Gold.
The timing of Shandora, the City of Gold's destruction.
Dr. Tsukimi.
The Moon People.
As these thoughts intertwined, Rowan frowned.
It was easy to become distracted by such topics. They were undoubtedly important, but for the Revolutionary Army's current situation, they weren't the most urgent concerns.
"Commander Dragon."
"Yes, Sir."
Rowan said,
"Stop extracting and transporting gold from that island for now."
"With the special route through the Red Line already established, use the Heavenly Tribute funds as a foundation and begin building our own financial administration."
"And form a merchant fleet."
Dragon nodded.
"We've already been doing that."
"After you established the rule that middle- and high-ranking Revolutionary Army members are forbidden from engaging in business, responsibility for the merchant operations was handed to specialized personnel."
"But they are never granted political authority within the Revolutionary Army."
"We still can't achieve complete self-sufficiency, but the Heavenly Tribute funds remain plentiful."
"Come to think of it, the young man managing the merchant fleet was someone you brought back yourself."
A name flashed through Rowan's mind.
Tesoro?
Rowan smiled.
"That kid really does have a talent for making money."
"As long as his ideals don't decay, allowing him to use his talents to help change the world is perfectly fine."
Then Rowan turned back to Vegapunk.
"As for lunar technology, I've seen fragments of it."
"I've even witnessed the scene of Dr. Tsukimi's death."
"Although my understanding is incomplete, digging deeper into those matters isn't important for us right now."
He continued:
"The Lineage Factor project can be temporarily suspended until we obtain the giant mechanical soldier."
"Suspended?"
Vegapunk and the others looked at Rowan in confusion.
"Offensive power is important."
"But from what I've seen... it's not the most important thing."
After a pause, Rowan said,
"I once witnessed a scene where crimson energy descended from the heavens."
"It was like the end of the world."
"In an instant, an entire island was erased."
"And not only that."
"At the location where the island once stood, a gigantic crater remained."
"A bottomless abyss that even the sea itself could not fill."
Silence fell over the room.
Everyone stared at Rowan.
No one doubted his description.
In fact, Dragon had already heard him mention this before.
But a crater so deep that the ocean couldn't fill it...
Even the legendary Ancient Weapon Pluton was only said to possess enough firepower to destroy an island.
There had never been any mention of it leaving behind a bottomless void beneath the island itself.
So was this the World Government's true trump card?
Dragon hesitated before speaking.
"The investigation of Wano a year ago..."
"At that time, the World Government was..."
"Yes."
Before Dragon could finish, Rowan confirmed his suspicion.
"If the World Government had verified that large numbers of Revolutionary Army forces and I myself were present in Wano..."
"They would have launched that attack."
The room fell silent once more.
Quinn swallowed.
His throat suddenly felt dry.
So this...this was the true terror of the World Government.
The original Beasts Pirates would never have had any hope of resisting such power.
The instructors had been right.
Pirates existed partly because the World Government allowed them to exist.
The chaos, looting, and destruction caused by pirates ultimately ensured a constant flow of Heavenly Tribute into the hands of the Celestial Dragons.
Otherwise if that kind of attack had been fired at Wano...
Even Kaido wouldn't have stood the slightest chance of stopping it.
"And that's not all," Rowan continued.
Rowan continued,
"The crater left behind after that attack destroyed an island may remain for a very long time."
"But what comes afterward is the real problem."
"Tsunamis. Earthquakes."
"And most importantly... rising sea levels."
Vegapunk froze.
His mind raced, and he quickly grasped the implication.
"How much would the sea level rise?"
Rowan looked at him.
"One meter."
Dragon immediately relaxed.
"If it's only one meter, then—"
Before he could finish, both Vegapunk and Quinn interrupted him.
"That's far too much."
"That's the entire world's sea level, not just the sea level around a single island."
"Destroying an island in one strike, triggering worldwide tsunamis and earthquakes, and then raising the global sea level by one meter..."
Vegapunk's voice trembled slightly.
"Describing it that way is far too understated."
"A one-meter rise in global sea level would generate disasters capable of taking countless lives."
"Dragon, this isn't just a beach moving one meter inland."
"For ordinary people, it would be a terrifying natural catastrophe."
Vegapunk turned back to Rowan.
"An attack descending from the sky."
"An attack that can't be prevented."
"And you haven't even mentioned how the World Government launches such an attack, or what weapon is responsible."
"So..."
"Do you want me to create something capable of defending against it?"
"Exactly."
Rowan confirmed the guess.
Then he asked,
"What I want to know is whether this so-called spatial isolation technology can..."
"It can't."
Vegapunk shook his head immediately.
"I already explained this."
"The so-called isolated space merely blocks abilities like teleportation or the Door-Door Fruit."
"It doesn't literally sever the entire research institute from reality."
"It's nothing more than a specialized interference system."
"As for the energy weapon you're describing, if you want to defend against it, you'd need an equivalent amount of energy."
So in the end, everything still came back to the giant hunk of metal sitting in Mary Geoise.
Rowan sighed.
"The Revolutionary Army is currently working toward the liberation of thought."
"And when most people have awakened to that way of thinking, it will also be the moment we launch our final revolution."
