BANG!!!
"We can't let this continue!!"
"The Straw Hat crew's threat level has already surpassed any pirate crew in the last eight hundred years. We have to find a way to eradicate them immediately."
Holy Land · Mary Geoise.
Inside the Five Elders' conference chamber—now missing yet another seat—Saint Warcury suddenly slammed his fist onto the desk, roaring in fury.
At his side, the other three elders wore nearly identical expressions.
This defeat had led the Straw Hats to forcibly drag the once-hostile Alicia Mirabelagon down from the position of Elder again…
But afterward, their own incompetence still earned them yet another round of Imu's brutal punishment.
That debt, naturally, could only be charged to the Straw Hat Pirates.
"How is the Navy's Global Military Draft plan coming along!?"At that moment, Saint Peter, who had remained silent until now, abruptly spoke up.
And Saint Nusjuro, the "financial warrior god" currently overseeing the maintenance of Shodai Kitetsu, answered at once:
"I approved the funding Aokiji requested."
"Judging by the results the Navy has reported, the effect seems astonishing."
"Besides that specially promoted Admiral, Issho (Fujitora)… the Navy now has over a hundred fighters at the Vice Admiral level."
"One Admiral and more than a hundred Vice Admirals…" Saint Mars sighed.
"In the past, a Navy Admiral might still have been worth something."
"But against the power the Straw Hat Pirates have displayed… a mere Admiral can no longer serve as an effective deterrent."
"If that won't do…" Saint Warcury spoke again, his voice turning dark. "Then we can only take emergency measures!"
"Emergency measures!?" The other elders all looked over.
Warcury lowered his head, his face shadowed as if a storm cloud had passed over it.
"The enemy of my enemy is a friend!"
"I don't believe the pirates of the New World will just sit back and watch the Straw Hat Pirates monopolize everything."
"Find a way—contact those New World bastards and have them go make trouble for the Straw Hats!"
"But even New World pirates won't pose much of a threat to the Straw Hats, will they!?" Saint Mars immediately frowned in rebuttal.
Warcury continued, unfazed:
"Ordinary pirates are useless, sure. But if we're talking about Emperors like the Straw Hats… that's a different story~"
"Emperors?"
The elders' eyes flickered.
"But… Whitebeard and Kaido have both cooperated with the Straw Hat Pirates before. And you all know the special nature of that Red-Haired bastard…"
"No!" Warcury cut him off. "Whitebeard is unlikely, yes. But Kaido…"
A sinister glint surfaced in his eyes. "According to Cipher Pol's latest intelligence, Kaido originally intended to strike while the Straw Hat Pirates' foothold in Totto Land was unstable—he planned to seize the former Big Mom Pirates' territory."
"But because the World Government's forces appeared, Kaido had no choice but to cooperate with the Straw Hat Pirates."
After more than a month, the World Government had finally grasped the reason behind the alliance between the Straw Hat Pirates and the Beasts Pirates.
And the result left them feeling utterly sick.
It proved that if they'd arrived at Totto Land even a little later, they would never have ended up facing three Emperor crews united in resistance.
The sheer absurdity of it nearly gave the Five Elders heart attacks.
If they weren't immortal, they might've started convulsing on the spot.
"It's… not a bad idea."
No matter what, Kaido's strength was undeniable—just like his ambition.
Warcury was certain: Kaido would never sit by and watch the Straw Hat Pirates become the sole dominant force and ultimately rise as the Pirate King celebrated across the world.
If the World Government could secretly support him and let the Beasts Pirates recruit aggressively, it might genuinely deal the Straw Hats a heavy blow.
The elders exchanged looks—then made their decision in an instant.
…
…
Meanwhile, on another edge of the Pokémon Sea—on Clefairy Island, positioned symmetrically opposite Abra Island—
"Welcome, honored guests of the Revolutionary Army~"
"Things have been hectic lately, so please forgive any shortcomings in my hospitality."
At the port of Clefairy Island, Red wore a warm, friendly smile as he greeted a group of mysterious figures stepping off a ship, all cloaked in capes.
"Lord Red!"
The moment the newcomer saw Red, he immediately removed his hood, revealing pale golden hair.
That's right—the visitor was none other than the Revolutionary Army's second-in-command, still suffering from amnesia—Sabo.
