"Though it may be somewhat inhumane, if all you have to do is pay with the future in exchange for eternal prosperity…"
"I imagine the people of Wano Country should be deeply grateful for my policies."
As Red looked at the scene before him, a strange sense of déjà vu suddenly surfaced in his mind.
It reminded him of the Infinite Tsukuyomi world created by Six Paths Madara in the later stages of Naruto.
In Madara's plan, everyone in the world would fall into an absolutely perfect dream.
And Wano Country now, with every citizen lying inside game pods and their consciousness sinking into a virtual world, was almost exactly the same.
"But compared to Madara, I'm far, far kinder~" Red revealed a calm smile, feeling not the slightest psychological burden over his own dictatorial rule.
At the very least, he had left Wano Country with a choice.
Although that choice was basically like asking someone to choose between slaving away at work or being born rich, with only one obvious answer.
But still, a choice was a choice, wasn't it!?
If the people of Wano Country were willing to sink into decadence of their own accord, then that had nothing to do with Red.
"What a pity Dr. Vegapunk didn't come with us, and Pythagoras is still busy activating Pluton. Otherwise, we could've found out how long it would take for the wishes of Wano Country alone to condense into a Devil Fruit."
Making every single citizen of Wano Country enter Pokémon World was naturally not just about increasing the game's population.
Given Pokémon World's current popularity throughout the pirate world, the growth in player numbers was only a matter of time.
Red's true goal was to use this kind of collectivist spirit to completely unify the thoughts of Wano's people, achieving a kind of brainwashing and gaining control over the way they thought.
In the end, that would allow them to create a massive amount of wish power with a single, unified objective in a short period of time.
The wish power Pokémon World was currently gathering was simply far too chaotic. On top of that, there was too much content related to Pokémon, so no one knew how long it would take to create the first naturally formed artificial Devil Fruit.
But through this kind of semi-brainwashing method, the formation of the first Pokémon Fruit would be greatly accelerated.
Though this plan sounded somewhat inhumane, and over time might even completely destroy Wano Country's native culture and customs…
Well, Wano's prototype was an island nation anyway~
Some rotten cultural baggage deserved to be destroyed.
Even Usopp in the original timeline couldn't stand Wano's bushido spirit. That alone showed just how poorly it was received in a world so steeped in the spirit of freedom.
Red had already decided that once Wano Country was fully stabilized and had entered a state where the entire nation lived inside Pokémon World, he would send Buggy and his pirate crew over to guard it.
Among all those under the Straw Hat Pirates' banner, no one was better at manipulating human hearts than Buggy.
Ever since Red pointed out this talent of his, Buggy had completely let himself go down that path.
With the identity of being the number one pirate crew in the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, he had even gained quite a few fans throughout the pirate world.
It could only be said that the pirate world was distorted beyond reason.
There were actually people who worshipped and admired pirates as idols.
But it was precisely because the world was so twisted that it made it easier for Red to seize control of it.
…
…
The facts proved that as long as the money was enough, there was nothing in this world that couldn't be accomplished.
In less than a month, all the residents of Wano Country had completely entered the lifestyle Red had envisioned.
Under the lure of enormous rewards, the number of pregnant women in Wano was also increasing day by day.
Although after only a month there were still no obvious visible signs, just from the condition of the men of Wano—whose legs had begun trembling whenever they walked—it was not hard to tell how hard they had been "working" during this period.
"How is it that I feel less and less human?"
Thinking back on all the changes that had taken place in Wano during this time, Red sat in the vice-captain's office aboard the Going Merry, sipping a Wano specialty drink in his hand as he let out a quiet sigh.
"It seems sitting too high up isn't necessarily a good thing."
"Compared to Luffy and the others, my state of mind still has a long way to go!"
Looking out the window at the pitch-black, ominous steel behemoth—the ancient weapon Pluton—Red's eyes flickered with contemplation.
As a transmigrator, it was difficult for him to remain like Luffy and the others, keeping his original heart unchanged no matter what position he stood in.
Before gaining power, I want to protect the world!
After gaining power, I want to protect my world!
