After entering Pangaea Castle, one could see a large number of guards stationed everywhere, with a post every few steps and a sentry at every corner.
At this time, a large number of royal family members were gathered in Pangaea Castle, so security was naturally the top priority.
It was no exaggeration to say that if a problem arose here, it would completely rewrite the situation in the entire world.
But it was also obvious that there would almost certainly be no problems here.
The meeting would be held today, and Finn and Admiral Sengoku were walking toward the conference room.
It was estimated that many royals had already arrived, and some, like Finn and the others, were still on their way.
If they met others on the road, they'd exchange greetings.
Of course, the main purpose was to greet the veteran Admiral Sengoku. Many people didn't know Finn yet, and that was a matter of seniority. There wasn't much to say about it.
Work as an Admiral for a few more years, participate in more meetings like this, and he'd naturally get to know everyone.
"Speaking of Devil Fruits, the Science Unit has made some new achievements recently. Dr. Vegapunk's Lineage Factor theory has developed Devil Fruit materialization and conduction technology," Admiral Sengoku said as they walked, making casual conversation.
"Devil Fruit materialization and conduction technology? What does that mean?" Finn asked curiously.
"To put it simply, it allows objects to consume Devil Fruits. Things like swords and guns can gain special abilities," Admiral Sengoku said with a smile.
Finn didn't react much, but Hina beside him looked very surprised.
This was the benefit of being an errand runner for a high-ranking officer. Even though Hina was only a Lieutenant Commander now, because of Finn, she could interact with many real powerhouses in the Marines and learn things from their conversations that she had no right to know otherwise.
Of course, if there was something particularly classified, Hina would naturally be kept in the dark.
"You're not surprised at all?" Admiral Sengoku looked at Finn and asked curiously.
"What's so surprising about it?" Finn said dismissively.
But after a pause, he still asked, "Is this technology of much help to us?"
Admiral Sengoku thought for a moment, then said with a hint of helplessness, "I can only say that it helps us recycle waste."
Finn thought about it first, then nodded. "That's true."
Obviously, this technology was something only the wealthy could afford.
Generally speaking, if someone had a Devil Fruit, wouldn't they sell it for money, eat it themselves, or use it to train subordinates?
Only major forces, such as the Marines, which had excess reserves of Devil Fruits, could consider using this technology.
But unfortunately, this technology seemed a bit useless.
This was what Admiral Sengoku meant by "waste utilization."
Of course, a powerful Devil Fruit couldn't be wasted on any object. For example, if Gion ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, she'd at least have Admiral-level combat power in the future. But if it was eaten by a sword or a gun, the most it could do would be discharge electricity.
Need he say more about which was more valuable?
Therefore, some unused Devil Fruits, which were disliked by everyone, might be recycled to enhance the power of weapons or something similar.
So in general, this technology sounded impressive, but in reality, it didn't have much practical effect.
After a quick chuckle, Finn asked, "So the Science Unit spends so much of its annual budget researching such seemingly useless technology? That's a huge loss, isn't it?"
Admiral Sengoku also laughed and waved his hand. "That's not the case. This can only be said to be an unexpected gain. It's a derivative technology of the Lineage Factor theory. In fact…"
Having said that, Admiral Sengoku glanced at Hina, but soon he didn't seem to care too much and said softly, "Actually, the Science Unit is researching artificial Devil Fruits, and this was discovered by chance during that research."
There was a flash of shock in Hina's eyes. What?!
Artificial Devil Fruits?!
There was also a flash of surprise in Finn's eyes. He really hadn't expected the artificial Devil Fruit project to be launched so early.
But when he thought about it, it made sense. Scientific research didn't produce results easily. It could very likely take ten or even twenty years to get any meaningful results. He didn't know when the artificial Devil Fruit project that had been launched now would actually bear fruit.
"If this research produces results, once we're able to create artificial Devil Fruits, the strength of the Marines will increase rapidly. At that point, we could form a legion of Devil Fruit users!" Admiral Sengoku said with some anticipation.
Then he glanced at Finn. "Do you still think the funding for the Science Unit is a loss?"
"Hahahaha, not at all!" Finn laughed.
However, as far as he could remember, the Marines never actually formed any Devil Fruit user corps in the end.
On the contrary, Kaido had plagiarized the achievements and creativity of the Marines, colluded with Doflamingo, and forcibly created a corps of Zoan-type Devil Fruit users in Wano Country.
However, there was no need to communicate these things with Admiral Sengoku, and it was impossible to do so anyway. Let him dream for now.
What's more, the situation in the world had changed dramatically.
Moria had joined the Revolutionary Army, and Smoker was about to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
It wasn't impossible that the Marines might actually create a Devil Fruit user corps after all.
"By the way, I heard that Smoker kidnapped the king of Maugorila?" Admiral Sengoku suddenly asked.
"Well, does it have any impact?" Finn raised his eyebrows.
"No, but this was arranged by you, right?" Admiral Sengoku asked again.
