Chapter 231: Collecting All the Poneglyphs
Alabasta.
A desert kingdom. When Luo Han passed through, he didn't make a big scene.
After sensing the Poneglyph hidden in the underground chamber with his spiritual perception, he roughly opened a hole and took the Poneglyph—one that recorded the location of Pluton.
No one nearby noticed. It wasn't until Luo Han had left that the palace guards discovered a massive hole had suddenly appeared. As they puzzled over it, the king arrived and ordered them away.
No one knew why a giant hole had appeared in the royal palace—only the king, upon reaching the hidden chamber and finding the Poneglyph gone, realized the seriousness of the situation. His expression instantly darkened.
Meanwhile—
After taking the Poneglyph, Luo Han headed straight for Sabaody Archipelago.
Three days later, at noon—
Luo Han, Ellis, and Aishi sat inside Sister Shao's bar, in the room suspended above the street.
By the large floor-to-ceiling windows, a bar counter and dining area faced opposite walls. Luo Han lounged on the sofa, snacks and juice on the table beside him, while Aishi and Sister Shao busied themselves behind the counter.
"Here, try my pan-seared steak." Sister Shao placed two plates in front of Luo Han and Ellis, then looked at Luo Han. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Ugh… No," Luo Han sighed and shook his head.
"Well, you better hurry then," she said after glancing at his slightly wearier face. With a gentle reminder, she returned to the bar.
"Mmm! Delicious," Ellis praised after taking a bite.
Luo Han cut into the steak and tasted it. "Yeah, not bad at all. Great job, Sister Shao." He gave her a thumbs-up and smiled confidently. "Once we return to the New World, I'll definitely find it!"
She looked up and smiled. "As long as you've got confidence."
With that, everyone fell into a rare, comfortable silence.
Moments later—
Pfft! Sister Shao suddenly laughed.
The three turned toward her, but she didn't explain. Instead, she asked, "You haven't seen Cole in four years, right?"
"Yeah!"
Luo Han looked surprised. "Something happen to him?"
Aishi stopped what she was doing, and Ellis also turned with curiosity.
"No, nothing bad," Sister Shao shook her head, then smiled mysteriously. "You'll see when you meet him."
"What the hell!" Luo Han rolled his eyes. "I hate it when people only tell half the story."
Hehe! Sister Shao giggled and said no more.
She recalled the look on her own face a few months ago when she visited Bot Island to buy pork and bumped into Cole. The shock had been something else.
Maybe letting Luo Han experience it firsthand would be more fun. Just imagining his reaction made her want to laugh again.
"Lonely women are scary," Luo Han muttered. He could mostly guess—something about Cole must've changed drastically.
As long as it wasn't life-threatening, he could accept anything. Even… a little Cole suddenly showing up? No way… He glanced at Sister Shao, tempted to ask, but in the end decided to wait for the surprise.
...
Soon, thanks to Aishi and Sister Shao's collaboration, a lavish meal was ready.
After eating—
Luo Han patted his stomach and stood up. "Aishi , Ellis, wait here with Sister Shao. I'm going to Fishman Island to retrieve a Poneglyph, then straight to Sky Island to collect all the gold."
He turned to Aishi with a smile. "I'll come back to pick you both up for the New World. You'll get more time with Sister Shao this way."
"You sure you can carry it all by yourself?" Ellis stood. "I can go with you."
"She's right. If there's too much, take Ellis with you," Aishi added.
"No need. I got it."
As he reached the door, he paused and grinned. "I trust Ellis to hold things down here."
Sister Shao glanced at Ellis—seems Luo Han now truly acknowledged her strength.
And what about Luo Han's own strength?
He was already gone.
It must have reached unimaginable levels by now. Sister Shao sighed in awe.
...
Fishman Island – Sea Forest
The two Poneglyphs were still there, untouched.
Luo Han took both without alerting anyone and loaded them onto the Penguin.
Then he rushed to Sky Island.
Sky Island –
When Luo Han arrived, Sanlong was training at the shrine.
"Lord Blue Demon!" Sanlong immediately knelt respectfully.
"I'm here to take all the gold. After this, Sky Island will no longer be of use to me, so there's no need for someone of your strength to stay behind."
Luo Han continued, "Finish up whatever you need to. You're coming back to the New World with me."
"Yes, Lord Blue Demon." Sanlong quickly departed.
Luo Han didn't care about his arrangements. He activated his telekinesis.
Rumble! A thunderous roar filled the air as all the gold detached from buildings and gathered into a single golden mountain.
Soon after, Sanlong returned.
"All done, Lord Blue Demon."
"Then let's go."
Luo Han led Sanlong and the golden mountain to the Penguin, then flew toward Sabaody Archipelago.
After two days of flight—
They reached the skies 10,000 meters above Sabaody.
Luo Han didn't descend. Instead, he called, "Ellis, bring Aishi up. I'm above you."
Below—
Inside Sister Shao's bar, the three women sat on the sofa.
Upon hearing Luo Han's voice, Ellis stood. "Shao, Luo Han's here—above us. We're leaving. I'll visit again soon."
She grabbed Aishi 's hand. "Let's go!"
"We're off, Big Sis!" Aishi added cheerfully. No tears this time—maybe she'd grown through experience.
"Mm." Sister Shao smiled, saying no more.
Outside, Ellis and Aishi rose into the air with a swirl of nature energy.
Sister Shao watched them for a while before heading back inside.
