"So annoying."
Before Sengoku finished speaking, Zephyr hung up and said happily, "If I could persuade that kid, I would have dragged him to Marine Headquarters a long time ago."
He turned and saw Ain looking a little worried, so he waved his hand casually. "Don't worry. That kid will be fine. Anyway, how many fleets can we form?"
"Ten fleets. With these ships and with Zephyr-sensei's belly."
After hearing Ian was okay, Ain relaxed and smiled. "We can maintain ten fleets, and we still have surplus funds. Also, we still haven't sold a large portion of the gold. But I don't recommend expanding any further; we don't have enough officers."
"What do you mean by my belly? This is the Castle-Castle Fruit's ability."
Zephyr scolded playfully, then sighed emotionally. "Ten fleets, huh~ that's faster than I expected. Hahaha, that gold was really an unexpected windfall!"
His eyes gleamed with mischief. "Sengoku probably thinks I can't even put together one fleet. I wonder what his face will look like when I show up in front of him with ten fleets and someone with the potential of a Marine's Admiral. Will he drop his jaw? Hahaha, I can't wait to see his expression!"
Hearing this, Ain and Binz couldn't hold back their grins.
Only they knew how much they had given up to follow their teacher, how much they endured, how much they carried, and how many people at Marine Headquarters were probably laughing at them.
But now, they no longer need to worry.
They definitely wouldn't go back in shame.
"Oh, and also—"
Zephyr suddenly slapped his forehead and looked at Ain. "We need to tell that kid the intel we found about the Ancient Town. Seriously, just giving us a name and saying something about raising bats, and he sends us out to find it. Does that kid even know how big the New World is?"
He snorted. "If Ain isn't satisfied later… don't blame me for bringing ten fleets to settle accounts with him, hahaha!"
Meanwhile, on the other side, unaware of any of this, Ian's group had arrived at Swallow Island.
Under Gini's arrangements, they took a rest.
Of course, except for Kuma, he didn't stay on the island. Shortly after arriving, he left excitedly on his own.
Now that he knew where Swallow Island was, he had to go pick up his daughter, Bonney.
The next morning, when the sun rose, Ian stepped out of the house and saw Kuma returning, with a large wooden house on his back.
Without hesitation, Ian glanced at the wooden house and smiled at Kuma.
"Let's go."
...
Trafalgar Law had been extremely irritated recently.
Although the businessman claiming to be investing in the North Blue from the West Blue really did pour a lot of money into Swallow Island, Law kept feeling that the guy named Gini absolutely had another motive, and... might even be targeting him.
Of course, he wasn't certain, but whenever he saw that guy occasionally staring at him, Law always felt that his suspicion was true.
But if it really was true, who was looking for him?
Could it be that he had already been discovered by the Donquixote Family? Or did the World Government find out that he had eaten that Devil Fruit?
"Law, I asked for a wrench, not a screwdriver."
While Law was worrying, a voice suddenly came from beside him, carrying helplessness. "Hurry up and give me the wrench."
"Sorry!"
Hearing that slightly aged voice, Law snapped back to his senses and looked apologetically at the old man working in front of him. "I was distracted, Wolf."
"I can tell."
Wolf didn't even raise his head and said while working, "You're worrying about that investor, right?"
Law: "...?!"
Law froze for a moment. "How did you know?"
"I'm not stupid."
Wolf curled his lip impatiently. "Anyone could see that guy is here for you."
"Then why did you still..."
"There's an idiot spending money on my research."
Before Law could finish, Wolf rolled his eyes and said, "You expect me to kick out such a big idiot customer?"
Law: "..."
"Don't worry. Even though I don't know what he wants, since he hasn't made a move on you yet, it means he's not here to kill you."
Wolf continued his work as he spoke. "If things go south, just take your Polar Tang with you and run. I've seen his ship. He definitely won't be able to catch on to you."
Hearing that, Law, who had been tense, finally relaxed inside. Right, even if he didn't know what that guy wanted, with the Polar Tang, he was confident he could slip away quietly.
Just as Law calmed down and continued helping Wolf, planning to keep pretending he didn't notice anything and see what that man was up to, suddenly… the door burst open.
Bang!
A kid wearing a Penguin hat rushed in and, upon seeing Law, shouted loudly: "Law, go and run! That guy brought people, hurry and escape! Shachi already led them somewhere else, but they will find out the truth soon!"
Law: "...?!"
Law's expression changed drastically. "Who did he bring? And where's Shachi? Damn it, how could you do something so reckless? If that dangerous person comes, none of us can escape! Penguin, hurry and tell me, what do those people look like?"
"I—I—I..."
Being grabbed by the shoulders, Penguin knew from Law's expression how serious the situation was, and his face twisted into a crying expression.
But because he was too nervous, he didn't know how to explain.
"Forget it. I'll go get Shachi. You take Wolf and get on the submarine."
Seeing Penguin like that, Law understood. He gritted his teeth. "Once I bring Shachi back, we will—"
Before he finished…
"Shachi? You mean that kid? Don't worry, we already brought him here."
That sudden voice instantly drew everyone's attention.
Law glared coldly at the five who walked in.
One was the investor from the past few days, and the other four... One tall man wearing a hat, one little kid who looked younger than them, one guy carrying an axe over his shoulder, and finally, Shachi, the one Law was worried about.
Although he didn't know who the three new people were, seeing that the dangerous person he feared wasn't here made Law relax slightly.
And after seeing Shachi unharmed, Law ignored him and lifted his head expressionlessly while looking at the man carrying the axe. "Gentlemen, we can't help you with anything."