"Jess, your Rumble-Rumble Fruit (Goro Goro no Mi) is too flashy. Unless absolutely necessary, don't show off your powers. Of course, safety comes first! In this mission, you are to provide full support to Roger."
While Jess was incredibly powerful, he was essentially clueless in other matters. Roger, on the other hand, though not as strong, was well-versed in various fields and handled matters with a steady hand. Reyno felt more at ease leaving the logistics to him.
"Rest assured, Boss!" Roger and Jess nodded simultaneously.
They knew that any decision Reyno made was the result of deep deliberation. They wouldn't dream of questioning him.
"Next, you two!"
Sensing Reyno's gaze, Hajrudin and Rupert stepped forward, waiting for their orders.
"For the time being, your areas of operation will be limited to two places: the South Blue and Water 7."
Water 7?! Rupert thought. Does this have something to do with my master, Tom? The sharp-witted man already had an inkling of what was coming.
"The South Blue is known as the Sea of Artisans. It's teeming with craftsmen, including many master mechanics. I want you two to recruit these artisans and secretly build me a mechanical army—an army of machines controlled by men!"
Speaking of this, Reyno thought of the "General Franky" from the original series—the massive robot formed by the docking of Black Rhino FR-U Unit 4 and Brachio Tank Unit 5. It was equipped with shape-memory Wapolmetal and various advanced, destructive weapons, boasting incredible durability.
However, since he wanted a mass-produced army, Reyno's requirements weren't quite as high as the General Franky. Building a mechanical army had been a plan of his for a long time.
In the world of pirates, Haki, Devil Fruits, Swordsmanship, and Taijutsu were the four main pillars of combat. But technology was a powerful force that could not be ignored. Examples included the Raid Suits of Germa 66 and Franky's inventions. The only reason they remained niche was that they were difficult to mass-produce for various reasons.
But for the current Reyno, he had exactly what was needed to make it happen.
"Rupert, you are in charge of this. For the designs, you can seek Tom's help. I also have a few ideas we can discuss later."
Reyno suddenly remembered an anime from his previous life called Wu Zhan Dao (RoboWarriors). The three Great Beast Kings each had their own mechanical legions: Tiger's Black Lion-Tiger army, Gorilla's Black Armored Beast army, and Dragon's Ice Wolf army.
He decided to skip the Ice Wolves since they could fly. In the One Piece world, aside from naturally flying races or Devil Fruit users, the only thing that could make a person fly was the Germa 66 Raid Suits. Setting aside the fact that the tech hadn't been developed yet, there was a big difference between a human and a robot.
His idea was to use the "Black Armored Beasts" and "Black Lion-Tigers" as templates—machines with two transformation modes, capable of both offense and defense.
"Rupert, once the design phase is settled, start recruiting artisans in the South Blue and begin the trials. Everything must be refined to perfection. I want zero errors; stability is paramount. My only requirement is this: once these robots are deployed, their individual strength must at least match that of a Marine Captain!"
"A Marine Captain?!" Rupert's brow furrowed.
Proportionally speaking, a Marine Captain was considered a mid-level expert within the Navy. Out of the 100,000 soldiers at the Paramount War, there were only a few thousand officers at that rank or higher. Ninety percent were just rank-and-file soldiers.
"Boss, to reach that level, the materials required will be astronomically expensive. We need to ensure hardness while maintaining flexibility so they aren't too clunky. The cost..."
Rupert trailed off, looking worried. He knew Reyno was rich, but Reyno wanted an entire army—we're talking thousands, if not tens of thousands of units. Not to mention the R&D costs, which were the real money pits. There was no guarantee how much money or how many failed experiments it would take to succeed.
"Are you thick?" Reyno rolled his eyes at Rupert's concern. "Why do you think I'm sending Hajrudin with you? It's for his More-More Fruit!"
"You think his power only works on gold? It works on other things too. Once you buy the raw materials you need, just have Hajrudin 'touch' them. With the cost of a single unit's materials, we can produce a hundred finished products!"
Rupert stood frozen for a second before the realization hit him. His eyes suddenly blazed with excitement as he looked at Hajrudin. He slammed his right fist into his left palm and spoke with newfound confidence:
"If that's the case, then there's no problem at all!"
"As for the timeline..."
"Don't worry about that," Reyno waved him off. "Everyone's missions will run in parallel. I can give you a few decades if needed, but by the end of it, I want a mechanical army numbering in the tens of thousands!"
"Deal!" Rupert agreed on the spot.
