"I think we almost have all the intel, Valon! Just a few more days," Raya hummed, looking proud as she glanced over a collection of papers, "All the spies and scouts have reported back, so we have a good grasp of the entire 'New World' around Wano, and a pretty good idea of the world structure as a whole!"
I was currently in my bed, which was a strange spot to be meeting with Raya, but the nude woman was sitting by my side, covered in a thin layer of sweat, as she reported back to me. I had always spent far too much time making love, and as a result had to learn to multitask, but that activity had only become more time-consuming after the abrupt inclusion of a flurry of Beast Pirates.
"Good work," I nodded, only half paying attention as I was mid-fucking, "How big is the New World compared to the Underworld?"
"G-Guh… soo bigg…" I ignored Kuroka as she moaned, slamming her huge rear back into my member with glazed eyes and drool coming from her mouth.
"It's a strange situation, as it's only a strip of water in a much larger body, but it seems to be sectioned off in a way," Raya muttered, but continued nonetheless, "But, overall, it's still pretty big. Judging by the circumference and layout of this ocean, we discovered that most of the world is covered in water. Assuming the other side of the large land-wall is the same size, the entire world would be more than double the size of the Underworld. It's like the human world and Underworld combined, and then some."
I nodded at her words, as they confirmed to me what I had expected. I knew the rough layout and size of the One Piece world, but I was cautious enough not to blindly rely on my knowledge. I didn't know where in the timeline I had traveled to, or if the world was changed from the one I knew.
Luckily, Raya's words confirmed that the world was most likely unaffected, and at the very least, laid out in the same general way.
"The other side is around the same size," I nodded at her words, causing her to blink slightly in surprise, "It's called 'Paradise.' The strip of water we're in is called the 'Grand Line,' and is separated from the wider, safer world by a strip of water filled with giant serpent monsters."
"H-Heh… y-your giant s-serpent monster f-feels so good…" Kuroka moaned, but I ignored her again.
"I see…" Raya muttered, pausing as she thought for a second, "You can give me a more in-depth run-down another time. Though it would've been nice if you told me that before I spent so much effort coordinating the scouts and compiling their reports!"
I chuckled as Raya pouted at me, as the wolf-girl had long since accepted that I just knew things I shouldn't, and gave her a light grin, "My knowledge isn't always perfect. This way, I can cross-check what I know with the information the scouts brought back. I'll tell you the rest another time, but right now, what did you gather about the positions?"
The world-layout knowledge was something I was decently confident in, even if having the scouts check was a better and safer method. Now, the more unknown part of this world came into question - the timeline.
In theory, I could've figured out exactly when I was by asking Hiyori, Yamato, or someone from Wano their age, but unfortunately, I wasn't a human supercomputer like Ajuka was. I could remember most things about the One Piece world, but with every passing month in this new life, I was getting further and further away from the knowledge I had acquired in my first life.
I doubted that I knew Hiyori's exact age during the events of the Wano arc to compare to her current age when I arrived in this world, and I definitely didn't remember it now. For this, I was largely relying on the scouts to give me rough major events happening, and then I could create a loose timeline in my head.
"Right! Ajuka went out personally to the nearest Marine outpost and took a look through all their files!" Raya reported, talking about the break-in like it was a casual activity, which it probably was for Ajuka, "The ones you told me to find out about - the Four Emperors, and the Seven Warlords. All of them seem to match up to the names you told me, with 'Whitebeard,' 'Shanks,' 'Big Mom,' and then Kaido being called 'Yonko,' as well as the Seven Warlords being 'Crocodile,' 'Boa Hancock,' 'Jinbe,' 'Donquixote Doflamingo,' 'Dracule Mihawk,' 'Gecko Moria,' and 'Bartholomew Kuma.'"
"Good job," I nodded at her words, causing her to blush lightly at the compliment.
"T-Thanks…" I ignored Kuroka again as she answered mid-moan, despite the fact that I wasn't talking to her.
