"If nothing unexpected happens, it'll probably be a Yonko crew, or even a Yonko personally stepping in."
Ren leaned back in his chair, staring at the Den Den Mushi that had just gone silent.
The wager between them involved their respective ideals.
Tesoro believed absolutely in the power of money, only because he had been unable to avenge Stella, and that was what caused his conviction to waver.
Ren, meanwhile, believed with absolute certainty that he would succeed. He simply needed strength along the way.
Whether it was his own strength or someone else's, he needed it all.
That was why he needed Tesoro's money and influence to serve his ideals.
For example, once he obtained Pluton's blueprints from Water 7, he could hand them over to the Revolutionary Army to find the necessary manpower, then use Tesoro's wealth and connections to mass-produce them.
That was one possible use.
And during the events aboard the Gran Tesoro, after suffering defeat and hearing Ren's proposal, Tesoro had chosen to use a gamble to decide his path.
Under those circumstances, there was no way he would hold back.
Failure would mean denying his own beliefs, admitting Ren's ideals were right, and staking everything on them.
With that in mind, Tesoro's hint had been very straightforward.
In this gamble, the opponent Ren would face was definitely not just Tesoro alone, nor merely Tesoro plus the Gran Tesoro.
"If it were me, what would I do?"
Ren murmured to himself as he worked through the possibilities.
"If it were me, I'd definitely get a call from Doflamingo and cooperate with him to deal with Ren.
After all, hatred is the best driving force, and such a partnership would also help improve both sides' relationship.
The battlefield would be chosen as Dressrosa, because if they fought on their own turf, the aftermath would cost them too much.
He knows I can summon seawater, though he doesn't know the scale of it.
At the same time, whether victory or defeat, the existence of the Gran Tesoro is necessary.
Rather, that itself is the 'stake.'
But... it absolutely wouldn't stop there! Enough money can hire powerful fighters.
Ordinary strong people are meaningless against me, while true top-tier powerhouses, if they're lone wolves, are hard to sway with money.
So the most likely candidates would be strong figures backed by organizations. Marines and pirates, probably."
Very quickly, relying on his knowledge of the plot, Ren arrived at a rough conclusion.
The world was vast, but in a certain sense, it was transparent to him.
At the very least, Ren knew clearly that if Tesoro tried to use money to hire strong fighters, it was almost impossible for him to find an unstoppable force at the level of an Admiral.
Still, preparations that needed to be made had to be made.
After thinking it over, Ren picked up a Den Den Mushi and called the Revolutionary Army.
"We're a little busy on this end right now, discussing that matter you mentioned before.
If you're asking about the person, we've roughly pinpointed where he is—on a small island in the New World.
But you also said how strong he is. Without prior notice, we don't dare act rashly."
Belo Betty's crisp, efficient voice came through.
"Can you arrange for someone to win a prize?"
"?"
"A prize won through gambling. A one-month trip to Dressrosa, tied to a casino, all expenses paid."
"...I can try."
"Then that's it."
Ren hung up, and not long after, Robin pushed open the door and entered.
As soon as she had come out earlier, she had been busy processing and compiling all sorts of information networks—channels from the Revolutionary Army, routes through the underground dark world, and more.
As someone who had spent years drifting through every kind of circle, she had contacts everywhere.
"There's a piece of intelligence I think you'll find interesting. It's about the Warlords."
"Hm?"
"It seems the vacant position is going to be filled by someone called Edward Weevil."
"What has he done?"
"He seems to be the assassin type. So far, he's never missed his target.
He's already hunted down quite a few pirates worth over a hundred million, but according to the intelligence, the man himself doesn't seem very bright.
All his decisions depend on his mother..."
Robin calmly reported the information on this contender for the position of Warlord of the Sea.
"This guy's a pirate?"
Ren looked rather surprised.
"If there's a bounty on him, he's usually considered one. He's also caused plenty of trouble before in World Government member nations."
"Understood. Find his location. But don't act rashly—this man really is very strong."
Ren set the tone. There was no need to deal with this man too urgently.
Weevil II was extremely important to him.
Of course, not because the man himself was some rare talent, but because he was indirectly responsible for Zephyr leaving the Marines and establishing the NEO Marines.
That was right.
He was the pirate who had attacked the training ship under Zephyr's command, taken one of Zephyr's arms, and nearly wiped out the entire class, leaving only two promising survivors.
Kizaru had once evaluated him as possessing "the same tremendous strength Whitebeard had in his youth."
After the Marineford War, he had hunted down and successively defeated sixteen captains of Whitebeard's allied crews.
There was no doubt about his strength.
Later, he was recruited by the World Government as one of the Warlords of the Sea, which clearly meant he had already been on their list from the very beginning.
That said, his level definitely wasn't that of an Admiral. At the very least, the later Marine Admiral Ryokugyu defeated him with ease.
Roughly speaking, he was around Doflamingo's tier.
