Big Mom's children were intercepted by Kizaru's forces and returned empty-handed.
Big Mom's reaction, however, was unexpectedly calm, leaving everyone guessing.
Only Wilder knew that she was currently preparing to absorb Germa 66. Her plan was likely to deal with Morass after she had acquired Germa's power. From that perspective, enduring this setback was a calculated move.
But Wilder, too, was waiting.
Waiting for the day the Straw Hat Pirates would wreak havoc on Totto Land.
And that day was not far off.
After the triumphant return of the grand fleet and the cleanup crews, a lively celebration was held throughout Morass.
It wasn't just for the nation's internal members; the citizens also participated, raising their glasses with Wilder and his commanders in a shared celebration.
In the outside world, the shockwaves from Morass's operation had yet to subside. The incident was being discussed more and more, with most speculating on the true extent of Morass's power.
Wilder paid this no mind.
Upon his return, he once again threw himself into his training.
And life in Morass continued as usual, with construction and development proceeding without pause.
After five days of intense training, Wilder emerged from the forest to preside over the next major step for his nation:
Opening trade routes.
With Big Mom's forces cleared from the area, this would now be a simple matter. The main stumbling block had been kicked aside, and the rest would naturally fall into place.
Establishing trade was not just a desire of Morass; other nations and powers in the region wanted it as well. However, they had always faced the threat of pirates, which made trade a difficult and dangerous venture.
Now, with Morass having eliminated Big Mom's influence in the area, the sea lanes leading to it were significantly safer than others.
Combined with the power Morass had just displayed, many nations and island powers saw a golden opportunity.
Something unexpected happened. Before Wilder could even send out envoys to discuss trade, those very nations and powers came knocking on his door.
Wilder smiled. He held a welcoming ceremony that very day and entered into negotiations.
The same thing happened for several days in a row. So many representatives arrived that Wilder found himself hosting banquets and tied up in talks for days on end, completely unable to break away.
But he was more than happy with this turn of events. In the end, after several days of receptions, over fifty surrounding nations and powers had established official trade agreements with Morass. This was an excellent number, considering it was only the beginning.
The most crucial aspect of trade wasn't the agreements between nations, but the commerce driven by private merchants. A thriving economy, and the immense profits that came with it, could only be achieved through the active participation of the populace.
To this end, Morass quickly issued a new policy encouraging its citizens to engage in maritime trade.
Civilians without ships could rent or purchase them from the state at the lowest possible price.
What was even more noteworthy was that among the fifty-plus nations that had signed trade agreements, six had already placed orders to purchase ships from Morass.
It was unavoidable. In this entire region, and even farther out, only Morass possessed the capability and scale for shipbuilding.
However, Wilder did not sell them the powered vessels. He offered them non-powered ships of incredible craftsmanship, keeping the existence of his advanced propulsion systems a secret.
Even so, the representatives who saw the quality of the ships were stunned.
They were shocked by Morass's shipbuilding capacity and, even more so, by its speed.
And they had yet to see the many other wonders Morass had to offer. If they had, their jaws would have dropped.
This first batch of ship sales brought in a revenue of 20 billion Berries—an impressive sum.
Combined with the income from the arms deal with the underworld bosses, Morass's disposable funds skyrocketed to 5.02 trillion Berries.
Although only a little over half of that was currently in hand, the figure of nearly three trillion was still terrifying. The number of things Morass could now accomplish had increased dramatically.
But it didn't end there. After more than a year of development, a portion of the nation's populace had accumulated some wealth. When the new policy encouraging maritime trade was announced, the citizens of Morass were thrown into a frenzy.
The budding merchant class was the first to act. In a world that revolved around the sea, owning one's own ship, or even a fleet, was the surest path to wealth, whether it was for fishing or for trade.
Soon after the announcement, a group of merchants with capital on hand made their move. And many ordinary citizens, though lacking funds, were also captivated by the opportunity. They gritted their teeth and took action, either renting ships from the state in exchange for a fifty percent share of their profits, or pooling their money with family and friends to buy a vessel of their own.
Morass was a large island, and its population, though sparse for its size due to the recent wars, was still much larger than that of smaller islands.
Even if only one in a thousand, or one in ten thousand, bought a ship, the numbers were still substantial.
Morass brought in another 20 billion Berries in revenue, a sum that represented a significant portion of the citizens' collective assets.
The nation's treasury grew once again, reaching 5.04 trillion Berries.
With this, Morass had completely overcome its initial struggles.
Wilder knew this was just the beginning. The real economic boom would come when these new merchants returned from their voyages, their holds filled with fish and goods, their profits enriching the entire nation.
Trade would give birth to new industries. Only then would Morass truly begin to flourish, moving beyond subsistence and toward greater prosperity.
With the trade situation settled, Wilder turned his attention back to the movements of the Straw Hat Pirates and Big Mom.
For now, there was nothing new. Sanji had not yet been captured. This made Wilder frown. He didn't know what had gone wrong. According to the original story, Sanji should have been taken by now.
