First, Short Wano Country! Then, Pack It Up and Sell It!

"According to the historical Poneglyphs, there are three Ancient Weapons in legend that can destroy the world: the most ferocious battleship in history, 'Pluton', the 'Uranus', whose appearance and records have not even been passed down, only its name, and 'Poseidon'. The latter two sound mystical just hearing them. Whether they truly exist in this world is impossible to verify. However, 'Pluton' is the only one I can confirm truly exists in this world!"

Crocodile paused here, then continued.

"I once went to Water 7 and learned about the history of Pluton's creation! I was also fortunate enough to meet a legendary craftsman and received some guidance from him!"

"Yet, where is the Ancient Weapon Pluton, given the title of 'God' and capable of destroying the world? Even Water 7, which created Pluton, knows nothing..."

"Even when I mentioned 'Pluton', they just told me it was a legend! Or, even if it wasn't a legend, this battleship was created eight hundred years ago and might have long since disappeared into the river of history, sunk in some corner of the world, perhaps..."

"But I know that a battleship given the title of 'God', capable of easily erasing islands, would not be so easily destroyed by the world! It must be docked in some corner of the world, waiting for a truly fated person, waiting for its true master to command it."

Crocodile sat opposite Shaya, talking to himself.

"So, you're saying this legendary Ancient Weapon has always been under the control of the 'World Government'?! Since the World Government already has intelligence on the Ancient Weapon, what do you need me for? You can just go get it yourselves?"

Crocodile stared at Shaya and questioned him coldly.

"Look at what you're saying..."

"We Celestial Dragons have controlled this world for eight hundred years..."

"In these eight hundred years, we have searched every corner of this world no less than eight hundred times. We've even dissected and stitched up the 'urethra' of the world, looking at it repeatedly hundreds of times. I ask you, is there any secret in this world that we Celestial Dragons don't know?"

Shaya said this, pulled out a cigar, and began to smoke.

He blew rings of thick smoke towards Crocodile's somewhat delicate face...

"Cough, cough, cough..."

"Damn it, I'm going to smoke cigars fiercely in the future too!"

Crocodile was choked by the thick smoke Shaya exhaled. He vowed at that moment that he would also smoke cigars in the future, fiercely! Two at a time...

"So after all this talk, where exactly is 'Pluton'?"

Crocodile looked at Shaya and asked.

"Heh heh~"

Shaya chuckled upon hearing this, then gave a look to the CP0 guards standing outside the ship's window, signaling them to leave.

Following Shaya's command...

Before long, the entire World Government warship was cleared by CP0.

At this moment, only Shaya, Doflamingo, and Crocodile remained on the warship.

"Wano Country."

It was only after everyone had left that Shaya slowly revealed the true whereabouts of 'Pluton'.

"You say Wano Country? That legendary land of samurai?"

Crocodile was stunned, clearly not expecting the legendary Ancient Weapon 'Pluton' to be connected to the land of samurai.

"Yes, 'Pluton' slumbers beneath the land of Wano Country."

"To obtain 'Pluton', Wano Country must open its borders!"

"And there is only one way to open Wano Country's borders! That is to completely destroy the giant stone blocks that enclose Wano Country!"

"To make Wano Country's sea level equal to the surrounding sea, and release all the accumulated water from Wano Country over the years..."

Shaya said softly, looking at Crocodile and Doflamingo.

"Hey, hey, hey! Are you kidding me?"

"If I remember correctly, Wano Country's barriers are thousands of meters high!"

"Destroying the barriers around Wano Country is no less difficult than drilling a hole in the Red Line, which is tens of thousands of meters high! This is not something that can be done by human strength alone..."

Doflamingo, being well-traveled and knowledgeable, immediately pointed out the impossibility of Shaya's statement.

"Eh! No matter how high the stone walls are, they are ultimately just rocks! These are not problems for me. Even if pirates were to dig them out with their bare hands little by little, they would eventually break through the stone walls. You know, in this Great Pirate Era, the last thing we lack is pirates..."

Shaya waved his hand lightly after hearing Doflamingo's words.

As everyone knows, in the Great Pirate Era, the last thing lacking is pirates willing to work, just like Palu Continent doesn't lack "liking" work Palus, if you don't do it, there are plenty of pirates who will!