"Our comrades entrust their lives to us because they believe we can create a brighter future."
"A future where everyone has a chance to live."
"If we can't develop a means of resisting that attack, then rising sea levels will become inevitable."
"And when the day comes that we storm Mary Geoise..."
"Far too many innocent people will die."
Dragon nodded.
"That isn't the kind of world we want to create."
Rowan continued,
"Therefore, Dr. Vegapunk, I want your future research priorities to focus on allowing islands to defend themselves against this kind of attack."
"As for the energy problem, I'll bring back that giant mechanical soldier."
"No matter what."
Vegapunk nodded solemnly.
The books left behind by Ohara contained countless secrets, including many records relating to the Great Kingdom of eight hundred years ago.
But this was the first time he had learned the details of the World Government's hidden power.
Now that he knew about it, there was no way he could ignore it.
He would devote everything he had to solving it.
Three Days Later G5 Base
After completing the usual half-day swordsmanship training session that morning, Rowan once again contacted Spandine via Den Den Mushi.
Over the past three days, he had been calling whenever he had spare time, slowly building rapport.
At the same time, he casually let slip his curiosity about the Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
Not enough to be obvious.
His plan was to wait several more days before making a fourth call.
Being too eager would only raise suspicion.
Spandine was greedy and foolish but he wasn't an idiot.
Still, proceeding this way carried considerable risk of exposure.
A giant mechanical soldier being stolen away, while he just so happened to be invited to Mary Geoise at the same time that coincidence alone was the greatest risk.
Even if he had a perfect alibi through a Shadow Clone, suspicion would still fall on him.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Come in."
Tina entered carrying a report.
After handing it over, she scratched her head awkwardly.
"This is the analysis report regarding the disturbances in Totto Land. It seems the Beast Pirates' provocations triggered one of Big Mom's rampages. During her episode, she ended up destroying the entire island."
Rowan skimmed through the document.
Although he already knew exactly what had happened, he still replied:
"They can keep beating each other up. Don't bother interfering."
"The Navy Headquarters currently has no plans to move against them."
"Or rather, they never seriously considered it in the first place."
"Continue monitoring the situation."
Tina could hear the dissatisfaction in his voice whenever he spoke about Headquarters.
But there was nothing she could do about it.
Since the start of the Great Pirate Era, countless pirates from the Four Blues had flooded into the Grand Line.
The Navy arrested wave after wave of them.
Those who survived the constant struggle eventually gathered in the second half of the Grand Line the sea pirates called the New World.
Simply maintaining the current defensive line was already pushing the Navy to its limits.
After thinking for a moment, Tina produced another report.
"The Donquixote Family in the North Blue has officially entered the underworld trade network."
"They're expanding their influence through arms sales to various nations."
"Some of their executives have even started setting their sights on Dressrosa."
Rowan looked up and smiled.
"You already passed this information to Vice Admiral Tsuru, didn't you?"
"The name Donquixote doesn't sound familiar to you?"
Tina froze.
At first, she hadn't thought much about it.
After his reminder, realization dawned on her.
"Celestial Dragons?"
"Exactly."
"They're descendants of one of the original Twenty Kings of Mary Geoise."
"That's why Headquarters has been hesitating."
"And why they're operating so openly."
Tina frowned.
"Then should we intercept them?"
"Our patrol zone covers the route between Sabaody and Dressrosa."
"We can stop them."
"No."
Rowan rejected the idea immediately.
Then he explained,
"Headquarters can't make a decision."
"If we act on our own, we could probably win."
"But you and the others might not survive."
The identity of a Navy Vice Admiral couldn't be used alongside Flying Thunder God or Ryūjin Jakka.
With the Steel Bone talent now enhancing his body, the current Doflamingo wasn't his match.
However, the versatility of the String-String Fruit would still cause severe casualties among the G-5 forces.
And even if they successfully intercepted Donquixote's ships, Headquarters wouldn't thank them for it.
Officially, Rowan was still an agent of the World Government.
He couldn't openly use Flying Thunder God.
And if Doflamingo escaped and reported everything to the Five Elders or threatened to expose certain secrets tied to the Celestial Dragons the situation could become very troublesome.
"I understand."
Tina lowered her head slightly.
She felt somewhat ashamed.
Afterward, she continued reporting the various routine matters of G-5 Base.
When she finally finished, she seemed hesitant to leave.
She reached the door.
Then stopped.
Turning around, she spoke.
"Vice Admiral..."
"If pirates exist because the system failed them and because they lost their bonds with society..."
"Then is the Navy's justice really just about eliminating pirates?"
Oh?
The seed planted more than a year ago seemed to have finally begun to sprout.
"You've heard people talk about different forms of justice, haven't you?"
"Vice Admiral Sakazuki's Absolute Justice."
"Vice Admirals Kuzan and Borsalino's Lazy Justice and Unclear Justice."
Tina nodded.
Rowan continued,
"Do you think those are true justice?"
"Take our decision not to intercept the Donquixote Family this time."
"Do you think that's compromise?"
"Or something else?"
Tina furrowed her brows and pondered the question for a long time.
Only when Rowan reached out and ruffled her pink hair did she finally snap out of her thoughts.
She shot him a dissatisfied glance and left the room.
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