Now, having witnessed the power and performance of the third-generation cannon firsthand, Wilder would no longer suppress his ambitions.
Everything begins with an idea. Wilder knew that if he wanted to make Morass strong enough to stand against the world, there was a limit to what personal strength could achieve. An individual, no matter how powerful, is still just one person. Unless he could create infinite clones of himself, he would always need others to carry out his will. Therefore, to ensure the survival of those who worked for him, it was necessary to make them stronger as a whole.
"Your Majesty, how many men will this Artillery Corps require?" Akira asked, frowning in thought.
Wilder didn't answer verbally. Instead, he held up two fingers.
"Two thousand? That should be manageable," Akira nodded. Vice and the others who were aware of Morass's current population also agreed. Two thousand was not a small number, but it was a suitable size for their nation at this stage—not so large as to be a burden, but not so small as to be insufficient.
However, Wilder shook his head. "Twenty thousand."
"..."
Twenty thousand!
Everyone stared at Wilder, their eyes wide with shock.
"W-wait, Boss, twenty thousand! That's... that's too..." Vice stammered, at a loss for words.
Akira and the others were equally stunned. To make Wilder understand the implications of that number, Akira stepped forward. "Your Majesty, twenty thousand is an astronomical figure," he said urgently. "Right now, the total population of Morass, from the lowest ranks to the highest, is just over fifty thousand. And all of them are already assigned to various departments. Even if we could pull some from their posts... we simply don't have the manpower to form a twenty-thousand-strong corps! Even if we include the sixty to seventy thousand people in the East Blue, bringing our total to around one hundred and twenty thousand, we can't touch our forces there! That would be undermining the very foundation of our main base. Given the current situation, it would be an opportunity for our enemies to strike."
"Yeah, that's right," the other officers, who were usually at odds with the civilian officials like Akira, chimed in.
It was true. Every person in Morass had a role to play; there were no surplus personnel. If they were to form a corps of that size, it would undoubtedly disrupt the operations of the existing departments.
But Wilder simply said, "For now, twenty thousand."
"..."
For now...
For now...
What do you mean, "for now, twenty thousand"!?
Does that mean twenty thousand is the minimum requirement!? Are you even listening to us!?
Everyone was on the verge of tearing their hair out. This wasn't the boss they knew.
But before they could protest further, Wilder continued, "The Artillery Corps will be divided into a Naval Artillery Unit and a Land Artillery Unit. We will start with five thousand for the land unit and fifteen thousand for the naval unit."
"As for the manpower issue..." Wilder looked up at them, his gaze calm. "We will conscript from the civilian population."
What!?
Conscript from the civilians!
The area fell silent. Everyone stared at him, dumbfounded.
"Your Majesty, we don't have that many civilians either!" Akira said, snapping out of his shock. "We could probably find twenty thousand, but now is a critical time for them to be developing our economy. Conscription at this stage would be disastrous!"
Akira was right. Morass needed its people to rest, recover, and build the economy. Forcing them into military service now would be an unwise move. And besides, what kind of fighting force could a bunch of civilians possibly be?
Everyone felt that Wilder's idea was ill-conceived.
But Wilder continued, "Furthermore, issue a worldwide announcement. Morass is recruiting citizens from all over the world. Anyone who becomes a citizen of Morass will be under its protection. No power will be permitted to harm a citizen of Morass. If they do, Morass will go to war for them!"
His words were firm and powerful, stunning everyone into silence.
In that moment, their image of Wilder grew impossibly tall and commanding. They were deeply shaken by his declaration.
It was revolutionary.
Recruiting citizens from all over the world!
Such a thing had never been done before. But as they thought about it, they instantly understood his plan.
"Your Majesty," Akira said, his voice filled with excitement, "you mean to say that the burden of conscription will be shared by the new citizens?"
If that was the case, then not only would Morass gain a larger population, but its military strength would also increase at no cost to its current citizens.
As for whether people from around the world would be willing to come to Morass, they had no doubt. Wilder's promise was all they needed.
In a world where personal safety was never guaranteed, such a promise was more attractive than all the gold in the world.
And with Morass's current reputation, no one would doubt its ability to back up that promise.
The world was already beginning to see Morass as a power just below the Four Emperors and the Marines.
Wilder turned and began to walk back, his silence a clear confirmation.
"The recruitment of citizens will be your responsibility, Akira," his voice drifted back to them.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will not fail you," Akira said with a smile, bowing to Wilder's retreating back.
"The conscription will be handled by Vice."
"Yes, Boss!" Vice grinned excitedly.
"Also, the Research and Industry Departments are to design a standard uniform for the Artillery Corps. I will give you the detailed requirements when we return."
"Yes, sir!" the heads of the two departments replied, hurrying to keep up with Wilder.
"The head of the shipyards."
"Sir!"
"You will work with the Research and Munitions Departments to upgrade and modify our warships for combat. Details to follow."
"Yes, sir!"
After issuing his orders, Wilder returned to the palace to monitor the situation with Big Mom.
There was still no news worth acting on, so he decided to wait and see.
He then took out a piece of paper and began to sketch. In his five or six years in this world, he had learned more than just how to fight. Drawing was one of the skills he had picked up, along with a smattering of knowledge in design, anatomy, and engineering.
He had studied these things because he felt they could provide insights into his Life Return and Swamp-Swamp Fruit abilities.
