One Piece: Marine to Warlord to Conqueror-Chapter 163

After a solid night of rest, Dante felt fully rejuvenated and strode into his office in high spirits.

As usual, Robin and Viola were already there. The two were seated at the casual round table by the window, quietly discussing something.

Dante paid them no mind. If it was important, he trusted they would organize the information and bring it to him. If not... why bother inserting himself into his secretaries’ conversation? He walked straight to his desk, sat down, and began reviewing the stacked documents.

This trip hadn’t been as financially lucrative as the previous two, but bringing back Marine HQ’s Chief Instructor was a tremendous gain. And it wasn’t just Zephyr, he had packed up the entire Neo Marines and brought them along too. So while there were no Berries to show for it, the results were excellent in their own right.

He didn’t need to worry about the Neo Marines loyalty, either. After all, those who had defied the World Government and Marine orders to follow Zephyr were fiercely devoted to him.

The only disappointment was that aside from Ain, Binz, and Shuzo, the rest were just ordinary Marines from HQ. Their overall quality might surpass the Marines from the branches in the four Blues, but they were still regular soldiers. In fact, they might not even match the current strength of the 16th Branch Marines. Thanks to the small blue bottles containing Aqua Ursa and recent training, the 16th Branch’s collective strength had already exceeded other local bases.

Still, having Ain, Binz, and Shuzo was excellent. Those who could reach the rank of Captain at HQ were already considered highly talented, and Shuzo was a Rear Admiral. These three had tremendous potential. With them joining, the Marine Academy wouldn’t lack instructors for the time being, it could even expand its enrollment.

Come to think of it, he wondered what Zephyr had thought upon seeing the Academy yesterday.

Dante mulled over the arrangements for the Neo Marines while clearing the backlog from his time away. With Robin managing things, nothing major had come up. Everything was running smoothly. Since the Operation to Restore East Blue Pirates Glory had concluded, the 16th Branch had stopped expanding its territory and focused entirely on consolidating gains, recruiting Marines, developing the economy, and building up the islands. Everything was progressing quietly.

A few days ago, however, after the East Blue Overlord left the sea to conquer the Grand Line, the local pirate scene had stirred up some commotion.

Dante read the file in silence. The gist was that with Mock gone, the pirates were already eyeing his empty throne. They had launched a "New East Blue Overlord Tournament" to elect the next leader. These pirates really knew how to make trouble.

Mock had barely left before they started campaigning. But upon seeing the paltry prize of just 300 million Berries for the winner, Dante felt disheartened and tossed the file aside.

The Operation to Restore East Blue Pirates Glory was a long and arduous road. For now, the newly elected overlord had already been captured by the 16th Branch and was locked up in the base prison.

After finishing the documents, Dante turned to Robin, who was reading a book, and asked, "How is construction progressing on the islands?"

"The base stations are being laid out. I believe it won’t be long before our islands are connected." Robin closed her book, looked at him, and added softly, "Additionally, the secret weapon is being deployed. As you requested, the plan remains entirely hidden, not even the overseer in charge of the construction knows."

"Thanks for handling that."

Robin hadn’t spelled it out, but Dante understood perfectly. Everything was in order. Aside from their small inner circle, no one else knew about this project. That terrifying weapon had already been manufactured. While its power wasn’t quite as devastating as the weapon that would eventually destroy the Lulusia Kingdom, it still met his basic requirements.

During testing on an uninhabited island, a single shot had completely plowed over the island’s surface.

Currently, ten rounds had been produced. Under the guise of building base stations, they were deployed across ten islands, all aimed directly at Mary Geoise.

And this wasn’t the end of it. Vegapunk was still manufacturing more. The plan was to produce ten thousand to see if they could encircle the entire East Blue. If that wasn’t enough, they’d make more, if it was, they’d still make more and deploy them to other seas.

Of course, they might not even work when the time came, or they might never be used at all.

You could tell from the World Government’s attitude toward the Four Emperors, as long as you had strength and didn’t cross their bottom line, the Government wouldn’t make a major move against you.

Only Marine HQ would take action. But even if they went unused, the weapons had to exist. Better safe than sorry. At worst, it was just a waste of money.

"Oh right, while you were out, the Tontattas kept asking when you’d be back!" Robin flipped through her notebook with a smile. "I suspect your planting project has yielded some results."

"The Tontattas?" Dante nodded. "I’ll go check on them later."

Ever since bringing the Tontattas over, he had found them an uninhabited island near Vegapunk’s lab, handed them some seeds, and left them alone.

A harvest already in such a short time? It seemed he’d have to visit Vegapunk and the Tontattas today.

Lost in thought, Dante suddenly sensed something. He looked up and saw Viola beside him, her eyes sparkling as she stared at him intently. Understanding her silent plea, he nodded in resignation. "Come along and check it out later."

Viola brightened immediately. Giving him a coquettish wink, she cheered, "Thanks, Boss! You’re the best!"

Dante was used to her behavior by now and didn’t comment, just stretching comfortably in his chair.

Having handled the paperwork, it was time to deal with the Neo Marines. Then he remembered something and looked at her again. "Oh right, what about Smoker?"

"Let me check." Viola opened her eyes wide and scanned the surroundings. "He’s gone to see Zephyr-sensei. There’s no one around, it seems very secretive. Do you want to see what they’re discussing?" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"No need." Dante shook his head.

He hadn’t expected Smoker to hold out this long. He’d assumed Smoker would have gone to ask last night. It seemed that even though Smoker hadn’t uncovered the truth about God Valley, he had more or less guessed how dangerous the matter was. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have waited to quietly corner Zephyr alone.

Thinking this, Dante yawned. "It seems we’ll have to wait a bit longer."

--**--**

Meanwhile, Zephyr wore a bitter smile. After a resigned shake of his head, he muttered under his breath, "Dante sure knows how to make trouble for an old man like me."

Sitting across from him, Smoker tapped the ash from his cigar and deadpanned, "He’s definitely a bastard. So now... can you tell me, Zephyr-sensei?"

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