If this man becomes a Warlord smoothly, could that trigger Zephyr's departure from the Marines?Although Zephyr didn't appear during the Marineford War, and age had eroded his strength considerably...if it can weaken the Marines, then it wouldn't be a bad way to do it.After all, Zephyr leaving and founding the NEO Marines was like stabbing straight into the heart of Marine morale.
Ren mentally noted down this factor, then chatted with Robin a little longer.
But soon enough, people from Weatheria came to see him.
They brought him a very direct message.
The Judgment had been completed.
Ren arrived at the shipyard on Angel Island and discovered that the Weatheria scholars had taken advantage of the buoyancy of the White Sea to create a floating dry dock.
The Judgment was there.
The moment he stepped through the main gate, Ren saw that massive... thing.
It did not look like a ship in the traditional sense. Instead, it resembled a giant cup, with wing-like extensions flaring out on both sides.
Its surface was covered in dense grids, upon which were mounted machine-gun-like devices.
And at the bottom, there seemed to be a huge circular indentation.
That was what his Observation Haki told him.
"Its framework is made from a special alloy—the formula you brought us—plus the coating..."
Beside him, Haredas began introducing the Judgment in a nonstop stream of words.
"Why don't you just summarize it?"
Ren's head already hurt from listening. He felt there was no need for him to know every detail.
Nami had participated in the design discussions from beginning to end. If there were really any issues, he could just ask her directly.
"For now, I just want to know its concrete functions."
"Is that so..."
Haredas wilted a little, as if the joy of showing off had been cut off in an instant.
Still, he seriously began explaining.
"It actually has four major functions.
First: aerial flight.
See those wings? Those devices that look a bit like your own wings?
There are six massive downward-facing fans mounted on them. They're reverse-thrust power fans.
At the same time, there are also sixteen electric thrusters linked to the Lightning Core taken from the Ark.
But if you want this big thing to actually float in the air, Nami has to inject lightning energy into it.
And every two days or so, it needs another recharge, otherwise it'll suffer from insufficient power and start falling."
He grinned.
"Just kidding. Even if that happened, it wouldn't actually fall.
On the outside of those wings, and along the underside of the Judgment, there are thousands upon thousands of Jet Shells on rotating standby.
Speaking of which, that was a lucky find—we got them from the old lair of that Sky Pirate Alliance from before..."
Haredas eagerly looked like he was about to launch into another long speech.
But when he saw Ren's expression, clearly wanting to interrupt but holding back, he helplessly moved on to the next point.
"Second: the energy system.
That Lightning Core and the compatible generating equipment we seized from the Ark are excellent.
And those very special things from the Enlightenment—you gave us a lot of them before.
Using both, we carried out integration and optimization, forming a power chamber with enormous energy output.
Aside from routine living systems such as heating and cooling, water-heating systems, and so on, there's still a huge amount of surplus energy that can be used for other functions.
Of course, this part still requires Nami to handle the daily charging, generation, and storage of electricity.
Third: once the energy supply is sufficient, there's an additional function—a barrier shield.
I don't know how you got hold of something that miraculous, and there was no way for us to fully analyze that kind of technology.
So we could only rely on some of our own methods, plus Nami's help, to expand the active range of that barrier so it covers the entire exterior of the Judgment.
It does have one flaw: activating it requires injecting a massive amount of energy—"
"Wait! How did you people manage that?!"
Ren couldn't help interrupting, staring at the Judgment with a dumbfounded look on his face.
No, seriously—
Weather scholars weren't scientists, so how had they somehow crossed disciplines and improved the Field Generator ahead of schedule like this?!
"Because of some special circumstances... well, let me put it this way."
Haredas seemed a little hesitant, but after some thought, he still explained tactfully.
"We are researchers, and we are hardly the only ones in this world.
Under the shared identity of fellow researchers, weather studies have allowed us to get to know researchers from all over the world.
Among them are certain people who, because of their need for weather-related knowledge, owe us a great many favors.
The improvement to your device was completed with the help of one of those researchers, along with Nami's ability.
Of course...
to make that happen, the item had to be delivered into that researcher's hands. Nami made that decision herself."
"Got it. I have no objections."
Ren raised a hand, signaling a stop. As a hands-off boss, there was no way he was going to hold anyone accountable over something like this.
And he had probably already guessed who it was.
If he remembered correctly, Vegapunk's hometown had an extremely harsh environment, and he had once tried to transform the island's climate.
He had only failed because of a lack of funding, but the technology itself was unquestionably there.
Once he realized that, and remembered just how advanced the Field Generator was, it became obvious that improving it was beyond the capabilities of any ordinary scientist.
At that point, the answer was easy to understand.
Without question, the one who had improved the Field Generator was Vegapunk!
All he could say was that the world really was small.
"It's good that you don't mind. We were worried you might."
Haredas stroked his beard, assuming only that Ren had decided not to ask further.
"In any case, it can protect an area roughly ten meters outside the Judgment. If we tried to extend it further, the energy consumption would become even more terrifying, and the materials for the power chamber and energy transmission system wouldn't be able to keep up—"
"Talk about the fourth one."
Ren interrupted him again.
(End of Chapter)