Though the father-and-son reunion Red had hoped for didn't happen, the fact that the Revolutionaries sent Sabo—their future successor—already showed how seriously they were taking the Straw Hats' invitation.
More importantly…
Sabo's ties to the Straw Hat Pirates ran even deeper than Luffy's own father.
After all, he was Luffy's sworn brother in the truest sense—his bond no less genuine than the one Luffy shared with Ace!
It was just that Luffy wasn't on Clefairy Island right now.
Mainly because Red worried that if the brothers recognized each other too soon, it would interfere with negotiations with the Revolutionary Army and waste time.
So he planned to handle business first—then personally bring Sabo, a true "one of us," to Cake Island.
And let's not forget: Pudding, the user of the Memory Fruit, was still under the Straw Hats' banner right now, serving as the ruler of an island~
From the original story, it was clear Sabo hadn't lost those memories entirely—he just couldn't recall them.
With the Memory Fruit's power, restoring his memories would be a matter of minutes.
When the brothers reunited… they'd probably cry their eyes out.
Clap!
Two large hands clasped tightly as Sabo spoke frankly:
"Thank you, Lord Red—and everyone in the Straw Hat Pirates—for your tremendous support of the Revolutionary Army!"
"We've already infiltrated sixty percent of the Navy's forces. It has provided enormous help for our future operations."
"But I must ask—why did you urgently summon us to the Pokémon Sea?"
"Hehe~"Red chuckled, deliberately keeping it vague.
"This isn't the place for idle talk. Let's move somewhere else."
As he spoke, Red snapped his fingers sharply.
An invisible wave of psychic power instantly "grabbed" the Revolutionary officers present.
Before they could even realize what had happened, their surroundings shifted abruptly—transforming from a wide-open harbor into a lavish, gold-and-jade reception hall.
Inside, Usopp, Robin, and Franky were already seated, waiting.
Red walked straight to the head seat and smiled at the Revolutionaries.
"Please, have a seat."
"What an incredible method…"
Even though he already knew the Straw Hat Pirates were stacked with elite monsters—kicking Navy fleets and punching the World Government into the dirt—Sabo still couldn't help but marvel as Red transported all of them here in an instant.
With that kind of power, harming them would be effortless.
Fortunately, this powerhouse seemed to be an ally, not an enemy.
At the very least, they shared one common enemy—the World Government.
At Sabo's signal, the Revolutionary leaders took their seats one by one and removed their hoods, revealing their faces.
This time, five high-ranking Revolutionaries had accompanied Sabo:
East Army Commander Belo Betty, bounty 457,000,000 Beli, and her deputy commander Ahiru;
South Army Commander Lindbergh, bounty 316,000,000 Beli, and his deputy commander Karasu;
And Sabo's childhood friend—once a Celestial Dragon slave, later rescued by Fisher Tiger—the Revolutionary officer Koala.
Six people total: the Revolutionary Army's second-in-command, his secretary, two commanders, and two deputy commanders…
Half of the Revolutionary Army's top brass was gathered here, showing just how important they considered this meeting.
And it also demonstrated their trust in the Straw Hat Pirates.
After everyone sat down, both sides studied each other with curiosity.
Then, before the Revolutionaries could even begin their questions, Red got straight to the point.
"All right—thank you for coming."
"Now that everyone's here, let's get to the real topic."
Red's gaze sharpened as it settled on Sabo and the others.
"Though we come from pirates, we deeply respect the Revolutionary Army's spirit—fighting for the greater good, even at the cost of yourselves."
"That's why we used Issho as a bridge to help the Revolutionary Army complete its infiltration work against the World Government."
"You flatter us, Lord Red."Sabo hurriedly rose in humility.
But Red waved him off with a smile.
"As the saying goes—the enemy of my enemy is a friend."
"The World Government has come after us again and again. Enough is enough."
"And since the Revolutionary Army's goal is also to overthrow the World Government…"
"Why don't we deepen our cooperation—so we can accelerate the World Government's collapse?"
"Th-this…"Sabo froze mid-motion, still not having sat back down.
But Red had already signaled Usopp with a glance.
Usopp immediately pulled out a strange little device from his waist pouch—something like a remote control—and placed it in front of Sabo.