"The real problem is that the current ruler of Wano Country is that intern from the former Rocks Pirates, the Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates, Hundred Beasts Kaido, who once rampaged through the New World at the young age of fifteen! That guy is the biggest obstacle to us obtaining 'Pluton'~"

Shaya shared the intelligence about Kaido occupying Wano Country with the two present.

"Kaido is in Wano Country?!"

Crocodile's expression immediately changed in shock. Clearly, this was the first time he had heard that Kaido had occupied Wano Country.

"..."

Compared to Crocodile's previous shock, Doflamingo was much calmer. From Doflamingo's immediate remark about the height of the barriers surrounding Wano Country to hearing that Kaido had occupied Wano Country, his expression remained unchanged...

It was clear that Doflamingo had already obtained intelligence about Wano Country.

"To obtain the legendary 'Pluton', I need one of us to go undercover in the Beasts Pirates! Help me get in touch with the original ruler of Wano Country, Oden's lineage, and then, when Oden and Kaido fight and both are severely injured, we can completely take over Wano Country and reap the benefits..."

Shaya explained his plan to Crocodile and Doflamingo.

"This is interesting..."

"However, I'm quite eager to test my strength against Kaido, to see who's stronger – him or that bastard Bullet..."

Crocodile said, a smile spreading across his lips as his eyes gleamed with fighting spirit.

"In that case, I'll preliminarily congratulate us on our successful cooperation~"

Shaya chuckled at Crocodile's words.

"To our successful cooperation~"

Crocodile grinned widely.

At this moment, Crocodile had decided. Once he obtained 'Pluton' through Shaya's efforts, he would ditch both Shaya and Doflamingo...

As for Shaya, he wasn't planning to retrieve 'Pluton' from Wano Country right now.

He was merely using Crocodile to kill a few people for him in Wano Country...

Just as Crocodile had said, if Shaya had a way to retrieve 'Pluton' himself, why would he cooperate with them?

In fact, if Crocodile had been a bit calmer, he would have noticed the problem...

Unfortunately, the temptation of 'Pluton' was too great, causing Crocodile to momentarily lose his mind~

"Doflamingo, I have another job for you to help me with..."

After Shaya and Crocodile shook hands with smiles on their faces...

Shaya turned to Doflamingo beside him and said with a smile.

"What is it?"

Doflamingo's expression turned wary.

Although Crocodile hadn't noticed the flaws and loopholes in Shaya's plan, Doflamingo had. After all, he wasn't particularly interested in the legendary Ancient Weapons! Only those not directly involved could see the problems in the game...

This was the so-called, "The onlooker sees the game more clearly than the player."

"In recent years, under the leadership of the current ruler Kurozumi Orochi, Wano Country has transformed from an agricultural powerhouse into an industrial one!"

"Over 80% of the country's farmland has been destroyed and converted into factories! The citizens are suffering immensely, with most of the population unable to afford food..."

Shaya said softly, looking at Doflamingo.

"I see! So you mean I should sell grain to these Wano Country individuals who can't afford food?"

Doflamingo asked, confused.

"Nonsense! They're meant to be harvested, not fed! If you feed them all, what will we Celestial Dragons eat and drink?"

Shaya glared at Doflamingo and said angrily.

"Uh..."

Doflamingo fell silent.

"What I mean is, we should buy all the weapons they are currently selling! We'll buy as much as they sell!"

"Not only that, but we need to increase the demand, telling them that their current production capacity is completely insufficient to satisfy our appetite, forcing them to convert that remaining 20% of farmland into factories..."

"We need to control all the grain in Wano Country ourselves, leaving them with no agricultural production capacity. At that point, won't they have to pay whatever price we set for the grain?"

"Then, if they want to continue living and obtain this grain! They'll have to use all the money we give them for manufacturing weapons to buy grain, and we can simply say we don't need that many weapons anymore..."

"But their factories have already produced the weapons. What do they do with the excess production capacity? They'll have two options: First, destroy most of the manufactured weapons to ensure a good price for the remaining few. Second, sell all the weapons at a steep discount to recoup some losses..."

"If they choose the first option, destroying the vast majority of weapons to guarantee a good price for the few! Then, although the few weapons can still be sold at a high price, the total volume will definitely not reach previous levels!"