There were two main ways I could find where in the timeline I was: positions and bounties. Bounties were harder to pair up with each arc using my memory, so positions were the route I had instructed Raya to go down, and it had worked out perfectly.
There was a lot of swapping between Warlords throughout the One Piece series, and by the initial list being confirmed, that meant I was still pretty early in the story. Kuma wouldn't become part of the group until after the previous one was defeated by Ace a few years before Luffy set off, so that had already happened - but Crocodile would be removed when he was defeated by Luffy, so that hadn't happened yet.
I was somewhere between a couple of years before the One Piece story started and a few months after Luffy set sail. Overall, this was a pretty damn good position to be in. After the timeskip, a lot of the 'Worst Generation' had time to train up and become genuine threats in the world, while the older generation, aside from Whitebeard, were still damn-near in their prime.
Arriving before the timeskip was definitely preferable, as it would allow me to subdue a lot of threats before they even became threats. Overall, it meant that the water-covered world would be easier to conquer, and the quicker I could take over it, the better.
My main priority was still the looming war in the DxD world, and I was just here to gain allies from this one. The Beast Pirates were good additions, but now, it was time to make a bet. A bet that could either screw me over completely or swing the incoming war completely in my favor.
"We'll observe for now," I said simply, glancing over at Raya, "Fortify Wano, and work on weeding out any snakes and spies. The country is already pretty cut off from the rest of the world, and we want it to remain that way. Keep any deals and relationships Kaido had alive, and make sure news doesn't spread of what happened there."
It was a bet on time - on if, in the timespan it took for the alliance of factions to gather their forces, I could take over the entire One Piece world. I had the benefit of time moving slower while I was in there, and I had Ajuka working behind the scenes to slow down the alliance, but that didn't mean it was a small task.
The world was huge, and there were a lot of powerful players within it. To take it over quickly in a manner that would let me use the soldiers from that world in the war, I would need to subdue not only the World Government, but also the Revolutionaries and all the various powerful pirate crews.
If even one of these were left unchecked, then bringing my army through to the DxD realm would mean leaving all my forces here to be wiped out as myself and all my powerful subordinates were waging another war.
It was a grand task, but not an impossible one. Magic made traversing the world much easier and quicker than sailing, and that was my biggest advantage. Using boats meant that it would take days, if not weeks, to send reinforcements and assistance - it was essentially a huge stall-out point, and one I could take advantage of.
I would need to strike first, strike hard, and completely conquer numerous pivotal regions across the world before they knew what hit them. Once news of my arrival spread, the World Government and Marines would be able to better coordinate and focus on me, so I needed the first attack to be well planned and executed.
For that reason, waiting and observing right now was the better option. I'd get a better idea of where each potential threat was positioned, such as each Yonko crew, Warlord, or Admiral, before choosing where I would strike. Once the first shot had been fired, all hell would break loose, and Wano would become the center of it.
There was a reason that Kaido and Big Mom joining forces had turned the whole world's attention on them, and that would be repeated when the world realized just how powerful I was, and that I had Kaido under my rule. Two powerhouses teaming up was something that could unite enemies against a common enemy, and I was the powerhouse of all powerhouses. I needed to take down a lot of places and people before that happened.
"Got it," Raya nodded firmly at my words, then blushed slightly as she glanced down at the moaning and panting Kuroka, "Um… I know we just did it a bit ago… but can I go next?"
I looked at her dryly as she referred to having sex with me like she would an amusement park ride, but just shrugged. I had a meeting with Ajuka to handle, but he could wait a bit longer.
"Fuck it, why not?"
"Yay!"
Unfortunately for Ajuka, he would have to wait a lot longer than I expected, as Raya transitioned into Rias abruptly entering my bedroom, and then Shera, and then Hiyori, and then Akeno, and then Yamato, and then-
All of this is to say, I spent most of the day having sex and getting nothing done - as per usual.
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"Have you finished looking into it?" I asked casually, stepping into Ajuka's office, which was under my palace in the 'stronghold' area.
