Water 7.
"Anyway, before we buy a ship, let's go sell some of this gold we're carrying," Eden said to Nami and the others, scratching his hair.
Honestly, with the amount of gold they were currently carrying, they would probably have to visit several islands to sell it all. The cash reserves of a single island definitely wouldn't be enough.
"Selling it for money?"
The moment Nami heard this, she perked up, her eyes shining with the light of money as she spoke excitedly.
"When it comes to business, you should let me handle it!"
"If you guys go, you'll most likely get ripped off badly."
Nami decided to go with Eden to the island's jewelry store to sell the batch of gold, which could be considered ancient artifacts.
"I'm hungry," Natsu said, clutching his stomach, looking ready to go find some food.
"Aye~"
Happy, of course, needed no further explanation. The cheeky and gluttonous cat naturally planned to go with Natsu.
"In that case, the division of labor is clear."
"Eden and Nami will go to the jewelry store to sell the gold."
"Natsu and Happy will go to a restaurant on the island to eat first."
"Robin, Juvia, and I will go check out the shipyards in town."
Gray summarized everyone's intentions and arranged the tasks.
Hmm, if Gray weren't such a pervert, he'd actually be quite reliable.
"Let's do it."
And so, under Gray's arrangement, the group began their respective tasks.
First, the jewelry store.
"Boss, take a look at this gold. What do you think?!"
Eden summoned a small portion of the gold he had collected from Skypiea. Of course, he didn't summon the golden bell that was dozens of meters tall, nor its massive base inlaid with a Poneglyph; those things were far too conspicuous...
He only took out some smaller gold ornaments, along with gold armor, swords, and similar items.
"These have a lot of historical value, and the purity of the gold is very high. They can definitely sell for a good price..."
"But, as you know, I've never sold items like these before, so I'm not sure of their actual price..."
"Therefore, I can only offer you the price for ordinary gold jewelry! But please rest assured, I will definitely not let you lose out."
The owner looked at Eden and Nami's young faces, a flash of greed in his eyes. With a slight smile, he put on an act of looking out for them.
"BAM!"
Who would have thought that the moment the owner finished speaking...
Nami let out a cold laugh and slammed her long, fair, beautiful legs forcefully onto the jewelry store owner's desk.
The loud noise made everyone present turn to look, and the jewelry owner broke out in a cold sweat.
"Let me put it this way," Nami began.
"The man sitting next to me right now is a great pirate with a bounty of 1.8 billion issued by the World Government."
"He's known as the fifth Sea Emperor, 'Sea King' Eden."
Nami, acting like a villainess from some story, looked at the jewelry store owner with a contemptuous gaze, as if he was beneath her notice.
Then, Nami casually pulled out the World Government's latest bounty poster from her pocket, which the news coo had delivered to them that very morning...
The poster prominently featured Eden's face, and below it was the terrifying number of 18 followed by eight zeros.
"Huh?!"
"A great pirate with a bounty of 1.8 billion Berries?"
"A fifth Sea Emperor, on par with the 'Four Emperors' of the New World?"
The owner stared at the bounty poster Nami handed him, completely dumbfounded. His hands trembled uncontrollably, and his eyes were wide with shock.
"Big Bro!"
Just as the owner was frozen in a daze...
Nami suddenly turned her head to Eden, affectionately calling him "Big Bro."
"Hmm?!"
Eden was taken aback, wondering what kind of act Nami was putting on.
"What?"
"What did you say, Big Bro? Say that again?"
Eden had barely moved his lips and hadn't even spoken a word...
But Nami shot up from her seat and exclaimed dramatically, "You said that if these crooked merchants dare to rip you off, you'll wipe Water 7 off the map! Turn everything here to dust, just like you destroyed Mock Town yesterday?"
"That's not a good idea, Big Bro..."
"You know, when you destroyed Mock Town yesterday, the people living there were all vicious criminals."
"It didn't matter that the hundreds of thousands of people on that island died; they all had it coming."
Nami spoke with an exaggerated and serious expression, as if they had really killed hundreds of thousands of people the day before.
"But it's different here!"
"This is Water 7. The people living here are all good people who would never rip us off..."
