After exploring the Sky Island for more than a week, Noah went back into the sea.
Instead of landing in the waters off Jaya Island, the Nautilus chose to land in the Gluttony Sea the Stomach Baron had been discovered earlier.
After being secretly modified, Gluttony Island is now home to a medium-sized ark that regularly visits Stomach Baron's Petal Island to harvest ingredients to increase the Sky Island's food reserves.
The Nautilus also underwent an upgrade in the past few days, including the addition of Cloud Dial and Breath Wind Dial to enhance its stealth and maneuverability.
As it descended from the sky, the Nautilus hull was entangled in fixed clouds to avoid being observed by passing ships or News Coo.
Kuro glanced at the Log Pose and immediately ordered, "Proceed at 42 degrees northeast."
"Received." The temporary crew members got to work, each performing their assigned tasks.
On the huge nautical chart in the cockpit, a magnetic four-pointed star is affixed to an island.
The island is marked " Stuka Island " on one side.
Stuka Island was Noah's destination on this trip.
This island is located on the second route of the Paradise, adjacent to St. Poplar Island.
Four days later, in the afternoon.
The Nautilus arrived in the waters near Stuka Island.
After storing the Nautilus, the disguised group used Ray's wormhole to dig a tunnel underground into Stuka Island.
The reason for such caution is that this island is the territory of Dahlia, the terrifying weapon, who is Devil Fruit User.
Noah originally intended to kill this guy in the New World, but unfortunately, there was Heat-Heat Fruit that was easier to use, which allowed him to escape.
However, the other party was brutally beaten by Katakuri of the Big Mom Pirates in the New World a few days ago and slipped away back to his lair in Paradise. This news was discovered by an intelligence agent in the Sabaody Archipelago.
Noah, of course, wouldn't let this opportunity slip by.
The entire Stuka Island has been transformed by Dahlia into a mechanical fortress, filled with numerous machine shops specializing in the production of munitions.
Judging from various intelligence reports, Dahlia's development of the Arms-Arms Fruit is not bad; at least he's not as useless as Baby-5.
After procuring various weapons through the Underworld, Dahlia used them to imitate and improve them. His Devil Fruit User allowed him to quickly understand the structure and working principles of various weapons.
This is why Dahlia is known as a terrifying weapon.
The development of weapons in the world of One Piece is extremely bizarre. Some places are still using flintlock pistols, while others are already using submachine guns and rocket launchers, and some are even using laser cannons.
Queen, Judge, Caesar, and others who were once in the same organization as Vegapunk developed a whole host of weapons, many of which ended up on the black market.
For example, the rocket launcher dogs that Barak Studio later possessed were most likely developed and manufactured by Vegapunk and others.
Dahlia collected a great many powerful weapons, which greatly enhanced his abilities.
Moreover, according to intelligence from the Underworld, Dahlia is not alone; he has a Skeleton Legion recruited from the Endless War Kingdom (the country where Bullet was born), and three capable subordinates.
The reason Noah and his group did not enter Stuka Island head-on was because one of Dahlia's subordinates was a Paramecia Devil Fruit User named Shiru, whose ability was the same as Foxy the Silver Fox's Slow-Slow Fruit later on.
This fruit's ability can emit a special Noro Noro Beam; anyone or anything hit by it will instantly enter a slowed-down state for 30 seconds.
For a weakling like Foxy, this fruit naturally has no effect, but on Dahlia's subordinates, combined with Dahlia's relentless bombardment, it can wipe out the enemy in seconds.
A 30-second delay is simply too fatal.
Noah didn't want to be hit by that kind of power.
After infiltrating Stuka Island, Noah immediately summoned Shiki and had him use his abilities to take control of the entire Stuka Island, but he did not make the island float for the time being.
This time, Noah is going to take on a Shichibukai, so he naturally won't use his previous disguise. Instead, he plans to bring " Golden Lion " back into the fray, and Noah can conveniently disguise himself as Golden Lion's subordinate to avoid any potential exposure issues.
Considering the characteristics of the Steel-Steel Fruit, he only intends to use the power of the Mushroom-Mushroom Fruit this time, and Ray and Kuro will also try to avoid taking action.
However, Daz and Robin, who haven't appeared yet, can still take action.
Through the underground tunnel dug by Ray, the group arrived directly beneath the mechanical castle where Dahlia and his men lived.
However, Noah did not act immediately, but waited for nightfall.
Until late at night.
Noah's Observation Haki, combined with electromagnetic waves, quickly locked onto the presence of living beings within the castle.
"Found it..."
After sharing the detection information via electromagnetic waves, Shiki revealed a sly smile. He picked up several pairs of Seastone Handcuffs and Cloud Dial containing Seastone clouds, activated his Float-Float Fruit ability, and manipulated Iron Sand to hold the Seastone Handcuffs and Cloud Dial.
Soon, the rocks above parted to the sides under the control of the Float-Float Fruit's power, revealing a small passage leading directly to Shiru's room.
While sleeping in his room, Shiru suddenly sensed a sense of danger through his Observation Haki, and he instantly woke up.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
The Float-Float Fruit is incredibly convenient for dealing with enemies trapped in confined spaces.
The next moment, the walls and ceiling from all sides pressed in on Sith.
Shiru immediately activated her ability on the wall. " Noro Noro Beam!"
However, he did not notice that a small hole had appeared in the floor of the room, spewing Seastone clouds into the room.
Soon after, Shiru felt his body weaken. "What's wrong?"
As he inhaled more Seastone Cloud, his body grew increasingly weak, and the effect of the Noro Noro Beam finally wore off. He couldn't administer another dose and could only watch helplessly as Iron Sand handcuffed his hands with Seastone Handcuffs.
Shiru capture complete!
Wood, a Zoan user in another room, was encased in the wall and handcuffed.
Dahlia was the only one left with abilities in the entire castle.
At this moment, Dahlia also sensed that something was wrong.
However, in the confined environment of a castle, he was destined to fail.
Noah's Conqueror's Haki directly impacted and pressured Dalia, Float-Float Fruit manipulated the surrounding walls and steel plates to compress them. Dahlia was only stunned for a fraction of a second, which caused him to inhale a large amount of Seastone, and then he fell into a vicious cycle.
In less than ten seconds, Dahlia was handcuffed with Seastone Handcuffs like a dead dog, her body bound by iron sand.
As for the others in the castle, they were almost instantly immobilized by objects controlled by the Float-Float Fruit, awaiting Mary's scrutiny.
Those outside the castle were unaware that Dahlia and the core leadership had been completely wiped out.
As for communication via Den Den Mushi, Noah also possesses the ability to interfere with electromagnetic waves, although its coverage is not as wide as Joshua's, but it is still easy to block a castle.
Seeing that things were going so smoothly, Noah didn't need to use his backup plan.
Even the card that Shiki doesn't need to be revealed.
This is understandable, since Dahlia wasn't among the later Shichibukai, clearly dying prematurely, indicating his strength was quite ordinary.
Noah originally planned to kill Doria in the name of the Golden Lion and then empty the entire Stuka Island.
The plan needs to be revised now. After all, compared to the industrial equipment and weaponry of Stuka Island, it would be more valuable to place one of our own people among the Shichibukai.