The feeling of being 'killed' was truly, truly unpleasant.
When the consciousness link from No. 5 broke, Shin struggled to climb out of the mental subjugation device.
His brain constantly replayed the residual consciousness feedback from when he was killed.
Strictly speaking, this wasn't his first time being 'killed.' The Number One Prayer Hand, used to lure Kaido away, ultimately died from a high-altitude fall into the sea.
But the two death feedbacks were not on the same level of consciousness residue.
"Indeed, prolonged use of the link leads to more severe willpower synchronization issues, doesn't it?"
Shin rubbed his throbbing temples, muttering to himself.
Although it was uncomfortable, it was also a valuable experience.
The pain of death, in a way, could be considered an accumulation of experience.
He calmly integrated all current plans, writing them down on paper, while rubbing his throbbing head.
On Vegapunk's side, the process of deciphering Minovsky physics was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
With two hours of communication and feedback daily, it was only a matter of time before he fully grasped Minovsky physics.
On Judge's side, the research combining lineage factors and the human genome was also underway.
Judge highly praised the data he provided, and he, in turn, highly praised Judge's lineage factor technology.
These two research and development matters were not problems; the results were systematically being fed back to him.
Then...there was the matter of recruiting forces.
He had currently secured Germa, the Revolutionary Army, Doflamingo, and Tesoro, but there were a few other forces on the sea that he was considering whether to ally with.
He considered it for a long time, but ultimately crossed them out.
For now, they wouldn't be considered.
The more people who knew about such a major rebellion, the more dangerous it became.
And these few sea powers were different from Doflamingo and his group; he didn't have a definitive hold over them that could be used to kill them.
He desperately needed to acquire Devil Fruits before the Summit War: the Door-Door Fruit, the Illusion-Illusion Fruit, and the Mirror-Mirror Fruit.
He crossed out the first two.
Whether it was Blueno of CP9 or the so-called Sea Songstress Ann, it was only a matter of time for Doflamingo's forces to find them.
Only the last one, the Mirror-Mirror Fruit, was more troublesome.
Shin's finger lightly tapped the name under the Mirror-Mirror Fruit, Charlotte Brulee, Big Mom's eighth daughter, the Mirror Woman with the Mirror-Mirror Fruit ability.
Her ability, in a sense, was a low-cost version of the Door-Door Fruit, but that was only on the surface.
In reality, the Mirror-Mirror Fruit's effect was much less restricted than the Door-Door Fruit's.
Blueno's Door-Door Fruit couldn't open doors in many special environments, and the distance of each step taken while passing through a door accumulated on the user, and it couldn't be opened in areas isolated by Seastone.
Most importantly, the Door-Door Fruit couldn't open a door to a place whose exact coordinates were unknown to the user.
It wasn't an Anywhere Door; it could only open portal doors between specific coordinates.
After all, if it could open doors anywhere in the world without restriction, such a BUG fruit wouldn't have fallen into the hands of a mere CP9 member.
In his positioning plan, the Door-Door Fruit could be used for short-range surprise attacks.
The distance between two opened doors would not exceed three hundred meters, and in special conditions, it might not even exceed one hundred meters...
The Mirror-Mirror Fruit, however, was the opposite.
This fruit had strict usage conditions: there had to be a mirror within the defined range to enter her Mirror World.
It had to be a mirror; surfaces like the sea or glass would not suffice.
But as long as the conditions for use were met, the Mirror-Mirror Fruit could achieve illogical direct displacement.
Within the Mirror World's range, even areas isolated by Seastone could still be traversed.
The Mirror-Mirror Fruit had to be acquired, but the problem was that Charlotte Brulee herself was located in the Seducing Woods on the west coast of Whole Cake Island.
That cursed place was troublesome enough, not to mention Whole Cake Island itself.
He definitely couldn't arrive in a Gundam, otherwise, he would be dealing with an entire Yonko crew.
So, even if he wanted to abduct Charlotte Brulee, it would have to rely on a small-scale team assault.
This... still needed careful consideration.
Shin put a question mark under the Mirror-Mirror Fruit and continued his tabulation.
Next was the comparison of strengths between the Marines and the pirates.
Undoubtedly, during the Summit War, Whitebeard's crew alone was at an absolute disadvantage against the Marines.
With his intervention, the situation would only become worse.
Vegapunk, who had learned nuclear physics and some Minovsky physics from him, might add some new features to Bartholomew Kuma's modifications that weren't originally there.
Perhaps during the Summit War, a Super Tyrant Kuma with a nuclear fusion reactor inside would emerge.
In addition, there were the weapons he sold to the World Government.
Perhaps with a single volley, the Whitebeard Pirates wouldn't even have a chance to hold out until 'reinforcements' arrived.
He rubbed his temples.
This was the trouble with change; his reliance on foresight was lost.
It seemed he had to slightly 'balance' things out.
He could loosen up a bit on the transactions with the Whitebeard Pirates.
As for the Five Elders asking about it... In the short term, they probably wouldn't have the right to question him.
He put down his pen. The break was almost over. It was time for this play to conclude.
Shin rubbed his face, putting on several intensely angry and murderous expressions in succession, then contacted the Five Elders with a Den Den Mushi.
After a long wait, the Den Den Mushi was answered.
The Five Elders said nothing, remaining completely silent.
"I'm going to kill Doflamingo!"
Shin said grimly, enunciating each word.
"Don't be impulsive, Poltorto." The Five Elders on the other end, surprisingly, spoke with a relatively gentle tone of comfort.
They were also in a dilemma.
