Chapter 151: The Lion’s Big Demand
“BIG·MOM is willing to use imprints of the Poneglyphs she has collected, plus three Devil Fruits, to exchange for Nico Robin. I’m not very interested in Poneglyphs, but undeniably, the price BIG·MOM offered is very sincere.”
Prince Elus’s answer is not the worst.
But it also gives Sengoku a bit of a headache.
The fact that the Black Prince has no ambition to explore forbidden things is certainly reassuring, but his words are clearly a lion’s big mouth, plainly intending to extort him ruthlessly and blackmail the Navy. If he doesn’t pay a price that satisfies him, it probably won’t be easy to imprison Nico Robin.
Moreover, the longer she stays outside, the greater the risk. There are plenty of ambitious people coveting Nico Robin’s abilities!
“What do you want?”
Sengoku asked directly.
“So direct? Alright! I don’t mind direct communication, but… when Nico Robin was eight years old, the World Government was willing to put up a bounty of 79 million Beli. Although it hasn’t increased since then, I think the World Government has never relaxed its pursuit of Nico Robin, right?”
How vast the resources of the World Government and the Navy are, Prince Elus is not entirely clear. Even with a grandfather working inside the World Government and a partner like former Admiral Zephyr, facing this colossal entity, he can still only see the tip of the iceberg.
Compared to blindly naming a price, it’s better to let Sengoku make the offer proactively.
“Prince Elus, you’re really greedy.” Sengoku clearly understood Prince Elus’s intention, his expression twisting a bit. It seemed he had no choice but to bleed a little. He thought for a moment and said, “Five Devil Fruits, plus 500 million Beli, how about that?”
“Five Devil Fruits are nice, but I’m not interested in money.”
“Then what do you want?”
Sengoku’s temple veins throbbed.
“This time, after dismantling Baroque Works, my subordinates found a very interesting toy—a gun that ate a Devil Fruit.”
“……Damn it! That bastard Crocodile.”
Sengoku’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
Even within the World Government and the Navy, there aren’t many weapons that have eaten Devil Fruits. Yet one has flowed out and fallen into Crocodile’s hands, and now it’s become a reason for Prince Elus to threaten him. This matter… just thinking about it is infuriating!
“Whether you believe it or not, the Navy currently has no idle Devil Fruit weapons. Most of those weapons are in the hands of the World Government. I…”
“No no no, I’m not interested in fully formed Devil Fruit weapons. What I want is the technology. Five Devil Fruits, plus the technology to create Devil Fruit weapons, and I’ll hand Nico Robin over to you.” Prince Elus bared his fangs, opening his bloody maw, ready to ruthlessly blackmail the World Government and the Navy.
“Technology? That’s impossible!!!”
Sengoku rejected it outright.
“Is that so? Then if Nico Robin escapes, don’t blame my subordinates for poor supervision!”
“Kid, you…”
Sengoku was furious.
He wasn’t even using the honorific “Prince Elus” anymore.
“Li… Prince Elus.” Sengoku is a wise general; he’s not the type to lose his temper easily. His momentary anger was quickly suppressed by reason. He took a breath and said slowly, “Sorry, I was rude earlier, but this technology is not allowed to be leaked. There’s no room for negotiation.”
He first apologized, then gave Prince Elus a resolute answer.
It’s also because Prince Elus doesn’t have the additional identity of a pirate, plus his martial power standing at the top of the world, that Sengoku’s attitude is so good. If any other Seven Warlord dared to haggle with him like this, even Hawk Eyes couldn’t make him apologize.
“If you can’t make the decision, have the Five Elders contact me!” After saying that, Prince Elus hung up the call directly.
“Hello?”
“Hello? Prince Elus?”
Sengoku looked at the unresponsive microphone and the Den Den Mushi that had drooped its head again. The blue veins on his forehead visibly pulsed. It took great effort to control the anger in his heart and not crush the microphone in his hand to pieces.
“Sengoku, contact the Five Elders!”
Vice Admiral Tsuru, sitting quietly on the sofa, spoke again.
During the call with Prince Elus just now, Sengoku had chosen speaker mode (the Den Den Mushi’s microphone is for speaking; there’s actually no such thing as a receiver—the Den Den Mushi’s mouth is a natural receiver. So-called speaker mode is just amplifying the Den Den Mushi’s voice through equipment). Vice Admiral Tsuru on the sofa had also heard the conversation between Sengoku and Prince Elus, naturally including Prince Elus’s outrageous lion’s big mouth demand.
“Tsuru.”
