"Doctor, this thing can't actually work, can it!?"
Aboard the Going Merry, Red stared in astonishment at the mysterious substance—or perhaps energy—being poured into a bizarre giant-flask-like container. His entire face was illuminated by dazzling, rainbow-colored divine light as he couldn't help but ask Vegapunk beside him in wonder.
Vegapunk's eyes were also flashing with seven-colored radiance. Even a man hailed as possessing the greatest brain in the world could not help looking somewhat dazed at this moment.
Only after a long while did he murmur softly:
"I didn't expect it either… for everything to go this smoothly."
"So this is the legendary stuff that can turn ordinary fruit into Devil Fruits?"
"According to your theory, Doctor, could this perhaps be called… 'wish power'?"
Red pointed blankly at the unknown substance or energy being poured into the special container overhead and asked Vegapunk again.
To explain how all this started, it went back to that press conference.
For some unknown reason, after the conference ended, when Vegapunk was clearing archived data, he was astonished to discover an extremely special information signal in the server—one that should not have existed at all.
Naturally, a curious man like Vegapunk would never dismiss such a phenomenon as mere data clutter. Instead, he extracted it and began studying it in detail.
What he discovered next was shocking.
These signals all originated from the mental fluctuations produced inside the spirit world by the players who had participated in the first closed beta test while playing Pokémon World at the venue.
And even more absurd than that…
Those fluctuation signals had formed one vague outline after another in the blank regions of the spiritual space.
The signals were so weak that an ordinary scientist might never have been able to derive anything meaningful from them.
But who was old Vegapunk?
A man with a scientific vision five hundred years ahead of the world, his exploratory spirit and hands-on ability were both nothing short of divine.
After all, someone capable of inventing something like the Mother Flame—an infinite energy source—could already be considered a god in some sense.
Thus, after a period of exploration and simulation, Vegapunk finally uncovered what these mental fluctuation signals were pointing toward…
They were, unmistakably, the Legendary Pokémon that had flashed before the players' eyes in the opening animation of Pokémon World, leaving behind a powerful impression in that brief moment.
From Arceus, creator of all things, to the more mundane Legendary Birds and Legendary Beasts…
The accumulated mental signals varied in quantity, but their direction was unmistakably clear.
According to Vegapunk's deductions, if these data were left alone and the spiritual space was not interfered with, then one day in the future…
When enough of these mental fluctuations had piled up densely enough, the signals generated solely by the players' minds might be sufficient to create real Legendary Pokémon within the spiritual space.
And that idea, in turn, led the wildly imaginative Vegapunk to think of the origin of Devil Fruits in the world of pirates.
According to the conclusions he had reached through his research into Lineage Factor and Devil Fruits, Devil Fruits themselves were "unnatural" products born from the obsessions and wishes of humans and all living beings in the world toward "evolution."
That was why Devil Fruit users were rejected by the sea, the symbol of Mother Nature.
By the same logic…
If Devil Fruits could appear in such a way, then could these mental fluctuations also be harnessed and turned into a force that would make Pokémon truly exist?
By this point in the research, Vegapunk did not conceal anything. He immediately summoned the upper ranks of the Scientific Research Corps—top scientists like Judge—and also Red, who was overseeing the corps on behalf of the Straw Hat side, then laid out his thoughts before them.
When Judge and the others heard his conjecture, their first reaction was that it was impossible.
But then they remembered this was something Vegapunk had researched, and they could not help but wonder…
Could this lunatic actually have figured out how to create artificial Devil Fruits?
And natural, pollution-free ones at that!?
So after the meeting ended, Red immediately approved another large allocation of resources and once again granted Vegapunk the highest level of access, ordering him to go all out and determine exactly what this thing born from mental fluctuations really was.
Even if it could not truly create Pokémon, even if it could not produce Pokémon Devil Fruits, this project would absolutely not be a loss.
Even if all it could do was create Legendary Pokémon within the spiritual space, then at worst, they could simply clone corresponding bodies for them in the pirate world later, then transfer the information from the spiritual space and guide them into real physical vessels.