"What a joke~"
Red smiled faintly.
Though he had realized his own problem, he had no intention of changing.
From a certain point of view, that too could be considered unwavering devotion.
…
…
Elsewhere.
After Wano Country's population policy had fully entered the right track, Pythagoras finally completed the full-scale restoration and modification of Pluton after an entire month of work.
And he successfully implanted the Mother Flame into Pluton's power chamber, granting this ancient weapon that had crossed hundreds of years of history a future power belonging to this era!!!
Though Red and the Straw Hat crew had remained in Wano Country the entire month and gone nowhere,
during that same month, quite a few things had happened across the seas.
The first of these was the sales of Pokémon World gaming equipment.
Within one month, the gaming equipment factory located in the Pokémon Sea had successively completed the first batch of orders, totaling as many as 300,000 units.
And with the expansion of the factories, even Wano Country had at least reached the point where every household possessed one or more gaming devices.
And that number was still rising rapidly.
After huge numbers of players flooded into the virtual world, the first issue to begin affecting the real world was the exchange between in-game currency and real-world currency.
Since it had been transformed into a nationwide online game, Pokémon World naturally possessed its own complete monetary system.
As players grew stronger and experienced more content, the resources they needed multiplied accordingly.
And currency, in a sense, was a resource.
As a result, many powerful and wealthy people began using real-world Beli or other valuables in exchange for greater convenience inside the game world.
Fortunately, Red had anticipated this from the start.
Not long after signs of virtual currency exchange first began to appear, a virtual currency exchange system quietly appeared in every player's interface, established by the Straw Hat Pirates acting as a trust institution, stabilizing the economy.
…
…
BOOM!!!!
Dragged by the nine Tailed Beast zombies, the enormous Pluton finally carved a deep trench through Wano Country and entered its inland sea.
At the edge of the towering cliff waterfall,
Moria stood at the bow of the steel behemoth Pluton, staring at the sea hidden beneath clouds and mist below. He was so excited that his entire body seemed to have stiffened into a wax statue, utterly motionless.
Only the wild grin hanging on his face proved that this was the real Moria and not some substitute.
"Hey, Moria!"
After a long while, Red was the first to lose patience. He took the initiative to speak, interrupting whatever Moria had been thinking about.
For Pluton's maiden voyage, neither Red nor Moria had any intention of hiding it. On the contrary, they intended to announce it to the entire world in the grandest way possible…
One of the legendary Ancient Weapons, Pluton, had revived once more.
Precisely because of that, many media outlets that had been reporting Pokémon World news nonstop for nearly a month had swarmed to Wano Country, preparing to witness Pluton's first launch after its resurrection.
With so many camera lenses pointed their way, they weren't here to stare at Moria's idiotic grinning face.
"Ah!?"
Startled awake, Moria froze for a moment. After noticing Red's gaze, he immediately realized what was going on. He quickly coughed to compose himself, then struck an imposing pose and threw his arm into the air.
"Straw Hat Grand Fleet · Moonlight Pirates…"
"Raise anchor and set sail!!!"
Rumble~!!!
The moment Moria's voice fell, a deafening roar like thunder suddenly erupted from inside Pluton's hull.
In the next instant, a vast ring of energy lit up at the stern of Pluton, with a diameter of dozens of meters.
On the shore, the reporters who had been ordered to maintain a safe distance saw Pluton's dazzling performance and, without a second word, began snapping photo after photo in a frenzy of flashing lights.
And just three seconds later, that accumulated energy beam burst forth, creating a terrifying propulsive force.
Under that horrifying impact, the massive warship Pluton shot out of Wano's inland sea like a beam of light, tracing a beautiful arc through the air as it pounced toward the ocean below like a savage beast.
At the same time, under Pluton's violent surge, the surface of Wano's inland sea was split like a cake, leaving behind a clearly visible scar.
It even smashed a massive breach into the rock wall surrounding Wano Country.
A huge volume of seawater rushed madly through the opening, causing the sea level of Wano's inland sea to drop significantly.
Patter… patter…
Seawater fell from the sky like raindrops, drenching the clothes of every reporter on the shore.
