Within the Calm Belt between the New World and the West Blue.
"Crossing the Calm Belt through the sky, Ignis, Shiki, your abilities are way too useful!"
"Are you really not planning to establish an aerial shipping route?"
"If we cooperate together, we'll definitely earn mountains of money and seize all transportation business in the underworld!"
Ganzui excitedly painted a blueprint of their transportation empire to Ignis and the Shiki.
Flying across the Calm Belt through the air was truly both fast and safe.
There was absolutely no need to worry about attacks from gigantic Sea Kings.
Whether it was Ganzui's smuggling fleet or the Deep-Sea Current Fleet of the Underworld Shipping King family, both had to take enormous navigational risks whenever traveling through the West Blue and North Blue.
Ganzui had struggled for many years just to barely map out a few relatively safe routes through the Calm Belt with fewer Sea King attacks.
As for the Shipping King family, they had spent centuries exploring and firmly monopolizing certain safe sea-current routes for their own family, never revealing them to outsiders.
Sometimes even the World Government and allied nations had to hire the Shipping King family's Deep-Sea Current Fleet to transport various supplies.
In Ganzui's eyes, being a pirate smuggler was only temporary.
His dream was to establish a family and organization capable of being passed down like those old underworld families.
Pirate overlords and pirate emperors appeared in every era, but in the end they all died.
Even most of their descendants were exterminated and erased from history.
Only the old underworld families could continue through generations like the royal families of allied nations.
Like the underworld emperors who controlled shipping, black-market finance, news, assassination industries...
Thus, Ganzui would rather become a Dark Emperor walking between the underworld and the surface world than become a sea overlord who could be destroyed by the World Government at any time.
"Ganzui! Stop talking nonsense!"
"Our goal is the entire world, not these shipping businesses!"
Before Ignis even spoke, Rocks had already begun warning the money-obsessed Ganzui.
He would not allow subordinates who strayed from the main objective.
"Captain Rocks, that's not how it works. Only by making money can we recruit more men and strengthen ourselves!"
"You can't seriously think just us alone can storm Holy Land Mary Geoise and overthrow the Celestial Dragons."
Ganzui still refused to give up on this stable money-making plan.
"In front of truly powerful people, numbers are meaningless!"
"As long as the officers on my ship are all top-tier monsters, I can crush Mary Geoise!"
Rocks coldly glanced at Ganzui.
'This smuggler's eyes were filled only with profit. No wonder he could never awaken Conqueror's Haki.'
"…"
Ganzui didn't know how to refute him.
Under Rocks' absurd Conqueror's Haki, indeed very few people could withstand it.
"Prometheus! Zeus! You'll soon have a new companion called Napoleon, the Emperor Blade Napoleon."
Charlotte Linlin happily shared her joy with her two Homies.
Ignis had finally started helping her.
Now that Ignis could tell her information about weapons, soon he would surely tell her about Sister Carmel as well.
Once she grew stronger in the future, she would snatch Ignis away from Rocks and establish their own Totto Land.
....
"Jihahahaha! Newgate, my Oto and Kogarashi are no worse than your Murakumogiri!"
Shiki once again exchanged swordsmanship techniques with Newgate.
Now Shiki no longer bothered fighting Kyo.
He only wanted to fight "same-level" opponents like Ignis and Newgate.
Kyo could only sit at the same table as Barbell and Polo Gram now.
"You've improved a little, but it's still not enough."
Newgate completely overwhelmed Shiki in raw strength.
Even without using the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, his pure physical power and blade techniques alone could beat Shiki until he screamed.
Ignis was reviewing information on various ability users, while Stussy clung to his side as always.
'The Warp Fruit ability seems a bit too one-dimensional. Wouldn't that waste a Soul slot?'
'If I obtained the Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit, teleportation would become effortless anyway.'
'Even the Vampire ability's Blood Shadow Transfer combined with the More-More Fruit's hundredfold speed could reach terrifying velocities.'
'Aside from bringing others along while teleporting, the teleportation ability's utility is still somewhat lacking.'
As more and more powerful ability users emerged, Ignis suddenly became less obsessed with teleportation for escaping.
With limited ability slots available, he had to think carefully.
Only Devil Fruit abilities with broader utility could form a more complete combat system.
'Byrnndi World... although we have no grudge against each other, your ability is simply too tempting.'
Looking at newspaper reports of the "World Destroyer" wreaking havoc on the Grand Line, Ignis's eyes filled with greed for that Paramecia ability capable of hundredfold amplification.
The Paramecia More-More Fruit whether it was the hundredfold enlargement and acceleration of non-living objects or the hundredfold acceleration of oneself, the numbers were absurdly overpowered.
Even Byrnndi World's personal tenfold amplification of his martial arts movement speed was already five times faster than Rokushiki's Soru.
As long as one's base strength was powerful enough, such tenfold or hundredfold amplification became ridiculously outrageous.
But Byrnndi World himself was honestly kind of weak.
His natural base speed was only half as fast as Soru.
He obtained the Momo Fruit too early and relied too heavily on its amplification powers.
If monsters like Rocks or Garp obtained the More-More Fruit after fully growing stronger, the numbers would become utterly terrifying.
Perhaps this was the balancing force of the world at work.
Most overwhelmingly powerful abilities usually ended up in the hands of relatively weaker people.
When powerful abilities paired with powerful individuals, they created monsters like Newgate, Charlotte Linlin, and Kaido.
'Moonlight, gravity, vampire, more-more, magnetism, and the Logia Rumble-Rumble... plus the Azure Dragon...'
'That's already seven...'
Ignis suddenly developed decision paralysis.
There were simply too many Devil Fruit abilities he wanted.
The teleportation and barrier abilities he once desired had already fallen lower on the priority list.
There were also Castle-Castle, Munch-Munch, Op-Op, Bake-Danuki, Glint-Glint, Time-Time, Luck, even Dark-Dark and Sun God Nika...
An enormous pile of candidate abilities.
"Rocks was right. If this continues, my mentality is going to collapse sooner or later."
Ignis forcibly calmed himself down and stopped overthinking.
For now, it was better to focus on mastering all three forms of Haki first.
Ever since awakening Conqueror's Haki, Observation and Armament Haki had become much easier.
Anyone capable of awakening Conqueror's Haki could basically awaken the other two.
And whenever his growth felt too slow or he doubted whether his talent was sufficient, he only needed to think about the other monsters in this world.
This world had always been one that "devoured people."