Is it the timeline? Wilder suddenly recalled that in the original story, the Straw Hats' journey from the start of their voyage to their arrival at Sabaody had only taken about two months, despite seeming much longer.
But was that really possible?
"I can't make a move until I get confirmation of Sanji's capture," Wilder decided. He knew he couldn't rely entirely on his foreknowledge of the plot. After all, this was a real world, and his very presence might have subtly altered the course of events.
However, based on the intelligence he was receiving about Big Mom, he felt that things wouldn't deviate too far from the original path.
The reports indicated that Big Mom was in frequent contact with Germa 66.
So, her objective remained the same. And as long as that was the case, capturing Sanji would not be difficult for her. The plot would likely proceed as expected.
With no news of Sanji's capture, Wilder could only wait.
But he wouldn't let his forces remain idle. To ensure his nation would be ready for the challenges to come, he sent his commanders into harsh environments to train, ignoring their groans of protest.
At the same time, Wilder revisited some of his old ideas, things he had always wanted to do but hadn't had the chance.
The recent naval victory—a complete and utter rout—had clarified some of these ideas.
One of them was directly related to the battle.
It was an idea he had had before, and he now decided to split it into two interconnected projects.
Effective immediately, Wilder ordered the establishment of an Artillery Corps, to be divided into a Naval Artillery Unit and a Land Artillery Unit.
To build such a corps, the most important element was, of course, the artillery itself. This required technological support, and Morass's current cannon technology had finally reached the level required for Wilder's vision.
His vision was to create a force that would serve as a major deterrent, a force that could potentially change the balance of power in the world.
To be honest, Wilder despised pirates. Although he never said it aloud, due to his own past, he held them in extreme contempt.
To him, pirates were just a bunch of lawless savages who formed gangs and ran rampant on the seas. Compared to the organized and disciplined Marines, he much preferred to deal with the latter.
Unfortunately, this world was dominated by pirates.
If... Morass could be the one to change that...
A smile touched Wilder's lips, and an inscrutable light shone in his eyes.
"If it's possible, then pirates should not be allowed to exist. Not for any other reason than the rules. Rule-breakers have never been popular. And I... will be the one to set the new rules."
For the first time, Wilder allowed himself to fully embrace this thought, one that he had kept buried in the deepest recesses of his mind.
"The new rules and the old will clash. And the masters of the old rules are not the Four Emperors, nor the Seven Warlords. They are the Marines and the World Government."
Wilder's gaze was distant, the strange light in his eyes growing brighter.
After a few moments, he composed himself, his expression returning to its usual calm.
He refocused on his plans, carefully considering the feasibility of an artillery corps in this world, and whether it could truly achieve the grand vision he had in his heart.
There was no doubt that it was feasible. Morass already possessed the technology and strength to support such a force.
The third-generation cannon.
The cannons mounted on the fifty ships in the last battle had only been the second generation, and they had already demonstrated such devastating power and performance.
In the aftermath of the battle, the topic most discussed by the various world powers was the cannons on Morass's warships.
Their strange shape, their long, slender, greenish-blue barrels that defied all previous conceptions of what a cannon should look like, and their superior performance, terrifying range, and rapid firing speed had shocked and amazed everyone.
The Marines had even called to inquire about them. Wilder, of course, had no intention of revealing his second-generation technology. He told them that the cannons were the result of a massive, costly experiment with an extremely low success rate, that they had gone through five thousand failed prototypes to produce just one hundred and fifty, and that they currently lacked the ability to mass-produce them.
Whether the Marines believed him or not was their problem. He had given his answer. They weren't for sale. As for the rest, they could think whatever they wanted. Morass was, for now, a law-abiding nation.
The Marines had no right to interfere in the affairs of other countries.
Of course, they had no obligation to protect Morass either. Morass was not a member of the World Government, nor was it a helpless island. It was a non-affiliated nation with its own military power.
If the second-generation cannons were that powerful...
One could only imagine what the third generation was capable of.
In terms of performance and power, it would be far superior.
In fact, based on what he had heard from the Research and Munitions Departments, Wilder knew they weren't even in the same league.
With this thought, Wilder could no longer sit still. He went directly to the Munitions Department to see the third-generation cannon for himself.
If the first-generation cannon was more or less a conventional design, and the second generation had already shed the clumsy appearance of standard artillery...
Then the third generation was on another level entirely.
In fact, it could no longer be called a cannon. It was more like an arrow.
The third-generation weapon had abandoned the basic form of a cannon. It had the preliminary shape of a rocket from Wilder's memory.
It was one of two forms of rocket artillery. The first was the traditional tube-launched type, where a shell is fired and another is loaded from the rear.
The second type was different. And that was what the third-generation weapon looked like.
It had a pointed nose cone and four fins at the tail, with another four fins in the middle. At the very back was a nozzle-like device.
That's right. It was an integrated projectile and launch system. It rested on a simple, slightly inclined rack. One could even say it was a self-propelled shell.