Chapter 111: Germa That’s Eaten Up
Just as Sabo was contacting Dragon,
Reiju and Ichiji, who had arrived at the guest room and temporarily settled down, used technology equipment to thoroughly check the room, then also took out a Den Den Mushi and contacted their father, the king of Jermma Kingdom, Judge.
Reiju was in charge of the report.
The eloquent Princess quickly explained the situation in a very short time.
Hearing that the technology to create giant dragons was not in the hands of the Revolutionary Army, Judge’s eyes lit up immediately. He had originally thought this technology belonged to the Revolutionary Army, and unwilling to give it up just like that, he had tried to contact the Revolutionary Army in an attempt to trade for this technology.
Unexpectedly, this technology did not belong to the Revolutionary Army.
Good news!
This also explained why traces of Vegapunk’s craftsmanship were detected on the scales shed from the giant dragon’s body. The Revolutionary Army did not possess this technology for creating giant dragons related to Vegapunk; they were merely connected to some organization that controlled this technology.
This gave him a brighter ray of hope. As long as it wasn’t a colossal entity like the Revolutionary Army, the chances of obtaining this technology were much greater.
“Very good, very good, Reiju, you’ve done very well.”
Judge did not stint on words of praise.
His excited mood made him stand up from the chair, pacing back and forth excitedly in the room, circling several times, then simply walking to the window side, casting his gaze outside the window, looking at the mobile kingdom below formed by dozens of warships pieced together, thinking of the glorious ideal of reviving Jermma Kingdom resting on his shoulders. The heavy burden quickly restored his calm.
“Next… continue contacting the Revolutionary Army. No matter what, find out exactly which organization controls the technology to create giant dragons. Once you figure out who it is… heh heh.” A cruel smile appeared on Judge’s face.
There was no second Revolutionary Army in this world. As long as it wasn’t a behemoth like the Revolutionary Army, he was confident he had enough means to obtain this technology for creating giant dragons.
Jermma Kingdom might no longer have the majestic prestige of ruling the entire North Blue in the past, but under his painstaking operations over these years, today’s Jermma 66 had not lost its terrifying reputation that could stop children from crying at night. Except for overlords like the Revolutionary Army, Jermma Kingdom was confident in competing with any opponent.
Judge warned Reiju and Ichiji again not to have any violent conflicts with the Revolutionary Army. As long as they made contact or found out the organization controlling the technology to create giant dragons, that would be enough. Conflicting with the Revolutionary Army would bring no benefit to Jermma Kingdom; it would be a lose-lose situation.
Reiju and Ichiji stayed at the Revolutionary Army’s base.
Over the next three days, they haggled with Sabo, and the final result was that Sabo gained the upper hand. This was only natural; the strength gap between the Revolutionary Army and Jermma Kingdom was evident. If the Revolutionary Army hadn’t wanted to act against Jermma Kingdom, they would have destroyed this notoriously evil kingdom long ago when Jermma was probing the Revolutionary Army’s whereabouts everywhere.
Even though Reiju was extremely eloquent and quick-thinking, she had been repeatedly instructed by Judge not to conflict with the Revolutionary Army, so she lacked confidence in the negotiations. Ichiji, this emotionless machine, was of no use in this situation either, and in the end, they could only agree to many of the Revolutionary Army’s demands.
For example, Jermma Kingdom would never attack the Revolutionary Army in the North Blue. As long as the Revolutionary Army sent word, they would not interfere in certain countries’ wars, and they would provide some minor help without being discovered by the World Government and Navy. They agreed to a bunch of such conditions.
However, this concession was not entirely meaningless.
The Revolutionary Army had already contacted the force that controlled the technology to create giant dragons and was waiting for a reply.
This kept Reiju and Ichiji from feeling too depressed. Although his sister called him an emotionless machine, Ichiji actually only lacked emotions like sympathy, goodness, and fear; he could still feel changes in pleasant and unpleasant moods.
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New World, Bikahi Island.
After receiving the Revolutionary Army’s call, Prince Elus listened to the explanation, stunned for a moment before reacting, his mood a bit strange. He hadn’t anticipated this situation. Since starting the trade of artificial giant dragons and H2S poison gas with the Revolutionary Army, his attention had been focused on the World Government, waiting for their reaction.