"At that point, a large portion of their population will be unemployed. From my understanding of that Kurozumi Orochi, unemployed citizens who cannot provide labor are not considered citizens in their eyes. At this point, we propose that besides arms, we also deal in the human trade! They can exchange manpower for money. What do you think Kurozumi Orochi will do? He will happily sell us all his surplus manpower at a low price..."

Shaya paused.

"Then, the following year, we'll tell Kurozumi Orochi that the World Government's demand for weapons has returned to its previous level!"

"At this point, Kurozumi Orochi will need a large amount of manpower to help him produce weapons again! But all the able-bodied men who can produce weapons have already been sold by him. Even if he forces his citizens to reproduce immediately, it won't be enough!"

"At this point, if he needs manpower, he'll have to buy it from us. And we'll sell back the population we bought from Wano Country at double the price?"

"Isn't this equivalent to shorting his entire country's population? After a few repetitions, the entire country will be ours..."

Before Shaya could speak, Doflamingo, who was also a member of the "beast-human" race, continued Shaya's words.

"It's not that complicated. Who needs to do legitimate business with him? Once Oden is dead, this country's spiritual belief will be gone, and the entire country will be ours..."

"After Oden's death, we will sell Wano Country to Kaido of the Beasts in the name of the World Government, allowing Kaido to become the World Government-recognized king of Wano Country..."

"As for Kurozumi Orochi? He's a 'nobody.' He'll cooperate with our business? While this fool is still in power these few years, we'll drain Wano Country dry. Then, we'll promise Kaido an empty shell. When Kaido discovers that Wano Country is empty of people and wealth, and abandons it, we'll drill holes in the surrounding cliffs and use the 'kill the chicken to get the eggs' tactic to extract 'Pluton' hidden beneath Wano Country! I'm putting it out there, I want Wano Country's money, I want its people, and we want the rich Seastone mines! Even 'Pluton' underground will be ours..."

Shaya said, a disdainful smile playing on his lips.

He wanted to destroy the land of Wano Country...

As for the people, they would all be sent to factories as laborers!

Doflamingo was more familiar with the business of factory laborers than he was!

He could ask about Doflamingo's toy factories...

That's way more ruthless than any "Northern Myanmar" park~

"Brother Shaya! Cheers!"

Doflamingo's expression turned serious upon hearing this.

At this moment, Doflamingo finally began to take Shaya seriously. It wasn't that there were many people stronger than him in this world, but there weren't many who were more monstrous than him, Doflamingo...

Shaya was one of them...

"Brother Shaya! Tough!"

At this time, Crocodile also picked up his wine glass from the coffee table and said sincerely to Shaya. I have to say, Shaya's methods were insidious and vicious...

"Hey! My two elder brothers, tall and tough!"

Shaya waved his hands at Doflamingo and Crocodile, chuckling.

"Hahahaha..."

For a moment, cheerful laughter echoed throughout the small ship's cabin.

Shaya, Doflamingo, and Crocodile, three young schemers, drank wine and chatted, deciding the fate of Wano Country~

But only they themselves knew what was truly going on in their minds~

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe them as having ulterior motives...

"Crrack~"

Just then, the cabin door suddenly opened...

Stussy, with her straight legs and leopard-print attire, walked in holding a steaming plate of dumplings.

"These things are called dumplings, and they taste delicious!"

"There's an old saying in the Flower Country: nothing is tastier than dumplings, and nothing is more fun than..."

"I had Stussy boil seven first, let's eat seven, and then I'll have her boil another seven!"

"These first seven, I'll give them to my two elder brothers!"

Shaya looked at the dumplings on the table and said softly.

"Is there a special meaning?"

Doflamingo and Crocodile exchanged glances and asked doubtfully.

"The first seven, nice! The first seven, especially nice..."

Shaya just smiled lightly.

At this point, Doflamingo and Crocodile didn't know the meaning of Shaya's "first seven." It wasn't until many years later, when they were personally sent to the Great Deep Sea Prison by Shaya...

Looking at Monet, Sugar, and BABY-5 on the left, and Viola, Nico Robin, and Michino on the right, with the Princess of Alabasta Kingdom, Vivi, and the Princess of Dressrosa, Violet, sitting on his lap, they finally understood and angrily cursed Shaya for being a heartless bastard who used them and then discarded them!

A four-thousand-word chapter! Brothers, please keep reading~