As Nami said this, she suddenly turned her head to the owner, who was on the verge of tears from fear, and said coldly, "You don't think I'm wrong, do you? Our kind shopkeeper who would never rip us off~"
"D-Don't worry!"
"I definitely won't rip you off..."
The owner was completely terrified. As long as he could get these ancestors to leave, everything would be fine. How could he dare to think about making a profit?!
As for Nami's threats, how could he dare not believe them?
What did a bounty of 1.8 billion Berries even mean?
That was the kind of bounty you'd get for destroying several islands and slaughtering millions of people, right?
A little later.
"Hahaha..."
"After selling those gold antiques, we actually got a full 500 million Berries! It seems that jewelry owner really didn't take any profit at all," Nami said excitedly, carrying five black cases.
Then, Nami looked at Eden and said, "I've decided. I'm putting eighty percent of this into my private savings."
"Is that really a good idea?!" Eden said, his eye twitching in annoyance.
"Vworp~"
Then, with a soft snap of his fingers, Eden directly stored all five of Nami's cases into his personal space.
"How much gold do we have left?" Nami asked, not dwelling on the cases.
"If all our gold can be sold at the price we just got, and we manage to sell all of it, we could probably buy all the Four Emperor crews combined," Eden replied after a moment of thought.
"Huh?!"
Hearing this, Nami became incredibly excited. "How many billions of Berries is that?" she asked, shocked.
"Tens of billions, for sure," Eden estimated.
"Gulp~"
Nami couldn't help but swallow hard. Her mind was completely overwhelmed by the enormous number Eden had mentioned, and she was already lost in an ocean of money and happiness.
"Tens of billions~"
"Hehe, tens of billions~" Nami murmured blissfully.
"Eden, Nami, something's wrong!"
Just as Nami was fantasizing about swimming in an ocean of Berries in the near future...
She and Eden saw Gray and Juvia running towards them in a panic. "Robin... Robin is gone!" they shouted anxiously.
"Huh?"
"Robin's gone?!"
"They actually dared to make a move?"
Before Nami could say more...
Eden frowned, a look of disbelief in his eyes.
In truth, he knew that CP9 and Rob Lucci were on this island, but he hadn't paid them any mind.
Are you kidding me, man?!
We just took down Marine Headquarters Admiral 'Aokiji' Kuzan, and now you, Rob Lucci, are trying to act tough?!
Did you think the toilet of a 'Fifth Emperor' was also worth a scrub? Is that it?!
"We were just walking down the street with Robin..."
"Then, Robin seemed to see someone and was drawn away. After that, she just disappeared."
"Eden, do you know anything about this?" Gray asked, running a hand through his messy short hair.
"Sigh..."
"In any case, this is my fault!"
"I was too overconfident and forgot that Robin is the World Government's number one public enemy..."
"I thought that since we'd only be separated for a few minutes, nothing major would happen."
"Who could have known our enemies were so pervasive?!"
Eden first criticized himself, then said with a serious and determined expression, "The top priority now is to find that guy Natsu! And use his sense of smell, which is comparable to a..."
"I mean, his incredibly sensitive sense of smell, to find Robin's location."
Yes, times like these were when Natsu came in handy.
"You were about to say 'comparable to a dog's sense of smell,' right?"
"I get you. It's no big deal, you can just say it," Gray said, finishing Eden's sentence with a smirk.
"Speaking of which, where is Natsu now?" Nami asked the crucial question.
"That's easy to find."
The moment Nami finished speaking...
Eden, Gray, and Juvia all said in near-perfect unison.
"Uh..."
Nami was stunned for a moment, deeply impressed by their level of synchronization.
In front of a certain restaurant.
"This kid can really eat!"
"Yeah, yeah! He's eaten so much and he's still going. It's incredible..."
"I just can't understand how his small stomach can hold so much food!"
Countless diners were gathered around, watching and commenting. Following their gazes...
They saw a young man with short, cherry-pink hair, his belly as round as a barrel, stuffing food brought by the waiter into his mouth. It was as if he skipped the chewing process entirely, swallowing the food whole.
"Natsu, stop eating!"
"We have a mission."
Just as the young man with cherry-pink hair and a dragon-scale scarf was still clearing plates like a whirlwind...