After that, Red could enter his own game world through his machine and load them with some Pokémon moves.
At that point, what difference would there be between them and real Pokémon?
Of course, if these miraculous mental products really could be used to create artificial Devil Fruits, then Red would be so happy he would not know north from south!
Because from that moment onward, that would be the true age of custom-made Devil Fruits!
Pokémon Fruits?
That was thinking far too small!
When the time came, he could casually stuff a few Ultramen or Blue-Eyes White Dragons into Pokémon World, throw in some random lore, and wouldn't reality become whatever he said it was?
And besides, if Pokémon had Aura and Viridian Power, then having magical power, chakra, or Shinigami power appear too should be perfectly normal, right?
If all else failed, he could just launch a few new virtual games!
Reborn: Building My Fire Village, Urban Life with the Grim Reaper Girl Living in My Closet…
Anyway, building servers did not cost much.
Selling game helmets, gaming equipment, and merchandise would not only recover the costs quickly—it could even turn a massive profit. Why not?
Only, that also meant the more stable the world became, the more people there would be who could afford to enter the games, and the more benefits he would reap.
And that even made Red feel the urge to move up his plans to eliminate the World Government.
Fortunately, in the end, he managed to resist those unhealthy temptations.
Back to the present.
As a large number of players poured into Pokémon World and watched the newly enhanced opening animation Red had personally refined, just as expected, vast amounts of mental fluctuations immediately surged in and were extracted by the program Vegapunk had designed, then loaded into the special container before them.
Unfortunately, when faced with Red's question of whether these things could be turned into Devil Fruits, Vegapunk shook his head without hesitation and explained:
"Impossible."
"At the root of it, people's concept of Pokémon is still too vague and unfamiliar. Because of that, the wish power produced is also affected—too mixed and too imprecise."
"And with only this amount of wish power, it doesn't even count as truly getting started yet. It doesn't even qualify for artificial Devil Fruit creation."
"I see~"
Hearing the explanation, Red's tone calmed down, but he did not feel disappointed.
After all, this virtual game he had created on a whim had already brought him far too many pleasant surprises.
He was actually looking forward to seeing what kind of world this would become once the number of players grew large enough and the wish power absorbed reached the standard Vegapunk had described.
It really is exciting~
Red sighed inwardly, while also beginning to consider that since this game was no longer a game in the traditional sense, perhaps he should start putting more thought into settings involving divine beasts, Pokémon, and the like, adding much more detail to them.
Nintendo only needed to come up with a name and draw a skin.
But he had far more to consider!
"As expected, the first step is still to greatly increase the number of players entering the game world."
"On the New World side, aside from Red-Haired Shanks's and Whitebeard's territories, nearly everything is already under the Straw Hat Pirates' control. And since Shanks and Whitebeard are old friends, development there shouldn't be too difficult."
"The first half of the Grand Line is currently being handled through the Alabasta Kingdom's proxy administration, so that shouldn't be an issue either. After all, the combat power of the Thirteen Guardian Squads is more than enough for the first half."
"It's just… the Grand Line is ultimately only one route attached to this planet. It's fine for adventure and unexpected encounters."
"But when it comes to where this world's population is truly concentrated, it's still the Four Seas—places without too many abnormal climates, and where aside from pirates, mafia groups, and the occasional sea beast, there are hardly any external threats at all!"
"Good! Then the next step of the plan is clear!"
Although he did not intend to cause trouble for the World Government before Luffy was fully ready to make his move, that did not mean Red had no desire to accelerate the project.
After a moment's thought, Red suddenly opened his Personal Terminal, found one particular number, and dialed it.
Strangely enough, however, the call that would normally be answered quickly kept ringing for a very long time.
Fortunately, Red's Personal Terminal was specially made, so there was no such thing as it hanging up automatically after waiting too long.
And so, only after five full minutes did the call finally connect.
But before Red could say anything, a lazy voice tinged with a bit of complaint came from the other end of the Personal Terminal.
"Seriously, Lord Red, how can those game pods you're selling automatically bind themselves to my Personal Terminal?"
"Game pod?"