Sengoku’s mood wasn’t great.
“Nico Robin involves the Blank Century. It’s better to let the Five Elders handle this kind of matter.” Vice Admiral Tsuru said slowly.
More than a decade ago, the famous archaeological holy land in the West Sea—Ohara, Nico Robin’s homeland—was destroyed by the Buster Call’s artillery fire. Everyone knows Sengoku issued the Buster Call, but few know he received direct orders from the Five Elders.
After discovering that eight-year-old Nico Robin had escaped alive from Ohara, the World Government directly set a bounty of 79 million Beli on her. Keep in mind, this was just an eight-year-old child. Even BIG·MOM, that innate freak, had an initial bounty of only 50 million Beli.
Besides the public bounty, the World Government secretly dispatched CP agents to pursue Nico Robin. If not for Kuzan’s secret protection, Nico Robin would have fallen into the World Government’s hands long ago.
“What a bastard.”
After a moment of silence, Sengoku cursed.
However, he switched the microphone to his left hand, reached with his right to the keypad on the Den Den Mushi’s back, and began contacting the Five Elders in the Holy Land.
————
New World, within the Eckmond Kingdom, Skadi Island.
Since the research institute was built, Prince Elus has frequently come to this Winter Island. Recently, after sending miss Bakin to the research institute, with no urgent matters, he spends most of his time there, constantly monitoring miss Bakin and Caesar’s research.
It must be said that miss Bakin could raise a freak like Weibul; her attainments in biotechnology are quite impressive. Caesar was initially unconvinced by this short, stout old lady, but after miss Bakin improved his artificial giant dragon production technique, he wilted.
Of course, Caesar has a ton of flaws—arrogant, loves lying, dissolute, extremely self-conceited—but these also give him tremendous resilience. Despite being crushed by Vegapunk so many times, he still firmly believes he will surpass Vegapunk…
miss Bakin couldn’t destroy Caesar’s mysterious self-confidence.
These two dark scientists with equally vile personalities, completely unlike good people, after some sparring and clashing, began cooperating reluctantly under Prince Elus’s watch, pinching their noses. Since their coordination was obviously not yet good, Prince Elus didn’t urge them to start any new experiments.
Caesar continued his original research, while miss Bakin was responsible for improving Caesar’s technical results.
Given that neither is a good sort, although Kappas was assigned to handle security on the island, this sleepy lazy guy might not be able to control Caesar and miss Bakin. So Prince Elus has basically been stationed on Skadi Island during this time.
This is Prince Elus’s private room.
He hung up on Sengoku’s call.
Looking at the Den Den Mushi lying on the table, he patiently waited for contact from the Five Elders.
He doesn’t doubt the possibility of the Five Elders contacting him. From the World Government’s past brutal actions, their fearful mentality toward anything and anyone related to the Blank Century is evident—they destroyed Ohara at all costs. If not for the indestructibility of Poneglyphs, those things probably wouldn’t exist now.
At one point, the World Government collected nearly ten Poneglyphs and tried every way to destroy them but failed. The only clan capable of leaving text marks on Poneglyphs, the Kozuki family of Wano Country, has no relation to the World Government. Neither inducements nor threats yielded the related secrets.
In the end, not only did they fail to destroy those Poneglyphs, but someone inside the World Government secretly studied the text on them and even fled with a Poneglyph.
The traitor was naturally eliminated by the World Government, but the collected Poneglyphs scattered once again. After that, the World Government stopped such thankless efforts. These stones are hidden in extremely secretive places around the world, and even collecting them costs the World Government dearly.
Thinking carefully, anyway, the ancient text on them is unrecognizable to ordinary people. Even if collected, it’s useless.
Even Ohara didn’t master the decryption of ancient text from the start; they rediscovered the long-lost method through repeated archaeology. In the end, a team member feared the secrets deciphered from the Poneglyph and secretly contacted the World Government… Ohara was destroyed by artillery, and now only Nico Robin remains as the inheritor.
In short,
When it comes to the history of the Blank Century, the World Government’s attitude has always been to kill a thousand innocents rather than let one guilty go.
He believes the Five Elders won’t pass up the chance to deal with Nico Robin.
She is the last known key in the world to decipher Poneglyphs. Unless another freak like Gol D. Roger appears, the ability to hear the voice of all things is beyond the World Government’s control.
“Puru puru!”
The Den Den Mushi opened its eyes and let out bursts of ringing sounds indicating an incoming call.
Only seven minutes had passed since the call with Sengoku ended.
