__________ POV Narration __________ 

The way back the the Sky Islands was lit by starlight, the horizon marked their way forward.

Shiki was already well accustomed to sailing the skies of the New World, to the point where he could recognize the most random landmarks in the middle of the ocean. 

He may have been demented, but he was still one of the greatest navigators on the planet. 

So it was only a matter of weeks before the Sky Arhipeleago was in sight.

Of course, Shiki had decided to take the scenic route, they were in no real hurry. The preparations for the war were mostly completed on their end.

After all, they were preparing for that war long before the World Government had started.

In a sense, it was a mistake on the Government's side to try and postpone the war for so long.

They should've been aware that a war would embroil the world at some point, but their focus for many decades before Enel's appearance was to prevent it from happening altogether.

Instead, they had just created a bigger mess for themselves. 

The fact that the Warlords hadn't been formally disassembled also made Enel feel weird. it just meant that Cross Guild was not going to exist and his efforts of allying with Buggy were not that worth it anymore.

'Well, at the very least his information network of pirates has proved itself useful in times of need... I've already approached Crocodile, and I'm sure Shanks can help with Mihawk, they were the ones that I wanted on my side anyway.' 

Enel also learned that there was technically supposed to be a 'Levely' not long after the events of Wano.

The Levely was nothing more than all of the Royal Families that formed the World Government gathered together in the Holy Land to... Waste their time and discuss politics. 

Well, the state of the world was usually the topic at hand, it was also the best chance for less fortunate countries to ask for support directly.

But such an event was not going to be held on the cusp of a world-changing war. 

It was supposedly cancelled, and each royal family had received a message from the Holy Land in regard to that.

Of course, Enel was told of this through a report via Transponder Snail. He was kept well aware of the state of the Sky Archipealeago throughout his entire journey in Wano.

He also made sure to keep them all up to date on everything that happened in the closed-off country. 

But they all still needed to have one last meeting, to plan out the events of the upcoming war together, and to plan on how to use their time before it most effectively. 

 The moment that their small flying island reached the Archipelago all of the people abroad took off towards what was now the centre of the entire island cluster... Skypea. 

Bonney was the only one to head off on her own, likely going off to spend some time with Kuma. 

She was more than welcome to join everyone in the war room too, but she didn't seem all that interested in it.

She didn't believe herself to be a necessary part of the planning process despite her monumental contributions to strengthening the army. 

It wasn't long before all of them arrived in Skypea either, they all entered a newly built conference room, with a gigantic table in the middle and chairs all around it. 

Enel sat down at the very head of that table, Garp and Francisco sat down by his sides, and the rest took their seats at the table as they arrived.

Gan Fall also joined them, despite not planning to take much of an active role in the war itself. Many of his people were going to fight after all, so it was only fitting for him to at least listen in. 

Wyper was not present, he was off training on some other island.

Enel could feel that he had also grown quite a bit in the time they were apart, but he was still far off from facing an admiral...

Maybe he'd be able to match one before the war at that rate, but he'd certainly fall short in many places. 

Momonga was also not present in the war room, instead choosing to keep diligently training and drilling the Sky Guards, using his time wisely.

He was already as strong as an Admiral, Enel had already measured him up to them before, but now the Emperor was more than certain of his initial assessment. 

The Sky Guards were also turning up quite nicely, though they still had a long way to go.

At the very least Bellamy and a few others had grown exponentially. The Spring Fruit User now even surpassed his previous idol, Doflamingo, in plenty of aspects. 

"Seems like everyone has gathered Captain..." Francisco spoke out as his fingers slowly tapped on and traced the table in front of him.

On his waist was strapped the Sabre of Xebec, a blade that seemed to get rather mixed reactions from the marines present. 

 "I can see that." Enel huffed as his eyes scanned the table, everyone was indeed there.

Most of the Cadres of the Revolutionary Army were present, Ivankov included. And the usual suspects of the marines were also present.

"You were doing one of those things where you stare off into space and think about shit, get your head in the game kid!" Garp pointed a rice cracker at Enel's face as he spoke with a full mouth. 

