As Kikyo's question hung in the air, the warriors realized they didn't need to stress their own brains when the smartest man they'd ever met was sitting right in front of them. Over the past few days, it had become an unspoken truth in Amazon Lily: Leo was the architect of their new reality.
He was efficient, far more so than their beautiful but often capricious Empress. He solved problems with a logic they had never encountered.
Leo offered a small, knowing smile. "Technology and progress are the primary drivers of power. The World Government has the backing of hundreds of nations and the bottomless wealth of the Celestial Dragons. Their research budget is thousands of times larger than anything Amazon Lily can muster. In a straight arms race, you will never win."
"That's why I'm here," he continued. "The World Government cannot be defeated by a single person or a single nation. We must gather everyone who is dissatisfied—everyone who has been crushed by the Navy or the Nobles—and pull together to topple them."
He kept his ultimate target—the Celestial Dragons—as a high-level secret. Even among the Kuja, he couldn't be sure there weren't spies or loose lips. To the world, he was a rebel against the "Government." To his inner circle, he was something far more dangerous.
"So, what do we do?" Sweetpea asked, her eyes wide with hope.
"First, we take it one step at a time."
Leo finished the last of his meal. His Haki was still non-existent, but his body was finally recovering. During his ten years as a slave, he had deliberately avoided training. A slave who grows strong is a slave who wants to escape, and he needed the Nobles to see him as harmless.
Now, that lack of foundation was biting him. In this world, "Base Stats" were everything. The Supernovas and the legends like Rayleigh or Mihawk hadn't just relied on Devil Fruits; they had spent decades honing their physical shells.
Leo viewed physical strength as "Internal Energy" and Devil Fruits as "Technique." You can refine your technique all you want, but without the energy to back it up, you're just a glass cannon. He was currently a glass pistol with no bullets.
That afternoon, during his training session, he dropped a bombshell on Hancock.
"It's time to leave," he said, rising from his 300th push-up. "The Government has total confidence in the Warlord system right now. They won't expect a provocation, and they won't attack you while the ink on the contract is still wet. This is our window."
He stood up, drenched in sweat. Even after all this work, he was still "weak" by Grand Line standards. If he were in the East Blue, he might be a decent fighter, but he had seen Admirals and Emperors. He knew what true power looked like, and he was terrified of his own inadequacy.
In his previous life, they called it Firepower Deficiency Syndrome. In the One Piece world, "firepower" meant "High-End Combatants."
"It's time to recruit some real monsters," Leo said, taking a towel from a blushing Hancock. He wiped the sweat from his neck, looking out toward the horizon. "Are you coming with me?"
"If you are going, then I must go as well," Hancock replied softly. Her devotion was absolute, bordering on the irrational.
Leo didn't mistake this for simple love. He knew he had tapped into her deepest obsession—her hatred for the Dragons. He was using that "love" to fuel his revolution, but he refused to be truly despicable. Despite her hints and the fact that they shared a palace, he hadn't touched her. It was the one line he refused to cross: he would not use her trauma to claim her body.
This restraint only made him more of a "gentleman" in the eyes of Gloriosa and the sisters, further cementing his authority.
The next day, the entire island of Amazon Lily was in motion. Fresh water and supplies were loaded onto the Kuja flagship. The warriors gathered at the docks to see off their Empress and the man who had changed their fate.
"All the way to the East Blue?" Gloriosa asked, her brow furrowed. Leaving the Grand Line for the "weakest sea" seemed like a strange move. "Do you have a route?"
"We'll sail through the Grand Line to Alabasta," Leo explained, his mental map clear. "From there, we'll cross the Calm Belt directly into the East Blue. It's the safest, most efficient path."
Gloriosa considered this for a moment, then nodded firmly. "In that case, I will stay behind. The kingdom needs an anchor while the Queen is away."
The gates opened. The sea serpents surged forward. The revolution was finally leaving the shore.