The process of going over the Red Line went smoothly, but it was a little slow.
But that makes sense, since it was just one of many dam elevators on the Red Line, with less than a hundred people working there regularly.
Having to take care of four big ships at once, those people were really a bit too busy.
But that was just a problem with not enough people. The World Government leaders agreed with the Four Seas Alliance's actions this time, so the paperwork went through with almost no problems.
...
"Hehehehe, this is really interesting."
Crocodile leaned against the mast, and said with a dark smile, "A bold 'excuse', and the World Government can't say anything back."
Rowan played with the sand in his fingertips, and nodded with a smile, "So, you can't lie, right?"
"Whatever."
Crocodile took a puff of smoke, "Speaking of which, you're making such a big show, letting everyone know where you're going. Be careful."
Rowan raised his eyebrows, "What could happen?"
Crocodile said darkly, "What if the World Government set an ambush on the Red Line and blew up your ship? What could you do?"
"No, no."
Rowan shook his head, pointed to the World Government workers next to him, and said quietly, "They should be thanking us!"
Crocodile: "?"
...
"Thank you, Mr. Rowan!"
About half a day later, the transfer was finished, and the World Government workers handed the paperwork back to Rowan with both hands.
"On behalf of the World Government, I thank you for your help to those with Amber Lead Disease!"
The two shook hands.
A reporter took a picture of the moment.
Crocodile: "..."
...
The four ships went into the sea through the dam elevator on the other side.
...
Splash!
The bottom of the ship went back under the sea. The familiar feeling of floating came from under their feet.
Hocka sniffed the air, and said with a smile, "The smell of the sea... is different."
"Hahahaha, of course. This is the North Sea!"
The person who spoke was Doctor Hiluluk from Drum Island.
As a resident of Drum Island, he ignored Kureha's strong objections, and went with the Drum Island medical team onto the ship.
Kureha objected to Hiluluk going with them. The reason she said in public was that Hiluluk was a fake doctor who didn't know anything about medicine, and only cared about his own silly dream.
But the real reason was only known by a few people.
Hiluluk had a deadly illness. Even though he had been briefly cured by that "miracle cherry blossom," the disease could not be cured.
It was only a matter of time before he died.
So Hiluluk's body was not right for a long trip.
But he didn't care about that.
When Rowan and Kureha went to see him, the former thief just laughed out loud:
"It's no problem! Saving people is a doctor's job, and let me tell you, my research has made great progress recently. The cure-all medicine will be ready soon!"
He meant that he had accepted what was going to happen.
Rowan and Kureha didn't try to stop him.
Because of Hiluluk's easygoing personality, the Fish-Men, Sky Islanders, and Drum Island people, who hadn't known each other well, became much closer.
Even the Fighting Spirit Wiper gave Hiluluk a small wind dial for protection.
According to Wiper, the Shandia people respect doctors, and also like their friends.
...
Another week went by.
The fleet's first stop was a small island nation called "Aden".
It was not a member of the World Government.
It was about four times the size of the Drum Kingdom, and the residents mainly grew crops. There were not many trading ships that went there.
This location was decided after Rowan and Rosinante and others talked about it.
According to Rosinante, the place where the Op-Op Fruit was going to be sold was called "Minion Island", an island in a non-member nation.
But the non-member nation that Minion Island belonged to was always at war, and there were many different groups in the country, so it was not a good place for the fleet to stop.
So they chose the neighboring country, the Kingdom of Aden.
It was also a non-World Government member nation, but because it was relatively poor and had a bad location, no one was interested in taking it over, so the residents had a relatively peaceful life.
"According to the original plan, the Op-Op Fruit sale is in a week."
Rosinante thought for a moment, and said to Rowan, "But looking at the way things are now, Doflamingo won't follow the plan. We don't even know if those pirates will continue to trade with the World Government."
Rosinante added, "Have we... stirred up something we shouldn't have?"
In fact, Rosinante was holding back when he said that, because Rowan's actions weren't just "stirring things up", but openly telling the World Government that he had another purpose!
What was the purpose?
Anyone who knew the situation would guess that it was the Op-Op Fruit!
But Rowan had a different idea.
"The World Government will continue to trade, or... it would be better for us if they could change their original plan - but they won't."
He pointed to the map in front of him.
"The World Government has been preparing for this deal for a long time."
"If they change their plan at the last minute because of us, then they will be on the 'defensive', and we will have more chances."
"So the World Government won't."
"They will choose to continue with the trade as planned, and then react to our moves. That way, we will be on the 'defensive'."
Rosinante frowned when he heard that. He had never thought of things that way.
"Anyway, let's go ashore and land at the port of the Kingdom of Aden."
Rosinante couldn't help but sigh, "Law's condition is getting worse and worse."
...
The Kingdom of Aden, the port.
The Four Seas Alliance ships landed.
Unlike the snowy scenery of the Drum Kingdom, the Kingdom of Aden had peaceful farmland scenery.
In the distance, there was a green field of wheat, with a few houses in between.
Nearby, there was a small port town, much bigger than Yuba, but not as big as Nanohana.
Bell gave orders, "We'll rest on the ships tonight. Everyone take turns to go down and relax. The people in charge of each ship go and get supplies."
Everyone got busy in an orderly way.
Just then, the lookout suddenly sent a message.
"Someone is coming towards us. It looks like residents of the Kingdom of Aden, about fifty of them!"
"Hmm?"
Rowan narrowed his eyes.
The Kingdom of Aden was just a peaceful little country, but travelers came there sometimes, so visitors like them were rare, but not a big deal.
If that was the case, why were there fifty people coming at once?
While Rowan was wondering, the people dressed as villagers had arrived at the port.
They wore hoods that covered their faces, and looked very strange.
As soon as they arrived, they started moving the goods that the Four Seas Alliance had just unloaded from the ships.
Everyone was very confused.
Dalton went up and patted the leader on the shoulder, "Old man, what are you doing?"
The old man was confused when he heard that, "The news said that you were coming to help us, right?"
"What?"
Dalton was very confused.
But just then, Kureha suddenly rushed forward and pulled Hiluluk away.
Then, she carefully lifted the old villager's hood.
Under the hood was a face with white spots.
Kureha's eyes widened, and she murmured:
"Amber Lead Disease..."
You can read 50+ more chapter on patreon com/JYouyi