The Navy forces Zephyr brought were quite efficient. In less than a day, they had rescued quite a few natives from other pirate territories.
These civilians were now being protected within the Navy's controlled area. Their safety was barely guaranteed. However, the Navy's arrival had clearly brought changes to the already delicate situation on this island.
That it hadn't erupted into conflict yet was mainly because the pirates weren't united. Sometimes, conflicts between pirates were even more brutal than those between pirates and the Navy.
And the pirates on the island simply didn't have the capital to provoke the Navy.
Ordinary pirates went without saying—even someone like Katakuri, bearing the flag of a major pirate, wasn't enough to face the Navy. As long as Charlotte Linlin didn't personally arrive, he had no qualification to confront the Navy.
Zephyr wouldn't spare her sons just because Charlotte Linlin was troublesome to deal with. If that woman really planned to attack Navy Headquarters to save her sons, the outcome wouldn't be much better than Whitebeard's in the future.
Given her relatively heartless nature, she might barely manage to escape on her own. But rescuing anyone would be nothing but a fantasy.
"We need to find time to get these civilians out," Zephyr said. He didn't plan to keep them here. Even in their own controlled territory, one hundred percent safety couldn't be guaranteed.
If the balance on the island was broken, the Navy would certainly become a target.
At that point, protecting these civilians would become difficult.
"Kulika, take these people and leave. Head north. Vice Admiral Garp will be there to meet you," Zephyr ordered.
"G-Garp-san..." The colonel's face openly showed admiration upon hearing Garp's name. It seemed the title "Hero of the Navy" had surpassed even that of Navy Admiral in some people's hearts.
Especially in this era. Although the God Valley War had been intentionally covered up by the World Government, many Navy officers had lived through that battle. Unlike Navy recruits decades later, who thought Garp was called a hero just because he constantly chased the Pirate King Roger.
"Mm, that was agreed from the start. That guy will have a fleet standing by, ready to support at any time," Zephyr nodded. Considering this incident might eventually evolve into a massive war, the Navy naturally wouldn't send only Zephyr.
In fact, this operation had mobilized two Admirals and multiple Vice Admirals—and one of those Vice Admirals was named Garp.
Compared to that lineup, the so-called terrifying Buster Call was really nothing special.
"I just hope it doesn't turn into a situation like the God Valley War," Zephyr sighed. Remembering the casualties from that battle still made his heart race. But the impact of this incident certainly wouldn't match that one. After all, back then, it had involved the Celestial Dragons.
'The Celestial Dragons...'
Thinking of those parasites, he could only sigh helplessly.
Hati Island.
Ren brought Moli to this island that had been reduced to ruins.
This was a winter island. But visible to the naked eye, the ice mountains on the island looked as if they had collapsed—as if a terribly fierce battle had taken place.
It was just as the rumors said: Captain John had fought his own crew and died at their hands.
But some traces were made too obviously, which actually revealed the flaws.
Just relying on Captain John's worthless subordinates, there was no way they could have created such a devastating scene.
The wind and snow on the island were extremely strong. But neither Ren nor Moli feared the cold. Only Philacy, whom Moli had brought along, kept burrowing into Moli's arms despite having been given plenty of extra clothing—she was still freezing.
Then again, that area had plenty of padding—it was indeed warm.
Originally, Moli hadn't wanted to bring her along, but the girl was too clingy. And leaving her alone would certainly make her afraid. Ren suspected Moli might have been thinking of adopting Philacy.
He had no objection to this. Inazuma was prosperous enough to afford feeding one more person. And this little girl was decent-looking. Bringing her back to interact with Buggy and Enel might help one of them settle an important life matter.
'As long as it doesn't turn into a love triangle...'
Ren thought silently.
"Lord Ren, why did we come here?" Moli's hair was already covered with snowflakes. There wasn't a single person on Hati Island right now—everyone had gathered on Skoll Island.
However, if the intelligence Red Count had given him was true, then the "Wolf's Eye" on Hati Island was also a passage to the underground caverns.
That was why Ren had come here to check the situation.
But upon arriving, he discovered that the lake on this island had long been frozen by the extremely low temperatures. The ice beneath his feet had accumulated for who knows how many years—harder than steel.
"No wonder no one is gathering on this island."
But the ice layer wasn't really a problem for him. Ren didn't make any movement, yet the space behind him began to distort.
Philacy stared in amazement as the twisted space behind Ren formed a vortex, then slowly transformed into a massive circle resembling a starry dreamscape.
Moli knew this was the power of the Door-Door Fruit.
When no one else was around, Ren naturally didn't need to maintain the Full Synchronization of Okami no Mikoto's soul. Actually, the distance between Skoll Island and Hati Island wasn't particularly close. They had been able to come here thanks to Ren using the Door-Door Fruit's power to open a "Senkaimon."
The so-called Senkaimon actually worked on the same principle as a portal. Ren had simply changed the door's appearance to match the Senkaimon from Bleach, so he used that name.
And now, the twisted space was another type of door.
Or rather, while this fruit was called the Door-Door Fruit, it possessed not just the concept of "doors," but also the space behind those doors.
In the state of Full Synchronization with the Door Soul, Ren could freely create and open subspace.
Using this ability, he had created Enkanomiya in the inland sea of Wano, as well as a realm belonging solely to him—the Plane of Euthymia!
Especially, the Plane of Euthymia ability had brought Ren quite a surprise.
Back to the matter at hand. After Ren opened a subspace, a massive roar came from within the dark space, as if some monster was moving!
The sound made Philacy shrink back in fear.
"Are we using the Ruin Serpent?" Moli's eyes lit up.
[
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