The kingdom of Dressrosa, in the New World.
Scarlett's bedchamber, in the royal palace.
A scarlet thread split the air, rippling space until a folded doorway opened. Sephiroth stepped through, his Saber in hand.
He scanned the room. Scarlett wasn't there.
So he opened the bedroom door and left.
Two corridors down, he met King Riku coming the other way.
"Good morning!"
Sephiroth raised a hand, smiling.
The old king's face darkened. He offered only a grunt in reply, then brushed straight past without a backward glance. No pleasantries. No eye contact.
The reason was simple.
Recently, King Riku had discovered the same swine had made off with both his young daughters.
Not only that—the same swine had gone and stolen other men's young daughters, too.
He wouldn't say who the swine was. He didn't even want to think the name.
If not for the great debt Dressrosa owed that swine from years past, and if not for the fact the swine had saved his daughters' lives, Riku would have drawn his sword and charged.
He might not win, but he'd make the bastard bleed.
Where the king offered cold disregard, Queen Riku went to the opposite extreme.
The queen understood her daughters. Once they set their minds to something, they followed through to the end. After attempts to dissuade them failed, she changed her approach.
Now, every time she saw Sephiroth, she steered the conversation toward wedding plans. When did he intend to make an honest woman of her girls?
To which Sephiroth could only laugh vaguely, demur that he was still young, that he wanted to focus on his work a few more years…
Soon, Sephiroth reached a study door. He turned the knob, entered, and found Scarlett behind a desk, buried in books, sketching and writing.
"What's all this?"
He moved behind her, massaging her shoulders as he looked down at the map of Dressrosa spread before her.
"I'm planning an expansion," she said, not looking up. "Using the kingdom's high walls as the center.
My Rock-Rock Fruit lets me reshape stone permanently, even after contact with seawater.
So I want to extend Dressrosa's land area. Inside the walls, we'll focus on tourism and agriculture. Outside, commerce and industry.
That means I need to replan the entire kingdom."
"That's a massive project. It'll take a decade or two, at least."
"My estimate is about ten years," Scarlett said, smiling.
Sephiroth's mouth twitched. Her infrastructure obsession was flaring up again.
"Anyway, Scarlett—I need you to visit Gem Island soon. Speak with their leader. See if we can acquire some of their raw moving stone.
Make sure you tell him we don't want it for war. We need it as a power source."
Gem Island was rich in mineral deposits. Its people made their living from mining and smelting.
Ever since Dressrosa began manufacturing and selling weapons six years ago, the kingdom had maintained close trade ties with the island.
After all, manufacturing weapons requires a large amount of metal raw materials…
Sephiroth considered Princess Scarlett's status and their long-standing cooperation. Surely, the Umbrella Corporation could secure a permit to mine the original moving stone.
Scarlett's brows slowly drew together.
"Sephiroth, this… might be complicated.
"Just half a month after you left for the moon, Gem Island was attacked by Pirates. Their leader died in the incident.
"Now, the Marines and the World Government have taken control of the island. A few days ago, agents from the CP Organization came to ask if Dressrosa had ever purchased original moving stone from Gem Island.
"Judging by their attitude, they're deeply wary of the substance.
I'm afraid we can't make a move on it now.
"The Pirate attack was… simply unfortunate."
A faint, mocking smile touched Sephiroth's lips.
"Heh. There was no Pirate attack. That was a play staged by the World Government themselves.
"They caught me off guard. It seems I'll have to find another way to get the stone."
Previously, Sephiroth had never developed a stable method to control original moving stone. Aside from its explosive power, the substance offered little advantage.
Even knowing it existed on Gem Island, he hadn't pursued it.
The Marines had always collected and controlled the material. Touching it would have drawn the World Government's attention too easily.
Back then, original moving stone was like a chicken rib—tasteless to eat, yet a shame to discard.
Now, unexpectedly, it had become a strategic resource he absolutely needed.
Well. If all else failed, he could always steal the stockpiles held by the Marines.
With the Door-Door Fruit, he could slip in and out unnoticed, as long as he was careful.
The real problem was finding where the Marines hid the stone.
That kind of classified information wasn't accessible to a mere Commodore from Marineford.
No matter. There was no hurry. He would take it one step at a time.
For now, the original moving stone in the spaceship was enough for research.
Ah, right. There was a man on Gem Island named Isaac. The kid had talent.
Not just a technical mind—his physical gifts were impressive, too. After all, he'd been recruited directly into a prison warden position through the World Conscription.
If Tesoro told Isaac the truth—that the World Government hired Pirates to attack Gem Island—and then extended an offer to join us, that would be half the battle won.
As for the other half, that depends on how determined Isaac is to seek revenge against the World Government...