Eden and the others suddenly emerged from the crowd and yanked Natsu up from his seat.
As for Nami, she was covering her face. As a newcomer to the Fairy Tail group, she still couldn't get used to such an embarrassing scene.
At the same time, Nami finally understood what Eden and Gray meant when they said Natsu was easy to find.
The answer was to simply go down the street asking random passersby: "Have you seen a glutton with cherry-pink hair...?"
Although Eden and Gray's method of questioning was unconventional, the effect was surprisingly good. The passersby they asked all gave them a response.
It was clear just how famous Natsu had become on this street for his eating ability.
"What happened?"
"Chew, chew..."
Natsu was currently being lifted from his seat by Eden with one hand, but his mouth was still working, chewing food continuously. He was trying his best to eat a little more.
"Robin's been kidnapped."
"I need you to help me find her," Eden said, looking at Natsu.
"Huh?!"
"Robin's gone?"
Natsu seemed not to have expected that Eden and the others were looking for him for such a serious matter.
This made Natsu's gaze sharpen. He digested the food in his stomach at a visibly rapid rate and said coldly, "Where did she disappear?"
"Gray, lead the way," Eden said to Gray after paying the owner.
"OK! Follow me..."
As Gray spoke, he ripped off his shirt and ran outside.
Eden and the others followed silently.
"Uh..."
After Eden's group left, the restaurant was filled with the still-baffled diners and owner. They looked at each other in confusion and said, "What should we be more shocked about? How the pink-haired kid turned his giant belly into a six-pack, or how fast the black-haired kid stripped?"
Elsewhere.
"She disappeared right here."
Gray had already led Natsu, Nami, Eden, and Juvia to the scene.
At the time, Gray and Juvia had only been distracted for a moment, and when they turned back, Robin was gone.
"Sniff~ Sniff~"
Natsu got on the ground and sniffed hard.
"Well, any results?" Eden asked, looking at Natsu.
"This way."
After a brief moment of thought, Natsu locked his gaze on a direction and started running quickly.
"Keep up."
Seeing this, Eden and the others followed closely behind Natsu.
After jogging through the streets of Water 7, the group finally arrived in front of a small, unremarkable-looking tavern.
"This is the place..." Natsu said, pushing the door open and walking in.
"Welcome~"
As the group entered the tavern, they were greeted by a burly man with his hair styled into horns. He was holding a glass in his left hand and a cloth in his right, gently wiping the glass.
"That's strange."
"She should be right here."
After entering the tavern, Natsu first pretended not to have found anything, walking around the empty room.
"Phew..."
The burly man with the horn-like hair breathed a sigh of relief, seemingly trying his best to hide something.
"Did you think I was going to say that?"
But in the next second, Natsu suddenly leaped onto the bar in front of the man and said with a cold smile, "You're the one who took Robin, aren't you?"
"Damn it, I've been exposed!"
The man's expression changed drastically, and he instinctively tried to run.
"Fire Dragon's..."
Unfortunately, Natsu's fist was faster than the man. Faced with the crimson magic circle and scorching flames, the man, after a brief moment of thought, stood his ground and shouted, "Tekkai!!"
"BOOM!!"
And then, there was no 'and then'...
Under Natsu's iron fist, the man was sent flying, crashing straight through the tavern's ceiling and soaring into the sky.
"Ugh..."
High in the sky...
The man coughed up blood, his eyes rolling back into his head. That damn Tekkai was completely useless.
"Robin's here."
Next, Natsu found a hidden door behind the bar and rescued Robin, who was tied up inside with Sea-Prism Stone.
"Vworp~"
Seeing this, Eden immediately unlocked the cuffs on Robin and asked her softly, "Robin, are you okay?!"
"I'm sorry, I should have stayed with you the whole time," Eden then apologized to Robin.
"No, it was my carelessness," Robin said, her eyes also filled with self-blame.
"That man told me he knew something about the Poneglyphs. I believed him and went with him without telling Gray and Juvia..."
"I didn't expect to be knocked out by a Sea-Prism Stone device, invented by Dr. Vegapunk, as soon as I got there."
Honestly, ever since Eden and the others had defeated Admiral 'Aokiji' Kuzan—who in her mind had always been nearly invincible—she had started to let her guard down, losing her former caution.
