"...It not what you think?!"
Dragon explained with a face full of black lines, "Even if we use Nika as bait, it doesn't have to be the real one. We can completely forge a piece of information to make the World Government take action."
"But the Five Elders know the true situation of the Nika Fruit. The key point is that Luffy has already set sail now, and they must have noticed him long ago.
It won't do any good for you to forge information now, will it? On the contrary, it might cause the Five Elders, who originally didn't pay much attention to Luffy, to start targeting him."
Sherwin looked at Dragon in confusion. With the intelligence Dragon had displayed so far, it was impossible for him not to think of this.
Well, then again, Sherwin couldn't be entirely sure either. After all, if one judged solely by the development of the Revolutionary Army in the original manga, Dragon performance as a leader was actually quite hard to describe...
"I am not saying we should forge another Nika Fruit user," Dragon continued to explain.
"Instead, I plan to fabricate information about the previous generation Nika, which is the Joy Boy you mentioned. In addition, I also plan to transport a Poneglyph from elsewhere to that location.
With two 'taboo appearing at the same time, there is a high probability that the Five Elders will fall for it.
Then, we will launch an attack on Egghead Island at the same time to tie up most of the World Government combat power.
This way, if they want to quickly resolve the matter of Joy Boy and the Poneglyph, they will very likely deploy 'Uranu."
"If the World Government does not deploy 'Uranu but instead draws away personnel to handle that problem, we will try to actually rescue Vegapunk!"
Lindbergh, the Commander of the South Army, supplemented from the side, "This is a plan that kills two birds with one stone, which we discussed for several days!"
"Hee-ha! If we're lucky, we might even achieve both goals!" The most optimistic Ivankov joined in.
"Oh stop it~ Iva, it also possible for this plan of ours to fail at both goals, you know."
Morley, the Commander of the West Army who was also an okama, held his cheeks with both hands and spoke in a "dainty" manner with a middle-aged man voice.
Belo Betty, the Commander of the East Army who was boldly dressed, rested her legs on the conference table, casually blew out a smoke ring, and scolded bluntly,
"Shut up! You potato giant! Don't dampen our own morale and boost the enemy power here!"
"Ah~! Betty, you are so mean~"
Sherwin felt like his eyes were about to go blind.
Not only was Ivankov there, but he also had to watch Morley, a massive, bearded "potato" of a giant, making a whimpering, crying face. Even though he had seen plenty of such minority groups back on Earth, this was truly testing his limits.
But credit where credit was due. While Ivankov and Morley were a bit of an eyesore, the Revolutionary Army plan actually had a very high chance of success.
Granted, it wasn't some seamless, flawless plan, and just as Morley feared, there was indeed a possibility of failing on both ends.
However, compared to both sides failing, the probability of the plan succeeding—especially the probability of at least one side succeeding—was much higher.
It was also much more prudent than Sherwin idea of directly spreading word of Imu existence, and it offered far more room for manipulation.
In any case, with Sherwin strategic planning skills, which were pretty much honed entirely from playing strategy games, he couldn't think of a better plan on short notice...
Of course, if they were planning a prank, that might be a different story.
So, the only remaining issue was Luffy side.
"As for Luffy, there is no need to worry either..." Faced with Sherwin questioning gaze, Dragon replied expressionlessly,
"If the plan is successfully implemented, I don't think the Five Elders will have much energy left to distract themselves with him."
"Furthermore, even if Luffy really gets targeted by the World Government, that isn't necessarily a bad thing," Dragon continued.
"Without going through enough trials, it is impossible to grow into the legendary 'Warrior of Liberation.' If the Five Elders targeting him can accelerate Luffy awakening of the Nika Fruit, it will also be beneficial to us."
"If he fails to overcome this trial..." Dragon pursed his lips and uttered a rather common line from Earth anime,
"then he is merely a man of that caliber, and no different from all those other 'Rubber Fruit user over all these years."
To say he wasn't worried about Luffy safety would definitely be a lie. However, as a revolutionary pioneer in the pirate world, Dragon naturally possessed the necessary resolve of a revolutionary.
He wouldn't abandon a plan so crucial to the Revolutionary Army just because his own son was involved.
Furthermore, inheriting the traditions of the Monkey family, Dragon, much like Garp, practiced a lion-style approach to parenting.
"Then I have no further objections."
Since things had been spelled out to this extent, Sherwin naturally had no reason to oppose it.
To put it bluntly, his relationship with Luffy was just average, carrying at most a bit of a nostalgic filter.
If Dragon, as the father, was willing to risk it, the only thing he could do was offer his blessings.
By comparison, fulfilling the needs of his own Felynes was far more important...
"If you need any help, just ask. We're still very much willing to cause trouble for the World Government and the Celestial Dragons."
"Since Mr. Sherwin also approves of our plan, let properly discuss how to better execute it!"
A slight smile once again surfaced on Dragon serious face. He took down a map marked with several red circles from the nearby wall and spread it out on the conference table in front of Sherwin and the others.
"We have initially selected several islands suitable for fabricating information, but no matter which island is chosen, the evacuation of the personnel on the island is a major issue..."
He pointed to the places circled in red and said with some distress, "Lindbergh suggested equipping everyone with the jetpacks he created, but we don't know the specific attack range and method of 'Uranu, so we can't guarantee they can safely evacuate this way."
The biggest problem with their plan was how to transfer the people on the island if the World Government really dispatched 'Uranu.
Although the people of the Revolutionary Army did not fear sacrifice, Dragon, whose goal was to overthrow the World Government, could not bring himself to let a group of people go to their deaths just to confirm a suspicion.
"Isn't that a neat coincidence?" Sherwin gave a chuckling laugh.
"Our Purah Meow just recently developed spatial teleportation technology based on the technical data provided by Vegapunk. Although it only effective within a limited range, it more than enough to bypass Uranus attack range."
"That is wonderful news!"
Even Dragon, whose expressions were usually rather subdued, looked positively radiant at this moment.
Solving this first and most critical issue did not mean the plan could go into action immediately.
For the next period of time, the Revolutionary Army officers and Sherwin engaged in a heated and prolonged discussion over the choice of islands, the implementation of specific steps, the assignment of combat personnel, and other such matters.
During this period, Robin, Huamei, Haibara Meow, Purah Meow, Sasha Meow, and the rest of the research group think tank joined in one after another to offer ideas and strategies, continuously refining the plan.
In addition, the scientific technology previously promised to Dragon was also passed on to the Revolutionary Army scientific unit led by Lindbergh, taught by the two research Felynes, Haibara Meow and Purah Meow...
It was just that in the words of the slightly sly Haibara Meow, the Revolutionary Army scientific unit consisted entirely of fools and mediocrities, with the sole exception of Lindbergh.