...
Ark Island –
After four years, the trio returned.
Splash, splash, splash! Luo Han dropped three Poneglyphs—one being the red Road Poneglyph—into the central lake.
"This way, Roger'll have to come to me if he wants to reach the final island."
He flew back to the small plaza atop the mountain. The golden mountain gleamed on a nearby peak.
The Penguin floated nearby.
As Luo Han landed, Ellis had just finished a call.
"You notified Cole and Akatsuki?"
"Yup. They'll arrive at Ark Island in about seven or eight days."
"That long?"
"You think everyone's like you? Your ship spends more time in the sky than on the sea," Ellis teased as she walked over. "So, how are you going to start?"
She was referring to Ark Island's transformation.
"Can Arman mangroves really survive here?" Luo Han still had doubts.
"They can!"
Ellis smiled. "Didn't I tell you before—you can't do it without me? Relocating Sabaody was only possible because you needed me to build your dream city of eternal light."
Ah! Luo Han remembered—she'd hinted at this long ago. He hadn't understood, and she'd eventually stopped bringing it up.
Well, better late than never.
"Haha!" Luo Han laughed, hugged her tight, and kissed her cheek. "I can't live without you—not your powers, but you."
"Then let's call Aishi too," Ellis suggested.
"Sure!" Luo Han nodded and called, "Aishi ! Aishi !"
"What?" she asked, appearing from the kitchen, still holding a fork.
"We're starting the transformation! You've got to witness it," Luo Han grinned, pulling her close. "Let's go!"
With a thought, he flew them toward the island's perimeter, leaving Sanlong behind with orders to guard the ship.
They stopped at 1,000 meters above the sea. From here, they could see the circular current around the island, which flowed outward.
Any ship entering it would eventually be pushed back out.
The current was not only fast—it was five kilometers wide. Vessels exiting it might not even realize they'd been expelled.
"Looks like we'll have to go fetch Cole and the others ourselves," Luo Han noted.
"Should we plant the trees outside the current or inside it?" Ellis asked. "Or in the current itself?"
"Inside," Luo Han replied. "The current is a natural barrier. Planting the islands outside defeats the purpose."
He smirked. "I actually want to reinforce it—to raise Ark Island's grandeur even more."
"Wait... you're planting islands?" Aishi blinked, only now realizing what "Ark Island transformation" meant.
"You've heard of Sabaody, right?"
"Yes!"
"Ellis got the Arman seed. With it, we can grow a Sabaody-like island here."
"Seriously?" Aishi lit up. "Then Big Sis can open a bar here! She'd love it!"
She was already imagining Sister Shao's future life on Ark Island. "Let's do it now!" she urged.
"Alright," Ellis chuckled. "Let's get started."
"Let's plant three islands on each side of Ark's main body, and one at each end—like a symmetrical ship shape," Luo Han suggested.
"Sounds good," Ellis agreed.
They rose to 5,000 meters, used the mountain peaks as reference, and marked six equidistant planting spots near the inner edge of the current.
At one chosen location, they descended.
"Aishi , watch from above. Ellis and I will handle the planting."
"Okay!"
Luo Han kept Aishi hovering while he and Ellis used a mental shield to dive underwater. The process mirrored planting her divine tree avatars.
Due to only having one seed, they had to repeat the process until they'd cultivated over ten.
One hour later—
A Sabaody-sized island appeared on the surface.
The trio began planting more around Ark Island.
Fortunately, Ellis had planted so many divine trees across the Four Seas that her stamina had significantly improved—enough to birth an entire Sabaody on command.
"If only she could control the plants too—it'd be like Wood Release!" Luo Han sighed wistfully.
...
Elsewhere—
At Luo Han's summons, Cole, Tucker, and Akatsuki led their pirate fleets and all subordinates toward Ark Island.
The major powers of the New World trembled. Some kings even abandoned their nations, hoping to return once the storm passed.
Meanwhile – Mariejois
Bang! The door burst open. A panicked intelligence officer dropped to one knee before the Five Elders.
"Five Elders!"
"Just now—news from the New World! The Beast Pirates, Green Demon Pirates, and Red Queen Pirates have all left their territories at the same time!"
"What?!"
"Do we know where they're headed?"
"Not yet," the officer said nervously. "But they clearly received a sudden, urgent summon—they left in a hurry with all their forces."
"Blue Demon!" the Five Elders exclaimed in unison.
"It's not confirmed," the officer added, "but Intelligence believes only Blue Demon could summon all three at once."
"It's him!" they said firmly. "He must be returning to the New World."
"Four years ago, Roger told us Blue Demon was spotted on Sky Island—gave us quite the scare."
"Then suddenly massive trees appeared across the Four Seas—that must've been Blue Demon and the woman with the Nature Spirit Fruit."
The blade-wielding elder frowned. "Now that he's back and summoning his people, what is he planning?"
The blond elder said grimly, "Whatever it is, we must stay vigilant. We must stop him from doing anything catastrophic."
He continued, "Roger said he looked around forty. That confirms the cursed fruit is working."
"With his body, he may look young, but once his true age passes forty, his strength will plummet."
"He has ten years left at best."
"We can't let our guard down in that time."
With that, the room fell silent. Then the bearded elder turned to the officer and ordered, "Notify Kong. Tell the navy to prepare for battle."
"Yes, Five Elders!"
The officer bowed and left.
(END CHAPTER)
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