"Of course. It's been ready since this morning," The green-haired superdevil replied bluntly, not even glancing away from the computer screen in front of him as his fingers tapped away at the keyboard, "The papers are on the desk behind you, but it would be more efficient if I explained it, so I will."
I chuckled lightly at Ajuka's words, as he was always about efficiency over anything else.
"Go ahead," I nodded, and he continued.
"You were mostly correct about your suspicions. Asia Argento is a former nun from Europe who was excommunicated after healing a devil. That devil was Diodora Astaroth, whom you killed," Ajuka explained easily, "You were also correct about Diodora making contact with the Grigori. Azazel confirmed that he spoke to Kokabiel and was working on an agreement for fallen angels to take in Asia, and then extract her Sacred Gear. However, since you killed Diodora, the plan fell through."
"So, where is she now?" I asked bluntly, as that was what I was most concerned about. At this point in the timeline, she normally would've been on her way to Kuoh, either already or soon, to meet Raynare and then Issei at the start of the series.
Obviously, that wouldn't happen because I had foiled Diodora's plans by murdering him before I took over the devil faction. I hadn't been sure if he had already tricked Asia into getting excommunicated from the church, but I had been focused on too many things at the time to look into it. Just his death had confirmed that she was safe, so it was a situation I could look into at a later date - which was now.
"She was living in Europe, being pretty much homeless," Ajuka replied easily, "But I did as you asked, and she will be arriving at Kuoh in a few days. Azazel sent a group of fallen angels to contact her, and they're bringing her there now."
"Good job," I hummed, nodding at his words. I had the idea of tracking down Asia because of Rias, and for the same reason, I was bringing Asia to Kuoh so she could be a part of Rias' peerage.
Her entire peerage had become a lot stronger since my takeover, as just a virtue of being in the Beast Kingdom meant that you had access to top-notch trainers, along with the [Faction] system. Of course, that was the benefit that normal soldiers got - for Rias, she got a bit of special treatment, and everyone from Azazel to Velrissa to Yasaka had given her peerage training and pointers.
"How many days is a few?" I asked again, raising an eyebrow at Ajuka, who answered immediately.
"At most, 5. At least, 2."
"Good work," I simply nodded again, then switched the topic, "And, how is the work regarding the alliance of factions going?"
Ajuka paused his typing this time, actually turning from the computer as his rolling chair swiveled so he could look at me.
"It's all going to plan, currently," He said, his lips twitching up into a light grin, "The Fire Giants have been very easy to handle, and they're the main hurdle preventing progress from being made. They don't like Odin, but the chances of them agreeing to work with him to target a bigger threat were still 87.5%. However, I've set up a situation where that drops to approximately 22%."
"A situation?" I matched his grin, and I was extra glad that I had the supergenius on my side right now, "What kind of situation?"
"A secret alliance," He hummed, speaking bluntly as I blinked in surprise, "Between the Fire Giants and us - the devils. He knows I'm one of the Maou, and he believes that our race is too prideful to work under someone. It was child's play to convince him that we could work together to come out on top here - simply cleaning up the battlefield after the two sides fight, and take it all for ourselves."
Well, that was certainly one way to go about it, but a smart one. The Fire Giants were a pretty arrogant and prideful bunch, and I was sure the idea of conquering the entire world once all the major factions had duked it out and were weakened was very appealing to them.
And, it was genuinely a plan that could work. In their eyes, they'd have all the insider info they needed as Ajuka, one of the top strategists in my Kingdom, was ratting out information to them. On top of that, having the devils aligned with them meant having Sirzechs aligned with them, who they likely thought was roughly on par with myself after news of our close duel spread.
Of course, that information was very outdated. The insane amount of skills and stats I had gained since then meant that Sirzechs, even in his True Form, wouldn't be more than a moderately challenging fight at this point.
"But… you don't really plan to do that, right?" I asked, only half-joking as my smile became a bit strained.
I trusted Ajuka a lot now, but that didn't mean I wasn't worried about him essentially making a plan to stab me in the back. He was still a supergenius out of my league, and while I had outsmarted him once to take over the devil faction, I wasn't eager to test my luck again.