In the end, the World Government had no particular reaction, merely urging the Navy to intensify strikes against the Revolutionary Army. Such a response was almost nonexistent, as the Navy had never relaxed its strikes against the Revolutionary Army.
Unexpectedly, it hooked in Jermma Kingdom, this fish from faraway North Blue.
“This should be an unexpected delight, right?”
Prince Elus smiled.
Jermma Kingdom—he had once coveted this country’s science and technology as well, but the distance between North Blue and the New World was simply too far. Without Navy warships equipped with Seastone that could cross the Calm Belt, communication between the Grand Line and the Four Seas was actually very difficult.
Or rather, up to now, aside from the World Government and Navy, exchanges between countries on the Grand Line and the Four Seas remained the same, with no improvement. The World Government had firmly sealed off the technology to cross the Calm Belt using Seastone; even World Government member nations were not allowed to touch it.
Inconvenient transportation was just one issue. Before having sufficient strength, even reaching North Blue would make it hard to subdue a powerful force like Jermma Kingdom.
By the time Prince Elus had finally established his authority in the New World, he was busy with the maritime transport network, then went to Paradise to obtain the title of Seven Warlords, acquired the Pluton Blueprint, and built relations with Fish-Man Island… he had never had a moment of leisure.
So,
His thoughts about Jermma Kingdom had always remained in his mind, never put into action.
And now, Jermma Kingdom had jumped right in front of Prince Elus; it was hard not to notice.
“Coveting the artificial giant dragon technology? Perfect, I’ve had my eye on your modification and clone technology too. Let’s become good friends!” Prince Elus pondered for a bit and made his decision, contacting the Revolutionary Army and giving his approval.
He allowed the Revolutionary Army to tell his name to Jermma Kingdom.
Dragon seemed to have anticipated this answer and readily agreed, then contacted Sabo again.
Next—
Jermma Kingdom’s prince and princess obtained the name they had been hoping for from Sabo. The two became stunned like wooden chickens. The emotionless machine truly turned into a rigid machine at this moment, sitting motionless on the sofa, that arrogant face showing a rare blank expression.
“It’s actually… the Black Prince?”
Reiju snapped out of her daze, somewhat arduously uttering this name, her beautiful face full of bewilderment.
This was her genuine reaction.
She had guessed which force controlled the technology to create giant dragons, and the Black Prince had been one of her considerations, but thinking about it, Eckmond Kingdom was a World Government member nation, and the Black Prince himself was a Seven Warlords member, so he shouldn’t be colluding with a rebel force like the Revolutionary Army.
In her speculation, the most likely was some second-tier organization in the New World subordinate to the top forces like the Four Emperors and Black Prince.
Unfortunately, her guess was wrong.
The one controlling the technology to create giant dragons was precisely the Black Prince, this prince of a World Government member nation, a member of the Seven Warlords. Beneath these brilliant reputations, he was secretly colluding with the Revolutionary Army… and they now knew this intelligence.
“Sabo, you… you’re not joking, are you?”
Reiju asked with a bitter smile.
After several days of negotiations, a smart girl as socially adept as Reiju had naturally broken through the initial estrangement.
“Princess Reiju, this was told to me directly by Dragon.” Sabo replied politely.
Having lost his childhood memories but retained the good education he received, he had developed this gentlemanly demeanor. No matter how sharp-tongued Reiju was, he was never drawn into her traps, merely using the gentlest smile and an uncompromising attitude to make Reiju suffer repeated losses in the negotiations.
Hearing Sabo’s answer, Reiju sighed deeply, her smile growing even more bitter.
She knew Sabo wouldn’t joke like this at this time, but she still hoped it was a bad joke rather than this bewildering terrifying reality.
Yes!
In Reiju’s view, this was a terrifying reality that left her unsure of what to do.
After learning that the Black Prince controlled the technology to create giant dragons, she was no longer thinking about how to obtain that technology from him, but rather what Jermma Kingdom should do now that it knew about the shady deal between the Black Prince and the Revolutionary Army.
