Around four or five in the afternoon, Nami finished drawing the sea charts for Bear Paw Island.
But then, Ryuen watched as Kuina and the others dragged back a giant bird with all its feathers plucked off. He fell silent. Would Buggy not be chased by this bird anymore? Did they just end up helping Buggy without realizing it?
Hiss!!!
The Conqueror's Haki luck is truly terrifying!
"Ryuen, Nami, let's eat this tonight!" Kuina shouted excitedly from afar.
"You guys don't know how hard it was to catch this big bird. It was super fast, and the three of us chased it for so long. In the end, it chose to jump off a cliff rather than be caught~~~" Nojiko said casually as she got closer.
Ryuen and Nami exchanged a glance, thinking the same thing—wow, they actually drove the bird to jump off a cliff. These violent girls are scary~~~.
Since they had already brought it back, tonight's meal could only be this giant bird.
Handling the bird was left to Daisy, who had the Dissection Fruit ability. She neatly carved up every piece of bird meat.
As the sun set, the kids happily ate roasted bird meat and drank chilled fruit juice, chatting cheerfully about the future. At their age, they had nothing to fear.
After eating and drinking their fill, everyone lay on the ground, savoring the delicious meal with half-closed eyes.
"Ah~~~"
"That was amazing. Nami, your Door-Door Fruit ability is so useful. You can take so many things with us wherever we go," Kuina said, patting her round belly in satisfaction.
"Yeah, most people have to pack tons of stuff when they go out to sea. But with Nami's Door-Door Fruit, it's so convenient," Daisy added.
She had never imagined that sailing could be this easy, with the ability to bring so much along. Every place they visited felt like a vacation!
"Hee hee~ Of course! My Door-Door Fruit is pretty awesome, you know!" Nami said, feeling proud after hearing her friends' praise.
"By the way, I want to bring something up while we're all here. We're definitely going to the Grand Line someday, and we won't be able to fly then. So, shouldn't we buy a ship?" Ryuen sat up and looked at his four friends.
Hearing Ryuen's suggestion, the four girls also sat up, seriously considering it.
For this trip, they had taken Captain Gulachi's merchant ship to Clover Island, and then Ryuen flew them to Xixis Island. If they planned to travel farther in the future, they really would need a ship. Though flying with Ryuen was comfortable, being in the wind for too long wasn't ideal either.
"I agree. We do need a ship. I've read that the weather on the Grand Line is very unpredictable, and a ship would be better for our adventures!" Nami said thoughtfully.
As a navigator, Nami knew best how dangerous the climate on the Grand Line could be. If they kept recklessly charging ahead like now, they'd definitely run into trouble.
The other three exchanged glances and nodded in agreement—they really did need a ship.
"Alright then, it's unanimous. Now we'll just have to see about that Celestial Dragon coming to East Blue. Hopefully, he'll cooperate, heh heh heh~~~" Ryuen grinned mischievously. He had already come up with a plan that would make their future journeys smooth sailing.
"Celestial Dragon?"
"A Celestial Dragon is coming to East Blue? Is it because of Captain Gulachi's orange business?"
"What's going on?"
The three girls who had spent the afternoon chasing the bird had no idea about the Celestial Dragon situation, so they all turned to Ryuen for an explanation.
Then Ryuen shared the details of Captain Gulachi's call from the afternoon and carefully explained the plan to the four girls. With this plan in place, they wouldn't have to fear the Marines even if they were exposed!
The girls' eyes lit up after hearing Ryuen's plan. So they could act openly from now on?
After washing up, the five kids studied for a bit before quickly falling into a sweet dream. They hadn't practiced today, as they needed to save their energy for when they returned to Clover Island and got busy.
The next morning, just after they woke up, Captain Gulachi called. He had already checked with Minister Shabella and found out that the Celestial Dragon coming to East Blue wasn't related to the oranges, which made him feel much more at ease.
However, Captain Gulachi still hoped Ryuen and the others would return soon because the orange business had already fully launched on Clover Island.
He worried that the Celestial Dragon might notice this.
Captain Gulachi also learned about the Celestial Dragon's schedule; they would probably arrive in about two days. This meant Ryuen and the others still had two days to prepare their plan.
So, with Captain Gulachi's urging and Ryuen's careful planning, the five kids headed back to Clover Island.
"What? You're saying the king wants to pass the throne to Minister Shabella while the Celestial Dragon is here? What does the king gain from this?" Ryuen was surprised and didn't quite understand.
The four girls were just as confused. The king was giving up his throne? What a crazy king!
"Minister Shabella didn't tell me. I'm just worried that once he becomes king, our business might be affected," Captain Gulachi said, feeling anxious about the situation.
"You don't have to worry about that, Captain Gulachi. We'll handle it when the time comes.
For now, let's leave it at that. If you learn anything else, make sure to let us know. We're off," Ryuen said as he prepared to leave; they had gathered enough information for today.
"Alright, be careful. There are many more World Government agents around since the Celestial Dragon is coming," Captain Gulachi warned.
The five kids nodded to show they understood. Those extra people were certainly from the World Government's CP organization. Ryuen knew that right after he returned to Clover Island, but those weren't the elite agents; the strong ones were on the Celestial Dragon's ship, ready to protect him at all times.
Nami opened a space door and led everyone back up the mountain.
Actually, Ryuen's plan was quite simple. He intended to use Nami's Door-Door Fruit ability to kidnap the Celestial Dragon and then see if they could control him, making the Celestial Dragon their background support.
Controlling the Celestial Dragon would be even easier because, just like the Surgery Fruit, Daisy's Dissection Fruit could also remove someone's heart!
Compared to the Surgery Fruit, the Dissection Fruit just lacked the immortal surgery and had a smaller range.
This was definitely something they couldn't tell Captain Gulachi. When Ryuen discussed it with his partners, the four girls were all very surprised. It was only because they had become much bolder being with Ryuen during this time; otherwise, they wouldn't have had the courage for such a thing.
"Daisy, it all depends on you in two days!" Ryuen said, looking at Daisy with excitement.
"Mm!"
"Don't worry! I've practiced many times!" Daisy replied confidently, patting her chest.
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