"Fourth, weapons."
Haredas rolled his eyes and pointed at the dense grid covering the surface of the Judgment. "See those things?
That's right—they're gunports. More specifically, electromagnetic cannon ports. Big ones, small ones—one thousand ports in total.
They use magnetic acceleration to fire metal blocks at twice the speed of sound.
In terms of power, they're many times stronger than flintlock guns, but you need to keep in mind that their range is limited.
For precision strikes, the effective range is about two kilometers. Beyond that, the accuracy drops the farther out it goes.
The main problem is that we couldn't find metal materials with enough strength, nor could we acquire the supporting technologies involved in the railgun blueprint.
The biggest reason they become inaccurate at long range is that we have no way to calculate precise impact points.
And after the metal melts, it deforms, which creates problems for the shells as well.
The ammunition currently in use is synthetic metal, and the raw material is iron produced by that machine of yours.
Its advantage is that it's cheap and easy to replenish. Its weakness is that it melts very easily under high temperatures.
Still, there's no need to worry too much about close-range defense.
Using that thing called the Redstone Intelligence Core, along with the knowledge and technology we traded for—
—and also some of the materials from your Iron Knights—we created an automated mechanism for the Judgment's artillery.
It can independently detect and lock onto hostile targets. Of course, you'll still need to assign operators to it."
"I see… that's acceptable."
Ren stroked his chin. He was not too disappointed.
Even with a railgun blueprint in hand, technology was still an entire system unto itself.
A weapon that seemed simple on the surface might actually require an extremely advanced industrial foundation.
Given the overall technological level of the One Piece world, the fact that the Weatheria scholars had managed to produce railguns at all was already impressive enough.
And from the sound of it, that only accounted for seven hundred ports.
"What about the other three hundred?"
"Well…" Haredas thought for a moment, trying to find the fastest way to make Ren understand, then said, "Those can't really be counted as gunports.
They're 'material outlets' for various weather technologies.
We've already coordinated that part with Nami, so you can just ignore them."
"Then what about the superweapon?"
Ren frowned slightly. "Wasn't there supposed to be an extremely powerful main weapon?"
"Of course. That recessed section at the bottom of the ship is it."
Haredas pointed toward the underside of the hull. "That's also part of the ship's weapons system. It's a weapon based on the same electromagnetic cannon principles.
After we discovered the limitations of the materials, and in consideration of combat needs, we conducted a few experiments using Nami's abilities.
The process is very complicated, but in terms of the end result, we created a killing weapon capable of sinking an island.
It's essentially also a cannon, except its operating principles are completely different from gunpowder weapons.
First, it requires a user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit to operate it personally. After that, a massive block of metal is loaded into a sealed chamber.
The high temperatures generated by electromagnetic heating melt the metal, then turn it into liquid, and finally into gas.
At the end, a very special high-temperature substance is produced, and we made that into the 'shell.'
If the Rumble-Rumble ability keeps supplying energy without interruption, that shell will rapidly turn into something like a beam of light.
Its temperature is incredibly, unbelievably high. And once it's fired at a target island—
—it will directly pierce through the island, tear apart its landmass, and then cause the entire island to disintegrate in a massive explosion!"
At that point, Haredas's expression turned serious. "I hope you understand that this is an extremely dangerous weapon. You'd better not use it anywhere innocent people are present."
"…Understood."
Ren nodded slowly. In his mind, he had already more or less guessed what that thing was.
Plasma. High-temperature plasma—a state of matter that could very well be called ionized fire.
That clearly wasn't something the railgun blueprint alone could have produced. It was more likely the result of combining that blueprint with the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Only an absurd Devil Fruit ability could create a technological weapon so far ahead of its time.
"You'd better really understand."
Haredas sighed. "We still don't know whether making something like this was a good thing or a bad thing. But we trust Kuma's judgment.
All right, enough nonsense. The last weapon is thunderclouds.
According to your request and Nami's request, we improved the Lightning Core and rebuilt the thundercloud machine.
Put simply, that thing can release a tremendous amount of thunderclouds, enough to cover dozens of kilometers.
And they can stack with the natural environment too—in other words, thunderstorm weather plus artificial thunderclouds.
As for how powerful it is, you can ask Nami. I'd rather not discuss such dangerous weapons too much.
By the way, these weapons all have linked effects. Explaining all of that would be troublesome. You'll see it for yourself in the future."
"I understand."
Ren thanked him seriously, then took Haredas's hand and bowed slightly in gratitude.
"Enough already. Go do what you should be doing. I hope you really can change this rotten world."
Haredas rolled his eyes, shook off Ren's hand, and turned to leave.
Even so, many scholars from Weatheria were still busy here.
The Judgment's departure required a fair amount of preparation, and one of the necessities was charging it with power from a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user.
Once everything was ready, the war would begin.
