Issho joining Jun Lin marked a milestone.
For Jun Lin, this was the first time they had gained a combatant of admiral-level strength.
After all, at this stage, Momousagi (Peach Rabbit) hadn't yet reached admiral tier, and even if Luo Lan used all his trump cards, he could at best match Momousagi's strength before she joined Jun Lin.
As for Hina, she was still only at the elite rear admiral level.
Issho's addition filled Jun Lin's biggest weakness—the lack of a peak-level individual powerhouse.
---
High above the Calm Belt
Three figures soared rapidly through the air.
Robin glanced at Issho flying not far away, then looked down at the strong arm wrapped around her waist.
"Luo Lan, how is Issho able to fly by himself?"
When they departed, she assumed Luo Lan could only fly with himself and thus had to carry her.
But now, Issho was clearly flying freely, even keeping some distance—no contact at all.
That's when it hit her—this man never needed physical contact to take someone flying!
Luo Lan rolled his eyes.
Isn't that obvious?
He was holding her simply because... it felt good. Plus, her aloof personality made it all the more satisfying.
As for not carrying Issho—
Well, his sexual orientation was perfectly normal, thank you very much.
And she was the head of intelligence—shouldn't she be sharper than this?
Robin immediately understood what Luo Lan was thinking and sighed inwardly. But she couldn't exactly push him away mid-flight, unless she wanted to plummet to her death.
So she grit her teeth and silently tolerated it.
---
One hour later
The three arrived at Rhodes Island.
Issho was stunned.
With his powerful Observation Haki, he immediately scanned most of the island.
The sheer number of people, and their strength—it was shocking.
There were no top-tier sea powerhouses, but there were a staggering number of people with combat power equivalent to a Marine HQ commander.
A quick scan revealed over 5,000 such individuals.
What did that mean?
Even the Marine Headquarters didn't have that many commanders.
And among Marine commander, those with combat power over 500 were rare elite-level ones. Most never reached that level.
But here, Jun Lin's mid-to-low-level forces far surpassed the Marine HQ.
Issho hadn't expected this at all.
If Jun Lin could strengthen its high-end combat force as well...
Then they might truly stand against the World Government—or at the very least, defend themselves from it.
Perhaps what Luo Lan said wasn't as far-fetched as he had thought.
Maybe... it was within reach.
"How does it feel?" Luo Lan asked with a grin, noticing Issho's dazed expression.
"Utterly shocking," Issho replied.
"If this already shocks you, then it's way too soon."
Luo Lan shook his head.
Neither numbers nor individual strength was Jun Lin's greatest pride.
Technology is.
Jun Lin's ultimate goal was to let ordinary people suppress peak powerhouses—through technology.
Humans are intelligent creatures. Relying solely on brute force? That's the path of savages.
Why would beings of high intellect choose to walk the path of lower lifeforms?
Of course, Luo Lan wasn't saying individual strength was useless.
Only that not everything should depend on brute force. Abandoning humanity's greatest gift—wisdom—would be the real tragedy.
---
A few days later
Hina returned to Junylin.
On the same day, the first two next-generation battleships were completed.
It wasn't that Luo Lan didn't want to build more at once—it's just that the shipyard only had two docks capable of constructing ships with a displacement of 26,700 tons.
However, the shipyard was currently being upgraded to a Grade B facility, and in the newly cleared area nearby, a super-large drydock was also under construction.
In ten more days, once the upgrade was complete, three could be built simultaneously.
Additionally, in the northern part of Rhodes Island, another shipyard was under construction.
Unlike the hidden shipyard on the west coast, the northern yard was an open-air mega shipyard with four giant docks capable of building the new battleships.
Alongside those were more than twenty smaller docks for medium and small vessels.
None of it would go to waste.
Based on modern naval concepts from his previous life, Luo Lan proposed a naval classification system to Roy:
Battleships
Cruisers
Destroyers
Frigates
And the lower-tier patrol gunboats
Currently under construction were the Haize-class, defined as first-generation battleships. Roy had also begun designing destroyers and frigates.
Construction had already started at Shipyard No. 1 on the west coast.
Frigates were especially important.
They were the key to Luo Lan's next phase.
After all, you couldn't patrol the entire sea using only battleships.
Once Jun Lin began holding real territory, smaller, faster vessels would be in much greater demand.
---
"What? Occupy the East Blue?"
In the meeting room, everyone's eyes widened.
Hiding in the Calm Belt meant the World Government couldn't touch Jun Lin—for now.
They couldn't even find Jun Lin's base.
But occupying the East Blue?
That would change everything.
Jun Lin would step from the shadows into the light.
No more hiding—only strength would speak.
But right now...
Could Jun Lin really go toe-to-toe with the World Government?
Obviously not!
"Everyone, quiet!"
Luo Lan's voice rang out as the room grew noisy.
He scanned the room, ensuring silence.
Then he activated the 3D projection in the meeting room, which displayed a massive spherical map of the pirate world.
"Everyone, eventually we'll need to come into the open. The only question is when. That said, I'm not suggesting we immediately invade the East Blue—it's unrealistic."
"What I just mentioned is actually a future plan, one I hope to implement in three to six months, depending on our development."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
If they charged into the East Blue now, it'd be suicide.
But three to six months later?
That might not be so crazy.
After all, Jun Lin had only existed for a few short months.
Yet look how far they'd come.
Give them a few more months—who's to say they wouldn't be ready?
Everyone in the room nodded slightly.
"Alright. Now that we agree on the general direction, let me explain—
why the East Blue..."
---
Read 120 chapters ahead on P@treon and Ko-Fi:
patreon.com/Sami_27
https:// ko-fi.com/sami27
COMPLETED story available on Patreon and Ko-Fi.