Dragon's voice echoed through the hall. "We need Your Majesty and the strong fighters under your banner to draw the World Government's attention and create more room for us to operate. And you, Your Majesty, also need the Revolutionary Army's strength in the shadows—to share your burden and carve out a way to survive!"
Ronan listened in silence. He agreed with what Dragon was saying. The reason he'd refused Dragon's invitation before was because he didn't want to get strapped to the Revolutionary Army's war chariot too early—he wanted to develop quietly. But now, the situation was completely different. The World Government had already raised the butcher's knife over his head. If he still tried to resist alone, that would just be stupid.
Ronan knew exactly how strong the World Government was. Aside from top-tier combat power, they also had millions of soldiers from their affiliated nations. If that enormous force was truly mobilized against him, Ronan didn't think he'd have any chance at all.
Of course, working with the Revolutionary Army could greatly ease the pressure he was facing. What Ronan worried about, though, was whether the Revolutionary Army's current strength was enough to truly affect the World Government. After all, there were still many years before the "canon story" began, and the Revolutionary Army hadn't yet grown to the later scale it would reach.
"What exactly can you Revolutionaries help us with right now?" Ronan asked directly.
Hearing that, Dragon immediately said with confidence, "We can help you pin down part of the Marines' strength—at least one Admiral!"
"Fine." Whether it was true or not, Ronan felt there was nothing to lose by trying.
"Dragon-san, I accept your proposal."
"The Lulusia Kingdom is willing to cooperate with the Revolutionary Army and face the World Government's threat together."
Those simple words—"cooperate"—made Ronan's stance clear. Of course, on the surface they wouldn't make a big, loud show of it. Most of it would be help in the dark.
Only then did relief finally appear on Dragon's face. He knew that getting Ronan's agreement—especially at a critical moment like this—would be a huge boost to the Revolutionary Army's cause.
"Then… a good partnership, Ronan Heika," Dragon said solemnly. "I'll immediately notify our forces in the East Blue and the first half of the Grand Line to fully coordinate with your actions."
"As for specific contact methods and coordination plans, my subordinates will connect with your people," Ronan added.
Dragon nodded to show he understood.
He didn't linger. After reaching an initial cooperation agreement, Dragon's figure gradually disappeared into the side hall.
Enel, who had been watching from the side this whole time, couldn't help curling his lip. "Denka, are those skulking, face-hiding types really reliable?"
"Whether they're reliable or not, we'll only know after we use them. But right now, one more friend is better than one more enemy," Ronan said slowly. "And we do need someone to help us muddy this water."
He turned, his gaze sweeping across the room—Beth, Enel, and the others—before settling especially on Neferpitou.
"Pitou, how's your mastery of that Devil Fruit ability coming along?" Ronan's eyes moved to Neferpitou, seated behind Enel.
The fruit he meant was the one they'd searched off that group of dead Celestial Dragons. According to the surviving guards, it was one of the prizes from that Hunting Tournament: a Paramecia-type—the Float-Float Fruit. The fruit that had once belonged to the Golden Lion, Shiki. After Shiki's death, the World Government had apparently found it.
After obtaining the fruit, Ronan had almost immediately handed it to Neferpitou.
The reason was simple: the Float-Float Fruit's strategic value far exceeded its raw destructive power. Being able to freely manipulate islands—or even entire fleets—moving through the sky meant an unmatched level of mobility and, by extension, a kind of destructive potential that couldn't be compared.
As for why Ronan didn't eat it himself, the main reason was that he simply didn't like this fruit. And if Neferpitou ate it, she could bring out the fruit's power in a short amount of time. Because of Neferpitou's terrifying learning ability—something everyone had already witnessed. In the original Hunter x Hunter, she could learn Nen in an extremely short time and develop powerful techniques of her own. Giving the Float-Float Fruit to her was unquestionably the best choice to maximize its power.
When Neferpitou heard Ronan's question, her red eyes immediately lit up, and excitement spread across her face.
"Denka! It's completely fine now!" Her voice carried a delighted lilt, like she was eager to show off her favorite toy.
She extended a finger toward a stone-carved vase placed near the edge of the terrace. With no warning and without touching it, the heavy stone vase seemed to lose all weight in an instant, floating lightly into the air—about a meter off the ground—steady, perfectly suspended.
"See, Denka! I don't need to touch it at all anymore!" Neferpitou explained proudly. "At first I had to tap it, but now, as long as it's within my En's coverage, I can directly make them float!"
With a slight shift of her intent, the stone vase began performing various complicated movements in midair. It even circled Neferpitou once before landing precisely back where it started—without making a single sound.
