In the bay of the nameless island, the sea breeze finally swept away the lingering scent of gunpowder, replacing it with a rich, intoxicating aroma that could drive a starving man mad.
In a massive open-air kitchen set up on the white sands, the forge fires roared. Leona, clad in a thick, dark-brown leather apron, moved between dozens of pots and massive roasting pits like a general commanding a battlefield.
"Buggy! Flip that Deep-sea Swordfish! Sabo, quit daydreaming and pluck those raptors!"
Leona barked orders, the silver deboning knife in her hand a blur of steel. Today's haul was legendary: a multi-ton Swordfish was being roasted to a golden crisp on an iron rack, its fat hissing as it dripped into the coals. Several giant birds with ten-meter wingspans had been stuffed with island spices and wild ginseng, slow-roasting over a secondary pit. In the center, a cauldron bubbled with the marrow bones of apex beasts and fresh Sea King meat, simmering into a milky-white, nutrient-dense bisque.
"Dinner is served!"
At Leona's command, the Eclipse Pirates pounced on the long table like a pack of wolves.
"Waa! This fish is like butter! And she took out every single bone!" Buggy shoved a fish steak into his maw while clutching a drumstick in the other, grease painting his face. "This bird meat is tougher than beef, but it tastes like heaven!"
Ace sat at the head of the table. The empty plates in front of him were stacking into a mountain at an alarming rate. The past few days of high-intensity training with Seastone weights had left his body like a parched sponge. Leona's cooking perfectly locked in the massive caloric density of the island's monsters; as the soup hit his stomach, it transformed into pure heat, fueling the restructuring of his muscles.
The Sky-Eye Hub.
After the feast, Carina retreated to a massive reef on the far side of the beach, rubbing her temples irritably. She was surrounded by hundreds of seagulls and falcons, all huddled together and staring at her.
"No... their brain capacity is just too small."
Carina cut the Resonance Bond of the Tsushin Tsushin no Mi and sighed. Over the last few days, she'd hit a hardware bottleneck. While the animals were smart enough for simple "go" or "stay" commands, they couldn't process complex data. When she tried to share vision with a hundred birds at once, her brain felt like it was trying to watch a hundred broken televisions at the same time. The static was deafening.
"Gah! Idiot Red Nose! Gah!"
A crisp, mocking cry drifted down from a branch overhead. Carina looked up to see a brilliant Macaw—feathered in vivid reds, blues, and yellows—hanging upside down. It tilted its head, its black eyes fixed on her, perfectly mimicking the tone of disdain she'd used on Buggy earlier.
"You can mimic human speech? That clearly?"
Carina's eyes lit up. She pulled a handful of premium nuts from her pocket. The Macaw assessed her for a moment before the allure of food won out. It flapped down, cracking a nut with its iron-hard beak.
Carina seized the moment, tapping her finger against the bird's forehead.
"Resonance Bond."
A faint pulse merged into the parrot's mind. Carina sent a sharp mental command: Make those seagulls shut up.
The Macaw swallowed its nut and took flight. It didn't issue orders; it puffed out its brilliant plumage and dove into the flock like a raptor, unleashing a series of aggressive, territorial screeches and pecking at the "alphas" of the seagull groups.
Within seconds, the chaotic flock was silenced, huddled on the sand in fear of the colorful bully.
"Gah! Quiet! Idiot!" The parrot returned to Carina's shoulder, puffing its chest out proudly.
Carina laughed in genuine surprise. "You're not a translator yet, but your brain is miles ahead of those gulls."
The Macaw's cognitive capacity was high enough to act as a "relay commander." If she spent a few weeks training it with specific codes—Marine, Pirate, Treasure, Danger—it could become the central hub for her entire aerial network. She would only need to receive organized reports from the bird, reducing the mental load on her brain to near zero.
"From today on, you're my partner. Since you're with me, your name is Berries."
"Berries! Gah!" The parrot flapped its wings, seemingly pleased with its new name and steady meal ticket.
The Reforging of the Eclipse.
Ace watched the spirited bird from the distance, a hint of admiration in his eyes.
Using a high-intelligence animal as a relay commander... supplemented by vocabulary training. It's the perfect patch for Carina's network, Ace thought. If we ever hit Wano, I should definitely look for Otama. Her Kibi Dango ability would make this network invincible.
Below deck, the roar of machinery continued. Jeno, covered in oil and soot, emerged from the hatch, his goggles reflecting the orange glow of the forge.
"Captain, she's ready for a look."
Ace walked to the rail. The bow of the Eclipse had been completely overhauled. Using the Stellar Obsidian, Jeno had fashioned a massive, razor-edged Suzaku Ram. The dark metal was polished so finely it looked like a giant obsidian sword ready to split the ocean.
Along the hull's waterline, Ace could see the hidden compartments for two sets of massive, reinforced external paddle wheels.
"I cannibalized the high-pressure steam boilers from the Warlord's fortress," Jeno reported with a manic grin. "With this dual-power system, even if we hit a dead calm in the Calm Belt, the Eclipse can outrun a Marine battleship. And with that ram... if an iceberg gets in our way, we'll just delete it."
Jeno's own gear had evolved, too. His right arm's exoskeleton was now integrated with Stellar Obsidian, and his Hydraulic War Hammer was fitted with high-pressure steam vents. One swing would now carry the explosive force of a point-blank cannon blast.
"Excellent work, Jeno." Ace nodded, genuinely impressed.
"The boiler pipes still need a few days of pressure testing, so we can't launch just yet," Jeno added.
"No rush," Ace replied, his voice calm. "While you finish the ship and Carina calibrates the Sky-Eyes, we'll treat this island as our final training ground."
"We set sail when our weapons are at their sharpest. Not a moment before."
As Buggy slumped onto the deck in relief, Carina sat with Berries, looking at a pile of gold coins she had imbued with vibrational ripples. Her eyes flashed with a shrewd, thief-like light. She already knew exactly where the first "net" of her intelligence web needed to be cast.
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