As for using this to threaten the Black Prince—if he didn’t yield, expose his deal with the Revolutionary Army to the World Government and Navy… such a foolish idea was nipped in the bud by Reiju from the start.
Because doing so would only offend both the Revolutionary Army and the Black Prince to death, bringing no benefit to Jermma Kingdom. The World Government and Navy would never show any favoritism to Jermma Kingdom for its loyalty; they might even be delighted to see Jermma Kingdom fight with the Revolutionary Army and Black Prince.
That story serialized in the World Economic Journal, famous throughout North Blue, told of the Navy hero “Sola,” who could walk on the sea, leading his partners against evil organizations that repeatedly tried to corner him, in an oceanic hero legend.
That evil organization was precisely “Jermma 66.” The story repeatedly shaped the Navy’s image of powerful justice through the evil organization’s failures, revealing the hostile relationship between the Navy and Jermma Kingdom.
If Jermma Kingdom didn’t have the status of a World Government member nation, the Navy might have long assembled forces to treat this mobile kingdom without fixed territory as a large pirate crew and exterminate it.
They couldn’t seek protection from the World Government and Navy.
This meant Jermma Kingdom could only face the Black Prince’s overwhelming might on its own.
She had self-awareness. If it were the Jermma Kingdom that once unified North Blue, it might have enough confidence to deal with a monster like the Black Prince, but the current Jermma Kingdom could only dominate in North Blue; it absolutely couldn’t withstand the Black Prince.
“Black Prince… damn it, is he certain we can’t do anything to him?” Ichiji’s mind worked well too, quickly grasping the key point. By openly exposing his deal with the Revolutionary Army, the Black Prince was betting that Jermma Kingdom wouldn’t dare or wouldn’t report it to the World Government and Navy. It was also telling Jermma Kingdom that since they knew this secret, they shouldn’t pretend not to know anymore.
Ichiji clenched his fist, wishing he could punch and explode Prince Elus’s head far away in the New World, but reason told him that dreaming about exploding Prince Elus’s head was fine, but the Black Prince had indeed cornered them—they absolutely dared not reveal the deal between him and the Revolutionary Army.
“Prince Ichiji, Princess Reiju, the deal between your country and our Revolutionary Army is complete. This Den Den Mushi can contact Prince Elus. I hope your country will also honor our agreement.” Sabo took out a Den Den Mushi and gently placed it on the table.
Reiju looked at this Den Den Mushi with pink spots, her eye corner twitching slightly.
“It might not be appropriate for me to say this given my position, but… your country has provided us with quite a bit of convenience in North Blue this time. I’ll overstep here; I hope you two won’t mind.” Sabo took the initiative to speak,
“Don’t be afraid to contact Prince Elus. I’m not familiar with that prince, but we’ve met once. I can’t guarantee he’s a good person, but Dragon said that prince has great ambition. He dares to trade with us Revolutionary Army, so contacting Prince Elus might not be a bad thing for Jermma Kingdom.”
“While we should certainly plan for the best, it’s not impossible to hold a bit of beautiful expectation.”
“……Sabo, are you saying that Black… this Prince Elus has no malice toward our Jermma Kingdom? Even as we try to dig into his secrets?” Reiju stared intently at Sabo, pressing him.
“I wouldn’t know about that.”
Sabo shook his head in denial.
He then added: “But people always have to look forward to a better future.”
Reiju didn’t press further this time. Sabo’s attitude was already clear; asking more would be impudent. Perhaps… perhaps the Black Prince really had no malice toward Jermma Kingdom. Her gaze toward that pink-spotted Den Den Mushi changed.
“Sabo, thank you for your help.”
Reiju stood up and thanked Sabo.
What followed was a matter between Jermma Kingdom and the Black Prince. The Revolutionary Army had gotten what they wanted and could now stand on the shore to watch the fun, while monitoring Jermma Kingdom to ensure they wouldn’t inform the World Government and Navy.
The Revolutionary Army did not want to interrupt business with the Black Prince.
Leaving aside artificial giant dragons and H2S poison gas, the convenience in logistical supplies brought by that maritime transport network alone was enough for the Revolutionary Army to actively maintain this trade relationship.