This clearly surpassed Shiki's original pattern of needing physical contact to activate the effect. This was Neferpitou applying the Float-Float Fruit in combination with her Nen traits. And Neferpitou's En range was extremely wide. By the look of it, as long as it was within her sight, she could control it.
"It's not just small stuff!" Neferpitou wasn't satisfied yet. She immediately turned her gaze to a much larger target—a huge artificial rock in the garden farther away.
The next moment, under everyone's stunned stares, the connection between the base of that massive rock and the ground began to loosen. Then the entire boulder lifted smoothly into the air—more than ten meters off the ground. Hardly any dust fell from its surface, showing just how fine Neferpitou's control had become.
Then Neferpitou lightly drew her finger across the air.
"Whoosh—!"
The boulder instantly became a blurred gray streak, tearing through the air at an astonishing speed toward the sea outside the harbor. In only a few seconds, a heavy splash boomed from the distant water.
"See, Denka! Big ones work too, and it's not slow!" Neferpitou pulled her finger back.
"And I've tested it too—right now I can probably make more than ten warships like the Marines' outside float at the same time, or lift a few smaller islands into the sky! But if I try to lift an island that's too big, it gets a bit tiring, and it won't fly very fast."
"But if you give me time, I can easily control even more islands floating in the air—faster, too!" Pitou said confidently.
Only a few days. From first contact to using it this easily—plus combining Nen to push the fruit's ability even further. That learning speed and control were downright terrifying.
Even though Ronan had been mentally prepared, he still couldn't help marveling at Neferpitou's talent again.
"Good." Ronan nodded, not stingy with praise. "That ability suits you perfectly."
Then Ronan seemed to think of something and immediately asked, "What about Awakening—any clues?"
Devil Fruit Awakening was a higher expression of an ability—something that could affect things beyond the user's own body. But as for what the Float-Float Fruit's Awakening would even look like… Ronan truly couldn't imagine it.
Neferpitou shook her head, but her eyes stayed bright. "Not yet, Denka. That 'Awakening' you mentioned feels really hard to pin down. I can feel there's deeper power inside the fruit, but I still can't find a method."
She gestured with her claw. "My guess is I need to use it more, understand it more deeply… or maybe it needs some special emotion or state?"
Ronan wasn't surprised. Awakening was extremely difficult—it required both talent and opportunity. Neferpitou's learning ability was absurd, but she'd had the Float-Float Fruit for far too short a time.
"No matter." Ronan's tone was calm. "Awakening isn't urgent. Your current level of control is already enough to handle what's in front of us."
With Neferpitou controlling the Float-Float Fruit, Ronan now had more options in hand.
"Get ready, Pitou." Ronan's voice carried a chill. It was clear he was ready to put his plan into action.
"Constantly reacting to the World Government's retaliation—enough of that. This time, I'm going to give the World Government a big surprise."
At those words, everyone present reacted differently—but without exception, they all looked forward to the "surprise" Ronan promised.
And right at that time, the World Government announced new bounties to the entire world. This time, many new names were added—basically all of them core members of the Lulusia Kingdom.
The bounty amounts were shockingly high—the most extreme in years—and they instantly detonated global public opinion. Beneath the posters were relatively detailed descriptions.
Teresa
Bounty: 3,000,000,000 Berries
Assaulted World nobles, severely threatened World Government security. Possesses terrifying strength capable of matching the "World's Strongest Swordsman," Hawk-Eye Mihawk.
Beth and Alicia (two similar photos; identical bounties)
Bounty: 2,800,000,000 Berries
Assaulted World nobles. Possesses power capable of killing the Golden Lion.
Enel
Bounty: 3,000,000,000 Berries
Assaulted World nobles. Confronted Marine Admiral Kizaru head-on. Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit user.
Neferpitou
Bounty: 2,000,000,000 Berries
Assaulted World nobles. Behavior pattern is bizarre. Ability unknown and extremely dangerous. Possesses strength sufficient to easily defeat three Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals.
Tesoro
Bounty: 600,000,000 Berries
Assaulted World nobles. Can contend with Marine Vice Admirals. Gold-Gold Fruit user.
King of Lulusia Ronan
Bounty: 2,000,000,000 Berries
The Lulusia Kingdom openly rebels against the World Government, refuses to pay the Heavenly Tribute, incites the populace, and cruelly massacres World nobles. Extremely dangerous.
Gasparde
Bounty: 200,000,000 Berries
Former Marine traitor, now a key backbone of the Lulusia rebel forces. Soft-Candy Fruit user. Cruel by nature.
(End of Chapter)
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