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The Op-Op Fruit. The power to put anything on an operating table—even a concept, even a man's very biology.
It had to be the key.
It was the only way to perform the human modification surgery, to crack the code of Kaido's monstrous physique, and to allow Arthur to achieve a body that could match, or even surpass, that of the Beast.
This was not some idle fantasy. This was a tangible, achievable goal. A secret that valuable? It was worth letting Kaido stay alive for a few more years.
"Forget Kaido for now," Arthur said, lounging on the golden throne. He gestured with a lazy hand to the man standing at his right.
"I assume you all know who this is. Red the Aloof, Patrick Redfield. As of today, he is the First Mate of the Thunder God Pirates."
His eyes swept the room. "Anyone have a problem with that? Feel free to challenge him. You can even try to kill him. If you win, the spot is yours."
His gaze moved slowly across the hall.
On his left: Jessica, Shiryu, Catarina Devon, Avalo Pizarro, and Vegapunk, who looked thoroughly bored.
On his right: Vasco Shot, Morgans, Don Chinjao, Naguri. His eyes finally landed, and held, on Byrnndi World and the small contingent behind him—Binjack and Nightin.
He stared at World for a long, heavy moment, searching for any sign of defiance. He found nothing but a blank mask.
Arthur looked away, a flicker of disappointment in his eyes.
'So that is how it is.'
For three long years, while Arthur had been vulnerable, World's ambition had been practically radiating off him. He was a powder keg waiting for a spark, a rebellion in the making.
And now? Nothing?
'It is not his style,' Arthur mused. 'A man that reckless, that arrogant, should not have this much self-control. Did my recovery scare him off? Or has he actually... grown?'
"Heh..."
Redfield released his signature, unsettling laugh, revealing the two new, sharp fangs in his mouth. He conducted his own assessment of the room. The older generation—Chinjao, Naguri, World—all pointedly avoided his gaze.
They were all from Roger's era, twenty or thirty years Arthur's senior. They had all, at one point or another, had the misfortune of crossing paths with Redfield in his prime. They had all been handed devastating, humiliating defeats. They knew exactly how dangerous he was.
That was before he had regained his youth.
Byrnndi World kept his head down, his fists clenched so hard his knuckles were white. He was fighting to smother the burning, ambitious rage inside him.
'What right do I have to rebel?' he seethed internally. 'Not now. Not with a monster like Redfield as First Mate. I have to wait. I just have to wait.'
Yet then, another thought snaked into his mind.
'No... Redfield's pride is legendary. There is no way he willingly bent the knee to Arthur. He is biding his time. He must be. This... this could be an opportunity.'
The spark of rebellion, which had been nearly extinguished, rekindled.
Behind him, the small, frail figure of Binjack sensed his brother's shifting thoughts. He sighed and placed a small, warning hand on World's massive back. Calm down.
"It seems... we have a consensus? Heh heh heh..." Redfield's laugh echoed through the hall, a formal, chilling announcement of his arrival.
"Hahahaha, meow!"
"Murufufufu!"
"Gahohahohaho!"
The commanders truly loyal to Arthur burst into celebration. The crew was stronger than it had ever been. The hall erupted in a roar of cheers and clinking tankards.
"The Red Count as First Mate! It is perfect!" Morgans squawked, his voice grating as he raised his glass. "No one else is more fitting for the role!"
"Alright. Quiet down."
Arthur clapped his hands once. The raucous hall fell silent. He stood, walking over to the massive, golden map of the New World that dominated the wall.
He pointed to the vast, red-lined territory that represented their holdings.
"Let us talk about the future. Under your command, the Thunder God Pirates have grown powerful. Our territory is now the largest of all the emperors."
"Yet," he continued, his voice cutting through the silence, "endless, mindless expansion is pointless. We are limited by a critical resource: manpower. Our top-tier strength is unmatched, but our numbers are pathetic. We cannot hold the territory we take. It will just be stolen back the moment we turn our backs."
"So, for the next few years, we consolidate. Solidify our current borders. The new priority is recruitment. Fill our ranks. When our numbers are sufficient, then we will go to war again."
The New World was split four ways. Arthur's territory was immense, yet it was hollow, lacking the soldiers needed to suppress dissent and enforce his rule.
This was an age of monsters. You could not just plant a flag and expect ambitious pirates to respect it. You needed bodies on the ground. Recruitment was now everything.
Whitebeard had dozens of allied fleets under his banner.
Big Mom had... what, forty-plus kids now? And was still producing them. All of them talented, all of them in their prime, forming a loyal, powerful army.
Kaido's Beast army was already a formidable legion of battle-hungry, nigh-unbreakable soldiers.
Then there was him. The Strongest Pirate Crew on the Sea, with a roster so thin it was a damn joke.
All the top-tier strength in the world was useless for garrison duty. Did they really think they could hold an empire with just the handful of them? Arthur, Redfield, Shiryu, World, Naguri, Chinjao, Pizarro, Catarina, Vasco, Wolf, and Morgans?
It was nothing compared to the armies of the other emperors.
Vegapunk was a non-combatant. Foxy needed years of training before he was anything more than a gimmick. Jessica... she was a non-starter. Arthur was not putting her on a battlefield. Period.
"Captain Arthur..."
A voice boomed, shaking the palace to its foundations. The colossal head of Sanjuan Wolf peered in through the main doors, his shadow plunging the hall into darkness. The stench of half-eaten Sea King guts wafted in with him.
Everyone in the hall tensed, their breath catching in their throats.
"What is it, Wolf?" Arthur asked, waving the smell away in annoyance.
"I am the Commander of the Eighth Division..." Wolf said, scratching his massive head, his voice a childlike, embarrassed rumble. "But... I do not have anyone in my division."
'No one?' Arthur paused. He had completely forgotten. The original plan had been for Wolf to go to Elbaf and recruit giants, yet with his injury and the subsequent chaos, the order had completely slipped his mind.
"Right," Arthur said, his mind already shifting gears. "In that case, I have a new mission for you. Go to Little Garden, in the first half of the Grand Line. There are two people I want you to find..."
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