Author's Notes
I don't really have anything to say this time—so just enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 6: Treasures of the New World
—Outside the conference hall, two hours later—
Of course, the legendary Vice Admiral Garp had also been summoned to the meeting, even if the Five Elders didn't hold him in particularly high regard.However, he had refused to go in. Instead, he spent his time wandering around the Holy Land, quickly discovering that—just like every other time he'd visited—the Celestial Dragons were still the same miserable bastards as always.
Eventually, he decided to head back toward the conference hall to wait for the meeting to end, hoping he might coax a bit of information out of Sengoku or Tsuru once they came out.
Sure, he could have barged in—but even he wasn't reckless enough to interrupt a meeting of that magnitude. So he waited patiently outside. And his patience paid off when he saw the figures that the World Government had gathered finally begin to emerge.
He wasn't surprised to see the members of Cipher Pol, their expressions as unreadable as ever; after all, they had been trained to keep a stoic face even in the face of the most absurd revelations.
But when he spotted Sengoku, he immediately approached with a sly grin.
"Sengoku, is the meeting over already, or is this just a lunch break?"he asked lightly, knowing that was the best way to make his friend lower his guard—and hopefully get him to spill something.
"It's over,"the Fleet Admiral replied simply, looking genuinely confused, astonished, and—if Garp was reading him right—more than a little anxious.
"So what was it about?"Garp asked, his curiosity genuine.
"It's… really complicated,"Sengoku answered, not entirely sure it was wise to tell his old friend—who was notorious for accidentally letting secrets slip.
Garp noticed the flicker of shock in his eyes. In fact, everyone coming out of the meeting—except for the CP agents—wore that same expression: a mix of awe and confusion. Naturally, that only made his curiosity burn hotter.
"Then the rumors were true… The World Government really plans to attack the New World?"he asked, uncertain if that was something he even wanted to be true.
Tsuru simply nodded… and then shook her head. The whole thing was too convoluted even for her.
"To a certain extent, yes,"she said in a weary voice."But it's not the New World we know—it's a truly new world."
She knew saying that to Garp was probably a mistake, but she doubted even he would tell anyone else.
"What do you mean, 'a truly new world'?"Garp asked, frowning. None of this made any sense.
"Think of it as literally as possible,"Sengoku replied, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder."Come on—we've been assigned private quarters. We're not allowed to leave for a few days."
As Garp followed him, the gears in his head began to turn. Slowly—well, not so slowly—points A and Z connected without any of the letters in between.
A "truly new world," taken literally… could only mean one thing.
"So what they told me… it's actually true?"he asked, unable to keep the shock from his face.
Sengoku only nodded, letting out a tired sigh.
"If it weren't true, we wouldn't be in this situation. Honestly, we're not even sure how they managed it, but I saw it with my own eyes."
He looked out toward the horizon, his gaze filled with both respect and unease.
"We're standing at the beginning of a new era—one even more momentous than the one Roger began with his final words. And we, the Marines, have to be ready to guide it."
—Back inside the conference hall—
With every department of the World Government once again in motion, the Five Elders had chosen to remain behind for a while longer to discuss with the new Prince of the World Government the next steps to take from that point onward.
The young man in question watched them with a mix of irritation and fatigue, trying to find the most elegant way to insult them for having forced him to do all the damn work during the meeting.
Clearly, he needed his own circle of followers.
"About the plan to make you a god—" Nusjuro pulled him from his thoughts, reminding him that he had indeed convinced them that they needed to elevate him to a divine figure in order to open doors to new worlds… a detail Naruto had completely forgotten amid everything else on his mind."We've quietly ordered it begun. In a few months we'll have the Marines acting according to your directives. Do you have any new plans on that front?"
The redhead shook his head. "You can't write a plan for that; it's made by action, and overplanning will only make things go horribly wrong."For once he wasn't lying: he'd read about a religion in that other world called Christianity and, well, its main prophet had simply gone around getting people to follow him—before things spiraled out of control he already had millions of followers.
"For now our top priorities are conquering the new world and settling the problem on Fish-Man Island,"Naruto explained. The dragon had been very clear that those were the things they needed to focus on if they truly wanted more of its gifts. He didn't hide that he remained in contact with the dragon king; in fact, Imu was eager for that communication to continue, since—after all—it was a true god helping them and wanted Naruto to cultivate that relationship.
"You've mentioned it before, but… is there really anything to conquer in that new world? From what Shamrock told us it doesn't sound too difficult,"Mars asked, one brow raised. True, they hadn't actually visited the new world themselves yet, but from what they'd heard it sounded more like a job of reconstruction and cleanup than a conventional military conquest.
"Well, there isn't much to conquer in terms of political structures, since governments have collapsed, but that doesn't mean there aren't survivors," Naruto replied. "We'll have to convince them that we're not only their saviors but that under our rule they can live dignified, secure lives… conquest of the masses through propaganda, gentlemen."
