A month after the news of Uchiha Tamahiko defeating an Admiral and a Charlotte Linlin First Commander, the situation gradually stabilized.
Admiral Sakazuki became the new Fleet Admiral, and his first act was to move Marineford to the New World to directly confront the most powerful forces on the Grand Line.
Charlotte Linlin of the Charlotte Family initially wanted to go directly to Dressrosa to get even.
However, she suddenly received a Den Den Mushi call from Kaido, questioning why Katakuri attacked his artificial Devil Fruit factory, and that Queen, one of his All-Stars, was there, otherwise it would have failed.
This confused Charlotte Linlin, but she couldn't contact her son. Yet, Kaido provided evidence, not only the appearance but also the abilities were the same. This made Charlotte Linlin give up on seeking revenge and instead go look for her First Commander.
The enhancer injection was very successful, with the physical fitness of each clan member increasing by nearly double on average.
Even Fugaku and Shisui, after the injection, saw some improvement, possibly due to the addition of Uchiha Tamahiko's genes, which resulted in this effect.
The World Government worked hard to downplay the impact of Uchiha Tamahiko defeating an Admiral, and at the same time, they covered up the Dressrosa issue. News reports barely mentioned the incident.
"It seems that Admirals as a standard of strength are still very useful, or perhaps those audacious fellows have already been dealt with," Uchiha Tamahiko mused.
Uchiha Tamahiko waited for a long time, but no new challengers appeared.
Every day, he cultivated Yin-Yang Release, mastering Yin Release faster, while Yang Release was still in the experimental stage, progressing slowly.
Since Fish-Man Island was blocked by Sea Kings, no newcomers could reach the New World in the first half of the Grand Line. The New World was full of seasoned veterans.
The brave ones had challenged the Four Emperors early on, and those who managed to survive were exceptional.
Only the Supernovas of Kid's generation, not fully understanding the strength, dared to challenge the Four Emperors, and one by one they were defeated. These were also the first ones to cause trouble, and now only Kid is still alive, barely.
However, he has already become Orochimaru's research material, to be handed over to Sasori to be made into a puppet, to see if he can complement the Third Kazekage.
Charlotte Linlin, who was expected to cause trouble, did not appear, which made Uchiha Tamahiko somewhat puzzled. He had anticipated her being the last major problem in this mission.
"Submit mission."
"[King of the Seas / Emperor] completed."
"Please select mission reward."
"Ope-Ope no Mi [No Side Effects]"
Uchiha Tamahiko had long since decided on the Devil Fruit he wanted.
Logia types didn't offer him much improvement, aside from immunity to physical attacks like impacts; other effects were mediocre.
Most importantly, once he mastered Truth-Seeking Orbs, ordinary elemental attacks wouldn't have much effect on him. However, the Ope-Ope no Mi would provide a significant boost, for example, the ability to perform a spatial exchange similar to Amenotejikara's Operating Room ability.
The user can control any object within the ROOM's range, without limits on mass or quantity.
More importantly, combined with Uchiha Tamahiko's Rinnegan skill, Space Severance, which can cut through space and ignore defenses.
He didn't use this skill during the fight against the two Admirals, fearing he might accidentally kill them.
However, this ability also has very strict conditions for release: it needs to be within a five-meter radius, at the location observed by the Rinnegan, similar to combining the release methods of Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi.
The main issue is that it's hard to hit, as enemies with Observation Haki would react in advance. If the Ope-Ope no Mi is used to transfer the opponent in front of him during release, then the opponent cannot escape. Moreover, the Ope-Ope no Mi carries a strong true damage ability, capable of breaking through Haki's defense and directly attacking the inside of the body.
And this spatial ability, naturally, interested Uchiha Tamahiko more than other abilities, as it is one of the three supreme laws.
Uchiha Tamahiko held the heart-shaped Devil Fruit and, without hesitation, ate it in two bites.
Perhaps because it had no flaws, it wasn't unpalatable; in fact, it was a bit sweet.
[Uncrowned King / King of the World]
[Become the Uncrowned King of this world, possess the title of Pirate King, obtain the great treasure of Laugh Tale, and have over eight Admiral/First Commander-level combatants under your command.]
[Become the King of the World, overthrow the rule of the Celestial Dragons, possess the title of God, control the World Government, and have over three Admiral/First Commander-level combatants under your command.]
[Time Limit: Eight years]
[Mission Reward: Obtain a permanent teleportation gate to this world, can condense specified Devil Fruits (no quantity limit / unique limit). The time limit extends based on the type of fruit.]
"Kill the Celestial Dragons!"
The moment Uchiha Tamahiko saw this mission, he immediately decided to choose the path of becoming the King of the World.
Neither mission was simple, and doing the first mission would also be obstructed by the World Government. So, it's better to directly kill the Celestial Dragons. Since there's enmity, might as well settle it all at once.
With a new goal, Uchiha Tamahiko felt that his strength should continue to improve.
The World Government's strength is easy to judge; at most, it's a stalemate with the pirate side. However, the true strength of the Celestial Dragons is impossible to determine.
Who knows if these fruits were also grown by the Ōtsutsuki Clan?
Thinking of the enemy as stronger helps in making more preparations. Uchiha Tamahiko planned to continue strengthening himself, and after reaching his limit, he would sound the horn of counterattack against the Celestial Dragons. This time, he would capture them for dissection to see if there truly were Ōtsutsuki Clan members hidden within.
In the evening, Doflamingo returned, bringing all his assets.
He was abandoning the underground black market; for him, it offered little help beyond the title of King of the Underworld.
This time, he was going to go all out, cling to Uchiha Tamahiko's leg, and advance further.
"About seventy billion Berries. Many assets couldn't be liquidated, so I just left them," Doflamingo said confidently.
Even the Four Emperors couldn't produce that much money, except for Tesoro, that casino owner. He was the richest man in this world.
He wanted to see a look of surprise on Uchiha Tamahiko's face to satisfy his desire.
"Then let's proceed to the next step: extort the World Government. Force them to buy our weapons and legitimately earn money," Uchiha Tamahiko nodded and told Doflamingo.
He didn't care much about the amount of money, as it was just a number.
Now, he was more interested in disgusting the World Government, making the Celestial Dragons uncomfortable, and probing their true strength.
Ninjas thrive on intelligence gathering; it has been ingrained in their bones for so many years. Uchiha Tamahiko wouldn't foolishly rush in when the situation was unclear.
Even if he gathered all the Tailed Beasts and reached Six Paths Level, he wouldn't just directly attack.
"Start now?" Doflamingo was momentarily stunned.
He felt it was too fast.
"If they don't buy, we'll sell to the Revolutionary Army. We won't lose either way."
"Unless the World Government ignores everything else and mobilizes all its forces to deal with us, but that would incur even greater losses. At that point, they'll still find it more cost-effective to pay us."
Uchiha Tamahiko said.
Many governments are like this. They realize it's cheaper to buy than to produce, then they spend money to buy. Only when they're cornered do they feel cheated.
But by then, it's already too late.
....
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