A Meeting Across Space and Time!
Night fell. The temperature on the Red Line, thousands of meters above sea level, was much lower than that of the Blue Sea below. However, Vidal, who was treated like a king, enjoyed a delicious and luxurious dinner and a huge hot spring bath. He first found a piano and studied the music in a serious manner for a while, and then returned to his bedroom to lie down on a luxurious bed that could comfortably accommodate four people.
As the lights were quietly extinguished by the respectful maid, the entire space dimmed, and Vidal slowly closed his eyes, as if he had fallen asleep.
However, according to his Observation Haki, he was being monitored by several auras. This was not surprising; he believed that even during the Reverie, the fifty kings would be under such surveillance.
Of course, the number shouldn't have been as many as it is now.
Fortunately, Vidal took advantage of the silence to begin reflecting on the day's events.
Just when he thought he would continue to ponder the Celestial Dragons, the images that appeared in his dark mental space were of slaves of various races kneeling on the ground, or servants standing aside with expressionless faces.
The waiter who was killed by the Griffin filled him with anger and guilt, while the waiters who ran out with blank expressions to clean up the mess filled him with sorrow and pity.
Finally, when the hope that gradually ignited in the eyes of the slaves of the Giant Tribe, Fish-Man Race, Skypieans, Longarm Tribes, Longleg Tribes after learning that they were about to leave Mary Geoise surfaced in Vidal's mind, it made him happy again.
One of his purposes in establishing this trade chain with the Celestial Dragons, exchanging Magical Creatures for slaves, was to do his best to rescue more pitiful people from the Holy Land.
Of course, Beli, treasure, Devil Fruits were also among his goals, but in Vidal's mind, while these goals were equally important, the primary motivation was to prevent the slaves from being rescued, which seemed all too obvious.
Moreover, as the trade chain continues, he believes that in a few years, those Celestial Dragons will lose interest in ordinary human slaves.
Once the Celestial Dragons lose interest, he only needs to manipulate things slightly to spread this information to countries around the world. It is believed that many nobles and royalty who admire the Celestial Dragons will come to him to order Magical Creatures.
This is the principle of "what the superiors do, the subordinates follow."
What would happen if the Celestial Dragons and nobles of various countries reduced their demand for ordinary human slaves?
It's quite simple. Those slave traders and pirates will find that ordinary human slaves are gradually becoming unsellable, or at least unsellable for a high price.
In this way, they can only reduce the capture of ordinary humans and shift their evil and greedy gaze to those minority groups!
Because for the Celestial Dragons and nobles, minority races are not only collectibles, but can also be used to trade for Magical Creatures!
Vidal was well aware of this, but he couldn't think of a better solution. He decided to improve the situation of most ordinary humans first.
As for whether this will be discovered by those minority groups, bringing them hatred and trouble, it's simply an overreaction.
His method of using the market to influence global change is something that people in this world are completely unaware of, even if you have a high IQ; it's a conceptual dimensional reduction.
Economy and market—a treasure of another world!
However, Vidal also had some ideas about the Giant Tribe, Fish-Man Race, and Skypieans, but he would consider them later.
As his thoughts drifted by, time passed in the outside world. When Vidal realized that the presence of the person watching him had diminished to one, it was already around two in the morning.
He felt he was ready to act.
It would be such a waste to have a great opportunity to spend the night in Mary Geoise and just fall asleep!
In the darkness, a thin wooden strip extended down from the bed frame, and just as it was about to touch the floor, the ground silently...
A small door was opened.
As the wooden strip entered the green space beneath the door, Vidal immediately transmitted his own consciousness down into it.
From the little manatee's perspective, the slender wooden strip rapidly expanded, first forming a three-meter-tall wooden humanoid shape, then its surface was painted with color, and in an instant, Vidal appeared in the space of the Door-Door Fruit, while a Wood Clone with steady and regular breathing slept quietly on the bed above his head.
"Phew, you've worked hard. I was really worried you'd fallen asleep."
Seeing the portal above close, Vidal breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at the little manatee in front of him.
"Wow! Wow!"
The little manatee puffed out its chest and even pounded its little fist a few times, as if to say, "I won't let you down."
This prompted Vidal to walk over, scoop it into his arms, pinch its soft little cheeks, and laugh heartily.
"With you by my side, I really don't have to be afraid of anything wherever I go!"
Before coming to Mary Geoise, he instructed the little manatee to stay at the base in front of outsiders, and then secretly sent it to escape into the parallel space of the Door-Door Fruit, so that it could follow him from another time and space.
In this way, no matter what unexpected events occur during this trip to the Holy Land, he will have an absolutely safe way out!
"Come on, let's explore Pangaea Castle properly."
Vidal put down the manatee and strode quickly outside, completely ignoring the maids, servants, and patrolling Holy Guard Army in the real world, walking confidently down the city's corridors.
This is the terrifying aspect of the Door-Door Fruit; he and the manatee become completely invisible, invisible, and transparent.
Even if they encounter a locked door, they can easily pass through it; the only minor drawback is that they cannot hear outside sounds.
Oh, and one more thing: you can't touch or hurt people from the outside world.
In the original work, even though CP9's Door-Door Devil Fruit User, Blueno, opened a revolving door on Luffy's head, it didn't cause him any harm. After the door closed, everything returned to normal.
Therefore, this is a Devil Fruit ability that is completely harmless.
But Vidal didn't care about this shortcoming at all.
As he walked, a wooden board resembling a screen appeared in his palm. The board would automatically display a corresponding positive map as he moved!
That's right, Vidal was recording a detailed map of the interior of Pangaea Castle!
Although he knew that the map would be useless for several years after it was made, he still felt that he should take advantage of the rare opportunity to spend the night here and find out the situation.
Honestly, if this Pangaea Castle wasn't so big, and if one night wasn't such a long time, he would have wanted to make a map of the entire Mary Geoise!
This thing will be very useful sooner or later.
Vidal led the manatee through each floor, and new planks grew on its hands with each floor it ascended, while also explaining the purpose of each room in small print.
He moved quickly, after all, the moon in the sky wouldn't wait for anyone, but in this time he figured out the location of the Hall of Authority where the Five Elders gathered, as well as the location of each of the Five Elders' rooms at night.
To be honest, the feeling of standing brightly beside the sleeping Five Elders' bed was really quite exciting, but in the end he suppressed his impulse and headed towards the last floor, which was the top floor of Pangaea Castle.
The sky was just beginning to lighten; the night was about to end.
As he passed through the door opened by the manatee and through a huge iron gate, he froze on the spot.
Because he saw the Empty Throne, high above the three-tiered platform, and the various weapons stuck on it, covered in rust from their antiquity.
But none of this was as eye-catching as the figure sitting on the throne.
He seemed to be staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. Vidal stood in front of the iron gate on the other side, holding his breath and watching the other man intently.
He didn't know why he was so nervous, even though he was in another space.
This was the first time Vidal and Imu had met. Although they were in different spaces, it was a moment Vidal would never forget. I really wanted to capture this scene from a third-person perspective, using Den Den Mushi) to film it: Vidal standing at the iron gate below the steps, and Imu sitting on the throne at the other end!
Honestly, this scene was something that came to mind before I even started writing this book, when I was brainstorming the future plot of Ryokugyu. Now I've finally managed to write it down.