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In the New World, there remained a multitude of powerful nations that had yet to fall under the banner of the Four Emperors.
Chief among them were Wano, the land of master swordsn, and Elbaf, the world's mightiest nation!
These countries were located deep in the second half of the New World. Wano had maintained a strict policy of isolationism for centuries, but even a cursory glance revealed warriors within its borders who rivaled Shiryu, the Captain of the Thunder God Pirates' First Division.
The Daimyo Kozuki Oden had been a crewmate of the Pirate King Roger and a "brother" to Whitebeard. Furthermore, the mysterious "Shogun" of Wano—a na Arthur had heard whispered—was a grandmaster swordsman in his own right.
Elbaf was even more enigmatic. It was a terrifying kingdom of giants, possessing a military might so potent that even Big Mom coveted it.
Sanjuan Wolf had been dispatched to Little Garden in the first half of the Grand Line to recruit the two forr captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates. He hadn't returned. In all likelihood, he was currently deadlocked with those two monstrous giants, Dorry and Brogy.
But the day Wolf managed to subdue the Blue Ogre and the Red Ogre would be the day the Thunder God Pirates gained a force of unimaginable destruction.
The crew was poised for expansion; the only bottleneck was manpower. Therefore, before the next big push, they needed to swell their ranks. Once they had the numbers and a few years of consolidation, they could strike.
The three-year deadline for the bet with Issho (Fujitora) was fast approaching!
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Receiving their orders, the nine captains—minus the absent Wolf—imdiately dispersed to execute Arthur's will.
However, Vice-Captain Redfield was notably absent from the grand eting. He was likely holed up in so castle, living a life of leisure.
Upon Arthur's return, Morgans had secretly reported a fascinating tidbit: Byrnndi World had t with Redfield several tis over the past three months. The contents of their discussions were unknown.
But what could they possibly have to talk about? It was undoubtedly a plot to secede from the Thunder God Pirates' control. To Arthur, this was nothing more than a trivial annoyance, beneath his notice. He couldn't be bothered to intervene.
Rebellion required strength. If they lacked the power to back it up, why should he care? It was a problem he could suppress with a casual wave of his hand.
Internal strife would be purged sooner or later. It was just a matter of one punch.
With the eting adjourned and the captains dismissed, Arthur paid a brief visit to Jessica. Seeing her hopelessly addicted to developing the capabilities of her Glare-Glare Fruit, he left her to her fun and rushed straight to Punk Hazard. It was ti to work with Vegapunk on the next stage of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's evolution.
Before Shiki's assault on the World Governnt, Arthur could only exert weak control over the electrons within the lightning he generated. Three months later, that control was absolute—an extension of his own will.
To develop a Devil Fruit to the stage Arthur had reached was unprecedented. Perhaps in the entire history of the seas, no one had gone this far.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit allowed him to generate and control lightning. Controlling the electrons within that lightning followed the sa principle. While he couldn't directly manipulate electrons that didn't originate from his own power, what he had was more than enough...
To control electrons in other forms of matter, however, would require further developnt.
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Punk Hazard.
Rows of futuristic chanical arms swung through the air, gripping blocks of refined gold and slotting them into the massive foundation of the Thunder God War Fortress.
Ships commanded by Bill, Captain of the 10th Division and leader of the Silver Pirate Alliance, arrived in a constant stream, offloading tons of refined gold onto the island.
"All these years, and we've only finished the base?"
Arthur looked at the foundation—which was already the size of a small island—and frowned. He wasn't satisfied with the pace.
Once the Thunder God War Fortress was completed, the crew would no longer need territory on the ocean surface. Aside from the giants' holand, they could abandon everything else.
The base alone rivaled an island in size. Once the spherical fortress was fully constructed, hovering in the heavens with nearly a hundred levels, it would be a floating city. The smaller levels could hold twenty or thirty thousand people; the largest could house a hundred thousand with ease.
With the artificial ecosystem Vegapunk was designing, it would be entirely self-sufficient.
The only downsides were its colossal energy consumption and the excruciatingly long construction ti.
"We've already tripled the workforce. The progress is rapid," Vegapunk said flatly, hands clasped behind his back. He walked over and handed Arthur a stack of docunts.
"The direction of your Rumble-Rumble Fruit developnt this ti is specifically intended to solve the future energy crisis of the War Fortress..."
"If I have to power this thing manually with electricity, I'll never get a day off for the rest of my life," Arthur cracked a rare joke with the scientist.
"When it cos to war, you're a genius. But in science? You have absolutely no talent," Vegapunk sighed, giving Arthur a look reserved for a hopeless student.
"A direct current electrical system won't work; the efficiency rate is too low. The Maxim only worked with direct electricity because it was tiny compared to this."
"What I'm proposing is a type of electric propulsion system. A plasma engine—or ion thruster. I ntioned this back at the Revolutionary Army headquarters."
"Plasma?" Arthur's brow twitched. He looked blank.
He knew the word plasma, of course. He'd seen it in sci-fi movies in his past life—spaceships, energy weapons, that sort of thing.
But how to actually make it? He hadn't a clue.
Arthur had many flaws, but he had one redeeming virtue: when he didn't understand sothing, he was humble enough to learn.
"Do you rember when we were at Baltigo? I explained how to strip electrons from an atomic nucleus," Vegapunk asked, watching Arthur's contemplative face.
"Of course. Under high-temperature conditions, electrons can break free from the nucleus. The process is called ionization."
"Good, you rember. Saves the trouble of repeating myself," Vegapunk nodded and continued.
"Under normal circumstances, ionization requires extre heat! But you are different. Your Devil Fruit allows you to skip that step entirely. You can freely control the electrons in the current you release, bypassing the tedious and redundant heating process!"
"Plasma is extrely unstable and hard to study in a standard lab environnt, so I haven't run many experints myself. But knowing the principle is enough. With your Rumble-Rumble Fruit, you can achieve it easily."
"So, betting everything on the Rumble-Rumble Fruit back then was the wise choice, huh?" Arthur chuckled softly.
"If I had that fruit, I would have been invincible years ago," Vegapunk retorted rcilessly, pacing forward with his hands behind his back.
"You can already control positive and negative electrons. If you combine them within a neutral gas, you create the fourth state of matter—distinct from solid, liquid, or gas. Plasma!"
"I theorize that if this plasma is constrained by an electromagnetic force, a new form of attack will be born. A Plasma Cannon? Or perhaps... a Plasma Blast?"
Hearing such a clear explanation, Arthur didn't wait. A blinding, searing light instantly erupted from his body as he began to experint on the spot.
"Hm? What are you doing? Stop! Are you trying to kill ?!" Vegapunk sensed the shift in the atmosphere, spun around, and lost his composure completely, screaming at the glowing man.
"Hahahaha! I've been finding Kaido an eyesore lately. I'm going to go test this new move on him!"
Arthur, buzzing with excitent, shot into the sky like a rocket.
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