In robotics, the most time-consuming part was the initial research and development—height, physique, structure, materials, power units, internal space, weaponry, and the simplicity of the control panel... once those were finalized and the tests passed, the rest was easy. You just set up an assembly line and get to work.
After receiving Rupert's guarantee, Reyno nodded and shifted his gaze.
"What are you looking at me for?!"
Sensing Reyno's stare, Shakuyaku (Hancock's predecessor/Stussy-like figure or the specific "Flame Flower" character) narrowed her eyes, her tone turning dangerous. "Reyno, don't tell me you want me to leave you and head to the Four Seas too?!"
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ONEPIECE My Crewmates Are All God-Tier! (152 Chapters, Ongoing)
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Despite the scorching sun, the others felt a sudden chill, as if a ghostly wind had just blown past.
"Ahem... this task can only be done by you." Reyno coughed awkwardly.
"I don't buy it. Fine, tell me, what do you want me to do?" she huffed, crossing her arms.
Returning to business, Reyno's tone became grave.
"I want you to build my intelligence organization—a massive information network that covers the Four Seas, the Grand Line, and the New World. I want to know every single move made on this ocean!"
"Furthermore, I want your people to infiltrate every single member nation of the World Government. I want to monitor their every move, and I want you to use your methods to influence and recruit them."
"In addition to that, powerful non-affiliated nations are also your targets. If they can be recruited, do it. If they want to stay neutral, leave them be. As for those who are die-hard loyalists to the World Government... I'll have Black Shadow's Assassin Guild deal with them when the time comes."
"And, just like the others, try not to expose your identity. Let your subordinates handle the legwork!"
The reason the World Government and the Marines could function—recruiting armies, building warships, and maintaining their vast operations—was largely due to the "Heavenly Tribute" paid by the member nations.
If Reyno wanted to take down the World Government, he had to start by cutting off their lifeblood.
"That is quite a monumental task, Reyno. You certainly think highly of me!!"
She glared at Reyno, her words dripping with icy sarcasm. Everyone else got to work in pairs or groups, but here she was, expected to run all over the world by herself. What kind of arrangement was that?
She is one of Reyno's women, after all!! Is this really the kind of treatment she gets?!
"And who else but you, the Queen of Souls??" Reyno scratched his head, feeling a bit guilty as he spoke softly. "How about I have Streusen accompany you?!"
Streusen immediately stepped forward, ladle in his left hand and spatula in his right.
"Never mind." Flame Flower pressed a hand to her forehead, unable to even look. How did her life become so bitter?!
"Tell you what—Kaido, from now on, you stay with Flame Flower and assist her with her mission. If anyone dares to bully her, use that mace of yours and give them a hell of a beating!!"
Originally, Reyno had intended to keep Kaido by his side, but he suddenly felt it wasn't right to leave Flame Flower to handle such a massive task alone. If anything unexpected happened, having Kaido there would at least provide some security. As for the Fish-Fish Fruit, he would recall Kaido before the God Valley Incident took place.
"Don't worry, Boss! If anyone dares to get near Sis, I'll hammer them to death!!" Kaido immediately hoisted his Hassaikai onto his shoulder and thumped his chest in guarantee.
"At least you have some conscience," Flame Flower rolled her eyes at Reyno, though her beautiful eyes flickered with a hidden warmth.
"Then it's settled. Black Shadow, Redfield, Brook—you three will establish the Assassin's Guild! Roger, Jess—you two will set up the Merchant Guild to collect gold and diamonds! Hajrudin, Rupert—you'll build the mechanical army in the South Blue! Flame Flower, Kaido—you'll establish the intelligence network! Starting tomorrow, we discuss the details. In one month, we split up and begin our operations!"
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
The crescent-shaped bay was a natural fortress, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Dozens of Marine warships were lined up on both sides of the bay, a magnificent and imposing sight. On the training grounds, the shouts of Marine soldiers rang through the headquarters as they poured their sweat into their drills.
Ever since the battle against Reyno at Kaster, the Navy had suffered heavy losses. Their mid-to-high-level combat power had been decimated—many dead, many wounded. Garp had spent days in emergency care just to save his life. Following that incident, the Marines had followed the orders of the Five Elders to recruit new blood and focus on recovery.
To their relief, Rocks had spent the last few years obsessively hunting down the Golden Lion, meaning he hadn't caused them too much trouble recently. The Roger Pirates were following their usual routine. The Reyno Pirates had vanished without a trace; some reports placed them in the East Blue, others claimed they were in the South Blue, and some even swore they had seen them in the Grand Line.
