He had taken the bait.
Leo couldn't suppress a small, triumphant smile. The reason he hadn't started his "missionary work" earlier was because of Gloriosa. Perhaps it was due to their isolation, but the women of Amazon Lily were dangerously trusting. It was a trait shared by many of the island nations Luffy would eventually encounter—a pure, almost naive sincerity.
That was exactly why they needed protection. That was why men were banned. One silver-tongued devil could walk onto that island and trick half the population into leaving.
Hancock's mental walls were the strongest, but once breached, she was the most vulnerable of them all.
Gloriosa, however, was the kingdom's anchor. While the Empress was away on her "legal" raids, someone had to hold the nation together. By emphasizing the threat of the Navy and the importance of the home front, Leo had ensured that the old fox would stay behind.
With Gloriosa on the island, the ship was his.
Hancock rarely bothered with the day-to-day logistics of the crew, which left Leo as the de facto voice of authority. Without the Elder Nyon's constant scrutiny, he could spread his ideology among the elite warriors as he pleased.
The crew was lean—fewer than fifty women. But these weren't ordinary sailors. Every one of them was a Haki-user, a combatant capable of taking down pirates with bounties over 100 million. They carried a stash of Eternal Poses, including ones pointing to Alabasta and Water 7.
As the sails were furled and the two giant sea serpents submerged, the palace ship surged forward. Standing at the bow, Leo felt the exhilarating rush of wind and spray. He was finally on the Grand Line. Step two of his plan had begun.
And he had lied to everyone.
His true destination wasn't Alabasta. While the desert kingdom was a hotbed for revolution and the home base of Crocodile, it wasn't what he needed right now. He needed a weapon.
His real target was the stop after Alabasta: Skypiea.
High above the clouds lived a monster named Enel. If the man hadn't eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit yet, it would be the ultimate prize for Leo. Like Dragon's rumored wind powers, the ability to control lightning would allow Leo to be anywhere at any time. It provided the ultimate mobility, the ultimate surveillance, and a combat ceiling that rivaled the top tiers of the world.
And even if Enel had already consumed the fruit, Leo wasn't worried. At this stage, Enel was a big fish in a small pond. He had the "Mantra" (Observation Haki), but he lacked the combat experience of a seasoned pirate. Against an Empress who possessed all three types of Haki, the "God" of Skypiea would find himself very much mortal.
"When will I finally be strong?" Leo muttered, gripping the railing.
His short-cropped hair whipped in the gale. The ship was traveling at nearly thirty knots—roughly 55 kilometers per hour. On land, that was a brisk drive; on the sea, it felt like flying. The ship surged over massive swells, rising and falling like a roller coaster made of stone and wood.
It was a feeling no textbook could convey. Imagine a five-story building sprinting across the ocean—that was the Kuja flagship.
But the Grand Line quickly reminded him why it was called the Pirates' Graveyard. Less than twenty minutes after leaving the coastal waters, the sea exploded. A giant Sea King, shaped like a prehistoric flying fish and stretching over two hundred meters, breached the surface. It soared hundreds of meters into the air, raining gallons of seawater down on the deck like a localized storm.
Before Leo could even wipe the salt from his eyes, a second, even larger shadow rose from the depths. With a bone-crushing crunch, the larger monster bit the flying Sea King in half mid-air.
Blood and viscera rained down, soaking Leo from head to toe in a warm, copper-smelling deluge. He stood there, dripping with the lifeblood of a titan, looking out at the horizon.
Welcome to the Grand Line. It was beautiful, it was terrifying, and it was exactly where he needed to be.