"Ugh... What a bad start."
Shin looked at his wanted poster, which he had bought from a News Coo. He looked at the Barbatos image soaring across the sky and sighed faintly.
He had expected the World Government, given its nature, to not tolerate a threat outside their system. He just didn't expect them to set a bounty of 1.9 billion Berries right away. They certainly thought highly of him.
He recalled that Luffy, the Fifth Emperor, only had 1.5 billion Berries before he left? He had only done one thing, and it already dwarfed the protagonist's years of effort.
He felt no joy about this, though.
He needed to sort out the current situation.
First, he had 50,000 virtual assessment points that could be used in this world. The profit from sniping Big Mom and the cost of his modification into a Coordinator canceled each other out, leaving the remaining 50,000 points as his currency in the One Piece world.
To be honest, it wasn't much. 50,000 points was only enough to exchange for a single RX-78-2 Gundam or two MS-05 Zaku old models. He already had Barbatos, so what good were these old machines?
While Gundam series technology certainly provided a near-absolute technological advantage in this world, every deployment and battle consumed significant weapons and ammunition and caused wear and tear on the machine. Therefore, after every battle, Shin had to reserve a portion of his points for repairing the Gundam.
He had to change his mindset. He could only acquire enough assessment points by causing greater changes and massive fluctuations in the world line.
But this change was not equivalent to the so-called 'major events' on this vast ocean. For example, if he killed a Celestial Dragon now, he probably wouldn't get many assessment points. The lives and deaths of those pigs don't significantly impact the world. In contrast, Shin seriously injured Charlotte Linlin, earning him 100,000 points, even without killing her and fundamentally changing the One Piece plot.
What if he exchanged for a few tactical nuclear weapons and launched them directly at Mary Geoise or Marineford?
Shin would only do that if he was crazy. The One Piece world is full of crises, and trouble is endless. He had already provoked Big Mom, standing against a Yonko. Actively provoking the Marines and the World Government would cut off his own retreat.
If he wanted to use such simple, brutal methods, he might as well carry nuclear bombs and blow up the three end points, letting the magma flood the New World.
Moreover, there was still Imu, the ultimate hidden boss whose strength was unknown, residing in Pangaea Castle in Mary Geoise.
A reckless confrontation would be unwise.
He had already prepared many contingency plans, each referencing different timelines of One Piece, to choose the most beneficial path from the many options.
"By the way... You should have an Eternal Pose for the East Blue, right?"
Shin said this while walking toward a pirate tied up and submerged in seawater behind him. The pirate, weak and angry, roared at him, "Let me go, you devil."
"It's not nice for a pirate who burns, kills, and plunders to call others a devil." Shin smiled and shot the pirate in the thigh. The lead bullet embedded in his thigh, and with a muffled groan, the blood from the wound flowed into the seawater pit they were in.
Not far away, near the shore where the Barbatos Gundam knelt on the reef, was a completely sunken pirate ship. The fragile wooden sailboat was shattered instantly under the Barbatos's barrage. Only two pirates survived the entire crew.
Shin was cautious. He bound the Devil Fruit user captain and put him in the sea, knocked out the remaining crew member, and began his 'experiment.' The reason he didn't kill them was that they were valuable 'lives.'
"Ah, the people in this world are indeed some kind of abnormal monsters."
Next to Barbatos, a huge 'flower,' nearly ten meters high, slowly opened. Stepping out from the petals was a man with long arms and legs, about three meters tall. The man had a fierce appearance, but his voice was identical to Shin's.
"It only took half an hour to crush the spirit of this 130 million Berry bounty pirate and turn him into a Praying Hand. It seems the 'strong' people in this world aren't as mentally resilient as their bodies," Shin said, looking at the Longarm pirate he had turned into a Praying Hand puppet, and smiled with amusement.
The cruelty of the Mental Subordination Machine lies in this: placing the individual you want to turn into a 'Praying Hand' into the machine and continuously tormenting their spirit until you achieve the goal of implanting your mental seed.
The people whose spirits are crushed are completely transformed into Shin's puppets. They have no self-awareness or ability to think. Without an operational 'signal,' they will only wander around Shin instinctively, repeating tasks like robots under logical commands.
Every Praying Hand is a 'puppet blood bag' Shin will use externally in the future. His own strength might be insignificant in this world, but these local inhabitants are different.
He doesn't expect these Praying Hands to fight effectively, but they are perfect for use as his vests. After all, Shin doesn't want to expose himself to danger.
