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"Your Majesty, they're here."
In the golden city, in what was once Tesoro's private gym, Jin was working out. Tanaka knocked, then phased through the door.
He was the new head of security, the user of the Paramecia Through-Through Fruit, which allowed him to pass through solid objects. He wore a security uniform and had a distinctive owl-like head with a large, round face.
He had been one of Tesoro's most trusted subordinates, responsible for collecting tribute from other pirate crews, like the silver ingots from the Silver Pirate Alliance and the bounties from the Sweet Pirates.
Now, along with the rest of the staff, he had transferred his loyalty to Jin. It wasn't a matter of loyalty or betrayal. The Gran Tesoro was, in essence, a massive entertainment complex. For them, it was just a change of management.
Baccarat was a special case.
The "they" Tanaka was referring to were Don Chinjao and his retinue from the Kano Country.
The 98K rifles they had purchased had been a game-changer for the Happo Navy in their war against the neighboring Kingdom. Now, other navies and factions within the Kano Country wanted to buy more. They had already made contact before arriving.
"Show them to the reception room."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Jin went to the adjacent temperature-controlled bath, washed up, changed into a shirt and shorts, and then went to the reception room.
In addition to the leader of the Happo Navy, Don Chinjao, the leaders of the Ippo and Niho Navies were also present, along with the Admiral of the Kano Country.
They wanted to purchase ten thousand 98K rifles, a million rounds of ammunition, and the corresponding manufacturing technology.
Jin smiled. He suspected that someone in the Kano Country had already tried to reverse-engineer the 98K and had failed. It wasn't a matter of technology; it was a matter of materials.
Seamless steel tubing was a major hurdle.
Putting aside the black-box technologies like Lineage Factors, the world of One Piece was still in the early stages of the steam age. And countries like Wano and Kano, which had closed their borders to protect themselves from pirates, were even further behind.
A hand-forged gun barrel was no match for one synthesized by the Munch-Munch factory.
"The manufacturing technology is a trade secret," Jin said. "It's not for sale. However... I have some new weapons that might interest you."
Chinjao and the others weren't surprised. They wouldn't have sold the technology either. It was worth a shot. As for trying to force him... who would dare? He had taken on two of the Four Emperors and had come out on top. His strength was no longer in question.
Jin led them to a temporary warehouse, pulled back a tarp, and revealed rows and rows of weapons crates.
"Is that... a rocket launcher?" Chinjao asked, picking one up.
"It is," Jin nodded. The concept of a "rocket launcher" already existed in the world of One Piece. Luffy's "Gomu Gomu no Bazooka" was inspired by it. Wyper used one. The principle was simple.
After discovering that synthesizing large-scale weapons with the Munch-Munch factory wasn't cost-effective, Jin had shifted his focus to individual-use weapons. He had disassembled a number of existing models, and this new one was a more advanced, Soviet-style RPG-7.
"40mm caliber, 6.9 kilograms with the optical sight," he explained. "It fires special rocket-propelled grenades. It's light, cheap, easy to operate, and incredibly powerful. It's a cannon a single soldier can carry. Two million Berries for the launcher, 300,000 for a standard rocket. Of course, the better the rocket, the more expensive. This one, for example, a special round designed for use against Devil Fruit users... two million Berries."
They went outside and tested it on an old, derelict ship. A single high-explosive round, and the wooden sloop was blown to smithereens.
That kind of power was comparable to a full-power attack from a strong Marine Captain or a weak Rear Admiral. And if it were imbued with Armament Haki, it would be even stronger.
The key was that an ordinary person could carry it and threaten the life of anyone below the rank of Marine Captain.
Sure, a person could dodge, but in a surprise attack, how many hits could you take?
Besides, who would use it against a strong opponent? Its real threat was to ordinary people.
It was a tool for maintaining control.
"How many do you have?" the Admiral's eyes were blazing. "We'll take them all."
Even if they just resold them, they could make a profit.
"One hundred launchers, a thousand standard rockets."
The Kano Country was a vast and prosperous land. Having had a taste of what these weapons could do, they were now ready to go all in. They didn't even blink at the multi-billion Berri price tag.
After closing the deal, Jin made a mental note to find someone to handle this business. A king selling arms himself wasn't good for his reputation. Reiju would be a good fit. The Vinsmoke family's network was full of people with experience in this area.
He spoke to her about it, and she agreed. She also wanted to be of more help to him.
The Katakuri situation... they had to play it out, go through the motions. That would take at least a month.
Jin couldn't wait. He left Reiju in charge of the golden city, to secretly set up the arms company. With his "teleportation," he could come and go as he pleased.
After a passionate farewell, Jin traveled to the island Stussy had told him about.
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Blue Bay.
A resort in the New World, near Mary Geoise. It was also known as "Little Sabaody."
It was home to a branch of the Yarukiman Mangrove, which ringed the island, its resin forming a kaleidoscope of colorful bubbles.
During the day, he, Robin, and Maya explored the island, acting like tourists.
At night, in the hollow tree Stussy had told him about, he retrieved Vegapunk's research data on Lineage Factors.
"So the Seraphim project is still on, even without Kuma?" he mused, flipping through the files. "Edward Weevil, the 'son' of Whitebeard? Aside from his brain, he's top-tier in every other respect. That fits. I wonder what the World Government offered Miss Bakkin. Stussy mentioned that Doflamingo seems to have some interest in Punk Hazard. Is that the lab accident that's supposed to happen next year?"
"No," Jin corrected himself. "To be more precise... Kaido."
The accident on Punk Hazard was the beginning of Kaido's "artificial Devil Fruit experiments." With Queen, one of the original members of MADS, at his side, he must have been keeping a close eye on Vegapunk's research. And then there was Big Mom's obsession with a "gigantification drug"...
"Does the World Government know?" he wondered. "Or... are the Five Elders doing this on purpose? Using them to get the experimental data and feed it back to Vegapunk? This is more complicated than it looks. Good thing I didn't put all my eggs in one basket."
He glanced at the data he had retrieved.
Thousands of files.
It would be more than enough for Judge to work with.
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Jin returned to the ship.
He had Ai scan the data, upload it to the system for analysis, and then gave it to Judge, who received it like a holy relic.
After another day, Jin ascended into the sky under the cover of darkness, rising 7,000 meters to the White Sea, crossing the Red Line, and returning to Paradise.
He took up his duties, continuing to push forward the reforms in the Winter Blossom Kingdom.
With the prestige of having defeated Whitebeard on his side, everything went smoothly.
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