Red was momentarily stunned, then laughed in surprise and asked:
"Fleet Admiral Kuzan, don't tell me the reason you took so long to answer is because you were playing our Pokémon World?"
"What else!?" Aokiji sounded utterly unashamed about getting caught slacking off on the job by playing games. Instead, he spoke with righteous confidence:
"Since this is something developed by the head of the pirates, as the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, naturally I need to personally investigate it."
"And besides… what exactly do you want!?"
"Do you even know how crowded Route 1 is right now? How hard it is to even encounter a wild Pokémon!?"
"I finally managed to get a shot at a Pidgey, and before I could even catch it, your call came through and kept ringing inside my game pod the whole time. It was so noisy that I gave the wrong command by accident and killed it."
"..."
Red fell silent for a moment, then said:
"Sorry. To prevent the game pods from being shared, each pod binds to personal information on first use. You knew that already."
"It's possible that once your personal data entered the information database, your Personal Terminal just happened to be nearby, so it linked to your game pod."
In truth, that function had mainly been designed for the Straw Hat Pirates. After all, across the sea, there still were not many people who could simultaneously own both a Personal Terminal and a game pod.
Who would have thought Aokiji would end up as collateral damage?
Although losing a Pidgey was no big deal, considering how much Aokiji seemed to enjoy Pokémon World—and given his tremendous strength, meaning he might contribute even more wish power…
After some thought, Red still gave him a reminder:
"There's actually no need for all of you to crowd into Route 1."
"The reason those media workers kept failing against the Gym Leader of Viridian City during the beta test is because he was originally intended to be the strongest Gym Leader in the game."
"Under normal circumstances, there's no need for you to challenge the Viridian Gym at all. You can just skip past it and head to the maps behind it."
"Pokémon World is very vast, and the Gym Leader in Pewter City later on is designed to take care of beginners, so he won't send out Pokémon that are too strong."
"What did you say!? Why didn't you tell me that sooner!?" On the other end of the line, the usually calm and steady Aokiji suddenly let out a sharp screech like a startled bird.
The next moment, Red heard a bang through the Personal Terminal, as though Aokiji had thrown it onto a table.
Hearing this, Red quickly shouted:
"Wait! Wait!!!"
"You're not about to run back into the game the instant I give you this secret tip, are you!?"
"What else would I do!?"
Aokiji's voice sounded distant from the other end, accompanied by the sound of a game pod opening.
Realizing what was happening, Red's face darkened, and he immediately threatened:
"Kuzan, get your ass back there and sit down properly! Otherwise I'll use admin privileges and block you from entering Pokémon World for an entire week."
Swish—
All movement noises came to an abrupt stop in an instant.
One second later, Aokiji returned to the Personal Terminal and said in an upright, solemn manner:
"So… what was it you still wanted to talk about?"
"No shit! Why else would I call you, to chat out of boredom!?" Though Aokiji could not see him, Red still rolled his eyes before laying out his idea:
"The Marines have been a little too idle lately."
"And the Straw Hat Pirates' treasury is a little too full."
"To avoid inflation, I'm thinking of giving the Marines something to do."
"What kind of something?" Aokiji asked curiously.
Red replied calmly and directly:
"I've decided to sponsor you with 300 billion Beli as military funding. What you have to do is, over the next six months, completely wipe out the pirates and mountain bandits in the Four Seas who prey on civilians, including officials and Marines who abuse force to oppress the people, and even sea beasts and natural disasters."
"At the same time, you're to build more Marine bases throughout the Four Seas. The Marines and the Revolutionaries within the Marines will form two separate departments to manage them respectively, doing everything possible to ensure that the people of the Four Seas live stable and peaceful lives."
"That's the plan. Do you understand?"
"..."
On the other end of the line, Aokiji fell silent, as though deep in thought.
Only after a long while did he finally speak, his voice calm but far from ordinary:
"Red… how about we just come clean with the World Government and tell them the Marines have already fully submitted to the rule of the Straw Hat Pirates?"
"Otherwise…"
"I really can't accept this 300 billion Beli in military funding with any peace of mind~"
(End of Chapter)