Prince Elus smiled, picked up the microphone, and said cheerfully, “Hello, is this the Five Elders?”
This sudden greeting probably surprised the old men on the other end. After about three seconds of silence, the Den Den Mushi stirred again.
“Sokachio Elus.”
A majestic voice came from the Den Den Mushi’s mouth.
“Yes, it’s me.”
“Nico Robin is an unforgivable sinner and must face justice’s trial…”
“I didn’t say no!” Prince Elus rudely interrupted the other side and said calmly, “But capturing Nico Robin took a lot of effort! My subordinates were beaten half to death by Crocodile. You can’t expect me to work for free, right? Even the Navy pays salaries monthly!”
“This is your duty as a Seven Warlord.” The speaker changed, and the voice full of Haki carried an overwhelming force demanding obedience.
Unfortunately,
It was useless against Prince Elus.
“I’m not a pirate, and I wasn’t ordered beforehand for this matter. If you insist on using this status against me, feel free to announce on the newspaper that I’m being removed from the Seven Warlords.” Prince Elus didn’t yield an inch.
“Kid, you’re too arrogant!”
An old man on the other end got angry.
“So what? I have the capital to be arrogant, don’t I?” Prince Elus mocked mercilessly.
He had painstakingly developed his influence, while mingling with the Revolutionary Army and other forces. Now, he dared not say he could openly oppose the World Government, but the World Government couldn’t easily deal with him either, and he didn’t think of himself as an enemy designated by the World Government.
With the Revolutionary Army and the Four Emperors standing in front.
The Five Elders would have to be out of their minds to start a war with him first. Even if they discovered he controlled Caesar secretly producing artificial Devil Fruits… honestly, they might not immediately tear off the facade with Prince Elus.
Sure enough,
After being mercilessly mocked by Prince Elus, the Five Elders were certainly angry, but they also admitted he indeed had the capital for arrogance. From his attitude, it was clear he truly didn’t care about Nico Robin, meaning he truly had no ambition to touch forbidden things.
As long as he doesn’t directly rebel against the World Government, doesn’t touch Celestial Dragons, doesn’t touch taboos like the Blank Century history.
Prince Elus being a bit arrogant is nothing. At least, given his immense strength, the Five Elders don’t mind if he has some over-the-top behavior.
“That technology… the technology to make lifeless objects eat Devil Fruits, can be given to you, along with five Devil Fruits. In exchange, you must guarantee to hand over Nico Robin.”
The speaker changed again. This one’s voice wasn’t as domineering as the previous two, but it was equally filled with an irrefusable tone.
The World Government has always restricted the development of science and technology, that’s true.
However, in the Five Elders’ view, the technology to create Devil Fruit weapons isn’t a top secret. This technology has no scalability. Such treasures as Devil Fruits—only the World Government can afford to waste them by feeding them to lifeless objects. Generally, no one would waste Devil Fruits like that.
After all,
People who eat Devil Fruits can grow stronger through training, but how do lifeless objects that eat Devil Fruits get stronger… This is a bottleneck even Vegapunk hasn’t broken. Those manufactured Devil Fruit weapons can play a role in low-level combat, but they’re useless in high-level confrontations.
Considering all the above, the Five Elders relented and agreed to Prince Elus’s outrageous demand.
“Nico Robin is in Alabasta. Send someone to receive her; I’m not responsible for escorting. Also, one hand delivers the person, the other delivers the goods. I don’t like people welching on deals.”
“That’s it! Sengoku will contact you for the detailed trade.”
With that, the call ended. The Den Den Mushi drooped its head again, opening its mouth to eat the feed in the small dish in front of it. Continuous long-distance calls had consumed a lot of its stamina; its stomach was growling with hunger!
Prince Elus smiled brightly, gently placing the microphone back on the feeding Den Den Mushi’s shell.
His joyful mood couldn’t help but spill from his upturned mouth.
The Five Elders’ considerations were indeed reasonable, but if they knew Prince Elus had mastered mass-production technology for artificial Devil Fruits, they probably wouldn’t think so. Of course, artificial Devil Fruits aren’t exactly the same as Devil Fruits; that technology might not apply equally to artificial Devil Fruits.
But with a prototype of the technology, an expert like Caesar with pirated Vegapunk tech, plus miss Bakin’s help, and technical aid from Jermma Kingdom, overcoming such a small obstacle shouldn’t be hard.
Besides,
This is a no-cost deal to begin with.
For Prince Elus, it’s just a question of how much he earns; there’s no risk of loss. On the World Government’s side… they might end up losing both the wife and the troops.
