[At the Peak of the Red Line, the Holy Land, Mary Geoise]
If someone could turn their memories back twenty years and compare the Holy Land of that time with today's, they would feel as though they were looking at a different age.
Under Rosse's will and the World Government's massive investment of resources from across the globe, Mary Geoise had transformed into a divine city stretching across the entire Red Line.
As the absolute center of world power, the World Government Headquarters building had been demolished and rebuilt twice over the past twenty years without the slightest hesitation.
Each reconstruction was grander than the last, as though it sought to pierce the heavens and declare itself the one true god of the sea.
Surrounding the main building stood six slightly shorter but equally imposing complexes, like stars surrounding the moon.
These were the headquarters of the six major departments that controlled the lifeblood of the world.
Clouds that never dispersed wrapped around the waists of these giants of steel and glass.
Under the sunlight, the entire Holy Land seemed to float among the clouds, like a true heavenly realm.
This was the first sight that greeted Makino after Shirahoshi led her through the spatial gate.
For a village woman who had spent most of her life wiping glasses in a small tavern and had never even stepped beyond the borders of the Goa Kingdom, the kingdom's capital had already been the limit of her imagination.
Yet everything before her now had not only shattered her understanding of the world but had completely surpassed the limits of what humans could build with brick and stone.
"Buildings this tall... If every floor were full of people, they could probably hold over ten thousand people, right?"
Makino tilted her head back slightly, her neck aching from looking up so far.
She stared at the massive structure belonging to the Science Department, a building that reached into the clouds and covered several times the area of Foosha Village, and spoke with uncertainty and awe.
"Ten thousand?"
Walking ahead of her, Shirahoshi turned around as though she had heard something amusing and corrected her with a smile.
"If we calculate based on the living space per person in your little tavern, Miss Makino, each headquarters building of the six major departments could house several hundred thousand people at the very least."
As she spoke, Shirahoshi waved goodbye to Sanji and Ace behind her.
Then she released Makino's wrist and stepped into the first-floor lobby of the Science Department, which was as wide as the mouth of a giant beast.
"Several hundred thousand... That's too much..."
Makino swallowed hard.
Her full figure beneath her rough clothes trembled slightly.
For the first time in her life, she gained a concrete understanding of the enormous force that Shanks and Dragon always spoke of as something that had to be overthrown.
Simply standing in the shadow of this city filled her with the suffocating feeling of a gap between civilizations.
Not even the slightest thought of resistance could arise within her.
She truly could not imagine how much courage, or how deep an obsession, Shanks and the others possessed to dream of overthrowing a divine nation that stood among the clouds.
And they even dreamed of letting the wind of freedom sweep across the entire world in the face of such miracles?
"The Science Department building has a total of three hundred floors, each designated for different research purposes. However, after the success of the Celestial Dragon No. 1 rocket launch a few years ago, some floors were repurposed into data centers that monitor the entire world."
"As for the laboratories, they've been moved to safer and more suitable locations."
Smiling, Shirahoshi explained these highly classified details in a casual tone while leading Makino into a completely transparent elevator.
Ding!
Accompanied by a barely noticeable vibration, the elevator shot up at an astonishing speed.
Almost instantly, their viewpoint rose higher and higher.
Through the transparent walls of the elevator, the entire Holy Land came into view.
It was a vast expanse of buildings stretching all the way to the horizon, with no visible end.
Towering skyscrapers intertwined with enormous palaces filled with classical luxury.
Together they resembled a giant circuit board spread across the earth, shining with the cold brilliance of the highest civilization.
Makino's mind went blank.
She stood there in a daze.
Even after the elevator smoothly stopped at the 133rd floor, the sense of weightlessness and visual shock still left her unable to calm her racing heart.
It was too high.
Too large.
Too unreal.
The prosperity of Mary Geoise and its untouchable solemnity struck her like a heavy hammer, completely shattering the worldview she had built over more than twenty years.
Could a World Government capable of creating such a city, so far beyond its era and benefiting countless citizens, really be the unforgivable devil Shanks described?
Even taking ten thousand steps back, if they really were devils, did Shanks and the others truly have the right, or the ability, to overthrow a World Government like this?
At this moment, countless chaotic and nearly hopeless thoughts filled Makino's mind like a tangled knot.
"What are you daydreaming about, Miss Makino? We're here."
Shirahoshi's clear voice interrupted her wandering thoughts.
Like a puppet being led by strings, she unconsciously followed Shirahoshi out of the elevator and into the interior of the 133rd floor.
If the view outside the building was a modern miracle worthy of worship, then the interior of the 133rd floor was a hall of truth built entirely from cold data and advanced technology.
Countless holographic screens floated in midair throughout a massive space several times the size of a football field.
Hundreds upon hundreds of researchers and operators dressed in identical white uniforms moved through the area, focused on their work.
The only sounds were faint keyboard clicks and the humming of machines.
Even when Makino tried her best to raise her head and look at the displays, all she saw were endless streams of rapidly changing numerical codes and blinking points of light across star maps.
She had no idea what any of it meant.
"Um... Is that a map of the East Blue?"
After hesitating for a moment, Makino pointed at the largest central screen and asked uncertainly.
It wasn't because she had ever seen such a detailed map of the East Blue.
Rather, she had vaguely spotted the words "Goa Kingdom" written in the world's common language near the edge of the giant virtual map.
As the owner of a tavern, she could at least recognize some basic words.
"That's right. You have sharp eyes."
Shirahoshi walked over and stood beside her, clasping her hands behind her back as they looked up at the enormous display together.
"Then you're probably curious about what all those red dots moving around like ants are, right?"