"That's right. According to intelligence, that guy wanted to cause trouble for us at the World Conference, so I arranged for him to leave early," Finn said with a smile.
"The method is too radical," Admiral Sengoku murmured, but he shook his head. "But Smoker's existence is precisely to do these things that are inconvenient for us to handle directly. Just make sure you maintain the right balance."
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Finn nodded.
Hina, standing nearby, was completely dumbfounded. Although she'd suspected it before, she could now completely infer the truth from the conversation between Admiral Sengoku and Admiral Finn.
Smoker hadn't actually become a pirate. He'd been sent on some kind of secret mission?!
Finn hadn't expected Admiral Sengoku to speak so directly, but he wasn't particularly wary of Hina. He still trusted her, and the reason he hadn't told her the truth earlier was partly to tease her. Now that Admiral Sengoku had spoken openly, he stopped hiding it. "We can't delay Smoker's situation for too long. After the World Conference, we should try to make him one of the Seven Warlords."
"I think so too, but we can't push it from the Marine side. Otherwise it'll be too obvious. Do you have any other ideas?" Admiral Sengoku asked softly.
At that moment, Finn paused and looked toward the end of the corridor. At the door of the conference room, there was a beautiful woman with a charming and seductive aura, standing there and looking in their direction with a smile.
Queen of Pleasure District, Stussy.
Finn hadn't seen her in a long time. He'd said before that he'd go to the New World to have a "heart-to-heart talk" with her and engage in some in-depth communication, but in the end he'd never gone and had stood Stussy up.
Had they ended up meeting here today?
Finn was only momentarily distracted. The moment he saw Stussy, something clicked in his mind. He nodded. "Yes, I have a good friend. She's carried a gun for me, and I've fired a cannon for her. We've got a close relationship. She's doing well in the New World now. I could ask her to help push for Smoker. It should be no problem."
"Really?" Admiral Sengoku nodded in agreement. "That does sound like a good relationship."
Finn said seriously, "Of course. We're truly good comrades!"
Just like that, Finn and Admiral Sengoku also walked to the door of the conference room. Stussy greeted them with a charming smile. "Admiral Sengoku, Admiral Finn, it's been a long time. How wonderful to see you both again."
As she spoke, she extended her hand.
Admiral Sengoku shook Stussy's hand naturally, nodded, and said, "It has been a long time, Ms. Stussy."
Admiral Sengoku had a pretty good impression of Stussy. After all, she'd come from CP-9, and CP-9 was a rare CP agency that had a relatively good and harmonious relationship with the Marines.
Stussy had maintained some relatively friendly relations with the Marines since then.
Therefore, in Admiral Sengoku's eyes, Stussy was a rare pro-Marine member within the CP organization.
However, that was all. She still wasn't trustworthy.
It was enough if they could just maintain superficial cordiality.
So after shaking hands, he withdrew his hand.
Finn then naturally shook Stussy's hand and said with a smile, "Ms. Stussy, you've been busy lately. It's been a while since I last saw you."
Stussy had a charming smile on her face and said meaningfully, "Well, I haven't been busy at all. It's just that certain people always stand me up. I've been waiting for a long time in the New World, but I haven't seen the person I wanted to see."
While saying this, she gently hooked her fingers in Finn's palm in a very seductive manner.
Finn looked uncomfortable but nodded. "I'll definitely make time to see you."
After saying that, he withdrew his hand.
There wasn't much for the two Admirals to say to Stussy in such a public place. After a slight nod, Finn and Admiral Sengoku walked into the venue.
Stussy glanced at Finn's retreating back, a smile playing on her face. Without lingering any longer, she turned and left.
As a member of CP-0, it was normal for her to be here, but she wasn't qualified to participate in the World Conference itself.
Speaking of which, she'd heard that Finn, the new Marine Admiral, would be coming today, so she'd been waiting here specifically.
After meeting Finn, she was satisfied and prepared to leave.
After waiting in the conference room for more than half an hour, Finn saw Instructor Zephyr and Fleet Admiral Kong also arrive to participate in the meeting. The four of them sat together. Little by little, royal families from various countries also arrived.
It wasn't until this moment that the Five Elders finally arrived and officially entered the venue.
This was also the first time Finn had seen the true appearance of the Five Elders.
He had to admit that at this time, these five old men weren't as aged as they would be in the future. They were full of vigor and had tremendous presence.
As soon as they entered, no one spoke and the entire conference room fell silent. Then the five of them walked to the head seats at the conference table and sat down.
The Five Elders first glanced at everyone in the room. Finn didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt that they stared at him a few extra seconds.
"Welcome, everyone, to Mary Geoise to participate in the World Conference held every four years by the member nations of the World Government," Saint Jaygarcia Saturn said softly, his expression serious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing takes time, coffee, and a lot of love.If you'd like to support my work, join me at [email protected]/GoldenGaruda
You'll get early access to over 50 chapters, selection on new series, and the satisfaction of knowing your support directly fuels more stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~