They had just received a report from CP0: the missing No. 5 had been found in Dressrosa, but it was his corpse-and the one who killed him was Doflamingo.
They didn't know what madness had possessed that flamingo brat to do such a thing, but undoubtedly, Doflamingo was openly provoking Poltorto.
It was normal for Warlords to have conflicts, as they were all powerful pirates before working for the World Government.
But such open and blatant provocation was unheard of.
However, since things had come to this, the Five Elders had originally intended to suppress the matter, warn Doflamingo, and then randomly find someone to blame for No. 5's death.
But who knew that Poltorto got the intelligence so quickly? This guy probably had his own eyes in Dressrosa.
"Impulsive? Your Excellencies, Doflamingo has touched my bottom line," Shin said coldly.
"That was my friend, my capable subordinate, brutally murdered by that bastard Doflamingo. Until he dies, this debt isn't settled!"
"Warlords are strictly forbidden from mutual slaughter!" The 'Gandhi' of the Five Elders sternly warned.
Regardless, the Warlords were considered a 'model' for the World Government's efforts to pacify pirates, essentially the government's face.
If there were serious cases of Warlords mutually slaughtering each other, where would the government put its face?
But his tone quickly softened.
After all, Doflamingo was the one who made the mistake in this matter.
"...I must be compensated." Shin was silent for a moment, then said coldly.
"I joined the Warlords to receive the World Government's protection, but the facts prove that there are some scumbags you can't control. In that case, you must compensate me."
"That was my brother, my beloved friend!"
"...Speak."
The Five Elders said, both angry and helpless.
"I want the Lineage Factor Design. I only want the data related to Lineage Factors, and the relevant research equipment, test subjects. I want what Judge doesn't have!"
Shin pondered for a moment, proposing a request that wasn't excessive but certainly not cheap.
He couldn't put all his eggs in one basket.
The cooperation with Vegapunk was one thing, but the cooperation with Judge involved the crucial issue of cutting himself.
Such a matter couldn't be taken lightly.
Who knew if Judge would water down or dig pits in their collaborative research? Extorting related technology from the World Government was also a way to secure an insurance policy.
The Five Elders were silent for a long time, and one could imagine the arguments and discussions that occurred on the other end.
Finally, they reached a decision.
"Alright, but you cannot conduct any research on the parts related to the 'Lineage Factor Design'."
The 'Lincoln' of the Five Elders said sternly,
"If we discover that you have any improper desires regarding the 'Lineage Factor Design', no matter what trump cards you have, you will surely be punished by us!"
"Don't worry, I have no interest in those things." Shin smiled brilliantly.
This was also an unexpected gain.
He had only intended to completely distance No. 5 and the Revolutionary Army, but he didn't expect the Five Elders to be so 'generous.'
"However, I must say, I have to teach Doflamingo a lesson." Shin's tone changed, becoming serious.
"I can avoid using large-scale destructive weapons, but he must pay for his provocation, otherwise, where would I put my face?"
"...Good!"
The Five Elders ultimately didn't say "your face means nothing," though such words might be appropriate for challenging the Marines, they were unsuitable for challenging a Warlord.
The Den Den Mushi was hung up.
On the other end, in Mary Geoise, the enraged 'Gandhi' had already drawn his katana, slicing the expensive table in front of him in half!
"Damn it, how did the Warlords become like this?!"
"It's a good thing we didn't allow him to return to the Holy Land. How can we manage the World Government well with foolish insects like Doflamingo?"
'Lincoln' frowned.
"He went too far this time, the despicable fellow, do they think we're fake? We can't hesitate any longer, we must strike hard."
"Once Poltorto has taught Doflamingo a lesson, we'll make our move."
"However, our main focus must still be on Roger's son," 'Gorbachev' said seriously.
"And Monkey D. Dragon's son. With this execution, we will extinguish all rebellious sparks before they even ignite!"
Ten hours later, a major battle erupted over Dressrosa.
Heavenly Yaksha Doflamingo, who had killed a high-ranking executive of the Corporation and provoked Dawn Master Poltorto, faced Poltorto in the skies above Dressrosa.
The battle ended with Doflamingo heavily injured, and several islands in Dressrosa were subjected to indiscriminate bombardment.
Fortunately, those areas were uninhabited factory zones, causing no civilian casualties.
Also, for some unknown reason, Poltorto also bombed the uninhabited island of Punk Hazard on his way past.
Those unaware of the reason simply considered it the Poltorto's venting, while those who knew understood that Heavenly Yaksha had suffered a great loss this time.
The notorious 'Joker' of the underworld paid a heavy price for his rash actions, and even more frighteningly, the arrogant Doflamingo was later warned by the World Government.
Poltorto used his fierce battle record to prove to the entire underworld that the Anaheim Company was an unapproachable evil dragon.
Some were happy, some were sad.
Big Mom was happy about Poltorto's setback and said she would settle accounts with him once she recovered.
Kaido, however, was sad and furious because all his SMILE dealings were shattered.
The conflict between the Poltorto and the two Yonko became even more irreconcilable.
The Anaheim Company's arms trade grew larger and larger.
They sold weapons all over the world, constantly igniting wars and creating death.
The world passed a year in such turbulent waves.
On January 1st, 1520, the world erupted in turmoil because of a piece of news.
🍊 Boost This Fanfic! 🍊
Every 500 Power Stones gets 2 bonus chapters! 🚀
Want faster updates? Show your support by dropping Power Stones, leaving reviews, and sharing your thoughts in the comments! Your engagement keeps the story going strong!