Over twenty days passed.
Quietly, without fanfare.
Right now, Jun Lin was preparing. The Revolutionary Army was preparing. And the World Government was preparing too.
But during this time, the world had been anything but peaceful.
No one knew what got into the Five Elders, but they suddenly ordered the Marines to form a massive fleet.
Not only were Akainu and Kizaru mobilized—leaving only Aokiji stationed at G1—but more than twenty Vice Admirals were deployed in one go.
Even Tokikake, who had recently earned the title of Admiral Candidate just like Momousagi, was included.
As for the fleet itself? That was on an entirely different scale.
All five newly completed warships were mobilized, along with a super fleet of over a hundred battleships.
The total force? 18,000 elite marines.
And that was just the Navy's portion.
The most shocking part was that one of the Five Elders—the Warrior God of Science and Defense, Jaygarcia Saturn—personally took command of the entire operation.
Alongside him were hundreds of elite agents from various Cipher Pol divisions, including five CP0 operatives.
The scale of this operation was enormous.
And yet, even now, Sengoku was baffled…
What the hell is going on?
Aside from Garp, who was left behind to guard headquarters, every top-tier force in the Navy had been mobilized—even Sengoku himself, the Fleet Admiral.
With this kind of strength, they could go up against two Yonko crews simultaneously.
But the Five Elders still hadn't told them the real objective of the mission.
---
"Saint Saturn, all forces have assembled!"
"Good. Proceed with the plan—issue the order to the Navy."
"Yes, Saint Saturn!"
The speaker was a female agent in a black suit from G8, bowing respectfully before retreating.
Had Luo Lan been present, he would've immediately recognized her.
She looked exactly like Kalifa.
Same figure, same face—no differences at all.
She was none other than Kalifa's twin sister, Alpha, assigned to assist Jaygarcia Saturn as a messenger for this operation.
Soon, the order reached Sengoku.
Aboard the bridge of one of the new warships, Sengoku read the command—and finally understood everything.
Why the Five Elders had demanded the entire Navy be deployed.
Why Garp was the only one left behind.
Why even the upper brass like them had been kept in the dark.
"Fleet Admiral, what's the order?" Aokiji asked.
"From this moment on," Sengoku began, "no Marine is allowed to act alone. Not even to go to the restroom—they must be accompanied."
"Anyone found moving alone is to be immediately detained."
"Furthermore, until this operation ends, no one—including myself—is allowed any outside contact. Anyone caught doing so is to be executed on sight."
"Even if it's me, follow the protocol."
"Also—Kizaru is to eliminate all spies or surveillance around the fleet, no matter who they belong to."
"Finally… the fleet departs in one hour. Our destination is Baltigo, the Island of White Soil—"
"—the headquarters of the Revolutionary Army!"
Whoosh—
Everyone on the bridge was stunned.
Even Vice Admiral Tsuru couldn't hide her shock.
No wonder they had gathered so much firepower.
No wonder Garp was left behind.
No wonder even they were kept in the dark until now.
It all made sense now.
Tsuru glanced at Sengoku.
There was hesitation in his eyes—but only for a moment. He quickly regained his resolve.
She knew then.
Sengoku had made his decision—not to tell Garp.
"That's the order. Go carry it out."
"Also—Kuzan, you're staying behind."
---
Aokiji was speechless.
So you really don't trust me that much, huh, Fleet Admiral?
Maybe I really wouldn't have tipped off Garp…
---
The next morning.
Luo Lan's Den Den Mushi rang.
He picked up—it was Morgans.
"Morgans, what is it?"
"The operation at Baltigo is over."
"How did it go?"
"Over a thousand Revolutionary Army members were killed. Several high-ranking officers were captured. But Dragon got away—he escaped."
"Not bad..." Luo Lan responded with mild indifference.
As expected, even with the Five Elders personally involved, they still couldn't capture Dragon.
He wasn't sure which commanders were caught.
But for Dragon, this was a heavy loss.
The planned rebellion in the Kingdom of Arkado, originally scheduled to begin in a few days…
Was likely postponed now.
As long as things were delayed for another month, Luo Lan wasn't worried.
After all, just to be safe, Luo Lan had gone all out over the past few weeks.
He'd spent a ton of points to exchange for large numbers of A- and B-rank shipbuilders.
This drastically sped up ship production.
Recruitment from Alabasta was also accelerated—Danaan had made five trips and brought back over 8,000 people.
Now, Jun Lin's forces had officially surpassed 20,000 soldiers.
At this pace, they'd reach 30,000 within a month—no problem.
What was originally planned as a three-month preparation period was now compressed into two.
The only downside?
Training time for new recruits.
There simply wasn't enough of it.
The newer batches wouldn't even have a full month of training.
But what could they do? The situation was urgent.
The only option was to let veterans train the newbies through real combat.
---
Three days later.
Good news finally came to Luo Lan.
Hodis told him that the new generation of fighter planes—
—was ready.
Fully completed.
Luo Lan was thrilled and immediately rushed from his office to the test field.
It wasn't an official facility—just a makeshift runway the soldiers had cleared by cutting down trees in the forest.
About 800 meters long.
At one end of the runway sat a single-winged piston fighter.
Compared to the first prototype built by Seras, this new model was far more refined in appearance alone.
Seras quickly gave Luo Lan a rundown of the aircraft.
Especially the power system—which shocked Luo Lan.
It ran on cola.
They'd really gone and made cola-powered engines a standard thing now.
At this rate...
Cola might become this world's version of oil.
The best part?
It didn't consume much.
According to Hodis, a single bottle of cola could power the fighter for an hour.
Each fighter's fuel tank could hold up to 50 bottles.
What did that mean?
A full tank could keep the plane flying for two days straight?
That was insane.
Absolutely ridiculous.
"Marshal, next step..." Seras began.
"Start the test flight?" Luo Lan asked, eyes gleaming.