After Vane settled on the idea of dragging meteorites down to reclaim land from the sea, he finished his meal and went to find Fujitora to share his thoughts.
"Pulling down meteorites… That's quite an interesting idea. I can give it a try."
Fujitora had never attempted to summon a meteorite before. If Vane hadn't brought it up, it might have taken him several more years to think of and accomplish something like this.
"You can definitely do it. Just let me know when you try. If it gets out of control, I can help."
If Fujitora lost control and accidentally dragged down something massive without being able to stop it, Sleeping Island could be flattened in an instant.
With Vane nearby, even if things went wrong, he could shatter the meteorite and reduce the impact.
"Then let's try it now. If it works, it'll benefit everyone."
Using meteorites to reclaim land was the kind of idea only someone like Vane—a transmigrator—would think of. In a world made up mostly of ocean, land was an extremely precious resource.
The Float-Float Fruit of the Golden Lion could only move land from one place to another. Only Fujitora's Press-Press Fruit could increase the total landmass of the world without making the sea disappear.
The two of them found a spot by the shore. Fujitora stood still, gripping his cane sword. Since this was his first attempt, it took a little longer.
After about three minutes, Fujitora suddenly drew his blade.
Clang!
Waves of purple gravitational arcs surged into the sky.
After several dozen seconds, Fujitora said, "It's coming."
Vane looked up. His Observation Haki couldn't reach that far, but his eyes could already catch the meteorite's trajectory.
A burning speck appeared in the sky. Within seconds, that speck turned into a massive fireball.
"A meteorite?! What the hell!"
"How is there a meteorite?!"
Caesar Clown, who had been testing pesticide formulas in the fields, looked up and nearly popped his eyes out the moment he saw it.
"Hey! That meteorite looks like it's headed our way!"
"We're doomed! How can our luck be this bad?!"
Getting hit in the face by a meteorite wasn't something many people in history had experienced—and those who did probably never lived to record it. Even a slightly larger one could devastate an entire region.
The fall of the once-prosperous dinosaur kingdom had long been attributed to meteorite destruction.
"Vane-sama flew up!"
"Thank goodness, it's Vane-sama!"
High in the sky, Vane made a rough judgment of the meteorite's size.
About fifty to sixty meters across. If it slammed down at full force, Sleeping Island might shatter on impact.
"It's a bit hard to control. Captain Vane, help reduce the force—otherwise the land will still suffer damage."
With Fujitora there, the meteorite wouldn't fall at full power, but on his first try he couldn't make it land gently either. Vane still needed to lessen the impact.
"Lilith!"
Now Vane didn't even need to draw his sword himself. At the sound of her name, the blade sprouted bat wings and flew straight into his hand.
Fujitora and Vane moved at the same time. Fujitora's gravity took effect first, steadily slowing the meteorite's rapid descent.
Vane's slash followed, cutting through the air with a sharp screech as it struck the meteorite. The Sky-Cleaving Slash carried a spiraling force and extreme cold.
The blazing-hot meteorite met the frigid attack, releasing hissing white steam. Its once-red surface turned gray-black.
The violent shift between extreme heat and cold made the meteorite far more brittle. Vane's slash shattered it into chunks no bigger than human heads.
"Gravity Field!"
Now that the fragments no longer carried the force of a full-speed descent, Fujitora's gravity field swept them up, controlling them all at once and stacking them neatly in an open area into a small hill.
"Though there were some minor surprises, this proves our idea works."
Once Fujitora became more proficient, he could summon meteorites in large numbers. Even if each one was smaller, with enough accumulation over time, they could create vast stretches of new land.
"However, I've noticed something else… There's no rush to dump them into the sea. From now on, let's stack them somewhere first and let the Science Squad take a look."
Fujitora sheathed his blade and asked, "Is there something unusual about the meteorites?"
Vane walked over and picked up a fragment. It had a clear metallic sheen.
"There are iron meteorites among them."
In Vane's understanding, meteorites were divided into iron meteorites and stony meteorites. Iron meteorites contained a large amount of metal.
He had only been thinking about using them for land reclamation. But seeing this metal-rich fragment reminded him that they were also an excellent source of metal.
They could have Electivire come and consume the rocks, extracting the metallic components. The stone could be used for land reclamation, while the metal could be sent to the industrial district and forged into various products.
"Talk about killing multiple birds with one stone."
He had only intended to fill in some sea, yet it opened up so many additional uses… Then again, Sleeping Island's resources were scarce. Otherwise, he wouldn't be eyeing even this bit of metal.
Buru buru~ Buru buru~
The small Den Den Mushi on Vane's body rang. He answered.
"…Mm. That meteorite was brought down by us. Tell everyone not to worry."
"There's something else? What is it… What did you say?"
...
Sleeping Island.
A somewhat battered large ship had just docked. A man with a tall, elongated skull stood there coldly.
"Strawberry? What are you doing on Sleeping Island?"
"Isn't it because of you, you bastard?!"
Strawberry showed no awareness that Vane was a pirate with an 1.1 billion Belly bounty. Opponents of that level were normally handled only by elite Vice Admirals or Admirals. Yet here he was, at the level of a Rear Admiral, charging in recklessly and drawing his twin blades as he slashed toward Vane.
"Lilith, come out."
Vane didn't move, simply calling Lilith's name.
The bat-winged sword flew from its sheath again, transforming midair into her human form.
"Stay away from Mr. Vane."
Lilith spun gracefully in the air, her hand forming a blade as she slashed forward.
Clang!
Five crimson flying slashes shot out at once.
Strawberry gripped one blade in reverse.
Blue spiraling slashes formed a protective vortex before him. The red slashes collided with the blue ones. After holding out briefly, the blue slashes shattered.
Strawberry hurriedly raised his blades to guard his chest, but he was still sent flying.
"Lilith, don't kill him."
Before Strawberry could even get back up, he felt a chill at the back of his neck. The terrifying loli's hand hovered just a few centimeters above it. If Vane hadn't called out to stop her, his head would already have parted from his body.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo