Elsewhere.
Just after the Five Elders issued their orders.
In the North Blue, all of Flevance descended into chaos...
Countless government agents in black uniforms and Navy soldiers in white justice coats—the symbols of justice and fairness—raced all over the country, constantly busying themselves.
They led row after row of armed troops from door to door, investigating, questioning, and searching for children born within the past year.
Whether they were children of nobles, royalty, commoners, or beggars, anyone born within the last year was to be put aboard World Government warships and sent to Mary Geoise!
This was the World Government's order, the Celestial Dragons' order, and the order of the Five Elders, the highest authorities in the world. No one was allowed to refuse...
This gave the middle-aged King of Flevance, a man dressed in splendid finery, a terrible headache, yet he did not dare say a word!
After all, the World Government had leverage over him.
White Town Flevance was also known as the Lead Bone Town!
It was an incomparably prosperous town. The entire nation was as white and beautiful as a town from a fairy tale...
The reason this country was so beautiful and wealthy was because it controlled Lead Bone Ore, an almost omnipotent raw material!
This Lead Bone Ore could be made into cosmetics, chemical materials, energy sources, and even weapons. It was renowned throughout the world for its low processing costs and durability!
Among it, high-quality Lead Bone Ore was especially coveted by the nations under the World Government and by great nobles! This filled Flevance with business opportunities, drawing countless merchants and speculators who dreamed of getting rich through Lead Bone Ore...
However, Lead Bone had a fatal flaw: it was poisonous!
Although its toxins were weak and showed no effects after short-term exposure, anyone exposed to Lead Bone for a long time would develop symptoms known as Lead Bone Disease!
Ironically, the World Government and Flevance's royal family had discovered the truth about Lead Bone Ore a century ago. Yet, because they wanted this so-called white gold to circulate throughout the world, they concealed the truth...
Today, the entire nation of Flevance had already reached the edge of a cliff!
It was regrettable, but perhaps heaven was fair after all!
Flevance had risen because of Lead Bone Ore, and it would fall because of Lead Bone Ore...
After enjoying a full century of prosperity brought by Lead Bone Ore, Flevance's people would have to pay for the wealth that had never belonged to them, wealth they had borrowed in advance from the future!
Based on Shaya's impressions and deductions about Flevance, the entire country would likely be destroyed by Lead Bone poisoning within ten years...
What Shaya intended to do was dismantle White Town Flevance ahead of time, before the Lead Bone Ore issue was completely exposed!
Then, he would work with Vegapunk to render Lead Bone harmless and non-polluting, while seizing all the Lead Bone Ore beneath Flevance!
At the same time, he would have his own forces directly intervene in the sale of Lead Bone Ore, bypassing Flevance's royal family as middlemen who were making absurd profits off the difference...
Naturally, Shaya wanted the funds from selling that Lead Bone Ore to serve as future research funding for the Seraphim and Holy Mother's Flame.
Shaya was truly short on money right now...
And the money from Sky Island could not be touched for the time being! Once the immense wealth connected to the Great Kingdom was discovered, there was a 99.9 percent chance that the World Government would seize it...
Among the three foundations of the immense force Shaya would establish in the future were Sky Island's money, God Valley's mineral energy, and White Town Flevance's versatile yet harmful materials!
White Town Flevance was the one Shaya could most easily get his hands on at present...
Therefore, the first thing Shaya needed to do was send Roger to Flevance, bringing Flevance back into the sight of the World Government, the Navy, and all the major powers!
He would make the King of Flevance take the blame he deserved! Then, he could quietly die...
This was Shaya's first step...
As for the second step, Shaya did not even need to act. The Five Elders had already ordered Marine Headquarters to take away every baby born in Flevance during the year Roger became Pirate King and disappeared, sending them all to the Holy Land...
Without Shaya's intervention, 99 percent of these babies would have followed their predetermined fate. Exposed to Lead Bone Ore from childhood and burdened by toxins accumulated in their parents' bodies, they would ultimately die of Lead Bone Disease at eight or nine years old!
But with Shaya's intervention, these babies would not need to come into contact with Lead Bone Ore from childhood. As they gradually grew up, the toxins accumulated in their bodies might be expelled, and most of them would have a chance to reach adulthood...
Though these children of Flevance would grow up as slaves of the Celestial Dragons.
At the very least, they would escape their predetermined fate of death...
Those with weaker constitutions, who could not completely metabolize the toxins in their bodies, would still have their lifespans greatly extended because they had not been exposed to Lead Bone Ore as children!
Moreover, once they fell ill, there was a high chance the Celestial Dragons would toss them out of Mary Geoise like garbage. In that way, their misfortune might turn into a blessing, allowing them to enjoy a few years of freedom.
Based on Shaya's understanding of the Celestial Dragons, once these children from Flevance fell ill, they would be seen as enormous sources of contamination—so contaminated that even killing them would pollute the Holy Land!
So there was a strong chance they would simply be thrown away. That was entirely in keeping with the Celestial Dragons' usual behavior...
It had to be said that Shaya had calculated every aspect of this.
However, that was not all...
Shaya was still anticipating something. Sitting in the library with his eyes slightly narrowed, he murmured inwardly, "Trafalgar Law! More precisely, Trafalgar D. Water Law—another child of The D. He could become one of the CP0 under my command."
Shaya thought highly of Law. The Op-Op Fruit had certainly contributed to Law's achievements, but developing it to the point of awakening also required Law's own talent and hard work.
As for how to keep Law in hand?
"Law! You don't want your sister to die young, do you?!"
The corner of Shaya's mouth curled upward.
Yes, Law had a younger sister. According to her predetermined fate, she would certainly die of Lead Bone poisoning! But with his help, things would be completely different...
Although Shaya was not certain he could completely cure Lead Bone Disease, there was one person who could definitely expel all the toxins from an infected person's body!
That man's name was—Vegapunk.
With Vegapunk's help, curing Lead Bone Disease would be easy.
By then, Shaya would become the hero who saved Flevance, cure all cases of Lead Bone Disease, and thereby gain the people's favor and Law's loyalty.
Good children needed to be brainwashed from a young age.
Shaya would brainwash these children from the moment they were born.
Law was already two years old. It was not too late to start brainwashing him now.
But Law's sister had only just been born...
According to the World Government's orders, Shaya would likely be able to meet Law's sister in Mary Geoise before long.
As for what came next...
"Let Flevance's bullet fly a little longer."
"Right now, Roger's execution is still the more urgent matter!"
As Shaya spoke, he looked through the library's enormous floor-to-ceiling window toward the distant sky.
Time flew by!
In the blink of an eye, three months passed!
On this day, Loguetown in the East Blue was packed with people!
Because today was the day of the legendary Pirate King's execution.
A gathering of major figures destined to become legends had assembled here.
These next few chapters would set the main plot in stone.
Before you continue