"Then it's time to prepare a trump card."
Ren turned and left the shipyard, leaving the preparations for departure to Nami, Robin, and the others.
He needed to prepare something extremely important for the coming operation.
Now that he had more or less guessed what might happen, he had to prepare something that could prevent a "total-annihilation ending."
And what that involved, naturally, was the captured Sea Horse, as well as Synthesis Scrolls and other such items.
Although they no longer had the absurd amount of funds they once did, they could still scrape together a few hundred million.
Dressrosa.
Inside the royal palace.
Doflamingo's face was dark and vicious as he tossed the Den Den Mushi onto the table, then summoned the family executives.
"Doffy, did some news come in?"
Trebol, still as sloppy as ever with mucus dripping from his nose, had several scratch marks on his face. His expression carried a fair amount of irritation.
"Sugar bothering you again?"
Doflamingo glanced at the scratches on Trebol's cheek.
"She's convinced her sister is fine, but she still keeps asking over and over."
"I also hope nothing happened to her… at the very least, I hope she didn't end up like Pica."
Doflamingo clenched his fist, his expression growing even colder.
Diamante, sitting nearby, tapped the armrest of his seat. "Did you gather us here because you found that bastard?"
"You found that bastard?"
"Where is he?! I'm going to blow him into pieces!"
"How about letting me turn him into a work of art!"
"Perhaps I could flatten him into minced meat—"
Below, the Donquixote Family executives instantly erupted.
Because of Pica's death and Monet's disappearance, nearly all the Donquixote Family officers had gathered at headquarters.
Of course, Sugar was a special case, so she was not present.
As a group, it was only natural that they would be furious over a comrade's death—but even more than that, they felt the dignity of the family had been provoked.
"Silence!"
Doflamingo raised one hand, and the room fell silent at once.
He swept his gaze across the room and said coldly, "That was a call from the Golden Emperor. He's set up a trap and guaranteed that the Demon Pirates will arrive in Dressrosa.
Their means of transportation are unknown. But judging from what happened before, if that brat could cross sea routes to reach Gran Tesoro, then he can definitely cross the Red Line and come here as well.
Dressrosa is our territory. No matter what he's planning, this battle will settle this blood debt!"
"Can he be trusted?"
Trebol voiced his objection. "Tesoro works with us, but he's not actually subordinate to the family. Maybe he has some other motive?"
"He himself will arrive in Dressrosa ahead of time."
Doflamingo lowered his hand and laughed darkly. "Fuffuffuffu… no matter what he and that brat are planning, here, I am the absolute 'king'!"
"Understood."
Trebol nodded.
"Pass the orders down. Tell everyone below to start moving."
Doflamingo looked at the executives beneath him. "The same goes for all of you—you need to remember one thing.
There's nothing wrong with hating someone who kills your comrades. There's nothing wrong with wanting to torture him to death. I also hate the murderer who took away my family.
But this is someone who defeated Pica and a Marine Vice Admiral. If any of you find him, report to me immediately!"
"Yes!"
The Donquixote Family executives all nodded.
Then the meeting was dismissed.
Trebol was the last to leave, and Doflamingo stopped him before he went out.
"Pay close attention to Tesoro during this operation. The way he's acting is too abnormal. There may be an accident we don't want to see."
"You mean betrayal?" Trebol asked.
"Maybe yes, maybe no. But—"
Doflamingo stood up and grabbed his pink feather coat, draping it over his shoulders.
"—there's always a chance.
I like having everything in the palm of my hand. But there are always times when things don't go the way you want.
Compared to scrambling at the last minute and ending up in failure, it's better to examine every potential problem in advance and seize control of it completely.
So have Sugar and Onigumo prepare themselves as well. There may be a situation where the entire table gets flipped.
A brat who can even catch a Yonko off guard… may very well catch me off guard too.
Fuffuffuffu… that's exactly what makes the world so interesting."
"I understand, Young Master."
Trebol lowered his head and then left.
At the same time, another "executive" of the Donquixote Family was also set into motion.
She had not participated in the meeting. She had merely received orders.
"Violet, now it's your time to shine."
Baby 5 slapped a stack of bounty posters down in front of Violet. "With the power of your Glare-Glare Fruit, you'll definitely be able to spot those bastards before they land.
The moment you find them, report to the family immediately and fulfill your duty as family executive—Violet!"
Violet did not answer, nor did she ask why she had not been informed of any of this beforehand. She simply picked up the bounty posters and swept her eyes across them.
Then she looked at the overbearing Baby 5 and said, "Understood. But can I trouble you with one thing first?"
"Hm? You need me?!"
Baby 5, who had been acting lofty just a second ago, changed instantly, looking overjoyed. "What do you need me to do for you?!"
"Leave this place, and report to the family that I've received the order and will carry it out."
"Okay!"
Baby 5 happily left the room.