Chapter 98: Revolutionary Army · Scapegoat
Max walked to a large tree in the distance, dialed the Den Den Mushi, contacted the leader who was overseeing a major plan in North Blue, and reported the situation he encountered in Eckmond Kingdom in concise and clear language.
Unexpected events are normal.
There is nothing in this world that can go smoothly without a hitch. When the higher-ups of the Revolutionary Army decided to contact Eckmond Kingdom for business, they had already prepared to deal with setbacks. Honestly, if the leader hadn’t insisted that Eckmond Kingdom wouldn’t sell Revolutionary Army intelligence to the World Government and Navy, about half of the higher-ups actually didn’t want too deep involvement with a World Government member nation.
The Revolutionary Army organization hasn’t been around long, less than twenty years so far. Monkey D. Dragon is the founder of the Revolutionary Army, the first supreme leader, and the only leader to date. His personal prestige within the Revolutionary Army is absolute.
However, Dragon doesn’t like being a dictator and is willing to share his power with his partners and subordinates. For major events, everyone discusses them together. Only when there are irreconcilable major differences does he use his prestige to directly eliminate the disagreement.
The results afterward have repeatedly confirmed how prescient Dragon is, further enhancing his prestige and forming a virtuous cycle.
This time, half of the higher-ups were skeptical about the proposal to contact Eckmond Kingdom, but fortunately Dragon persisted in pushing forward the proposal he personally put forth. Now, with the maritime transport network centered on Eckmond Kingdom gradually returning to normal and demonstrating its enormous capabilities, the opponents have completely fallen silent and are actively cooperating to promote business cooperation with Eckmond Kingdom.
“Giant Dragon? Such a thing actually exists······ What a headache!”
On a remote and desolate small island in North Blue, this unassuming island is the main base of the Revolutionary Army’s North Blue branch. On the seaside beach, Dragon, who had just stepped off the ship, was walking and talking with Max on the phone. Even though he hadn’t rested for three days and three nights, upon hearing the news reported by Max, he immediately perked up.
According to Max’s report, if this artificial dragon is used well, it can indeed greatly enhance the Revolutionary Army’s strength.
The Revolutionary Army is a behemoth in many people’s eyes; even the Four Emperors usually don’t bother provoking this troublesome bunch. But compared to the World Government with its eight-hundred-year history, the Revolutionary Army, which has less than twenty years even if you count it all up, really isn’t much in front of the World Government.
Whether top experts or overall strength, they are still far behind.
Dragon has spent these years putting much thought into strengthening the Revolutionary Army. He has diligently trained usable talents, with Sabo and Koala being outstanding among them, while constantly seeking like-minded partners, such as the queen of Kamabakka Kingdom who was imprisoned, the king of Solbe Kingdom······ all were moved by his ambitions and ideals to join.
But this is not enough.
For this, he didn’t hesitate to turn his gaze toward pirates.
Now,
He has seen a choice that can tangibly strengthen the Revolutionary Army’s power, and Dragon would be lying if he said he wasn’t tempted, but······ a product with no track record at all is somewhat dubious. He doesn’t doubt Prince Elus’s formidable martial power, but scientific research isn’t determined by who has the biggest fist.
Eckmond Kingdom has always been just an agricultural great power, making wealth by selling coffee beans. It’s never been heard that this country excels in scientific research, especially with the high price quoted for this artificial dragon, which also made him feel clear pressure.
“Max, what are your thoughts?”
After thinking it over, Dragon didn’t make an immediate decision but asked for the opinion of Max, his comrade on the front lines. Although a gambler, Rez Max is not one of those shortsighted types who only see short-term gains. Max’s opinion is worth his careful consideration.
Clearly, Max had anticipated this question.
Without keeping Dragon waiting too long, Max conveyed his opinion, saying it was worth risking a try. “······We can first procure a few and send them to the Four Seas branches to test the actual effects. If the effects are good, we can proceed with long-term trade. Even if the test results aren’t ideal, it can be seen as giving Prince Elus face.”
Calculated this way, if it means giving Elus face, it’s worth spending a bit more money.
“That does sound good······”
Dragon was still pondering.
Max was somewhat curious about the leader’s hesitation. Calming down to carefully consider, he felt that as long as Elus wasn’t deceiving them, the artificial dragon trade was completely feasible. Overall, aside from the price being painfully high, there were no issues.
He was already planning, after leaving Eckmond Kingdom, to head to that so-called “world’s largest entertainment city” that popped up last year—Gran Tesoro—to that 10,000-meter-long (10 km) giant ship rumored to be entirely made of gold, to have a good haul and help the Revolutionary Army, which was bound to bleed money, recover some vitality.
It must be mentioned here that Rez Max, as a super-famous gambler in the New World, has had much gossip news published about him in the newspaper, saying how he indulges in wine and women, lives a life of debauchery, with the astronomical sums of money won from gambling all squandered in a single night, leaving his wallet so empty it could starve a rat.
However, in fact,
All the money he wins from gambling supports the Revolutionary Army’s cause. The Revolutionary Army, being such a large organization, naturally controls many money-making ventures, but the funds Rez Max has provided gratis over these years account for nearly thirty percent of the Revolutionary Army’s annual expenditures.
“Sir, is there any problem with this?” Out of habit, Max didn’t use a name, just the generic title “sir.”
“Max, you······ you, no, has the Black Prince explained the origin of this biological weapon?”
“Eh? Prince Elus said these artificial dragons are the result of research by scientists in Eckmond Kingdom! Could it be······ something’s off?” A huge doubt arose in Max’s mind, but his weathered face showed no change.
