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"Does anyone have a different perspective?" Dragon asked, his eyes sweeping across the room with a cold, piercing intensity.
He knew Arthur's character well. The Thunder Emperor was the type of man who would charge headlong into a tiger's den just to see if it could bite. If the rumors were true, Arthur intended to do exactly what the intelligence suggested:
Personally clear the board of any distractions so that the World Government would have no choice but to face him with everything they had.
Dragon understood that Arthur lived for the thrill of the impossible. The more insane the task, the more interested he became. He was a man who would pay any price to reach his goal. If the Revolutionary Army was seen as a mere "stumbling block" on the path to his final confrontation with Mary Geoise, Arthur wouldn't hesitate to annihilate them.
The era of growing in the shadows was over. The Revolutionaries could no longer sit on the sidelines and watch the tigers fight from the safety of the mountain.
Moreover, Dragon had no intention of staying out of it. The blood debt of Garp's death was like a maggot gnawing at his marrow. The Navy wasn't the only one who harbored a bone-deep hatred for the Thunder Emperor—Dragon was no exception.
A clash was inevitable. The Revolutionary Army had been preparing for years, but they hadn't expected the day to arrive quite this soon.
"The World Government has tried to kill Arthur several times and failed, suffering massive losses every time," one commander noted. "We've clashed with him too... the man is a genuine monster, the undisputed 'World's Strongest.' With the Thunder God Pirates behind him, the Revolutionary Army currently has no mathematical chance of victory."
"Then we avoid a direct confrontation!" Morley, the West Army Commander, chimed in. "With my powers, I can dig underground bases anywhere. He can't threaten us if he can't find us..."
"Running forever isn't an option," another countered. "Once a power like the Thunder God Pirates commits to a hunt, there is nowhere in this world to hide."
"We can't win a head-on fight, and we can't hide... are we just supposed to sit here and wait for death?"
The high-ranking officers at the round table were locked in a heated debate. Their survival up to this point hadn't been because the World Government was incapable of stopping them, but because the Government was too distracted by the Emperors of the New World. If they moved against the Revolutionaries, the pirates would seize the chaos to revolt, and the world would fall into a disorder far worse than the one triggered by Roger's execution.
"Sitting still and waiting is not the way of the Revolutionary Army," Dragon said, his voice dropping an octave as his fingers drummed a rhythmic beat on the table.
"Shanks and his Red-Haired Pirates have solidified their position. Their reputation in the New World is starting to eclipse even Kaido and Big Mom. They haven't expanded, but they've been hording strength. I suspect they are preparing for their long-awaited duel with the Thunder Emperor..."
"The New World is a mess," Ivankov remarked, leaning his oversized face forward with a grin.
"Chaos is good," Dragon replied, a shadow of a smile appearing. "Chaos is where we find our opportunity. Terry, the duel between Shanks and Arthur has been brewing for over a decade. It's time to light the fuse. Find out where they plan to meet—I want that location immediately!"
"Understood," Terry Gilteo replied, exhaling a thick cloud of smoke.
Dragon then turned his focus to the giant, Morley. "Morley, take the West Army to the New World. Find the naval outposts mining 'DYNA Stones.' I want those islands emptied before the Marines know what hit them."
DYNA Stones—also known as Power Stones or Explosive Stones—were terrifyingly volatile. In sufficient quantities, their explosive yield rivaled that of an Ancient Weapon. The Navy had been mining them in secret, but Revolutionary intelligence was second to none.
"Once Terry triggers the clash between the Red-Haired and the Thunder Emperor, you will move in and plant the DYNA Stones at the battlefield..."
If the stones were subjected to a sufficiently violent shock—like the collision of two Emperors—they would detonate. Anything at the epicenter would be reduced to subatomic dust.
"Understood!" Morley stood and exited the room to begin the mission.
'If the DYNA Stones don't kill Arthur outright, they will certainly leave him crippled,' Dragon thought, his facial tattoos twisting into a grimace that looked almost feral.
And then, we will all go and finish him together.
Dragon's confidence came from a cold calculation. While they couldn't match Arthur's raw power, they had the utility to counter it. Even if Arthur's body was as indestructible as Kaido's, the Revolutionary Army had Inazuma. With the Scissors-Scissors Fruit awakened, Inazuma could treat anything—even a "God's" skin—as if it were mere paper.
"But... what about Red-Haired Shanks?" someone asked.
If they blew up Arthur, Shanks would be caught in the blast as well. A man like Shanks would never allow such a dishonorable assassination to take place if he knew about it—he would likely turn his blade on the Revolutionaries instead. Cooperation was impossible.
"Then they shall die together," Dragon said, his voice devoid of emotion.
He had no personal bond with Shanks. He knew the man only as the one who guided his son, Luffy, toward the sea. To achieve the final goal of the Revolution—to create a world of freedom and equality—Dragon was willing to sacrifice anything.
..............
Early Sea Circle Calendar, 1515.
Inside the underground laboratory of the Thunder God Temple, Arthur continued his consumption of Devil Fruits. As more and more fruits were delivered to his hand, his "collection" grew. Most of the high-tier fruits he had stored in the Mirror World were now part of his own soul—including the Glint-Glint Fruit and the Back-Back Fruit.
Arthur had reached a level of power that was truly incomprehensible. In all of recorded history, it was unlikely that anyone had ever existed who could even threaten him.
But as one climbs higher, the air becomes thinner, and the solitude becomes absolute. This was the lonely path of the ultimate powerhouse. In the entire Thunder God fleet, the only people who could speak to him as equals were Shiryu and Vegapunk—the latter because he had zero interest in power and lived only for scientific discovery.
"When will the Thunder God Legion be ready to hatch?" Arthur asked, stretching his limbs. His voice echoed through the silent, sterile lab.
Behind him, thousands of glass vats held thousands of clones, their eyes closed, connected to a web of life-support tubes.
Vegapunk stopped his work and replied tonelessly, "Two years. Once they've absorbed enough energy, they will emerge."
"Two years?" Arthur laughed. "The World Government won't even have time to prepare. I suppose I'll have to give them a little push."
In the grand scheme of things, two years was a heartbeat. It meant that in the year 1517—the year Portgas D. Ace would set sail—the world would be set on fire.
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