Before the war #1

A little while later within the Sunken Castle of Rica Island, many people were sat around a large dinner table.

The table was full of all kinds of food and drinks while there were some candles on the table and around the room which had been used to light up the room.

Zhihaojin, Sunila, Pascia, Monera, Ann, Alyssia, Carrot, Tristan, Nica, Clifford, Archie, Alfred, Medea, Jester, Yvie, Liushi, Aizah, Ashwin and Ein were seated around the large table as Alyssia sat at the head of the table.

Xena and Yao were in their baby rockers as they lay there quietly while Li and Ghost remained outside.

In addition to the many people seated there within the room, two small figures could be seen standing on the table who were the two Tontatta Tribe members Ting and Ton who had been taking care of the gardens after they were lured away from their homeland.

Alyssia lifted her cup to raise a toast and spoke. "Some have known me for a long time while some may have known me for longer than a year and even some among you may have just gotten to know me recently. Some may know about my ideals and goals while others do not but I am happy to have many around me today as our group has grown to such a size in less than one year and five months. This group began with me, Tristan and Carrot at a young age before adding Nica, Clifford and Archie before we set out to sea when I turned sixteen. From there we met new people and the group grew bigger with every encounter and adventure we had. So first of all, I would like to say that I am glad to know each and everyone of you and thank you for sticking by my side this long."

Many of those within the room started giving an applause for her speech and the atmosphere became lively very quickly.

She then continued to speak. "I have called you all together for a specific reason this time and it is very important."

Many quietened down and started listening again.

Alyssia cleared her throat before continuing. "As most of you already know, the various powers within the seas form a delicate balance. There are the Revolutionary Army, the World Government, the Marines, the Four Emperors and the Seven Warlords of the Sea. With the rise of the Worst Generation, that balance has been starting to fall apart and very soon this world will start changing. As you should have read in the newspapers, a new Warlord of the Sea has been appointed upon capturing a division commander of the White Beard Pirates which will soon result in a war with the Whitebeard Pirates against the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the Marines. After that happens, you can expect a big change to the balance of power and we will have to be prepared for the incoming storm that will come to the first half of the Grand Line."

After the war takes place, Moria and Jinbe would no longer be in their Warlord position so they would need to be replaced with new people and the Marines would start their recruitment and restructuring as Sengoku steps down from his position.

New admirals would have to take the place of Kuzan and Akainu after Akainu took over Sengoku's position and Kuzan left the Marines.

With the death of Whitebeard and Ace, the surviving crew members would be left to defend the lands that are their own territory but without Whitebeard, it would be more difficult to hold onto since Blackbeard had long known everything about the territories and the overall strength of his previous crew before his betrayal.

From Whitebeard's final words, the world was once again inspired to set sail in search of the One Piece so not just the first half of the Grand Line would be affected but also many places within the New World.

Among the many groups that were getting ready to enter the New World, most of the Worst Generation were already preparing to enter while a small amount had decided to remain where they were for some time before finally entering.

There was also the problem created from those who escaped from Impel Down that would soon start causing troubles around the world, Alyssia was worried that her business would be affected in some way by many of those changes brought to the world.

Alfred spoke after a moment of silence. "So what is it that we need to do?"

He was already aware of some things going on in the world and the effects it would have on the business so he had already made some plans to keep everything stable and running as usual but he waited for Alyssia to give the order first.

Alyssia laid back in her chair after finishing some of the food on her plate and then replied. "For now we can just continue our operations as usual but we must be extra vigilant from now on with how we handle our transportation and the overall protection of our berries, employees and the work places. It may just be me being paranoid but in the future, anything could happen which could result in our business or people to suffer a big loss. We can later start doing business and missions in some locations where we had previously avoided once we are stable. During that time, I hope to release the first batch of weather tools to different islands including places like Alabasta."