Imu's Speculation About Pluton!

Mary Geoise. Within the barren, silvery-gray Moon Chamber, Imu swung his sword beneath simulated moonlight, weaving dazzling arcs of blade light.

This was his daily routine, meant to keep him accustomed to the feeling of battle.

Ten minutes earlier, he had learned from the Den Den Mushi brought by a maid about what had happened in Water 7.

At first, he had not wanted to interfere.

Because Imu knew all too well how important the Sea Train was. It was technology beyond cutting-edge—a steam train over a hundred meters long that could travel flawlessly along unstable floating tracks, while the noise it produced could drive away fish, including Sea Kings.

So Sea Kings were fish too.

No matter how bizarrely they were shaped, and even if some had the heads of mammals, they were still fish.

And the most incredible thing about the Sea Train was that it could withstand extreme maritime weather to the greatest possible extent!

What did that mean?

It meant that no matter how fierce the winds or how towering the waves, as long as it was not weather capable of destroying the floating tracks, such as sea tornadoes or ice storms, the train could continue operating normally!

Anyone with normal intelligence could imagine how greatly the existence of such a thing could contribute to the development of the entire world.

So what if an accident happened because of his excessive interference?

Why was there such a massive disparity in the level of development between islands? Some places seemed as though they were still in the Middle Ages, while others were filled with advanced technology everywhere?

It was because transportation between them was too difficult, making it hard for supplies to circulate rapidly from island to island.

Wasn't Water 7 steadily declining over the following years because imports of shipbuilding materials had been cut off?

If Tom had not completed the Sea Train in time, Water 7 would never have held on until the Straw Hat Pirates arrived in the future. It would have long since been abandoned and turned into a deserted island!

It was precisely because Imu understood all this that he had not ordered anyone to stop Enies Lobby from sentencing Tom.

In his view, the ten-year suspended death sentence was a beneficial motivator for Tom and his companions, because they had to understand that only by completing the Sea Train would they have a chance to save Tom's life.

Although it had taken them fourteen years in total.

But that also proved that the World Government in the original timeline understood the value of the Sea Train and had not pursued the issue of exceeding the time limit at all.

As for whether that would make Tom suffer or anything of the sort, that was outside Imu's considerations. With Imu protecting him, Tom definitely would not die anyway.

Still, Imu felt that fourteen years was too long.

So he had ordered the Five Elders to have the Administrative Department provide funding to Tom's Workers, solely to shorten the completion time by a few years.

At the same time, however, he had strictly ordered them not to interfere with Tom's work.

In short, whatever Tom requested, they only needed to comply!

Standing amid clusters of bright silver sword light, Imu swung the utterly ordinary longsword in his hand while his mind raced.

The matters concerning Tom, this Fish-Man shipwright, were not limited to the Sea Train development project.

His two apprentices, Iceburg and Franky, were also rare talents.

In Imu's eyes, Iceburg possessed exceptionally outstanding management abilities. It was a waste of his talents for him to be merely a shipwright or even the mayor of Water 7. This man was fully capable of stepping onto a far greater stage.

However, Imu also understood that every talented individual needed the experience of growing up.

If Iceburg had not studied shipbuilding under Tom, founded the Galley-La Company, and served as Water 7's mayor, no one knew what he would ultimately become.

Rather than risk that, it was better to let nature take its course. Once Iceburg had fully matured, Imu could simply transfer him to a position in the World Government.

As for the other apprentice, Franky—oh, his current name was Cutty Flam—he was even more of a prodigy, a genius in weapons development!

Top-tier shipbuilding and cannon-making skills, self-developed body modification techniques and beverage-to-special-energy conversion technology, plus an extraordinary ability to learn—he was practically a treasure of their civilization!

That was why Imu had specifically mentioned Cutty Flam earlier and instructed CP2, which was hidden in Water 7, to keep a close eye on him.

Once the Sea Train's development succeeded, Flam would have learned about all he could from Tom.

After that, Imu would send someone to bring him to the Science Unit. He would first study under Vegapunk for a few years, then, once he reached adulthood, be given an independent research institute so that he could focus on developing all kinds of weapons, especially Warships.

Besides, one must not forget that Tom also possessed the blueprints for Pluton!

As for the true nature of this so-called Ancient Weapon, Imu had memories of it. Back then, he had personally witnessed Pluton destroy an island with a single blast, leaving behind a massive, bottomless crater in the sea that had yet to be filled even now by the endless seawater.

However, terrifying as Pluton had been, the Great Kingdom had still failed to defeat the Twenty Kingdoms Alliance that he had assembled.

As for where the damaged Pluton had ultimately gone after its defeat, the previous Imu did not know.

But he had some ideas about it.

To the previous Imu, Pluton's appearance had naturally seemed nothing special, but to him, a transmigrator, it looked somewhat familiar!

It resembled a combination of the future Ark Maxim and Thousand Sunny, though the warship was far larger, and the amount of gold used on it vastly exceeded that of the Ark Maxim.

That made things rather thought-provoking.

It was understandable that the future Franky had encountered Pluton's blueprints.

But what about Enel?

He had clearly seen Pluton's actual body somewhere, or looked at similar blueprints. So where had he seen it?

There was another point. According to the original story, Enel had completely destroyed his hometown, Birka. But at the time, he had not yet built the Ark Maxim and could not possibly have used Mamaragan. So how had he destroyed Birka?

Imu had a bold guess.

Perhaps Enel had discovered the wreckage of Pluton in some corner of Birka, where he found the Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit, perhaps even learned related technologies, and learned some information about his ancestors and Fairy Vearth on the moon.

Then, while using his powers, he had accidentally activated it, much as he had accidentally activated the underground city after arriving on the moon in the future.

But the passage of hundreds of years had been too merciless. The heavily damaged Pluton, upon activation, might have triggered its remaining energy and fired one final attack, or perhaps self-destructed on the spot, causing the destruction and disappearance of the entire island of Birka.

Enel himself, meanwhile, had suffered no harm because he had transformed into lightning. Yet after learning that his ancestors had come from the moon and witnessing Pluton's terrifying power, he had forcefully become the new god after arriving in God's Country. He then gathered gold and manpower to try to rebuild Pluton, but due to limitations in resources and technology, he had only ended up with an Ark Maxim!

So Pluton's actual body is very likely on Birka Sky Island, ten thousand meters above the sea now. Imu stopped swinging his sword and muttered to himself.

Indeed, it could fly. It would make perfect sense for those people to hide it on some Sky Island so that I could not obtain Pluton!

Same as before, tomorrow's chapter is being posted early today. From now on, updates will be set between seven and eight in the evening. I feel like that's when there are the most readers.

Dear readers who have made it this far, say something in the comments. I get lonely when you don't comment.