But Robin had forgotten.
While the enemy couldn't beat them with brute force, they could use softer tactics. The World Government had no shortage of resources, especially professional agents. They had to be careful of underhanded tricks like assassination, poisoning, infiltration, and disguise.
CP9 had certainly taught Eden's crew a lesson.
"Hey, hey, hey."
"Our comrade was bullied by the World Government."
"So, what should we do about it?!"
The reason Eden hadn't immediately gone after the CP9 agents he knew were hiding in Water 7 was that he was afraid of alerting them and causing unnecessary harm to Robin. After all, in the government's eyes, trading a few CP9 agents for Robin was more than worth it.
But now that they had rescued Robin, everything was resolved.
"Naturally, we pay them back a hundredfold!" Natsu declared.
"In that case... I have a great idea."
Eden decided that since these CP9 and World Government agents loved to play boring games like infiltration and kidnapping, they would play along.
And so...
Night fell.
"Strange."
"Did Blueno's mission succeed or not?"
"Or did something happen to him?"
Lucci's face was grim. He didn't dare send anyone to observe Eden's crew. These were people that even Kuzan couldn't handle; their keen Observation Haki could surely detect any malicious intent.
But the problem now was that ever since Blueno had informed them that he had captured Nico Robin, there had been no further contact, which made him extremely anxious.
"Buru buru buru..."
Just then, the Den Den Mushi Lucci carried with him rang.
"Click~"
After a moment's hesitation, Lucci answered the call.
"Lucci, what the hell took you so long to answer my call? Are you trying to die?!"
As soon as Lucci answered, Spandam's arrogant voice boomed from the Den Den Mushi.
"Tsk~"
Lucci's brow furrowed as he said in a low voice, "I'm already working hard on the mission! Nico Robin has been secured by Blueno."
"Then where is Blueno?" Spandam continued to ask.
"Blueno... is temporarily unreachable," Lucci said helplessly.
"Of course you can't reach him."
"Because Nico Robin is already here on Enies Lobby!"
As Lucci was thinking, Spandam's voice came through the Den Den Mushi again, his words trembling with fear.
"Huh?"
For a moment, Lucci was completely stunned. What did he just hear?
Robin was on Enies Lobby right now?!
"Spandam, hurry up!"
"I'm getting impatient..."
"Shout that line out loud!"
Just then, an incredibly malicious male voice came through the Den Den Mushi.
"Lucci!!"
"I want to live!!"
Spandam was heard holding the Den Den Mushi and shouting at the top of his lungs, "The entire island of Enies Lobby has been taken over by the 'Fifth Emperor' Eden! If you don't come save me, I'm going to be fed to a Sea King!"
"HUH?!"
Hearing this, Rob Lucci was completely dumbfounded. "What kind of joke are you playing?" he said in disbelief.
Meanwhile, on Enies Lobby.
From the main gate all the way to the final Gates of Justice, countless soldiers and agents lay unconscious on the ground.
Without a doubt, Enies Lobby—one of the World Government's three great institutions, as famous as Marine Headquarters Marineford and the great undersea prison Impel Down—had been completely conquered.
The ones who conquered it were none other than the crew of the fifth Sea Emperor, Eden.
"ROAR!!"
At that moment, Little Black was roaring outside Enies Lobby. He was coiled around the base of a tall tower, occasionally peering through the window of the top-floor room. His eyes, as large as small buildings, glowed with an eerie light, fixed on Spandam inside.
As for the room itself.
Eden, Nami, Robin, Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Juvia were sitting on Spandam's favorite sofa, smoking Spandam's favorite cigars, and drinking his favorite wine. They looked like a complete group of villains.
And as for Spandam, the director of CP9, he was currently bound tightly with ropes and Sea-Prism Stone. He lay at their feet like a stray dog, his eyes filled with utter despair.
So, why did he have to provoke these monsters?!
Was he really so blinded by the thought of 'promotion' that he thought capturing Robin would get him noticed by the higher-ups and promoted from CP9 to CP0?!
In short, less than a day after the vicious incident of ganging up on the active Marine Admiral 'Aokiji' Kuzan in Mock Town, Eden's crew had caused another major event that would shock the Marines and the World Government.