Water Seven, also known as "Seven Water Islands" or "Water City."
This is currently the world's largest and most prosperous shipbuilding island.
The entire island resembles a water park, with buildings arranged in a stepped manner, spreading upwards.
In the center of the island, there is a giant fountain, the water from which is divided into many streams, flowing through the town and out to sea.
The island is surrounded by high walls to prevent the annual great tsunami, "The Sea Gods."
Beneath the walls lies a ruin of a town.
This area was once part of the island, but due to an unknown cause of rising water levels, the houses here have been completely abandoned by the residents, who moved to higher ground to live, leaving this place a desolate ruin.
Discarded ships are also left here on the island's edge.
Franky's residence and his shipbuilding dismantlement base, "Franky's House," are built on a beach facing the sea behind the island.
Through a long flight of stairs, they stood on the streets of Water Seven.
"So lively!"
"Yeah!"
"It's been a long time since I've seen such a lively scene. The last time was on Clock Island."
"Heh!"
Robin brushed a strand of hair from her face, looking at the street ahead with a gentle smile. "This is the latter half of the Grand Line. Not only are there many tourist islands around, but also the World Government's special judicial island, 'Enies Lobby,' is not far from here."
"Therefore, ordinary pirates wouldn't dare to act recklessly around here. Coupled with the opening of the Sea Train, more people come here, making it even more prosperous."
"Oh..."
The others nodded. With Robin around, many of their questions could be answered.
As expected, she was the most knowledgeable and well-read person on the ship.
In this regard, even Indigo, who was older than Robin, admitted defeat.
Although he had been with the world's top pirate, Golden Lion, for a long time, his knowledge and learning, except for medicine, were far inferior to Robin's.
His level was only slightly higher than Hua and the others, and even lower than Kong Tai.
Hmm!
In terms of knowledge, Robin couldn't possibly compare to Kong Tai, but the others didn't know it.
Zoro vaguely knew, but she never said anything.
"Alright, let's go in!"
Kong Tai took the lead, holding Zoro's hand with his left and his right hand in his pocket, walking into the bustling street.
...
At the Galley-La Company Shipyard Dock 1, in a shadow blocked by lumber.
"Lucci, according to the message from Blueno, the Silver Haired crew has landed and is staying in a hotel in the city."
The speaker was a square-faced man with a long nose, wearing an orange and blue jacket and a white baseball cap.
Opposite him stood a man with long, wavy black hair tied into a low ponytail, wearing a blue shipworker's uniform.
On his shoulder stood a white pigeon, dressed similarly to him.
These two were Kaku of CP9 and his superior, the captain of CP9, "Rob Lucci."
This guy was rumored to be the strongest in CP9 for 800 years, though whether it was true or not was unknown.
The pigeon on his shoulder was his pet and partner, named "Hattori."
Hattori was a white pigeon that had been with Lucci since his childhood, always perched on his shoulder, cooperating with him in ventriloquist acts. It even wore clothes in the same style as Lucci's, depending on his outfit.
Lucci didn't speak. Instead, Hattori on his shoulder spoke.
"The Silver Haired crew?"
"Yes!"
Kaku nodded. "Should we report it? Although the Silver Haired crew has nothing to do with us, the World Government ordered us to report any sightings of them immediately."
Clearly, the World Government's secrecy was very effective.
Only a limited number of high-ranking officials in CP0 and the Navy knew about the battle on Lantern Island.
They hadn't even rescinded this special order from Carter Leiss.
It was unclear if they didn't know or simply didn't care about the lives of those at the lower levels.
As a result, these CP9 members hiding in Water Seven were unaware of the specifics.
Lucci narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and then Hattori spoke again.
"Report it! I heard that the 'Devil Child,' Nico Robin, is on the Silver Haired crew's ship. She's a person of great interest to the World Government!"
Shaking his head, the pigeon continued.
"But this has nothing to do with us. We're just reporting the information as a routine duty."
Others might not know the terror of the Silver Haired crew, but they did.
No matter how confident he was, he wouldn't be foolish enough to think he could match the Silver Haired crew at this moment.
Let alone himself, even their entire team would likely have no return if they went.
"Hmm... Also, tell Blueno not to get too close, and don't reveal any weaknesses that the Silver Haired crew might discover."
"Don't worry!"
Kaku smiled slightly. "Don't you know Blueno? No one would suspect him of anything with his usual demeanor."
"Mm!"
Lucci nodded.
It was precisely because of Blueno's deceptive appearance and personality, combined with his Devil Fruit ability, that he was sent out to gather intelligence.
"Hey! So you guys were here!"
At this moment, a man wearing goggles and a blue shipworker's uniform stood outside the pile of wood, blocking the sunlight and making the figures of Kaku and Lucci in the shadow even darker.
The newcomer was named "Paulie," one of the five foremen at Galley-La Company Shipyard Dock 1.
Kaku and Lucci were also among the five foremen.
Paulie's head was full of golden hair, soaked with sweat and shining in the sunlight.
He had a cigar in his mouth, and as he puffed, he glared at Lucci and Kaku with dissatisfaction.
"Seriously, I've been looking all over for you. Come on, a big order has come in."
Saying that, he stepped forward to grab Kaku and Lucci.
The moment Lucci and Kaku saw Paulie, their aura instantly changed, becoming gentle.
He shook off Paulie's outstretched hand.
Kaku stepped forward, placed his right hand on Paulie's shoulder, and said with a smile, "It's so hot today, we were just here to cool off."
As he spoke, he pulled Paulie along and walked away, asking, "A new order? A big one? Tell me, how big is it?"
"How big!"
Paulie exhaled a puff of smoke, turned his head to smile at Kaku, and said, "I don't know. I only know it's a big order. Mr. Iceberg is summoning us for a meeting, so it can't be small, right!"
"Mr. Iceberg?"
"Then we'd better hurry."
...
Lucci looked at Paulie's retreating back, a cold killing intent flickering in the depths of his eyes, but it quickly vanished.
They had been undercover here for over three years, and they still hadn't found any clues about the Poneglyph of Pluton.
Shaking his head, he also stepped forward and walked out of the shadows.