Strategic Meeting of the Top Brass

"What a perfect work of art." Vice Admiral Tsuru carefully examined the golden crystal. "Wright, tell us about this little thing in detail. The three of us still have reservations about what Garp relayed—"

"Tsuru, you actually don't trust me that much?!" Garp protested. "Damn it, Sengoku! Didn't you explain it clearly to Tsuru?! I explained it perfectly clearly to you!"

Sengoku: "Shut up! Damn it, Garp! How can you be so unruly in front of Brother Kong?!"

Kong: "...Ahem, carry on. I'm listening!"

Wright: "..."

Wright was speechless. So Vice Admiral Tsuru was a humorous person too.

"Yes, Vice Admiral Tsuru!" Ignoring the little game among the big shots, Wright explained, "As you all know, my ability can rapidly heal injuries. No matter how severe the wound, as long as the person isn't dead, they can be saved."

"Thanks to my ability, the men who go into battle with me have maintained a record of zero casualties. But that only applies to exceptional cases on a small scale, and it offers no obvious help against the increasingly dire situation."

Seeing the brass nod slightly in agreement, Wright continued, "So, while joking around with Vice Admiral Garp, I thought of a possibility—could I infuse my ability into an item and produce the same effect?"

"This isn't without basis—my saber underwent a remarkable change because of the special nature of my ability." Wright removed Ashes from his waist and placed it on the conference table. This weapon, even more famous than Wright himself, immediately drew the attention of the brass.

"Unlike a weapon—a weapon is a carefully crafted combat companion—what I need to make is merely a single-use consumable, and its effect will be far weaker. Therefore, I believe this method is feasible!"

Wright took out a piece of artificial White Crystal rough stone. "With Vice Admiral Garp's help and after extensive material testing, I finally determined that this artificial White Crystal, which is inexpensive, mass-producible, and relatively compatible with my ability, can be used to create these 'Lightforged Crystals.'"

"When the wearer of a Lightforged Crystal suffers a near-fatal injury or severe wound, it can activate on its own, restoring the injury to a certain extent and keeping the wearer alive until a doctor can treat them—essentially an automatically activated miracle drug with no side effects."

"If the injury is minor, or severe but not life-threatening, the crystal will not activate automatically. In that case, the Healing Power within can be activated by crushing the crystal."

"If several crystals are crushed, their healing effects can stack—roughly five Lightforged Crystals are equivalent to a single healing effect cast by me personally."

"What a genius idea—and you actually made it work!" Sengoku muttered. "You thought of it while joking with Garp? That guy finally did something right..."

Garp: "Hey! Damn it, Sengoku! I can't pretend I didn't hear that!"

"...Treating the wounded on the battlefield is indeed an enormous challenge." Kong spoke up. As Fleet Admiral of the Marines, he had seen countless subordinates and comrades who never stood again because they could not receive treatment in time.

"Even when doctors arrive in time, if several wounded soldiers have suffered fatal injuries, they may still be unable to save them all. But with these... Lightforged Crystals, that will no longer be a problem. Wright, you've rendered great service this time!"

"Thank you, Fleet Admiral!" Wright said. "Because I had to combine intent with my ability to infuse it into the crystals, I tried fully unleashing my Observation Haki while infusing Lightforged Crystals. As for their automatic activation, I believe it may be influenced by Observation Haki's ability to sense the strength of a life force."

"And when I concentrated on deeply infusing a single Lightforged Crystal, something happened—"

Wright took out a special crystal—its core was unlike the others, containing a single golden point of light!

"Oh? Wright, how come I didn't know you had this special model?" Garp asked in surprise.

"Because I just tested it on the ship." Wright's expression turned serious. Seeing this, the expressions of the four big shots also grew grave. Sengoku asked, "What is it, Wright? Does this special... Lightforged Crystal have some special function?"

"Yes, Admiral Sengoku." Wright said solemnly, "I've named this special Lightforged Crystal the 'Lightforged Pointing Crystal'!"

"Pointing..." The four exchanged glances and saw the same shock in one another's eyes. "You mean..."

"That's right!" Wright raised the special Lightforged Crystal in his hand. "This crystal possesses the abilities of an ordinary Lightforged Crystal, but in addition, it has a 'resonance' property."

Wright took out an ordinary White Crystal and demonstrated on the spot, infusing it into a Lightforged Pointing Crystal. The two special crystals began flashing intermittently together.

"The so-called 'resonance' is a special effect produced by combining my ability with Observation Haki. The exact principle is still unknown. When two Lightforged Pointing Crystals are relatively close together, they produce flashes at the same frequency. And if one is crushed..."

"At the instant the crystal is crushed, I will sense the direction in which it is located!"

"If I head in that direction, I'll definitely find the crystal's location somewhere along that straight line!"

"..."

After a brief silence, Sengoku broke it. "Incredible... This is practically the best possible means of distinguishing friend from foe and calling for help—though it will be hard on you, Wright."

"This function will have a major impact on our intelligence division."

"But Wright, keep these special crystals confidential for now. You possess powerful support abilities. If these special crystals can guide you to the battlefield at a critical moment, your support abilities may be able to change the course of a battle!"

"...Yes, Admiral Sengoku. That makes a great deal of sense."

"Then, Wright, how difficult are ordinary Lightforged Crystals to make? How much of a burden are they on you?" Tsuru asked. The answer would determine the scale on which Lightforged Crystals could be used—after all, only Wright could make them.

Wright shifted in his seat, thought for a moment, then smiled. "Ordinary Lightforged Crystals place very little burden on me—I can make six or seven hundred a day without a problem. But for the special Pointing Crystals, I can only make five or six a day—the precision required is far too high."

"Excellent!" Fleet Admiral Kong praised. "Then, Wright, make five hundred Lightforged Crystals today. Sengoku, prepare enough White Crystals for Wright, and organize volunteers for human testing so we can confirm the results as soon as possible. Tsuru, compile the casualty-rate data from the past year and list the situations in which Lightforged Crystals can be used."

"As for Garp... go with Sengoku for the testing. Your experience with animal testing is still worth referencing. I will personally oversee the secrecy arrangements!"

"Time is of the essence. Every minute we delay could mean another Marine soldier dying of untreated severe injuries. Since we have a chance to save them, we must give it everything we have!"

"Yes, Fleet Admiral!"

Yesterday, someone mentioned holy water... that felt a little too ritualistic. Let's go with crystals in an Oscar-worthy style instead! BLZ rules!