"Yeah, yeah..." Enel waved his arm dismissively before releasing a sigh. 

In an instant, his body sparked, his chair lighting up in an intricate circuit which seemed to extend over to the large table. 

In an instant, a hologram of the world was projected at the very top of the table, a map that Enel seemed to have the control of on the arm of his chair. 

"So, we'll proceed as previously discussed..." Enel's expression turned serious as a red line outlined thier trajectory from the Archipelago and around the world to the Holy Land. 

"I still think that sounding horns and announcing our attack beforehand is a bit much..." Sengoku muttered as he sat down by Garp's side.

"Well, it is a bit too straightforward, I can see why you'd be questioning it..." Tsuru sighed as she rubbed her chin and looked over at Garp, who was just smiling.

"Heh, I like it too, I'm sure plenty will agree that this way our plan is flashiest..." Shiki also seemed to be very much on board with the idea. He sat down at Francisco's side. 

It was true that the plan they were going for was more Garp's and Shiki's style than anything else, but it was also the only one that really made sense.

"They are already well aware of our intentions Sengoku. Nothing we do will ever constitute a surprise attack... Might as well psyche them out while we're at it." Dragon shook his head as he spoke, he also sat somewhat near the head of the table, sat down right by Shiki's side. 

"It would also show the world that we are not afraid of them, that we aren't hiding, and that it is them who are holed up in a rat's nest at their so-called Holy Land..." Zephyr also seemed to be very much on board with the idea. 

"Heh~ It's decided then... But when do we set sail exactly? We can safely expect the war tour to take at least a month, maybe even two months. 

Enel's ship may be able to travel that distance quicker, but we'll mostly be using blimps and Shiki's fruit, aren't we?" Francisco also had his reservations at first, but he also understood the situation fairly well. 

His only real concern was the logistics of their so-called 'War Tour'. They also needed to be prepared in case the World Government was actually going to try and intercept them at any point. 

But it was highly unlikely. The Holy Land provided them with the only assurance they had of even standing a chance against Enel's army. 

The defences they had been setting up couldn't just be moved on short notice, and the World Government also sorely lacked the means that Enel's army had when it came to transportation. 

 "I think the best way to go about things is to just move more islands, I can fly them faster than a blimp, This way everyone can also live comfortably until the war starts up." Shiki seemed to be okay with being their Navigator on their journey.

It was rare for him to volunteer to do any job, but going to war and toppling the Government was very much in his Christmas Wishlist, so he was going to do anything he could to help. 

"I think it's best that we set off as soon as possible. The sooner this ends the less people have to suffer around the world." Fujitora spoke out for the first time at that table. His lacking vision couldn't appreciate the graphics of the hologram, but he still understood the gist of the plan. 

Despite the fact that he didn't have the same authority at that table as some of the older folks did, no one could refute his words, and everyone seemed to agree with him unanimously. 

"Well then... I think it's fair to give everyone who has just come back from Wano a week to recover, and then we set sail. 

In the meantime, I ask that everyone trains hard and prepares for what is to come. Even if it feels like we have victory in our hands, we can't afford to act hastily now, right at the end of it all." 

Enel ended up respecting Fujitora's opinion as well, agreeing with him wholeheartedly.

After all, there was no way for him to postpone what was to come, he was going to face his death with style and without any fear in his heart. 

Zephyr and Garp seemed rather adamant that they didn't need any rest, especially Zephyr, who was decades younger than when he had left. 

But Enel still decided to give everyone some breathing room before they got on the move. 

And just like that, Enel ended the War Council/Meeting with clear instructions on how to proceed.

'Now then... I should also go train a bit, maybe I can master Conqueror's Coating before I face IMU...' 

__________________________________________________________________

Hope you liked the chapter! 

finally managed to write one out, been suffering from a bad case of ligma and lack of ideas lately :)) 

Story Shoutout : Hell Difficulty Tutorial

Discord, again: https://discord.gg/xQTK8caFEQ

If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 15 chapters in advance (or 10/5 depending on tier)