Ten Days Later
With only five days remaining until the black market auction on Volcano Island, the port was bustling with activity.
Nearly 90% of the branch's combat forces had been assembled—over 800 marines in total. Each and every one of them was now clad in the official uniform of Jun Lin.
Among them were Luo Lan and the officers of Branch 157.
"Hina, you'll command the First Ship. Smoker, the Second. Ian, the Third. And Nojiko, you're in charge of the Fourth."
"Zoro, Nami, Ace—you three are coming with me to the Danaan."
"Everyone, board your ships!"
With Luo Lan's command, the 800+ soldiers surged toward the five vessels docked at the port.
The first three new-model warships had unsurprising commanders. But the fourth...
Many were shocked to see Nojiko given command.
In terms of raw strength, Ace or Zoro far outclassed her. Nojiko's natural talent had always been rather average, even after two rounds of Sea King meat enhancements and solo gravity chamber training. Her current doriki still hadn't reached 1,000.
Sure, she was stronger than an average marine, but not by a huge margin. In fact, quite a few junior marines now had doriki exceeding 500.
So why her?
Luo Lan wasn't the kind to show favoritism just because Nojiko was an original story character. The true reason lay elsewhere.
Nojiko had studied fleet command at the Super Marine Academy—and graduated with excellent marks. Currently, aside from the experienced Hina and Smoker, there was no one in the branch who matched her tactical command ability. Not even Ian.
Hina had once praised Nojiko's talent, saying it could rival even Vice Admiral Jonathan of the G-8 Branch.
And who was Jonathan?
In terms of pure combat ability, he was probably the weakest of all Vice Admirals. But when it came to fleet tactics...
Even the Three Admirals would defer to him.
For Hina to compare Nojiko to Jonathan—that was no small compliment.
"Nami, did you bring the money?"
"Of course I did. But don't forget what you promised me! That money is just for appearances. I want it all back afterward!"
She eyed Luo Lan warily, her gaze filled with suspicion.
"Relax. Not only will we bring back our money—we might even come away with a huge bonus."
"A bonus?" Nami's eyes narrowed. "Don't try to trick me."
"Think about it. Besides us, lots of other people will be attending this auction too, right?"
"True."
"And do you think they're coming empty-handed?"
"Wait… you're saying—"
"Exactly. We brought 1 billion Beli just for the Seastone. Do you think the others will bring less?"
Nami's eyes lit up.
1 billion per person.
10 people = 10 billion.
100 people = 100 billion.
Her pupils instantly turned into spinning Berry symbols, like a slot machine stuck on jackpot.
Luo Lan smirked. His bullshitting skills were getting more and more refined.
He patted Nami's shoulder with a laugh.
"So stop thinking small. A mere billion? Our eyes should be on the real prize—hundreds of billions! That's the kind of scale worthy of people like us!"
"Yes! Yes, you're absolutely right!"
Nami nodded feverishly, fully onboard now.
Chuckling, Luo Lan turned and boarded the Danaan.
---
Thirty Minutes Later
The mountain's twin cliffs opened slowly, revealing the internal port.
One by one, the five ships emerged—Danaan at the lead.
In just a few days, the Jun Lin Fleet was destined to shake the world.
---
Because the four new-model warships had a cruising speed of only 22 knots, Danaan had to slow down to keep pace. What would have taken under two days ended up taking four and a half.
They were now less than a nautical mile from Volcano Island.
The fleet did not approach any closer. Danaan, however, had surfaced to standard depth.
On the bridge, the main screen displayed a full aerial view of the island.
At a glance, it was clear why the place was called "Volcano Island." A massive volcano dominated nearly 90% of the landmass.
Luo Lan squinted at the screen.
"If I recall correctly, this island showed up in the original series. Wasn't there a giant grilling meat in the volcano's mouth?"
The details were fuzzy, but he was sure this was the one.
"Retract the periscope. Activate Observation Radar."
"Yes, Captain! Periscope retracting. Observation Radar activated!"
Luo Lan gave a nod, placing his left hand on a familiar circular console.
Why familiar?
Because it was identical to the one on Hina's warship.
Suddenly, the screen changed.
Thousands of light points bloomed across it—too many to count.
The bridge crew were left gaping, stunned.
During Luo Lan's month-long seclusion, Hina and Smoker had overseen training. They had seen Observation Haki in action, sure—but the range had been limited. Even Hina could only cover about five or six kilometers.
But now?
What they were seeing was absurd.
The Observation Radar's range now covered over 60 kilometers.
That meant the Colonel's personal Observation Haki extended beyond 6 kilometers!
Absolutely insane.
Yet no one noticed the deep frown on Luo Lan's face.
He wasn't disappointed with the range. Quite the opposite.
It felt too unnatural.
He hadn't trained his mental power over the last month—so how did it increase threefold?
Something wasn't right.
Still, now wasn't the time to dwell on it. He shook off the thought and focused on the screen.
Within the 60-kilometer radius, aside from Danaan's own 200 crew members, there were about 300 people on the island—and over 6,000 offshore.
These 6,000 were split among more than ten large clusters of light points.
In most clusters, the points were concentrated—indicating a single ship.
But three clusters had points scattered across multiple locations.
Clearly, those were fleets.
What really caught Luo Lan's attention, though, were the exceptionally bright points in those clusters—each representing a powerful individual.
Not just strong. Exceptionally strong.
Across those three fleets, there were more than 20 such powerhouses in total.
---
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