"This is your ship?"
"Yeah, not bad, right?"
They had arrived at Danaan's command bridge.
Momousagi was utterly dumbfounded.
After all, the sheer number of screens—large and small—covering the entire room, all with full visual interfaces, was simply overwhelming to her.
"Captain, we've descended to 1,000 meters. Estimated arrival at Rhodes Island in 57 hours!"
"Got it."
After the bridge crew gave their report, Luo Lan nodded slightly.
"Tsk tsk, 57 hours?"
"I don't know how you managed to move an entire mid-sized island, but placing Rhodes Island in the first half of the Grand Line… isn't that a bit too bold?"
Standing to the side, Momousagi clicked her tongue and exaggeratedly voiced her thoughts.
From her perspective, given the location of Jaya Island, there was no way they could leave Paradise in just 57 hours. Which meant that Rhodes Island had to be within Paradise (Grand Line).
Now, you could argue there's nothing wrong with that assumption—but that would also mean something is very wrong.
Luo Lan only responded with a faint smirk and didn't bother to argue.
"By the way, about Doflamingo… did you bring the files?"
"Here you go."
Momousagi didn't fuss. She directly handed over a file, something Tsuru had sent her with.
Luo Lan opened it and began reading seriously—soon, a strange expression crossed his face.
"These two… how the hell did they end up working together?"
"Headquarters believes Blackbeard might have aligned himself with Doflamingo."
"Aligned? Are you guys underestimating Blackbeard? Compared to him, Doflamingo is nothing more than a slightly buffed-up insect. That's it."
"You're exaggerating..."
Momousagi clearly didn't agree with his take, but Luo Lan didn't push the topic further and kept reading.
Huh?
Caesar was rescued too?
And... there was contact with Kaido?
So, is this what they call convergence of the timeline?
Even with so many changes, the final outcome still seems to drift toward the original path?
Thatch still ended up dead.
Marco is scouring the world hunting Blackbeard.
Caesar escaped the prison ship and linked up with Doflamingo.
And now, Doflamingo is starting to contact Kaido...
How familiar.
Aside from Blackbeard's unpredictable actions, everything else was playing out like the old script.
If that's the case, then Doflamingo, Blackbeard, and Caesar are most likely hiding in...
Sigh...
Luo Lan let out a quiet sigh as he finished going through the intel.
That place...
That's going to be a problem.
Forget the rest—for his fleet, just getting there was a massive logistical headache.
The New World wasn't like Paradise.
There was no direct route into it from the East Blue or the Calm Belts.
You either had to go through Fishman Island via the seabed route—or use the World Government's official passage.
The latter was off the table.
The former? Equally troublesome.
They'd have to first move the entire Jun Lin fleet to Sabaody Archipelago and get it coated.
And that place...
Was practically under the World Government's nose.
Luo Lan felt a headache coming on.
---
Two days later.
Danaan slowly pulled into the military harbor of Rhodes Island.
As the hatch opened, Momousagi was the first to climb out.
She immediately began surveying her surroundings—and a stunned look spread across her face.
This...
Where was this?
"Don't bother looking, Sister Gion. I already told you—on the way here you couldn't figure it out, and now that we've arrived, you still won't be able to tell."
Seeing her expression, Luo Lan chuckled knowingly.
"This is Rhodes Island?"
"Yep. This is a fully enclosed port on Rhodes Island."
"Fully enclosed?"
"Mhm. We hollowed out an entire mountain. From the outside, even if someone passed by, they wouldn't see the port."
"...You hollowed out an entire mountain? You really don't do things halfway, do you?"
Momousagi twitched.
She was familiar with Rhodes Island's topography.
The western side was one long mountain range, and its seaward edge was a cliff hundreds of meters tall.
So this place...
They were inside those mountains?
He'd hollowed out an entire mountain range to build a port inside it.
If that wasn't excessive, what was?
Her eyes soon fell on several warships docked inside the harbor.
"These ships..."
"Built from steel?"
Momousagi was stunned.
Back during the volcanic island incident, she'd seen the bombing raids from afar—but she hadn't seen the ships themselves. They'd been stationed well beyond the visible horizon.
Now, she finally understood.
Those dozens of sailboats that were obliterated in moments…
This was what destroyed them.
She also noticed the sheer scale of operations here—this single port had over a thousand staff and hundreds of Jun Lin soldiers.
This guy...
Just how many people did he have under his command?
"Alright, take me to your headquarters. Let's see what you've got."
Momousagi took a deep breath, trying to steady her emotions, and spoke flatly.
"Sure, this way."
Luo Lan didn't dawdle and began leading the way.
---
If the port had shocked Momousagi—
Then what awaited her next...
Was nothing short of terrifying.
This wasn't just a base.
It was practically a town.
And it looked nothing like anything from this world—completely alien to the architectural style of the seas.
At the center stood a fifteen-story building made entirely of glass.
It practically blinded her.
What truly unsettled her, though, was the population.
There were tens of thousands of people living here.
As they walked through the streets, Momousagi quickly formed a rough understanding.
Luo Lan's personnel could be divided into three major groups.
The first group wore white lab coats. Scientists or doctors, most likely—not unusual. The Marines had science units too.
But the number was insane.
She'd seen dozens just while walking. And that was just those out on the streets. Who knew how many were working inside the buildings?
Even the entire Marine science division didn't have this many scientists!
The second group wore yellow work uniforms. While there were detailed variations, they clearly formed one broad category.
Momousagi wasn't sure what they did.
But the third group—ah, that one she recognized instantly.
Soldiers wearing Jun Lin uniforms.
"Luo Lan, just how many people do you have under you?"
"Not that many. Just over ten thousand."
"Just over ten thousand?"
Momousagi rolled her eyes.
Most standard Marine branches barely had a few dozen people. Even the G-branches—except for the two in the New World—usually had just hundreds to a thousand.
Ten thousand?
You call that not many?
And even more outrageous...
Her Observation Haki told her clearly—most of these Jun Lin soldiers were far stronger than average Marines.
Vastly stronger.
The majority had doriki over 300.
And many even exceeded 500.
Absurd.
Completely absurd.
---
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