"We only need a war against the World Government!"
Ian spread out his right hand, then clenched his five fingers. "A war that wipes out all the top officials of the World Government in one sweep."
That would be enough.
After all, the World Government wasn't actually such a tightly structured organization.
As long as the Imu and the Five Elders—the core of the government—were eliminated, along with the Celestial Dragons, wouldn't all the nations in the world come running?
As for whether destroying only the upper echelons while leaving the lower levels intact would make the victory incomplete and leave behind remnants of the government, Ian didn't care in the slightest.
If the war was won, then with pure-gold, his lifespan would stretch tens of thousands of years. He would have all the time to play around with those inexplicable people.
"Is that so? Good!"
Dragon nodded lightly, a trace of joy appearing on his face.
Being able to reduce the intensity of the war, to spare more civilians from its impact, was, of course, a dream come true for him.
"Then, Ian," Aunt Linlin said with a cheerful smile, "does that mean I can go back and gather my strength to prepare for the final battle?"
Ian smiled gently. "Aunt Linlin, you don't need to run back and forth."
"Just have Katakuri get ready, isn't that enough?"
Aunt Linlin's face instantly stiffened; the smile that had been somewhat radiant froze completely on her heavily made-up face.
As expected, that little bastard Ian would never let her leave so easily.
Ignoring the curses brewing in Aunt Linlin's heart, Ian turned to his good friend Shanks and another visiting leader of the Cross Guild, Redfield.
"Of course, Shanks, and Redfield, you'll have to endure for a while too."
"I don't mind," Shanks shrugged, his smile unwavering. "I've always wanted to see what Wano looks like under your rule. Going back this time should give me a chance to see it properly, right?"
"I'll personally take you on a tour," Ian said with a smile.
"It's a deal!"
Shanks's smile widened even more.
Redfield didn't speak at all.
At this moment, the Cross Guild could essentially be considered a subordinate organization of the Beasts Pirates, completely under Shiryu. He no longer felt any sense of belonging there.
The only person he cared about was Perona.
So the thought of going back didn't even cross his mind.
Instead, he was more curious about just how far Ian could go.
Could Ian claim victory in the war that Joy Boy had failed to win eight hundred years ago?
As someone who knew all the truths of the world, Redfield found it hard not to be curious about this.
Boom!!
Two colossal figures suddenly surged up from beneath the sea.
Massive waves spread out in all directions, and it was clear that this part of the ocean would soon be whipped into a stormy frenzy.
However, in this part of the New World near the Red Line, there were hardly any islands, so it shouldn't cause any real damage.
The spindle-shaped ship began to transform, gradually taking back the shape of a regular vessel. Ian stood on the wide, deck-like surface that resembled an island, quietly gazing out at the New World. This was his New World.
After returning, it would be time to dig up Pluton.
It had been buried underground for so long that who knew if anything had been damaged. Better to dig it up and inspect it first; if there were problems, they could be fixed immediately.
Otherwise, if he waited until just before the war to unearth it and found a problem, it would be too late to fix.
Imagine finally getting energy from Vegapunk, ready to fire a shot at Imu, only for it to fizzle out—how embarrassing that would be.
Ian also thought that since Joy Boy and the others had been able to create Pluton back then, their records must have included information on the energy as well.
So next, he would retrieve that part of the records and give it to Vegapunk to accelerate his research.
This could catch the World Government off guard, since they would have been monitoring Vegapunk's original research progress.
If the research timeline was significantly advanced, the government wouldn't be able to react in time.
In that case, seizing the energy and Vegapunk would become a much simpler task.
In any case, the two large ships set sail back toward Wano.
Speaking of which, Wano had stood with Joy Boy back in the day.
To be precise, an ancestor of the Kozuki family had supported Joy Boy.
It was this ancestor who helped Joy Boy deliver the Mink Tribe to Zunesha, and using the family's passed-down carving techniques, assisted Lily in creating the Poneglyph.
Even Pluton had been buried in Wano.
The ancient script carved into the Poneglyph was actually the writing used by the Birkans. The Kozuki family had passed it down through generations in preparation for this very war.
This country was also a key place for everything.
During the return voyage, Dragon bid farewell, heading back to the Revolutionary Army headquarters for a final mobilization.
Enel, too, transformed into lightning and departed, returning to the Celestial Dragon territories to continue his stationing duties.
He already knew everything he wanted to know. All that remained was to wait for the final war, and then eliminate those so-called Celestial Dragons, avenging the suffering of his ancestors.
When passing through the Giant Kingdom, the Solem brothers, along with Robin, disembarked here.
Ian wasn't worried that they would leak any secrets.
After all, by now, the Giant Kingdom was one of his staunchest allies. Not to mention, Joy Boy was their legendary Sun God, and the giants longed to complete the great mission their ancestors had left unfinished!
Robin needed no convincing; she couldn't have hoped for the World Government to die more than she already did.
After bidding them farewell, the voyage continued.
Even with two such massive ships, sailing through the New World controlled by the Beast Pirates caused no disturbances. They returned to Wano quietly, without a ripple.
The massive library and factory were positioned on the sea near Onigashima.
Bullet submerged beneath the waves, using his ability to raise the seabed, creating platforms sturdy enough to support the library and factory.
The library and factory were then placed atop these two platforms.
Both structures were far too important, and Ian didn't want them too far from Onigashima.
Once everything was settled, Ian prepared to excavate Pluton.
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