chapter 76 part 2
Belo Betty herself was the captain of the East Blue army, so it was natural for her to come along—in fact, she had also brought a group of Revolutionary Army soldiers, who were currently on standby in the nearby waters.
As for Lindbergh, as the commander of the West Army, there was only one reason for his presence here.
As the chief scientist in charge of Revolutionary Army weapon manufacturing, he had come this time specifically to verify the authenticity of what the Twelve Zodiacs called 'Pluton Alloy'.
" 'Proceed according to the plan.' "
Sabo gave him another look.
" 'Leave it to me—even if the sky falls, I won't make a single mistake!' "
Lindbergh nodded resolutely.
Then, he took out some professional-looking instruments from his backpack, picked up the piece of alloy, and began his detailed examination.
Seeing this, Sabo felt slightly relieved.
Subsequently, he prepared to inquire about more information from Hai Zhu: "Mr. Hai Zhu, we—"
But he had barely opened his mouth when he heard a sharp, thin voice from behind him saying, "This is... oh. No! I can't lose my composure..."
Everyone turned to look and saw Lindbergh biting his tail with all his might, tears even flowing from under his goggles.
But even so, his eyes were still staring unblinkingly at the alloy in his hand.
Sabo: "..."
He sighed—well, that plan was completely ruined.
And so, a few minutes later...
"How on earth did you do this?! Who forged this alloy... No, no, no, this thing can't possibly be an alloy at all! The energy source required to manufacture something like this simply cannot exist!"
"Have you tested its properties? And its ductility..."
Lindbergh gesticulated wildly in front of Hai Zhu like a mad scientist, chattering endlessly.
"Quiet down!"
It wasn't until Belo Betty slammed a flagstaff on his head that he finally calmed down.
Subsequently, Sabo carefully questioned Lindbergh, who then answered without hesitation.
"Unprecedented, Sabo... What they said is probably true. This stuff should be the alloy used to manufacture 'Pluton'."
"I'm certainly unable to replicate it, but I can confirm that if this material is incorporated into weapons..."
They discussed it for a long time in hushed tones.
Then,
"Mr. Hai Zhu."
Sabo, his expression growing increasingly solemn, looked at Hai Zhu and spoke formally, "We need to determine its output, price, and supply method..."
"The output would not be too high."
Hai Zhu said with a light smile, "Based on the size of this alloy piece, if you provide us with 200 units of raw materials each year, we will sell you 200 units of alloy."
This was unavoidable.
The synthesis of Pluton Alloy relied on the Swallowing Fruit's ability, and the use of this ability was, after all, on a human scale, not a true manufacturing plant.
This point could also be seen from the Wapol Alloy in the original work—Wapol, who had also produced a brand new alloy, still couldn't mass-produce such an alloy, to the point that its price on the black market was almost astronomical.
And the manufacturing difficulty of Pluton Alloy was even higher.
To create just one piece of this alloy, requiring the Swallowing Fruit's ability to assimilate nineteen different metals, would take nearly a day, not even accounting for the stamina consumed.
Therefore, as Hai Zhu said—its output would not be high; at least for now, large-scale production was impossible.
"As for the price—200 million Berries per unit."
"In other words, you would need to provide us with 40 billion Berries each year. And, including this initial transaction, a deposit of 10 billion Berries would be required each time."
He stated his demands simply.
"40 billion?!"
But at this moment, Sabo shook his head, "Mr. Hai Zhu, this price is really..."
As one of the world's largest forces, the Revolutionary Army certainly possessed abundant funds.
But at the same time, as the biggest enemy of the World Government, they also had many places where they needed to spend money.
Concealing their tracks, military supplies, supporting local rebel groups, and funds for covert propaganda—every single item required money!
An additional expenditure of 40 billion annually was truly excessive, even for the Revolutionary Army.
But...
"Mr. Sabo, perhaps you're mistaken."
Hai Zhu's words were very calm.
"Bang!"
He stood up and slammed his top hat onto the table, making a heavy, metallic sound.
"It's not that we need you to buy it; it's that you need it."
He stated the facts calmly.
"Whether it's governing or overthrowing a government, power is essential—especially the latter. Overthrowing the existing order is harder than maintaining it."
"Everything you are doing now seems to have severely strained the World Government, but in reality... the battle you truly must win hasn't even arrived yet."
The Revolutionary Army members present were all silent at this moment.
They all knew—as they led people to continuously overthrow the World Government's rule, the World Government's attention and suppression of them also progressively intensified.
Dragon had never told them, but they themselves knew.
The time for the decisive battle would not be too far off.
At most, seven years? Or ten years?
That battle would arrive.
"The Four Emperors, the World Government, the Marines, and your Revolutionary Army... that will be a battle that shatters everything of the old world."
"To win it, the power you need must be enough to contend with the entire world."
At this point, Hai Zhu pointed to the alloy on the table.
"This alloy... is 'Power' itself."
Thus, silence fell in the room.
The three high-ranking executives of the Revolutionary Army looked at the alloy, speechless.
A moment later, it was Sabo who spoke.
"Then what about you?"
The young face of the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army looked at Hai Zhu, his tone formal, "In that battle against the world, what will be the stance of your 'Twelve Zodiacs'?"
"Don't you need this 'Power'?"
What he asked was precisely the question that most concerned the Revolutionary Army.
What exactly were the goals and stance of the Twelve Zodiacs, and why would they sell Pluton Alloy to them?
Then Sabo heard Hai Zhu's light chuckle.
"The stance of the Twelve Zodiacs is not something I can decide."
He said calmly, "I am merely an executive, and like my colleagues, I only follow the orders of our leader—selling the alloy to you is also such an order."
"As for power..."
He smiled, without continuing to speak.
But Sabo could clearly infer the other party's meaning.
That's right—Pluton Alloy symbolized the 'Power' to create Pluton, but the Twelve Zodiacs seemed indifferent to it.
The reason for this was not difficult to guess.
That was also one of the answers the Revolutionary Army currently speculated.
Their powerful intelligence capabilities, members known to be terrifyingly strong, and their apparent possession of the technology to forge ancient alloys...
"'Pluton' itself might already be in the hands of the Twelve Zodiacs!"
"The power of this organization might far exceed everyone's imagination."
(end of chapter)