In general, the sea had been relatively calm for the past five years. After this period of dormancy and rigorous training, the overall quality of the soldiers far exceeded what it had been before, and a greater number of warships had been built. The number of Vice Admirals had increased by double digits compared to five years ago. The only irreparable loss was Vice Admiral Zephyr—after all, a candidate for Admiral isn't someone who appears every day.
Admiral's Office.
The high-ranking Marine officers were gathered, the room buzzing with discussion.
"Alright, quiet down."
At the front, "Steel Bone" Kong spoke up. The generals immediately fell silent, sitting upright and attentive. Kong scanned the room and said in a heavy voice:
"We just received word. Three days ago, Reyno led his men to Rocks' stronghold, Hachinosu. A massive battle broke out between the two, and in the end... Rocks was defeated!"
"What?!" "That... how is that possible?!" "Rocks lost to Reyno?!"
A hawk-faction Vice Admiral who had dealt with Rocks before immediately voiced his doubt.
"Exactly. We all know Rocks' strength. In a one-on-one fight, I'm afraid no one—" A moderate Vice Admiral started to say, but he didn't need to finish; his point was clear. It was a bitter truth, but a truth nonetheless.
"Enough. There's no need to dwell on it; it is a fact," Kong stated. "Reyno is even more terrifying now than he was five years ago, and he poses a greater threat to us! Wait... where is Garp??"
Sengoku looked around. He hadn't noticed Garp's absence in such an important meeting until now.
"Admiral Kong... Garp is... he should be at the training grounds."
Kong let out a helpless sigh and said no more. The crushing defeat five years ago had stripped Garp of all his pride. Furthermore, Zephyr's death to cover their retreat had driven a stake through Garp's heart that he couldn't pull out. Since his recovery, his life consisted of nothing but training. Day after day, night after night. When he wasn't training, he was out hunting pirates. He repeated this cycle daily, all for the sake of one day defeating Reyno and avenging his shame!
"Fine, we'll deal with that later. While Reyno is dangerous, he hasn't shown any ambition to conquer the world so far. For now, we must focus the majority of our attention on Rocks. With the Golden Lion joining him, the Rocks Pirates' strength has skyrocketed. We don't know what Rocks' next move will be, so we must remain at 100% alertness. As for Reyno and Roger, just have people keep an eye on them. Our priority is Rocks! If that man makes any move that threatens the Navy or the World Government, we must strike first. Is that understood?!"
"Yes, Admiral Kong!!" The high-ranking officers stood in unison, their voices thundering through the room.
The New World, an unnamed deserted island.
"Hahahaha! What a capable guy!!" Roger burst out laughing as he read the latest news in the paper. "He actually defeated Rocks? Now that's interesting!!"
Not far away, Rayleigh was turning a barbecue rack without looking back. "Captain, don't you feel any sense of crisis? I heard that besides Reyno himself, there are several monsters in his crew. He even recruited Redfield. That guy might not be the most famous, but his strength is nothing to scoff at."
A trace of wariness flickered in Rayleigh's eyes at the mention of Redfield.
"Redfield, huh? Yeah, he's a handful. But I heard he was a lone wolf. How did he end up joining Reyno's crew?" Gaban asked, looking up from sharpening his axe.
"Hahahaha! Who cares? Why should I feel a crisis??" An uninterested Roger tossed the newspaper aside and took a deep swig of rum. "We mind our business, and he minds his. We won't clash. Rocks, on the other hand..."
Roger's brow suddenly furrowed as a thought occurred to him.
"Boss, he's recruited Shiki and Whitebeard, plus so many other powerful pirates. In a few years, Rocks might actually make a move against the World Government," Gaban speculated.
"Replace the World Government and become the overlord of the sea?" Roger murmured, looking somewhat lost in thought. "While the World Government isn't exactly 'good'—they're a bunch of trash, really—if a madman like Rocks rules the ocean, the world will truly fall into chaos."
"Captain, what do you mean??" Rayleigh stopped what he was doing and turned to Roger. Gaban looked over as well.
"Gaban, starting now, have people watch Rocks. No matter what he does, tell me immediately. Anyone can sit in that seat, but not Rocks! If there's an opportunity, we must take that man down!!"
As he spoke, a cold, sharp glint flashed in Roger's eyes. A powerful burst of Conqueror's Haki instantly swept across the entire island. Roger was angry!
"Understood, Captain. I'll arrange it right away!" Gaban stood up to handle the matter.