But at this moment, none of them cared in the slightest about their soaked garments. All of their attention was focused on the images captured by the devices in their hands, each determined to perfectly record the heroic figure of Pluton's rebirth.
The facts proved that although Franky in the original timeline had no ability to decipher ancient text, he really had gained a great deal of inspiration from Pluton's blueprints.
For example, the Coup de Burst originally belonging to the Thousand Sunny, as well as his own Coup de Vent, were actually both derived from the unique technology of the Ancient Weapon Pluton.
It was only because he couldn't properly interpret the design that Franky in the original timeline had merely grasped the bare surface of it.
What Pluton had just displayed, however, was the true way the "Coup de Burst" was meant to be used!
Boom!!!
With his supreme senses, Red could see that after bursting out of Wano, Pluton did not immediately plunge toward the sea below.
Instead, making use of the curve of Wano's cliffs, it soared even higher into the sky.
And that single leap spanned the distance of two small islands.
In the end, through Pluton's unique balancing ability, this steel beast—larger than any warship in the world—smashed into the sea in a manner that utterly defied gravity, yet did so with astonishing stability.
Aside from the enormous splash that erupted across the surface, the giant battleship failed to raise even the slightest wave.
At the same time, standing at the bow of Pluton, Moria ignored the crooked, toppled heap of subordinates behind him who had been sent sprawling by the sudden impact and burst into wild laughter:
"Kishishishishi~ This is Pluton!!! This is the Ancient Weapon Pluton!!!!"
Leaping down from Wano's cliff waterfall alone might not mean much.
But if, with the Mother Flame as an infinite energy source, a movement method like that could be used by Pluton without limit…
Then the feeling was completely different!!!
Just as Franky could create absurd propulsion from the pressure of a few bottles of cola, the Pluton warship not only possessed the overwhelming firepower to destroy an entire nation with one shot, but also had an utterly unscientific—yet very pirate-like—energy efficiency.
For Pluton, a Coup de Burst-style movement method like the one just now consumed less energy than the Mother Flame could regenerate on its own.
"Lord Moria!"
Because she was floating in midair and thus unaffected by Pluton's flight, Perona came before Moria and raised the Personal Terminal in her hand, shouting over the noisy currents:
"Lord Moria, Lord Red says the display just now was extremely effective!"
"So in order to let the world see even more clearly the immense power contained in an Ancient Weapon, he has just assigned us an entirely new mission and has already informed the reporters present!"
"Kishishishishi~ As expected, even someone as powerful as Lord Red can't help but create a proper stage for Pluton's debut!"
"So what is Lord Red's mission!?"
"Let me see…"
Perona, holding a gothic parasol, clamped the handle beneath her slender neck and tapped the Personal Terminal a few times.
In an instant, a virtual projection popped into the air.
It showed the upper-body image of a man dressed in a pink suit, with a mature golden hairstyle.
Beside it was a block of text introducing him.
Gild Tesoro, known as the "Golden Emperor," ruler of the world's greatest entertainment city, Gran Tesoro. His assets and enterprises accounted for 12% of the world's economy…
One of the foremost business geniuses in the world, yet in secret nothing more than a tool used by the World Government to control the economic lifelines of the underworld.
"Tesoro? The Golden Emperor!?"
Looking at the projected information, a sharp gleam suddenly flashed through Moria's sinister eyes, and the corners of his mouth rose to reveal a mouthful of jagged fangs.
"How interesting~ Has Lord Red finally decided to move against the underworld?"
"Once this man is eliminated, no one in the entire sea will be able to rival the Straw Hat Pirates in business ever again!"
"No!"
"It's far more than just business!"
Moria let out another hoarse, wicked laugh from deep in his throat.
"Gild Tesoro… should be the World Government's last dog, shouldn't he?"
"Once he disappears completely, the World Government's control over this sea will fall to its lowest point!"
"And when the World Government completely loses control over the seas…"
Moria's eyes flashed, but he did not continue the thought.
Compared to dreaming about an already decided future, he would rather witness that moment with his own eyes.
(End of Chapter)