified them, and they were now planning to flee the North Blue and seek refuge in other seas.
In a private room on the second floor of a restaurant by the harbor, Noah suddenly raised an eyebrow. "I didn't expect such a pleasant surprise."
He then borrowed Moria's power.
He took two wax Devil Fruit Devil Fruit from the Secret Treasure Vault, then summoned his shadow, which swallowed the models whole. The shadow then disappeared into the surrounding shadows as a black line.
A few minutes later.
The shadow reappeared in the private room.
Immediately afterwards, the shadow spat out two Devil Fruit from its mouth.
One of them was a pure white mulberry-shaped Devil Fruit with a translucent, granular texture on its surface.
The other is a blood-red passion fruit-shaped Devil Fruit with white circles on its surface.
Lilith glanced at the characteristics of the two fruits and quickly recognized their names: "They're the Logia Salt-Salt Fruit and the Paramecia Blood-Blood Fruit!"
"Not bad, at least the combat strength of two Admiral Candidate." Ray also estimated the potential of the two fruits.
Noah put the two fruits away.
After spending a day in the Lvneel Kingdom, instead of heading to the next destination immediately, they used a wormhole to jump to the Rum Kingdom in the East Blue.
Inside the underground base of the royal palace in Rum City.
Noah met his Uncle Joseph, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
After chatting about everyday things, Noah revealed the purpose of his return. "Uncle, your strength has reached a bottleneck. I've come back to help you solve this problem."
"Oh?" Uncle Joseph looked surprised. "Has Andy developed a new drug?"
Noah shook his head. "No, the medication is no longer having much effect on your body."
After all, as a core member of the family, Joseph naturally enjoyed the best medicine, but his physical potential had reached its limit. With the Silverback Gorilla Fruit and the continuous infusion of life force, Uncle Joseph's strength still stopped at the level of Elite Vice Admiral.
Clearly, as a regular Zoan Silverback Gorilla Fruit has reached its limit in terms of potential. Uncle Joseph has almost no chance of Awakening Conqueror's Haki, and he also lacks swordsmanship and spearmanship skills. Therefore, his strength has stagnated for more than three years.
"Then how do we solve this?" Uncle Joseph asked, looking puzzled.
Noah released a prisoner whose prefrontal cortex had been removed from the cards, then took out the Blood-Blood Fruit and stuffed it into the prisoner's mouth, before transforming the prisoner into Minor Arcana Apostle.
After doing all this, Noah turned to Uncle Joseph and asked, "Uncle Joseph, would you be willing to sell me the Silverback Gorilla Fruit?"
Uncle Joseph wasn't stupid; he immediately understood Noah's idea and replied, "I agree to the sale, in exchange for one Blood-Blood Fruit."
Exchange complete!
In an instant, the Blood-Blood Fruit information entity within the Apostle's body detached and rushed towards Uncle Joseph's body.
Meanwhile, the Silverback Gorilla Fruit information entity within Uncle Joseph's body also detached and rushed towards the Apostle's body.
After a while, Uncle Joseph opened his eyes. A clump of blood appeared on his palm, indicating that the exchange had been successful.
The Paramecia Blood-Blood Fruit is a special type of Devil Fruit. Its ability is to control, absorb, and create blood, but the body cannot be transformed into blood (i. e., it is not a Paramecia-type human).
This fruit and the Vampire Fruit each have their own merits. The Vampire Fruit cannot create blood, but it has a mythical beast form; while the Blood-Blood Fruit can create blood, but it does not have a mythical beast form.
In terms of other functions, the Blood-Blood Fruit is superior to the Vampire Fruit in terms of blood control. The Blood-Blood Fruit can even attract the blood of other creatures from a distance; it can also use the blood of other creatures to restore physical strength and vitality.
Uncle Joseph felt changes in his body.
A large portion of the life-saving drugs he had previously injected still remained hidden within his body, but now he could finally mobilize that life force.
When using Life Return, one can have a deeper control and adjustment over the body.
Noah also sensed that Uncle Joseph's aura was boiling, a change indicating an increase in his life force.