"What... are they?"
Makino did not consider herself especially clever.
But years of running a tavern had given her a natural ability to read people.
She could tell that Shirahoshi not only didn't mind her asking about confidential information but was actually guiding her toward this question and expecting her to ask it.
"Celesta, explain it to this big sister from the countryside."
Instead of answering directly, Shirahoshi suddenly looked up and casually called out into the air.
["Understood, Minister Shirahoshi. What you are currently viewing is the East Blue Absolute Surveillance Map, generated and transmitted in real time through the Celestial Dragon Network. It includes terrain data accurate to the meter, ocean current changes, and the exact coordinates and basic information of every vessel currently sailing within these waters."]
A female voice suddenly echoed through the hall.
Its tone resembled Sora's by about seventy percent, but all traces of human emotion had been removed, leaving only the cold mechanical quality of absolute rationality.
"Who's speaking? Where is she?"
Startled by the voice that seemed to appear from nowhere, Makino looked around in panic.
When she raised her head, all she saw was a ceiling covered with pipes and cold lights.
"Stop looking. That's Celesta. It's an intelligent support core system developed by Aunt Sora. Um... You can think of it as an artificial intelligence without a physical body."
Shirahoshi patiently explained, "Intelligent... support? Artificial... intelligence?"
Makino was completely lost.
She recognized every word individually, but when combined, they sounded like some ancient spell she couldn't understand.
"Oh dear, how am I supposed to explain this..."
Shirahoshi rubbed her forehead in frustration.
Ever since childhood, she had grown up immersed in the modern scientific systems and future-oriented ideas brought by Rosse.
To her, these things were as natural as breathing.
"Just think of it as an artificial brain placed inside a metal shell, made specifically to help us calculate data and monitor the world."
"So... that voice wasn't a real person? And your... Celestial Dragon Network can monitor every ship in the East Blue in real time?"
Makino took a deep breath and forced her overloaded mind to keep up with Shirahoshi's explanation.
Yet merely saying those words out loud made her feel dizzy and cold.
Before arriving here, she had already tried her best to imagine how powerful the World Government was.
To her, power meant more strong people, larger armies, stronger cannons, and bigger ships than pirates possessed.
But what was this?
The people of Mary Geoise didn't even need to leave their homes.
Just by looking at a screen, they could see everything happening thousands of miles away in the East Blue.
They truly seemed like gods observing ants inside a transparent glass jar through a magnifying lens.
"You understand it pretty well. That's basically it."
To make Makino's despair even more tangible, Shirahoshi raised her voice again.
"Celesta, lock onto and display real-time aerial footage of Luffy's and Shanks' locations."
["Permission verified. First-class authority confirmed. Retrieving real-time optical imagery."]
Then, before Makino's horrified eyes, the image on the giant screen rippled like water before splitting into two displays.
At first, both views looked like perspectives rapidly falling from an altitude of ten thousand meters.
Initially, Makino could only see clouds and blurry patches of blue.
But as the images quickly zoomed in and focused, the familiar coastline of Foosha Village and a clear aerial view of the surrounding sea appeared on the screen to the right.
Makino immediately covered her mouth and drew in a sharp breath.
'The World Government can actually monitor all of this?'
And not only that, it was real-time surveillance with no delay at all, from the perspective of a god looking down from above.
She would never have dared imagine such a thing even in her dreams.
Yet the World Government had already turned it into a normal method of monitoring the world.
With such a complete one-sided advantage in vision, how could Shanks and the others fight?
How could they possibly win?
Makino stared fixedly at the screen on the left.
In the ruins of Foosha Village, the members of the Red Hair Pirates had gathered together.
They seemed to be discussing something intensely.
Judging by their gestures, they appeared to be planning to rebuild her destroyed tavern.
Looking at these people whom she considered loyal and caring friends, Makino sank into deep silence and sorrow.
These good people in her eyes were trying to fight beings who were practically omniscient and omnipotent, all for the sake of a ridiculous dream.
How could that not leave her feeling hopeless?
"Tsk! Tsk! As expected of someone carrying destiny. That talent for attracting trouble really follows him everywhere."
Hearing Shirahoshi's teasing remark beside her, Makino's heart tightened.
She immediately looked toward the other screen.
The once-calm ocean there was now filled with violent wind and towering waves.
"Luffy!"
Accompanied by Makino's uncontrolled cry, a massive wave descended in the image like the claw of a giant beast.
It smashed down mercilessly, overturning the small fishing boat carrying Luffy and reducing it to pieces.
The straw-hatted boy screamed as he clung desperately to a floating oak barrel.
A moment later, he was swept into the dark, cold whirlpool of seawater.
"Ah! What a shame. The Celestial Dragon Network's satellites are still too far from the ground. Right now they can only transmit visual images. They can't collect audio information across such distances yet. Otherwise, hearing his screams while drowning would make this show much more entertaining."
Shirahoshi crossed her arms and shook her head slightly, her voice full of regret.
"Luffy... please hang on..."
Makino had no interest in listening to Shirahoshi's teasing.
Her eyes were red.
Her hands were clenched together so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh as she repeatedly prayed in her heart for the boy she had watched grow up.
Perhaps destiny truly was protecting him.
Or perhaps Makino's prayers reached the heavens.
After being tossed about by the stormy sea for a long time, the lid of the oak barrel was somehow knocked open by a wave.
At the exact moment another wave crashed down, the exhausted Luffy unexpectedly fell headfirst into the barrel.
Then another wave slammed the lid shut.
The lid became firmly stuck in place.
And so the small barrel drifted across the raging sea, rolling endlessly with the waves, carried toward an unknown destination.
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