In the waters of the South Blue, inside the royal palace of the Sorbet Kingdom.
The meeting room, which had been crowded a few days ago, now held only three people: Dragon, Kuma, and Lindbergh, the commander-in-chief of the South Blue.
Chief of Staff Sabo and several senior commanders who had followed Dragon for years had already been sent out by Dragon to stabilize the situation.
Because of the turbulent circumstances, the Revolutionary Army had been forced to return to the Four Blues.
Dragon decided to use this opportunity to strengthen the internal reshuffling and centralization of power within the Revolutionary Army.
When the Navy pulled back their forces some time ago, Dragon ordered all base leaders from the Four Blues to gather in the Sorbet Kingdom for an internal meeting.
Since every regional leader received the same order, none of them suspected anything.
Only those close to Dragon knew a group of corrupt high-ranking officials would be purged during this meeting.
As for the people Dragon sent out, they were tasked with suppressing the various bases.
After issuing the orders, apart from preparing the manpower needed for the purge, Dragon spent the rest of his time studying the Navy's battle deployment.
Kuma and Lindbergh couldn't understand him. Dragon didn't explain anything.
He merely stared at Marineford on the map.
The news coming from the Navy wasn't good.
He already learned that Kong arrived at Marineford.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku had been suspected by the Five Elders of leaking confidential information to Dragon, and even Dragon's father, Garp, had been implicated.
In truth, Dragon knew the reason he'd been able to reach this point wasn't because his own abilities were outstanding.
Rather, it was because of the support he received from the older generation in the Navy, led by Sengoku and Garp, as well as the awakening effect those advanced ideas had on the people.
At most, only half of his achievements came from his own ability.
He understood that without tip-offs from the Navy, the Revolutionary Army might have suffered a devastating blow the moment it was discovered by the World Government, just like the historical text he saw with Nico Robin—all suppressed by the World Government.
"What's wrong, Dragon? Isn't it a good thing the Navy's target has shifted now? This gives us time to catch our breath," Kuma asked.
Dragon felt helpless.
He had no way of revealing his relationship with Garp and Sengoku, so he could only say indirectly, "Mm… from the current situation, the Navy's movements are beneficial to us."
After saying that, he stood up and disappeared from their sight like a gust of wind.
Kuma was puzzled.
He could sense Dragon was hiding secrets, but out of trust in him, he didn't intend to ask anything.
Only Lindbergh remained standing there, confused.
He couldn't understand Dragon's thoughts.
Dragon stood at the highest point of the Sorbet Kingdom's palace, looking down at the Revolutionary Army soldiers training below.
Confidence rose in his heart.
Although he'd grown under the support of the Navy, the future fate of the Revolutionary Army was still in his own hands.
This time, even if they failed, the Revolutionary Army would make its voice heard by the world.
Dragon believed that even gods who stood high above everyone else could bleed and die.
As long as someone stood up and challenged the gods, even failure could break the shackles in the minds of the people.
If Raleigh knew Dragon's thoughts, he'd probably applaud Dragon's imagination.
This world had been ruled by the World Government and the Celestial Dragons for far too long—so long that everyone in the world had subconsciously accepted the status of the Celestial Dragons, so long that even arrogant and domineering pirates didn't dare to attack them.
That was why Monkey D. Luffy punching a Celestial Dragon after setting out to sea had caused such a sensation.
There was a reason the World Government hated the Clan of D. People of the Clan of D were fearless.
They didn't care whether someone was a god or not.
As long as someone blocked their path or violated their understanding of what was right, they'd act without considering the consequences.
Garp was like this. Luffy was like this.
Many others from the Clan of D were the same.
They didn't care about the rules imposed on them by their surroundings. They only followed the voice of their own hearts.
...
In the New World, inside Vegapunk's private laboratory.
This wasn't the official laboratory where he cooperated with the government, but one established with funds Raleigh allocated to support him.
Of course, many of the materials and funds still came from the hands of the World Government.
Enel and Bullett, who hadn't shown themselves for a long time, were both here.
Bullett had originally been assigned by Raleigh to handle the security of Vegapunk and the base.
As for Enel, he felt he needed to walk around and see more of the world. After traveling for a long time, he'd come to understand a few things.
Along the way, he also brought the task Raleigh entrusted to him here.
Inside the secret laboratory, there were rows of enormous experimental tanks, each engraved with a numerical label.
At the bottom of the tanks, the word "Seraphim" was also engraved.
A round little robot operated buttons everywhere, constantly debugging the data on the instrument panels.
Bullett asked, "Edison, where is Dr. Vegapunk?"
When Edison heard Bullett's voice, he stopped what he was doing, turned around, and said, "The main body is underground. He's still researching the Munch-Munch Fruit. He needs more samples before he can develop a suitable alloy material."
Bullett nodded.
He wanted to go down and check whether Vegapunk was safe.
Enel had nothing to do, so he planned to go with Bullett to meet Vegapunk, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
Inside the underground smelting chamber, a huge device operated.
Vegapunk stood below it, controlling mechanical arms as they added strange and unusual materials into the machine.
Below was a giant outlet, where a conveyor belt transported synthesized metal outward.
This was the Munch-Munch Fruit Bullett brought over.
Vegapunk previously developed technology that could attach Devil Fruits to swords.
Now, transforming the Munch-Munch Fruit into a metal synthesis furnace wasn't impossible.
Vegapunk tested and recorded the metal being transported out.
The sounds of the machine's testing continued to ring out. Footsteps sounded behind Vegapunk, but he didn't turn around.
This laboratory was well hidden.
Even if the Five Elders dispatched every Cipher Pol organization, they wouldn't be able to find this place in a short time.
Moreover, no alarm triggered, so the person coming must be one of their own.
"Doctor, how is the research going?" Bullett's voice came from behind him.
Only after Vegapunk finished testing the metal in his hand did he turn around to look at Bullett.
His eyes widened in surprise.
"The metal's performance is much better than before. It's already close to the data I wanted."
"Enel? Why are you here too?"
Enel had a happy smile on his face. "It's been a long time since I last saw you, Doctor. Since I happened to have nothing to do, I came out to wander around."
Vegapunk didn't suspect anything.
He picked up a piece of metal stored in a nearby cabinet, handed it to Enel, and said, "Use your ability to test this piece of metal."
Enel received a lump of metal that was silver-gray with some golden particles mixed in.
He looked at it.
He wasn't afraid Vegapunk would harm him, so he used his ability and poured electricity into the metal in his palm.
The sizzling sound of electric current rang out.