One Piece: New Order

Chapter 351 351: The Backstabbing World Government

Sabo looked at Dragon and stretched as he spoke. "It's all to avoid delaying the plan. Production has already begun on a large scale, but the core technology hasn't been fully understood yet."

Although the Revolutionary Army had slowed its advance, it had not stopped. So before they completely reclaimed the Four Blues, they needed to build a large number of ships capable of crossing the Calm Belt, allowing them to strike directly at the Red Line from behind.

But Vegapunk's technology was not easy to master. They could only break down many parts of the warship's systems and discard most of them, keeping only the Seastone-coated hull technology. For now, they arranged for the ships to be built with reserved space so the Seastone components could be installed later.

As for the Seastone technology itself, they were working on it day and night. Once they fully understood it, they could mass-produce and install it without delaying the offensive.

Dragon smiled slightly. "That puts my mind at ease."

He waved the blueprints in his hand and spoke with a hint of mystery. "This is from Vegapunk…"

But Sabo's expression immediately collapsed. "You've got to be kidding… There's more?!"

Just this one Seastone warship had already driven him nearly insane from studying it.

Dragon chuckled and shook his head. "These are new weapon designs that Vegapunk modified based on our current weapons. I've already sent people to start production."

Sabo let out a long breath. "You scared me…"

Then he looked up at Dragon. After hesitating for a moment, he still voiced his concern. "Supreme Commander, Vegapunk is still part of the Marines. Why is he helping us like this…"

Even if there was a price to pay, it would make sense. But instead, he was giving away technology that could completely change the history of navigation without asking for anything. It just felt too…

Dragon fell silent for a moment. He understood the issue as well. At the end of the day, it was likely about using the Revolutionary Army to draw the World Government's attention, buying time for the Marines. It might even have been directly ordered by Sakazuki.

But he had no choice.

The Revolutionary Army's foundation was still too weak.

"Don't think too much about it," Dragon said at last. "No matter what Vegapunk's intentions are… as long as we are the ones who win in the end, everything will settle."

* * *

New World, New Marineford.

The sky was still dim, but the island was brightly lit, with soldiers running everywhere and filling the base with urgency.

Inside the Fleet Admiral's office, Sakazuki stood before a massive sand table. He removed several Marine flags and replaced them with Shanks' flags.

Click.

The office door slid open.

Without turning around, he asked, "What exactly is going on?"

In a single night, several small islands under Enel's defense had been taken, and every attack had avoided the defensive points while targeting weak spots. Since when had pirates gained intelligence capabilities like this?

Carlo walked in with a serious expression. "We still haven't identified the source of their information, but their targets are precise and their speed is extremely fast. It's as if they already knew the layout of each island and carried out targeted strikes.

"Our soldiers couldn't even set up proper defenses, and the exact casualties are still being counted. Bullet has already headed over to take control, and Enel's defensive line has also been adjusted."

Sakazuki placed the small flag in his hand at the edge of the sand table. "What do you think is the reason?"

Carlo's expression darkened further. "To strike this quickly and this precisely, there's no doubt. With a strong intelligence network, it is possible. But to accurately hit the defensive positions on each island, that's not something intelligence alone can achieve. So who leaked the deployment maps…"

Sakazuki let out a cold chuckle as he stared at the sand table. "It's our 'good teammate' making a move."

There was no such thing as powerful intelligence. Those pirates were nothing more than fools who relied on brute force. If they had even a bit of strategic sense, they wouldn't have been beaten like dogs by Sakazuki since the war began.

His eyes narrowed. "This is a stab in the back from our 'ally'…"

Carlo's heart sank. "You mean… the World Government?"

Sakazuki's tone remained casual. "That's right."

He suddenly laughed, a hint of amusement in his expression. "Those fools are probably afraid I'll split my forces and wipe out the pirates too quickly. If that happens, the Revolutionary Army and I would form a pincer attack on the World Government, so they decided to lend a hand to those idiots."

It was not entirely unreasonable for the Five Elders to make such a decision. Ever since the war began, Sakazuki's series of actions made it impossible to figure out his true intentions.

His strategic layout looked almost careless. The Marines' forces had pushed deep into Whole Cake Island and Wano. Was he not afraid that Knox and Shanks would cut off his retreat?

But not only did he not strengthen his rear defenses, he even split his forces to attack their territories, trying to cut off their retreat instead.

No one knew the exact plan, but the intention seemed obvious.

Would anyone dare bet that Sakazuki's plan would fail?

From the beginning of the war, the pirates had not gained any advantage. The only one who managed to stir things up a little, Kaido, had his will shattered by Sakazuki.

The Five Elders did not dare take that gamble. If they lost, what they would lose was the entire world.

Carlo frowned slightly. "If that's the case… then Admiral Kuzan's side isn't safe either."

Since the government was supporting the pirates, it was unlikely they would only support Shanks. Others would surely receive help as well.

Sakazuki nodded and pondered for a moment. "Send out all the Seraphim from Egghead. Deploy them to Kuzan's side. The sacrifice nurturing the Shroom-Shroom Fruit still needs four months to mature, so since they want to stall us, we'll play along.

"And also… when Aramaki and Borsalino make their moves, leave no survivors. Island by island, wipe them all out. I want to see how long they can hold on."

Looking at the increasing number of Red Hair Pirate flags on the sand table, he rolled his wrist. "Move Bullet to Kuzan's side for now. As for Red Hair… I'll deal with him personally."

After several Marine islands had fallen in succession, it was only natural for the Fleet Admiral to act in urgency.

Only this kind of response would make the performance convincing enough…

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