“Do you remember that incident on Punk Hazard at the end of last year?”
Dragon asked in return.
The Revolutionary Army has spies planted in both the World Government and the Navy; the Punk Hazard incident couldn’t escape their eyes. Back then, upon receiving the intelligence, they regretted not rushing to Punk Hazard in time to pick off some World Government advantages.
Later, when Caesar was wanted by the World Government, the Revolutionary Army also eagerly searched for this guy for a while, but with no leads at all, they gave up the action.
“Poison gas leak······ Eh? Poison gas······” Max isn’t stupid. To dominate the gambling scene, making gamblers kneel in defeat and even forcing casinos to close, his mind is sharp. He just hadn’t thought of it before, blinded by the fame of the New World’s fifth overlord.
Now, with Dragon’s reminder, he immediately got it.
That’s right!
An artificial giant dragon is clearly extremely advanced technology, not something that can be casually produced. Plus, on the list Elus gave him, besides this Dragon Series biological weapon, there was also H2S poison gas.
“Sir, do you mean······ that wanted mad scientist has fallen into Eckmond Kingdom’s hands?”
“Very possible.”
Dragon had also thought of this.
“Then, Prince Elus selling artificial dragons and H2S poison gas······ is he trying to make us the scapegoat for Eckmond Kingdom?” With suspicion in mind, more guesses quickly followed. Max’s favorable impression of Elus immediately plummeted off a cliff, nearly turning negative.
However,
Personal likes and dislikes didn’t affect Max’s thinking ability.
“This matter······ sir, I feel it might not be a bad thing!” He weighed his words and said slowly.
“I was worried you’d hate him now and not want to see the Black Prince again!”
“I have no good feelings toward that prince now.” Max kept his voice as low as possible while speaking, and as he did, he crushed a dry branch under the tree with his foot, making creaking noises.
“But that’s not enough to make me lose my judgment.”
Max continued, “No matter what Eckmond Kingdom’s intentions are, this artificial dragon and H2S poison gas do have sufficient utilization value. And if the guess is true, we won’t be scapegoats for long. Eckmond Kingdom······ no, it should be said that this Black Prince’s ambition is probably huge, so huge that he knows he’ll inevitably oppose the World Government.”
Stealing the World Government’s science and technology and harboring a mad scientist wanted by the World Government—such actions are clearly defying the World Government, not petty edge-playing, but a major event that would shake the world if discovered.
The more Max thought, the more certain he became.
As long as the premise has no flaws, the subsequent deductions are nine times out of ten correct.
Moreover, from the current situation, their guessed premise is likely true.
“Ambition?”
Dragon recalled his brief meeting with Elus on Fish-Man Island. “You’re right, that kid’s ambition is indeed huge! I invited him to join the Revolutionary Army back then, but he refused, looking down on our little tricks!”
He chuckled softly.
Standing on the golden beach, basking in the brilliant sunlight from the sky.
Not far away,
Sabo and Koala exchanged glances, not knowing what good news had made the leader laugh, but his smile eased their tension. Work in North Blue lately had been grueling; physically they could endure, but the mental exhaustion was deeply felt.
The Revolutionary Army was helping the rebel army of a stronghold in North Blue, ruled by a tyrant, resist the king army’s offensive. Normally, even if Dragon’s status made it inconvenient for him to act, with Sabo, who now mastered dual-color Haki, stepping in, the war could end easily.
However,
Dragon wouldn’t allow Sabo and others to act; he was seeking more universal means to resist tyrannical rule.
After all, not every people under tyrannical rule can get help from a strong person like Sabo with overwhelming power, even if such actions greatly prolong the war between the king army and rebel army, causing more deaths.
The work thus became much harder, and Sabo and Koala were exhausted these past few days.
“······Max, do as you say. This is our first transaction with Eckmond Kingdom; we need to leave a good impression on our business partner. Procure a small batch each of the artificial dragons and that······H2S poison gas······” Dragon granted Max greater trading authority, fully entrusting him to deal with Elus.
In the end, he smiled and said, “Let’s temporarily be the scapegoat for a while!”
······
The green dragon obediently lay on the ground, with Elus sitting on its head, patiently waiting for Max’s response.
Just as Dragon and Max guessed,
Elus was prepared to let the Revolutionary Army be the scapegoat.
This was unavoidable; whether artificial dragons or H2S poison gas, Eckmond Kingdom could produce them but couldn’t openly use them, or even dare sell them on the black market. Who knows how many eyes CP0 has planted in the Dark World besides the Queen of the Red Light District.
But the items couldn’t just sit in stock forever; producing dragons and poison gas required massive raw materials. Even though Eckmond Kingdom had money, it couldn’t withstand the unimaginably exorbitant recent domestic expenditures.
The experiments with artificial Devil Fruits were truly burning money; the daily materials consumed were astronomical figures. Eckmond Kingdom could hold out short-term, but over time, even with maritime transport network revenue, the experiments might not continue.
Additionally, there was the sea train construction, with costs that could make the finance minister jump and curse in his office.
And besides the Revolutionary Army,
The Four Emperors weren’t suitable scapegoats. The aged Whitebeard no longer had greater ambitions, Red-Haired was similarly unambitious, while Beasts and BIG·MOM were ambitious, but those two were flip-floppers who could spread news worldwide if Elus showed any slip.
So,
If the Revolutionary Army hadn’t come knocking, Elus was already planning how to encroach on the remaining magnates’ businesses in the Dark World to open new revenue streams.
Fortunately, just before he stirred up a new wave of evil, the ideal scapegoat, the Revolutionary Army, came knocking.
