~ Support & Read 13 Advanced Chapters on Patreon

❁❁❁❁

Arthur stretched out his hand, making a grasping motion towards the horizon, then slowly closed his fist, as if the entire New World was held in his hand.

Deep purple lightning leaped in his hand—exuding a suppressive yet ferocious power that was utterly terrifying.

"Bararararara! Captain Arthur... are we finally starting the fight for supremacy? I was getting impatient!"

"Murufufufu, demanding half right from the start! The Captain is so domineering!"

"Anyone who stands in our way... we just kill them all!"

All sorts of strange laughter echoed across the [Thor]. Plunder, arson, and seizing territory—these were the laws of the New World, things that every pirate had to do.

"When the time comes for you lot to face that sow Big Mom and that mad dog Kaido, don't you dare get killed by their subordinates... I can't afford the embarrassment," Arthur said, glancing at them.

Losing a fight didn't matter. As long as you weren't dead, you could always win it back later. But if you died, it was all over.

However, Arthur's words were mainly directed at Avalo Pizarro, Vasco Shot, and Catarina Devon. These three were still far from their peak, with enormous room for growth.

Byrnndi World and Naguri were of an older generation than Arthur himself, having roamed the New World for many years. Their strength was no small matter. If calculated by their future bounties, they would be worth at least a billion Berries.

After all, to have survived under the likes of Whitebeard, the Golden Lion, the Red Count, and Roger—and not only had their strength not declined, but it had even shown faint signs of improvement after being stimulated by Arthur.

As for Shiryu... Arthur was extremely confident in this crewmate.

After the stimulus of his fight with Mihawk and acquiring the demon sword, the Seven Star Sword... his strength could be described as progressing by leaps and bounds. It wouldn't be long before he completely surpassed World and Naguri to become the number one commander under Arthur.

————————

The crew once again entered a state of frantic training.

Arthur also lay on his golden chair, continuously strengthening his physique.

As time went on, the overwhelmingly powerful pressure he exuded grew heavier and heavier. Anyone who saw him felt as if they were facing a great mountain.

"Arthur!"

Vegapunk, his face full of excitement, looked up from his study of the "Maxim" ship blueprints and called out.

"Hm?" Arthur turned his head in response.

Vegapunk's presence on the [Thor] was very low. He was almost completely engrossed in studying the blueprints—writing and drawing at every moment. If it weren't for him piloting the ship, he probably would have been forgotten.

"What is it?"

"Arthur, look!" Vegapunk rushed over with a look of fanaticism, holding up a stack of drafts he had drawn over the past few days.

"I've added some things to the original Maxim blueprints. In this design, with the addition of these components, the volume of the [Thor] can be expanded by several hundred times, turning it into a super weapon of war!"

"Oh, is that so?" Arthur was somewhat surprised. He took the redrawn blueprints and began to look at them seriously.

He couldn't understand the professional terminology, but that didn't stop him from understanding the prototype of the expanded [Thor].

"This is..."

Flipping through the pages one by one, Arthur was left speechless by Vegapunk's vision.

The [Thor] would be broken down and rebuilt. On its original foundation, by continuously adding various super-giant propulsion systems and components, as long as there was enough power and materials, it could theoretically become infinitely large.

The final vision... was a super fortress of war flying in the sky.

"Vegapunk, your imagination is... on another level," Arthur found himself unable to describe Vegapunk's madness. He was truly a monster five hundred years ahead of human wisdom.

On the blueprints, only an island-sized [Thor] was drawn. The layers upon layers were incredibly thick. It could easily accommodate a population of a hundred thousand.

They could even build their own ecosystem on it, completely self-sufficient without relying on the outside world.

An island only had its surface for people to live on, but the rebuilt, island-sized [Thor] would have dozens of layers, suspended high in the sky just like the moon—

The lightning propulsion system was just the core. It could even borrow other forms of energy to help the [Thor] levitate or fly.

This idea was simply insane, beyond imagination.

Arthur had never imagined that one day the [Thor] could be developed in the direction of a war fortress.

"This is just a conceptual drawing, Vegapunk. Tell me... can such a terrifying weapon actually be created?" Arthur asked with a frown.

This conceptual thing, which could be said to surpass the Ancient Weapon Pluton—if it could really be created, Arthur would naturally be very happy.

But he was afraid it couldn't be realized.

————————

"It can! It absolutely can!" Vegapunk said resolutely.

"In ancient times, someone was able to research a superweapon like Pluton. I don't know how many generations it took to study, nor how long it took to perfect... but what I want to say is, if the ancients could create such a devastating weapon, why can't I create a man-made weapon even more terrifying than Pluton?"

"Are modern people supposed to be inferior to the ancients?? IMPOSSIBLE! Perhaps in the past, they did possess technology far beyond the present, but... that doesn't mean their abilities surpassed the present! I will definitely create an ultimate weapon that surpasses the Ancient Ones!!"

Vegapunk, who was always calm and composed, showed a fanaticism when discussing ancient technology that was even more intense than that of a fanatic believer encountering a god.

It was an unparalleled, firm conviction. Arthur had seen this kind of unwavering belief in many people. It could not be shaken by anything.

"So that's it... your dream?" Arthur showed a wild smile. "Then go ahead and do it. When my Thunder God Pirates have conquered enough territory, I will fully cooperate with you to complete the research of the Thor War Fortress!"

"Then tell me, how long would such a project take to complete under ideal conditions?"

The Thor War Fortress was simply too massive, and it required extremely precise placement of components that could not afford any mistakes. The amount of work was unprecedented.

"With sufficient materials, a sufficient population, and non-stop production of parts... it would still take at least a dozen years or more," Vegapunk sighed, as if disappointed with the progress.

"Only a dozen years?" Arthur was a little surprised again.

The productivity of this world was far from comparable to the world he came from. Perhaps the development paths were different, and each had its own advantages in technology, but the gap in productivity was unimaginable.

"If I could see the engineering blueprints for an Ancient Weapon, this time could be greatly shortened. However, the World Government has searched the entire world and has not found where that legendary thing is."

"The blueprints for an Ancient Weapon??"

Arthur slowly stood up from his reclined position, his eyes shining with a brilliant light. "Leave that to me. I happen to know exactly where the blueprints for Pluton are hidden."

❁❁❁❁

~ 13 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)