For example, a deeper understanding of the human body allowed him to master Life Return more thoroughly.
The same applied to engineering and design.
With the soft scratching of his pen on the paper, a camouflage combat uniform soon took shape.
He then added a helmet, a gun holster, a backpack, and other equipment in the empty spaces on the page.
With that done, his mind moved on to other ideas, and he began to sketch them out as well.
In this world, communication relied on Den Den Mushi. To make them more convenient for combat, Wilder designed a special harness for them, jotting down his ideas and requirements on the page. Whether or not it could actually be built was not his concern; his job was to provide the concept, and the Research and Munitions Departments would handle the execution.
Next were the warships.
This was Wilder's primary concern. In a world of seas, control of the ocean meant control of the world. He would not be careless in the development of his naval artillery.
He sketched out a basic design, drawing on his knowledge from his past life.
A new type of ship, one that had never been seen in this world, appeared on the page.
It had a sharp, blade-like bow designed to cut through waves, and a bullet-shaped hull. The most peculiar feature was the complete absence of sails.
If anyone from the outside world saw such a design, they would laugh their heads off.
How could a ship sail without sails?
Next, Wilder drew modified versions of armored cars and tanks from his memory.
After refining the designs, he gave them to Claire to be delivered to the relevant departments for reference.
The days passed.
Wilder's designs caused a huge stir in the Research and Munitions Departments. The engineers marveled at his ingenuity.
And all of his projects were now in full swing, with development and production proceeding at a rapid pace.
On the fifth day, a model of the new ship, which Wilder had named the ZG-New Ship, was completed. It was tested via remote control on a lake.
"It's a success. Now we just need to build a full-scale version."
"Yes, but it won't be that simple. Materials, propulsion, and various other issues will be much more complex than with the model. We'll have to tackle them one by one."
"Of course. A model is just a model. The real ship will have to carry a crew and artillery into battle. The challenges will be significant."
"How are the land combat vehicles coming along?" The heads of the Munitions, Industry, and Research Departments were gathered together, discussing their next major projects.
The land combat vehicle was an extension of Wilder's idea to replace horse-drawn carts, and it was also one of his designs.
"Based on His Majesty's design, I think we can mount three second-generation heavy machine guns on the top, and also design an integrated main cannon. Given our current technical limitations, a third-generation cannon is probably not feasible. I suggest we use a second-generation cannon for the main gun."
"I agree, but three second-generation heavy machine guns is too many. It would limit the crew space and negatively affect the vehicle's weight and maneuverability."
"That's right. I suggest we mount one second-generation heavy machine gun on top and two light machine guns on the sides. That would increase the flexibility of the interior space and provide a defense against flanking attacks."
"I agree with the first part, but I think the vehicle's primary strength will be its long-range capabilities. We can afford to neglect close-range threats. What we need is a defense against distant flanking attacks. And neither light nor heavy machine guns have the range of a cannon. My idea is to keep the second-generation heavy machine gun on top and mount miniaturized second-generation cannons on the sides."
"Easier said than done. You can't just shrink a second-generation cannon. Miniaturization means a corresponding reduction in power and range. At that point, wouldn't a machine gun be better?"
"No, I think it's feasible."
"Hmm?"
"We can take inspiration from the rocket launchers that are already on the market. Perhaps we can mount something similar on the sides. Your idea of a miniaturized second-generation cannon has given me an idea. Perhaps..."
"Perhaps?"
"Perhaps we can try to combine the concepts of the second-generation cannon, the third-generation cannon, and the rocket launcher to develop a specialized 2.5-generation cannon for the combat vehicle."
"It would be lightweight while maintaining its rate of fire, range, and power."
"I think that could work."
"Then let's go with that."
"But this will likely cause some delays."
"That's fine. We have enough time for now."
"Okay, let's do it."
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion. At the same time, the Civil Department issued the recruitment announcements.
The first was the internal conscription notice for Morass.
Incorporating some of Wilder's suggestions, the notice detailed the benefits of enlistment.
First: a subsidy of 500,000 Berries for the family of every volunteer. This wasn't a huge sum per person, but with the entire population of Morass to consider, the total cost was projected to be one billion Berries.
However, for the current Morass, this was a manageable expense.
Second: a salary.
Third: after three years of service, soldiers would be eligible to attend the Cadre School for promotion to officer ranks.
Fourth: post-service benefits.
The announcement immediately sparked a wave of enlistment fever throughout Morass.
In the end, the number of volunteers far exceeded Wilder's expectations, reaching a staggering one hundred and fifty thousand.
However, not all of them would be accepted.
The first step was a screening for age and physical fitness, which immediately eliminated over sixty thousand people.
The second step was another physical fitness test, this time a formal assessment.
The assessment consisted of a long-distance run, a sprint, and a weight-carrying test.
Another fifty thousand people were eliminated, leaving only forty thousand.
The third step was a basic knowledge test. This round saw fewer eliminations. Since Morass had established its education system, a basic level of knowledge had been disseminated throughout the population, regardless of age or gender.
In addition, most people in the world of One Piece had some basic knowledge to begin with. So, even with a slightly higher standard for the test, over thirty thousand people still remained.
This was over ten thousand more than the required number.
Wilder didn't turn them away. He accepted all of them and immediately began the process of forming the Artillery Corps.
And just then, the news he had been waiting for finally arrived.
Sanji... had been captured.