At the same time, Franky casually produced a common flintlock-style firearm from behind his back.
As Sabo and the others stared curiously, Red spoke with a calm smile.
"I assume you all know the Straw Hat Pirates are currently involved in the arms business, yes?"
"…Yes."Sabo and the others nodded hesitantly.
Ever since the Donquixote Family, the underground world's biggest arms dealer, collapsed, nearly eighty percent of the underground arms market had flowed into the Straw Hats' hands.
Their strength and credibility far surpassed the Donquixote Family's—and now they were also ruthlessly undercutting prices, pushing firearms so cheap that many factories couldn't even recover production costs…
In just two or three months, dozens of arms factories along the Grand Line alone had gone bankrupt.
In other words, even if they wanted to ignore it, they couldn't.
What Sabo and the others couldn't understand was… what did arms dealing have to do with these objects in front of them?
Their eyes shifted back to Red, waiting.
Red only smiled and didn't explain right away.
Instead, he said, "Robin, show them that list."
"Of course~"
Dressed like a secretary, wearing black-rimmed glasses and looking oddly fitting in the role, Robin smiled as she produced a document and handed it to Sabo and the others.
"This is the current list of all buyers who have purchased large quantities of weapons from Green Vine Arms, and whose transactions have already been fully settled."
"Uh…"
Curious, Sabo and the others opened the file and began scanning the buyers' names one by one.
Very quickly, they spotted the problem.
As a large-scale arms manufacturer, Green Vine Arms obviously wasn't supplying some tiny town gun shop on a backwater island.
Anyone negotiating directly with them would be a major client—someone with massive demand.
What shocked the Revolutionaries was how strangely uniform these clients' identities were.
Koala's eyes lit up. She snapped her head up and blurted out:
"These names… aren't they all member nations of the World Government?"
"Correct."Robin nodded with a smile.
"Green Vine Arms only recently got started. Our production capacity can't fully satisfy the entire military supply market yet, so we can only fulfill part of the orders first."
"But… why?"Deputy Commander Ahiru of the East Army raised her head, revealing a stunningly beautiful face that didn't lose to Robin's.
"Isn't the World Government your enemy?"
"Why would you prioritize supplying firearms to member nations of the World Government!?"
"I think… the answer is that device, isn't it?"
Before the Straw Hats could respond, Lindbergh, who specialized in fighting using technology, spoke first.
Though a small round pair of glasses hid his eyes, everyone could tell his gaze was fixed on the remote-like device Usopp had taken out.
Red's lips curled upward.
"Not bad—just as expected of a Revolutionary commander."
"That's right. What I'm showing you today… is this special device."
"It has a simple, easy-to-understand name—the Green Vine Jammer."
"And as for what it does…"
Red reached out, picked up the firearm on the table, and without hesitation pulled the trigger toward an empty wall ahead.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out—one everyone here was already painfully familiar with.
A bullet burst from the barrel and shot toward the blank wall, only to be stopped by Red's psychic power just before impact, dropping harmlessly to the floor.
Nothing fancy—but enough to prove the gun worked normally.
"Now, please watch~"Red spoke again, drawing everyone's attention.
He pressed a button on the remote-like device.
In an instant, an arc of electricity flashed inside the gun's core.
Red pulled the trigger again—
No matter how he tried, the firearm refused to fire another shot.
And that… was the real reason Red had gathered the Revolutionary Army's leadership here.
"This is…!?"
Lindbergh pushed up his glasses to see more clearly, then shot to his feet in shock.
"This thing… can interfere with firearms!?"
"To be precise…" Red grinned. "It can interfere with firearms produced by Green Vine Arms~"
"Wait!"
Realizing what Red was aiming at, Sabo thrust a hand out and cut in.
"Lord Red—this Green Vine Jammer… what's its effective range? And how long does it last?"
Red had expected the question. He answered with a smile:
"This was built by our great scientist Usopp and our great engineer Franky, working together…"
"With just one Jammer, the signal coverage is enough to blanket an area the size of Cake Island."
"As for duration—you can see the Jammer itself isn't very big, so it can only maintain interference for twelve hours."
"But the good news is, the materials are cheap, and production is simple…"
"So we can make as many of these as we want~"
(End of Chapter)