"Of course not," Ajuka answered easily, his face not even reacting to my question, "If I tried to, it would most likely fail. The chances of convincing Yasaka to participate in a rebellion plan, as well as not leak it to you, are less than 10% now, while Azazel is a 50-50 gamble. Even if they were on board, and if I recruited Heaven into such a plan, the probability of being able to kill you is 12.78% - if I include the projected power you'll gain prior to the war taking place, as well as exhaustion from the war, it's 15.7%."
I stared a bit blandly at Ajuka as he pretty much admitted that the only reason he wouldn't try to backstab me was because he simply couldn't, but then shrugged. I knew he was a bit difficult to control when I decided to let him live, so I couldn't complain about it now.
"Great, appreciate it," I said dryly, but my face softened a bit afterward, "But, good work. Keep them delayed as long as possible. The longer I have time to increase the size and power of the Kingdom, the easier the war will become."
"I'll do my best," Ajuka replied simply and honestly, but, in a rare instance for the computer-brained man, his face became a bit concerned as his eyes locked with me, "But, there's another problem, which isn't as simple to handle."
"Another problem?" I raised an eyebrow at him curiously, wondering what could make him look genuinely concerned.
"The Khaos Brigade," He said bluntly.
Them? I knew they were active, but after taking down Katerea and making her my 'sex slave' - trust me, I preferred 'subordinate,' but she was strangely insistent on that title, which she took a bit too much pride in - they hadn't made any more moves against me.
"What about them?"
"They've been making moves lately." Ajuka answered, "There have been a few of them poking around the Underworld, and they're stronger than I expected. I keep track of loose-cannons like those, but their growth rate is over 500% what I predicted. It means something is helping them grow stronger."
"Ophis," I answered immediately, "She gave some power to Katerea, so it's not strange that she's giving it to the other members too, right?"
"No, but the problem is how much she's giving," Ajuka nodded, "I included her power in my calculation, so the 500% increase is after that. She's giving them much more than she was before, and I can only think of one reason. I'm sure I don't need to tell you why."
I nodded at his words, picking up on his line of thought. If the Khaos Brigade was poking around the Underworld, which was entirely under my rule now, and Ophis was giving them more power than before, then there was only one conclusion to come to - they were planning to make a move against me.
Ophis was still one of the few people in this world I wanted nothing to do with, as while she was much easier to handle than the other handful of people who were still too powerful for me to confidently fight yet, she was still one of the strongest. She was the Infinite Dragon God for a reason, and if she truly set her sights on me, I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle it, even with all the powerful subordinates I had built up.
And, even if we did somehow defeat her, the damage wouldn't be light. My entire Kingdom would be destroyed, and numerous high-power subordinates I had would likely be killed in the process. The vultures would come sweeping in, and the alliance against my Kingdom wouldn't even need to fully form to take me out.
But, thankfully, just this didn't mean she was gunning for me. Ophis was largely being manipulated by the Khaos Brigade, as, despite her immense power and ancient age, she was still pretty naive and easy to manipulate. She wasn't personally aiming for me - the Khaos Brigade was, but she would just do pretty much whatever they told her to.
"That's a bit annoying, but… this is a good opportunity," I grinned lightly, causing Ajuka to look at me quizzically, "Letting them run free and implant ideas in her head for too long will be trouble. Meet with me and Raya tomorrow - it's time to set a plan in motion."
"A plan?" Ajuka's lips twitched up lightly, and he leaned forward, his eyes glinting with an unusual interest, "What do you have in mind?"
It was pretty simple. If the Khaos Brigade were going against me and trying to manipulate Ophis into going against me, then there was one clear path to take.
"I'll go have a little chat with Ophis."
Unfortunately for the Khaos Brigade, I found that I could be pretty persuasive.
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AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be posted in around 2 weeks!
This story is also updated twice as often on Patreon.com/Koyon and up to chapter 140 is already posted there!