He explained it simply; of course there were many more nuances and subtleties to the matter, but honestly he didn't feel like going into them. He doubted they had the time for a long lecture anyway—after all, they were busy people and he had things to wrap up before leaving for the new world.
"Any idea how to do that?"asked Ju Peter, the most morally inclined of the Five Elders. He supported rescuing as many survivors as possible, but they'd never taken part in operations like that before.
"The usual: rescue and protection squads, humanitarian aid, refugee camps… you know, the standard toolkit," Naruto said. He wasn't surprised at all to see that they had no real idea what he was talking about, but he wasn't going to dwell on it."Besides, the rescue teams will serve another purpose: this week Gunko, Shamrock, and I found a good amount of items that will benefit the World Government. But being only the three of us, exploration is inefficient."
He didn't tell them that, in reality, he was doing most of the exploration while the other two competed over zombie body counts; there was no point admitting that.
Putting their complaints aside, he took the book he'd been reading and handed it to Saturn, who was the most interested in technological and scientific advance among the elders.
"What's this?" Saturn asked, not expecting the New World to have a script so similar to their own.
Naruto ran a hand through his hair before answering. "That world is… surprisingly violent for a people who lack even a tenth of our strength, but they've replaced physical power with ingenuity. This is a basic ballistics textbook, and I'll admit they've developed some rather impressive weapons."
In truth, the book contained much more than rifles and pistols: there were sections on tanks, bombers, airplanes, and other weapons systems. Naruto had skimmed it and wondered what had been in those people's heads to create machines so wonderfully destructive; at the same time it revealed how remarkably underdeveloped the military industry in his own world was.
"Oh," he murmured as he read references to nuclear weapons. They didn't terrify him so much as fascinate him. He would never use them in his world—he had no idea what soil irradiation entailed or what cancer truly was—but from what he'd read they were definitely nothing good. Still, he thought they might be usable as a last-resort weapon against Emperors or particularly belligerent worlds that refused diplomatic relations.
He was also intrigued by what he'd read about nuclear power plants: they were said to be capable of powering much heavier vessels, like the so-called aircraft carriers he'd encountered in the texts.
As Naruto pondered it all, the Five Elders moved closer to read the book's contents. And, just like him, the further they read, the wider their eyes grew and the more erratic their breathing became.
"Well… certainly very good. No—this is excellent,"remarked Saturn.
Of course, he spotted the same problem Naruto had regarding the nuclear weapons and mentally resolved to make sure Vegapunk placed special emphasis on them—to prevent things from going catastrophically wrong. After all, those things sounded truly dangerous, and they could hardly afford to lose their greatest scientific mind in a blast hotter than the sun.
"Your assessment is quite accurate…" Ju Peter nodded."If they truly possess weapons of this kind, individual strength would become unnecessary."
Damn it—the mere idea of ships as massive as buildings, with firepower surpassing even that of a Buster Call, made his mouth water… metaphorically, of course.
"That rate of fire… how in the world did they manage it?"murmured Warcury, still in disbelief.
How had they made a weapon capable of firing thousands of rounds per minute? Just imagining the destruction such machines could cause made him shiver at the images forming in his mind.
"I think the six of us can agree this should become a top priority,"said Naruto, not even bothering to ask. To him, it was more than obvious that these weapons had to be placed first on the list—and he was more than happy to leave that matter to those five old men. At least it would give them something to do and keep them from sticking their noses into truly important affairs.
"Agreed,"the Five Elders said in unison, not even bothering to debate it.
Even though they hadn't finished reading the entire book, what little they had seen had utterly fascinated them.
It was true these inventions wouldn't enhance the individual strength of their soldiers, but they would allow them to field far greater numbers—trading quality for overwhelming quantity.
And setting aside the personal firearms, the other marvels described in the book had impressed them even more.
For instance—the airplanes.
Leaving aside the bombers and fighters—which, honestly, had made them want to create an entirely new military branch centered around an "Air Force," as it was called in the New World—they immediately saw applications far beyond warfare.
If adapted into cargo planes or even passenger aircraft, at least across the Four Blues and the calmer islands of Paradise, travel and transport would become infinitely more convenient.
They could move valuable goods in hours instead of days.
After all, even aboard the fastest ships, traveling from one island to another—even between the closest ones—could take several months. But with airplanes… it would only take a few hours.
They didn't even need Naruto's blunt and heavy-handed guidance to understand that the faster they could reach every corner of the sea, the more stable their dominion over the world would become.
And with that, they could also diminish the growing power of the Revolutionary Army.
"I'll head directly to Egghead. Clearly, we need Vegapunk mobilized immediately,"declared Saturn, his tone carrying its usual air of absolute authority.
End of Chapter 6