Pirates: Your emperor has returned!

Crocodile felt that his ideas were two good options, so he was even more puzzled by Rowan's words.

"You want to...go to heaven?"

Rowan nodded. "Yes, God."

What's in the sky?

“Island,” Rowan replied.

Upon hearing this, Crocodile understood what Rowan was talking about.

The island in the sky—that is, the floating island.

Rowan's next step is to go to the Sky Island!

But after learning the truth, Crocodile became even more confused.

Sky Island – Due to the relatively isolated nature of the islands along the Grand Line, this name is practically a legend to people in the surrounding seas.

The people who "only wander" in this sea area do not believe in the existence of the Sky Island.

Crocodile, however, was different. Having spent many years at sea, he naturally understood that the so-called "sky islands" were just a special kind of island that actually existed.

He even interacted with many Sky Islanders, who, apart from having two small wings on their backs, were almost no different from ordinary people.

Crocodile chuckled darkly, "I didn't even know there were sky islands on this route."

"some."

Rowan nodded. "It's over Gaya Island, but there's no normal route to that island on this air route, so no one has been there for many years."

Crocodile's eyes flickered slightly.

He wasn't curious how Rowan knew this information; it was probably through some special channels.

What truly puzzled Crocodile was something else entirely.

"Why did you choose that place for your next step?"

"I thought it was in the sky."

Rowan replied.

Crocodile couldn't help but sneer, and was about to curse with "nonsense," but suddenly seemed to have thought of something.

"Wait...the sky?"

Rowan nodded, flicked his finger, and conjured up the incredibly precise sand table model.

The first to unite was Alabasta.

"Before the Four Seas Alliance has fully established itself, the world government will inevitably find opportunities to intervene and interfere."

"On the military front, I believe I have given the world government a good answer, so they will choose to obstruct us on the commercial or regulatory front."

"Drum Island is a neighboring country, so it's not a big deal. But Alabasta is too far from Water Seven or Fishman Island. It has to go through several islands to resupply."

Rowan tapped his finger, sketching out a sand table map of part of the first half of the Grand Line.

After connecting the islands with gravel, the situation became clear.

"These islands are currently unrelated to the Four Seas Alliance, and therefore will inevitably obey the orders of the World Government."

"They might seize the cargo for inspection, or simply use inspection as a pretext to prohibit the crew of the Four Seas Alliance from going to sea."

"It's very troublesome to deal with this kind of thing without breaking ties."

At this point, Rowan suddenly laughed and said, "So, we need to establish a shipping route that the world government can't control."

He flicked his finger, and two gravel islands suddenly appeared, one above and one below Alabasta.

Crocodile's eyes narrowed, revealing an unusual glint.

Luo Wen then continued to explain:

“Using Fishman Village as a node, underwater villages can be developed to connect Fishman Island.”

"As for the sky, once a fixed air route to the Sky Island is established, the entire Four Seas Alliance will be able to overcome any limitations imposed by the World Government and achieve a three-dimensional alliance encompassing land, sea, and air!"

He waved.

wow...

The exquisite sand table dissipated in the wind, leaving only Crocodile lost in thought.

After a few breaths, Crocodile finally understood Rowan's thoughts completely and couldn't help but sigh.

This has always been Ryan Rowan's style of doing things.

Although someone in the World Government must have seen through Rowan's plans, they were truly helpless about it.

Crocodile lit a cigar for himself.

Luo Wenze suddenly said from the side, "Speaking of which, isn't the heavens quite troublesome?"

Crocodile nodded and said, "Indeed."

Rowan continued, "The unknown sky island must be a very troublesome place, right?"

Crocodile nodded again. "Indeed."

Rowan asked again, "This operation requires quite a few people, right?"

Crocodile felt Rowan had a lot of questions, but he nodded again and said, "Indeed."

Rowan then pressed on, "So you'll be coming too, right?"

Crocodile casually replied, "Indeed."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Crocodile: "Hmm?"

[Chapter 49. Navigation Begins]

Two days and two nights later, the ships of the Four Seas Alliance successfully arrived in Alabasta.

The ship docked at Yaruja Port.

This place is currently undergoing expansion, but it already has the capacity to accommodate about three large sailing ships.

Cobra had already learned of this news from the Den Den Mushi and personally led his men to the port to welcome the guests, as a sign of respect.

In any country, doctors and scholars are always a group of people worthy of respect.

Kureha, representing the Drum Kingdom, held a formal meeting with Cobra, a rare smile on her face.

She was usually quite domineering and eccentric, but Cobra, as the king of a country, personally greeted them, which greatly improved Kureha's impression of the Alabasta royal family.

"He's the father of that blue-haired little princess..."

Kureha put on her favorite sunglasses, grinned, and sighed inwardly, "If the royal family is like this, then this country must have something to look forward to!"

Meanwhile, Hiruluk noticed the fish-men who were helping to unload the goods not far away.

"Hey! There are fish-men living here!"

He ran over excitedly, grabbed one of the mermen's hands, and laughed loudly, "Friend, my name is Hiruluk, I'm a doctor. Would you like me to give you a check-up?"

The one trapped by Hiruluk was the fishman Vol.

He scratched his head somewhat awkwardly.

Although the behavior of this Hiruluk was similar to that of other humans when they first met a fishman—acting as if they had seen a rare species—Wal felt that the other party had no ill intentions.

After all, we've already called him a "friend," and we're even going to give him a medical checkup!

As it happened, Wall was feeling unwell recently due to the Alabasta climate, so he was about to agree.

But Kureha pulled Hiruluk away in time, scolding him, "Stop fooling around, we have important business to attend to!"

Wall could only shrug, his expression slightly disappointed.

This stern-looking old woman seemed reluctant to let her people come into contact with the fish-people.

But then, Kureha's next words stunned Wall.

"Whether you're a fish-man or a human, we all share the same blood. What's so strange about that!"

"Okay, okay, stop pulling my hair, you're going bald!"

Hiluluk, with Kureha grabbing his hair, could only nod repeatedly, while shouting to Vol, "Hey, friend, I'll come over for a drink sometime!"

Wall hoisted the goods onto his shoulder and couldn't help but laugh.

What a happy day!

……

Time flies, and a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

The establishment of fixed routes went smoothly.

According to incomplete statistics, in the first week, the skilled fighters who sailed with the large ship repelled more than ten pirate ships, killed hundreds of pirates, and deliberately let more than a dozen escape.

By the second week, the number of pirates attacking the Four Seas Alliance ships had decreased by 50%.

By the third week, there were almost none left.

Pirates in this area know very well that attacking ships flying strange blue flags means certain death!

From then on, the voyages of the Four Seas Alliance ships became much more stable.

As for the group of doctors and scholars, some of them remained in Alabasta, intending to establish a medical research institute with the help of the superpower's abundant resources.

This was something that Wapol had previously explicitly forbidden, but Kobra welcomed it.

The remaining group followed Kureha and Hiruluk back to Drum Island, occasionally traveling and exchanging information by ship.

……

A month later.

After dealing with domestic affairs in the Drum Kingdom, Dalton, at Rowan's invitation, set foot on Alabasta soil for the first time.