Yemu was not doing this solely because of Anne. He truly had his eye on the Kuja's military strength.
In the world of One Piece, Wano Country and Amazon Lily were both very special places.
In the New World, Haki might seem almost commonplace, but among the nations currently known, the only ones that had truly spread the power of Haki throughout their entire population were Amazon Lily and Wano Country.
A nation where everyone was a soldier, combined with the power of Haki, produced a military force so powerful that even the World Government and the Marines were deeply wary of it.
Otherwise, Hancock would not have been recruited by the World Government as one of the Shichibukai after her very first expedition.
"This..."
Elder Nyon naturally understood what Yemu was planning. Her expression immediately turned grim, and she instinctively wanted to refuse.
She did not want Amazon Lily to be dragged into a war.
But just then, Galahad Anne, the Emperor of the Kuja, spoke.
"No problem. We Kuja accept this deal."
"Wait... Anne... this is not a game..."
Elder Nyon panicked at once and, no longer caring about the occasion, immediately tried to stop Anne.
Hearing that, Galahad Anne raised a brow and said with displeasure,
"Elder Nyon, I am the Empress of the Kuja... Besides, we are pirates to begin with..."
"That may be true, but..."
But at that moment, to everyone's surprise, Yemu spoke up on Elder Nyon's side.
"Anne, I understand how you feel. But Elder Nyon is right. This really isn't something one person can decide alone. So don't rush to give me an answer. I still have time. Give me your answer after I return from the New World."
Anne looked into Yemu's firm eyes and slowly said,
"I understand."
Seeing this, Elder Nyon let out a long sigh of relief.
"As for the remaining fifteen, Erik, take them to Water 7 and split them evenly among yourself, Enel, and Tiger. Five each."
Seeing that Erik seemed about to say something, Yemu cut off that thought directly.
"Even if you don't want to eat them yourself, you can give them to others. Once the three of you start forming your own pirate crews, the Marines and the World Government will definitely do everything they can to deal with you. It will be a challenge for you, but it will also be very dangerous. With these five Devil Fruits as insurance, your pirate crew will quickly gain the strength to protect itself."
"I understand."
Only then did Erik stop refusing. However...
"Captain, don't you need to keep a few? Just in case we need them later..."
"Don't worry. Our cooperation with the Beast Pirates will begin soon. We won't be lacking Devil Fruits..."
Erik nodded in agreement.
"Mm. Then that's settled. Next are the final arrangements. Tomorrow, I'll take the people on these two warships back to Wenmigudan Island. Fes, Aming, and I will return together. The rest of you will follow Erik to Water 7 and meet up with Enel, Tiger, and the others. Once I've settled the people from the warships, I'll come join you..."
...
Two days later, over the calm sea, two enormous clouds, fluffy as cotton candy, slowly drifted through the sky. Hidden above those clouds, beyond the sight of anyone below, two massive warships floated on top of them.
At that moment, the edges of the warships' decks were crowded with men and women holding children, all staring at everything around them in wonder.
After all, flying through the sky was an experience ordinary people might never have in their entire lives.
"It's so beautiful..."
"Flying in the sky feels so amazing..."
"Hold on tight. Don't get blown away..."
"I touched it! I touched it! It feels so strange... kind of tingly..."
"Idiot... That's because you got shocked..."
Laughter and cheerful voices immediately filled the deck.
This fresh, wondrous experience helped the men and women, who had been tense for nearly a month, finally relax a little.
After all, many of them had gone through painful separations from life and death only a month ago. Now they had to take their children and leave their homes behind to survive in another country. There was no way the pressure on them could be small.
On the upper level of the warship, inside the main control room, Fes and Aming watched the scene through the huge windows, and their moods lifted as well. At the same time, they began to look forward even more to the new country they were about to reach.
At that moment, the mature and steady Fes turned around and looked at Yemu, who was sitting in the captain's chair with countless grains of sand and an Eternal Pose floating around him.
"Yemu-sama, about when will we arrive at Wenmigudan Island...?"
"Around noon."
As Yemu spoke, he raised his hand and shifted his palm. The sand floating around him slowly gathered together, compressed by some unknown enormous force until it condensed into a hard stone, then dropped onto the table with a solid thud.
Seeing this, both Fes and Aming found it incredible.
After all, even Aming, who did not know much about Devil Fruits, had learned from Fes's explanation that there was an ironclad rule, one person could not have two Devil Fruits inside their body. Yet Yemu had broken that very rule right in front of them.
Of course, both of them were wise enough not to ask too much.
At that moment, through his grasp of the ability, Yemu was gradually beginning to understand.
The Fuwa Fuwa no Mi had clearly been limited by its name. Its true ability was definitely not as simple as making objects break free from gravity and float. Its power was more like telekinesis. As long as he touched a non-living object with his body, he could freely control and reshape it. Its potential could be called limitless.
Of course, Yemu was not only focused on himself.
"How are you two handling your Devil Fruits?"
When Yemu asked, Fes remained relatively composed, but Aming became completely excited. She clenched her small fists tightly and said with confidence,
"The power of Devil Fruits is amazing. Ever since I ate mine, I feel like I've gotten so much stronger. Those World Government spies definitely aren't my match anymore."
"Same here. The power of Devil Fruits is just as incredible as the rumors say. Thank you so much, Yemu-sama."
"No need to thank me."
As Yemu spoke, he stood up, walked to the window, and looked down at the crowd on the deck below.
"There will be many things I'll need to trouble you with in the future. When it comes to carrying out specific policies for governing the country, the two of you have more experience than I do, especially you, Fes. Once we reach Wenmigudan Island, I'll leave both of you there. There are also two others there, Dana, the princess of the Lohart tribe, and Modlin, the chief guard. I need all of you to work together to create policies and plans suited to our country's future and put the nation's development on the right track."
"I understand, Yemu-sama. I'll do my best."
At that moment, Fes seemed to think of something and asked,
"By the way, Yemu-sama, have you decided on a name for our country? A country's name, like a pirate flag, has the power to bring people together."
"Of course. I've already thought of a name. It will be called the Land of the Rainbow!"
"The Land of the Rainbow? That's a nice name. Does it have any special meaning?"
"Mm. Just as our pirate crew has people from different races, the country I dream of building will also accept every race, whether humans, fish-men, dwarves, giants, and more. I hope they can come together like each ray of light that forms a rainbow and build a beautiful, equal nation. Besides that, there's another reason too. You'll understand once you arrive..."