Controlling the Praying Hand, Shin walked over to the Devil Fruit user. The pirate looked at his crewmate in disbelief and yelled, "Lean, what's wrong? Wake up, wake up, I'm Dianci!!!"
"I apologize for wasting your sentiment, but unfortunately, he can no longer respond to you," Shin and Praying Hand #1 simultaneously spoke in the same tone, filled with malicious amusement. The pirate named Dianci stared blankly at them, his eyes suddenly turning red.
"How dare you do such an evil thing to Lean, you, gurgle gurgle gurgle."
Shin didn't wait for him to finish. He coldly watched as Praying Hand #1 pushed him into the seawater, while Shin picked his ears.
After about three minutes, confirming the guy had truly passed out, Shin had Praying Hand #1 throw him into the Mental Subordination Machine. As the 'flower bud' closed, a new round of modification began.
Shin sat bored on the reef, controlling Praying Hand #1 to perform various actions. He swung a sword to cut the reef and punched to create a sonic boom. In many ways, the people in this world are incredibly strong.
The nameless pirate in the New World, who probably couldn't last ten seconds against Luffy, could kill Shin in less than half a second. But what was interesting was that these people's bodies were strong, yet their defense seemed lacking.
Logically, someone who could shatter a huge rock with their bare hands should be immune to mundane lead bullets, but in reality, an antiquated flintlock pistol could injure these people.
Unless they covered themselves with Armament Haki or used special abilities like Tekkai, the defensive power of the people in this world wasn't much. In contrast, their self-healing ability was incredible. As long as they had enough nutrition, they could recover from serious injuries. If their teeth were smashed, they could grow back after drinking a glass of milk.
Shin was truly curious about the physiological structure of these people and the genetic sequence that constituted them.
"I'll study it later when I have the time and conditions."
Shin casually tossed the 100 Berries in his hand and picked up the newspaper. There wasn't much valuable news, but the most valuable thing was the date
.
Sea Calendar 1519, June 16th.
Many major events happened this year: the Straw Hat Pirates attacked Enies Lobby, Crocodile was stripped of his Warlord status, and just recently, Blackbeard captured Portgas D. Ace, the Whitebeard Pirates' second division commander and the Pirate King's son, using the opportunity to replace Crocodile as a Warlord.
This meant that the next one to two years would be when the 'main plot' of the first half of One Piece manga takes place.
This period was quite awkward. The Straw Hat crew had already covered most of the available areas in the first half. They had just caused a ruckus at Enies Lobby and would soon encounter Moria before dispersing at the Sabaody Archipelago. Attacking the protagonist's group directly was troublesome, and the benefits weren't high.
The turning points in the latter half of the story were either extremely difficult to handle or hadn't met the trigger conditions yet.
The true major event was the upcoming Summit War. The all-out war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines was undoubtedly a battle that would fundamentally change the world.
If Shin waited and intervened directly in this war, his impact on the plot might not be significant. Attacking the Whitebeard side was meaningless; they were already at a disadvantage and destined to lose in the Summit War. He wouldn't make much difference by stepping in. Those who were destined to die would still die, and those who wouldn't be killed were hard for him to kill.
Even if he killed them, he wouldn't gain much. The disintegration of the Whitebeard Pirates was a predetermined fact, just a matter of whether it happened sooner or later.
Attacking the Marines, however, was extremely difficult. In the Summit War, the Marines, except for Akainu, were essentially holding back. Kizaru and Aokiji were openly slacking, Garp watched from the sidelines and only made one move, and Sengoku was busy guarding Ace.
Furthermore, former Fleet Admiral Kong retired, and Vice Admirals Chaton and Momousagi were also holding back. Upon careful calculation, the Whitebeard Pirates were fighting against less than one-third of Marineford's power. And this excludes the World Government's intervention. Shin absolutely didn't believe that CP0 wasn't lurking near the Summit War.
In such a situation, intervening directly at the risk of angering the world's most powerful forces would likely yield no gains.
He only had four to five months. Ace's execution was scheduled for Sea Calendar 1520.
Intervening and causing trouble during the Summit War was essential. Only in that setting could Shin maximize his intervention and cause the biggest world fluctuations.
But... he had to accumulate enough 'momentum' first.
After a moment of thought, Shin reviewed the plan closest to the current world situation. He pondered for a moment and narrowed his eyes.
"By the way... You guys should have an Eternal Pose for the East Blue, right?"
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