With Kaku and Jabra on board, along with two companies of branch Marines, the fleet was well-protected. Not to mention, Gion was providing an escort for the entire journey.
As long as they didn't run into a Four Emperors' crew or some other top-tier powerhouse, this transport mission was virtually risk-free. Even if a Four Emperors' crew did decide to act, they wouldn't have enough time to travel all the way from the New World.
Worst comes to worst, if an accident did occur, as long as Kaku, Jabra, or Gion contacted Sean, the situation could be salvaged instantly. Sean could call upon Blueno at any moment to teleport a massive number of reinforcements directly onto the battlefield. If that still wasn't enough, he could simply reveal the current extent of Blueno's Devil Fruit awakening and bring an Admiral straight from Headquarters.
Thus, Sean had absolutely no worries regarding this transport.
In reality, such a large fleet did attract the attention of many pirates. However, once they noticed the large Marine warship in the convoy and confirmed it was the flagship of Admiral Candidate Gion, the vast majority of them quietly backed off.
Of course, there were always those who had only recently entered the Grand Line—pirates who were overconfident and lacked a true understanding of what real power looked like.
However, these pests didn't even require Gion's intervention, nor did they need Kaku or Jabra to lift a finger. The two companies of Marines handled them with ease.
This left Gion utterly stunned.
Ordinary Marines were capable of fighting one-on-one and taking down pirate captains with bounties of twenty or thirty million berries? This was absurd. Truly absurd!
What was even more shocking was Gion's discovery that nearly every Marine under Sean's command could use one or two techniques of the Six Powers, with some even mastering three.
This was beyond ridiculous. Gion was a prestigious Admiral Candidate, yet in her own direct subordinates, there were fewer than ten people who could use the Six Powers.
Adding to that was what she had observed during the attack on the Sea King... the commissioned officers under Sean were simply on a different level compared to her own. As for Lucci, she suspected that even she might struggle to defeat him in a short amount of time.
After making this comparison, Gion felt a wave of distress. No matter how she calculated it, the combat power on her ship would be completely crushed by the forces on Sean's ship. If the powerhouses of both sides stepped aside and it came down to a clash between the rank-and-file Marines, her two hundred soldiers might not even last a minute.
'I can't let this slide... I must ask Sean how on earth he trained so many powerful Marines.'
'''
Sean was currently unaware of Gion's shock. Even if he were, he wouldn't have cared. He was currently on a Den Den Mushi call with Blueno.
"Blueno, we'll arrive at Jaya Island tomorrow. What about the matter I asked you to confirm?"
"Confirmed, Rear Admiral. There are currently nine people in Mock Town who possess Devil Fruit abilities. They are..."
"Stop. I'm not interested in who they are. Just tell me what the abilities are," Sean interrupted.
Who they were didn't matter; there were unlikely to be any true powerhouses there. The only thing that mattered was what kind of Devil Fruits they possessed.
"Yes, Rear Admiral. Among the confirmed abilities are the Paramecia-type Bubble-Bubble Fruit, the Paramecia-type Spring-Spring Fruit..."
Blueno quickly listed all the known ability users. Sean frowned slightly.
'None of these are particularly high-quality.'
The Spring-Spring Fruit likely belonged to Bellamy; so he was in Mock Town now? As for the Bubble-Bubble Fruit, wasn't that the fruit Kalifa ate two years later in the original story? It seemed it already had an owner.
As for the rest, they were all mediocre abilities, mostly ordinary Zoan-types.
He felt a lack of interest. Should he take this opportunity to wipe out Mock Town, or wait a bit longer? With Blueno there, he would be notified the moment someone with a powerful Devil Fruit appeared, and Blueno could teleport him to Mock Town instantly.
If he purged Mock Town now, it felt like a waste of a strategic resource.
'I'll hold off for now.'
After pondering for a long while, Sean made his decision. However, he couldn't simply leave the pirates of Mock Town alone; if left unchecked, they would continue to terrorize countless civilians.
"Blueno, here's the plan. We won't purge Mock Town yet. Instead, I'm leaving Kalifa, Kumadori, and Fukuro behind. They will use tracking or infiltration to eliminate each pirate crew after they leave Mock Town."
"You will be responsible for providing intelligence and coordination!"
Since most of the pirates in the East Blue had already been eliminated, the framework of the intelligence department was fully established. Therefore, the absence of Kalifa and the others wouldn't cause any major issues. It was time to shift the focus toward the Grand Line.
Mock Town was a prime location. The pirate crews that came here were those who had already survived the "rookie phase" of the Grand Line. As long as Kalifa and the others remained undetected, they could lie in wait.
They would silently pick off one pirate crew after another. Eventually, Mock Town would become a black hole—a void that specialized in swallowing pirates.
"Understood, Rear Admiral!"
'''
The next day. Jaya Island.
"Master, is the Golden City Shandora over there?" Vivi asked with a hint of excitement, pointing toward the sky.
"Yes, it's directly above us. And up there... there is a Poneglyph," Sean said, patting Vivi on the head.
As he mentioned the Poneglyph, he glanced at the masked Robin beside him. Though the reaction was subtle, Sean caught the way Robin's body gave a slight tremor.
"But how do we get up there?" Vivi asked, her face falling as she looked at the sky.
It was so high! There was no way to climb that!
"There are four ways to reach Sky Island," Sean explained. "First, there are actually special routes through the Grand Line that lead to Sky Island, but those paths are extremely dangerous, and it's hard to guarantee that everyone will arrive safely."
"Second, you can use the Knock Up Stream to create a vertical trajectory and steer the warship upward. However, first, I don't know exactly when or where the Knock Up Stream appears; second, this method is equally perilous. One mistake, and it ends in a destroyed ship and dead crew."
"The third method is to rely on raw power to ascend. While Moonwalk makes this possible, it would be a grueling test of one's physical conditioning and martial arts prowess."
"Finally, there is the option of using specific Devil Fruit abilities to get up there."
"As it stands, the third method is the only one suitable for us."
"Lucci, you and the others should be able to ascend seven thousand meters using Moonwalk, right?"
As he finished speaking, Sean turned his gaze toward Lucci.