Next Bonus, 100!!
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"Search every inch!"
"Tear this place apart!"
"Dragon, Kuma, and the others arrived here—we saw them with our own eyes! They couldn't have just vanished into thin air!"
On the island of Baltigo, Shamrock, refusing to accept defeat, ordered his men to lay waste to the island in their search.
But the truth was—
They were right.
A thousand meters beneath the island, in a subterranean cavern supported by hardwood beams, ten thousand members of the Revolutionary Army were hidden.
"We're lucky Morley created this shelter," the intelligence officer, Guildeo, said, still shaken.
Nods of agreement went around the cavern, and grateful eyes turned toward a giant who was relatively short for his kind.
Morley, a giant from the West Blue, had once been a vicious pirate. A hundred years ago, he had been imprisoned in Impel Down, but he had managed to escape using the power of his Push-Push Fruit.
He could push any object without damaging it, molding the ground like clay. He could hide within the earth and rock, carve out tunnels, and even turn the ground into a sticky trap to hinder his enemies.
After realizing that CIU might have infiltrated some of the refugee groups, Dragon and Kuma had begun an internal purge. At the same time, they had ordered Morley to secretly create this sanctuary.
They hadn't evacuated earlier because they needed to keep the attention of CIU and the Marines focused on Baltigo, buying time for civilians and other Revolutionary cells around the world to escape.
They had also used the opportunity to successfully root out the mole who had been feeding information to CIU.
But while the others were relieved, Dragon's face was grim.
"This isn't the time to relax," he said. "We need to leave. Now."
During the delay, Morley had been working tirelessly, pushing earth day after day, carving out a long tunnel beneath the sea.
Dragon's worry was not unfounded. He knew the World Government possessed a weapon of terrifying power—a weapon capable of wiping an entire island off the map.
As the Revolutionaries made their escape, Morley backfilled the tunnel entrance, concealing it from the joint task force.
But—
The experienced Akainu, inside the main building, found a clue.
"The soil here..." he growled, looking down. "It's different from the surrounding area."
He reported his findings to Shamrock—the Celestial Dragon who looked so much like Shanks, only with both arms intact.
On this mission, Shamrock was the supreme commander. The Marines were merely assisting.
"Underground?"
Shamrock glanced at the ground. He unleashed his powerful Observation Haki, trying to penetrate the thick layers of earth and rock, to listen for any sign of movement.
But he found nothing.
It wasn't that his Haki was weak. The layers of earth and seawater were obstructing it. Observation Haki was the power of "listening," and these barriers muffled the sound, the presence, making it impossible to sense anything.
"Heh... you think you can escape just by hiding deep underground?" Shamrock sneered.
"Find the tunnel entrance," Akainu ordered.
"No need," Shamrock said dismissively. "All forces, withdraw from Baltigo."
"What?" Aokiji, Akainu, and the other Marines were stunned.
Shamrock didn't offer an explanation, simply turned and walked away, showing no regard for the Admirals' authority.
Akainu and Aokiji exchanged a look, then gave the order to retreat.
Ten nautical miles from Baltigo, as the assembled forces waited in confusion, a massive, searing beam of light descended from the heavens, engulfing the entire island.
VMMMMMMMM...
Before their horrified eyes, Baltigo—and the sea around it—was simply gone. Vaporized.
It happened in an instant.
When the light faded, all that remained was a gaping hole in the ocean. Seawater was pouring into the void, creating a massive vortex.
The sight sent a chill down the spines of even Akainu and Aokiji.
It was terrifying.
An entire island, and the very seabed beneath it, had been erased.
Unheard of.
But what was even more shocking was that the hole wasn't closing.
Normally, when the sea is parted, the surrounding water rushes in to fill the gap.
But here, it was as if the very laws of physics had been broken in that spot. A thick, invisible wall held the sea at bay, forcing the water to pour over the edge of the void, creating a bizarre and wondrous spectacle: a massive, underwater waterfall.
"GET US OUT OF HERE!"
"IT'S A VORTEX! A MASSIVE VORTEX!"
"LOOK OUT!"
The CIU ships and the Marine warships fired up their engines, scrambling to escape the pull of the vortex.
"Ice Age!"
Aokiji froze a section of the sea, slowing the vortex's formation and buying the ships time to escape.
He glanced back at the spot where the island had been, and he was reminded of the massive, waterfall-filled hole at Enies Lobby.
Could it be... that there was once an island there, too? And it was... erased?
The thought sent a chill colder than his own ice down his spine.
There was only one word for it.
Terrifying.
"HELP US!"
"WE'RE BEING PULLED IN!"
Some of the CIU ships were caught in the current, dragged toward the void, their crews screaming for help.
Shamrock's steam-powered ship, the fastest of the fleet, sped away without a second glance.
Akainu scowled. He leaped into the air and unleashed a magma fist, the shockwave from the impact pushing the struggling ships back from the brink.
Aokiji shot him a look, then, with a silent understanding, froze the sea again.
Akainu was a hawk, ruthless in the execution of his duties. But he also looked after his own.
Though their ideologies clashed, they were both men who would lend a hand when they could.
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[REVOLUTIONARY ARMY HEADQUARTERS ON BALTIGO DESTROYED!]
That was the headline on the front page of the World Economic Journal the next day.
[REVOLUTIONARY ARMY SUFFERS CRUSHING BLOW!]
[FATE OF DRAGON, KUMA, AND OTHER LEADERS UNKNOWN!]
News of the event spread like wildfire.
Since the last Levely, the World Government had formed a special task force to counter the growing rebellion. In just over six months, they had made significant progress, first crushing the Revolutionary movement in the Sorbet Kingdom, and now, destroying their main base of operations. It was a shot in the arm for the nobles of the world.
The extra 10% Heavenly Tribute had been worth it. The kings all praised the World Government's efficiency.
Then they frowned, thinking about next year's tribute. They would either have to find new sources of income, or they would have to cut back.
The strong found new sources of income—various forms of external "plunder."
The weak cut back—by raising taxes on their own people.
But in this Great Pirate Era, now approaching its twentieth year, with social unrest on the rise, the world was in a state of decline.
The people had been squeezed dry. Even the children of landowners and wealthy merchants were now setting out to sea in search of adventure.
It was a vicious cycle. A powerful dose of medicine had been administered, and while it seemed to be working, the disease was actually getting worse, its reach spreading ever wider.
Jin was seeing the effects firsthand. The number of immigration applications to the Winter Blossom Kingdom was growing exponentially.
And the applicants were all from the middle and elite classes of their respective kingdoms, fleeing the crushing burden of taxes.
While Jin had little sympathy for those who abandoned their own countries, he couldn't deny that the Winter Blossom Kingdom needed them.
Population was the foundation of a great nation.
As long as he controlled the ratio, prioritizing scholars, artisans, scientists, and doctors, he could rapidly increase his kingdom's overall strength.
Of course, these new immigrants would have to work within the framework of the kingdom's development plan to earn their citizenship.
And then, it would be a matter of selling them the "Winter Blossom Dream," of fostering a sense of national identity.
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