The Kuja Island Matter

"May I ask, Ms. Shakky, do you know how to do business?"

Mobius asked bluntly. Shakky should have been just forty-nine now, still in her prime, more than fit to come out of retirement.

"Me?"

Shakky murmured, her gaze amused.

"I can run a bar. Does that count?"

"That works."

Mobius nodded. A woman capable of bringing the world economy to a standstill definitely wasn't that simple. He wanted to see if he could recruit her.

With a soft laugh, Shakky's eyes shifted. She was already retired and had little desire to return to her old trade. She had only come this time to join the fun.

"I'd better pass, I..."

"I can give you dividends~ Besides, Kuja Island should need more allies, shouldn't it?"

Mobius interrupted with the same smile. People had feelings, and that was enough to get a hold on them.

This time, Shakky fell silent. She raised her eyes and looked at the people before her.

Whitebeard, Fish-Man Island, and Elbaf of the Giant Kingdom. If these major forces were truly brought together...

Kuja Island was in terrible shape now. Two consecutive Empresses had sailed away for love, causing warriors to leave the island, while the next generation had failed to keep up. The current Empress had even been a dispatch officer aboard Gloriosa's sister's ship when she sailed away.

After she fully retired, Gloriosa, the Empress before the previous one, returned to the island and supported Kuja Island through her own efforts, finally giving it room to breathe.

But this world ultimately depended on strength. The Hancock sisters had extraordinary talent and were originally being raised as the next Empress, only to be abducted and enslaved.

If they lost this Empress, and the three sisters were no longer around, Kuja Island would likely be gradually abandoned by the sea.

Thinking of that, Shakky sighed softly. Gloriosa's sister had already been paying for the recklessness of her youth. How could Shakky remain uninvolved?

"Reaching beyond the New World is rather arrogant, isn't it?"

Having made up her mind, Shakky prepared to discuss things seriously. It was only a matter of talking, after all.

Rayleigh opened his mouth, then quickly noticed the resolve in Shakky's eyes. He smiled gently, a trace of sharpness returning to his gaze.

He was no longer Dark King Rayleigh, but now he was the lover of the person beside him.

"Gurararara, Shakky, do you think I'm trapped in this New World?"

Whitebeard laughed as he spoke. Naturally, he knew about Shakky's affairs. After all, everyone had embarrassing pasts in their youth, and he was no exception.

Although Whitebeard vaguely sensed traces of the Rocks Pirates, when he looked around at the people present, they were all old friends he recognized. So there was no harm in continuing the conversation.

Glancing at Whitebeard, Shakky shook her head and sighed. "Newgate, you bastard, didn't Bakkin tie you down back then?"

Whitebeard stiffened awkwardly, then immediately changed the subject. "Who knows? That woman hasn't shown up in years. Maybe she's already dead."

This old man supposedly liked leopard print. Mobius watched Whitebeard, recalling some of his romantic history.

"We can find a hidden stronghold to serve as a transit point, such as... the Florian Triangle?"

"That place has few people. It can be developed into somewhere like Thunder God Island."

Mobius said it casually. The Grand Line had plenty of strange islands, and where profits were greatest, they could lay their pieces early.

"Thunder God Island?"

Shakky smiled. She had also heard the rumors that Pizarro, one of this generation's Supernovas, had been taken out.

"So, what are we selling?"

Shakky naturally changed the way she referred to herself.

"Neptune, what do you think?"

Mobius looked back at him. He had been on Fish-Man Island for less than a week and only knew of its specialties as sea beast transportation and mermaid sweets.

Neptune instantly woke up and began talking enthusiastically, listing pearls, coral, Sun Tree branches, and materials such as sea beast meat, oil, bones, and organs.

As the saying went, those who lived by mountains lived off mountains, and those who lived by the sea lived off the sea. All the resources ten thousand meters beneath the ocean belonged to Fish-Man Island, and as long as Neptune wanted to, they could be gradually extracted.

Whitebeard was at a loss for words. He only drank after arriving on the island. Why would he care what local specialties it had?

Harald's eyes flickered. If they could trade with Fish-Man Island, Elbaf could also obtain these deep-sea resources.

"Shakky, if you come, I'll be at ease. I'll leave everything to you. You definitely know this place better than I do."

Whitebeard looked utterly sincere, making Shakky laugh again.

As an information broker, Shakky might truly have known Whitebeard's territory better than Whitebeard himself.

Sometimes, world-changing events happened on what had been an utterly ordinary day.

The four groups spoke one after another. They were old friends who had known each other for decades, so there was no need to hide anything. Since they could make money, they would give it a try together.

In the end, Mobius, who had proposed this plan, became a peripheral figure instead. But he did not mind. The purpose of doing this was to set up a game.

If this network of connections succeeded, it would be far more terrifying than simply occupying an island or a country.

Mobius swept his gaze over the people around him and decided to add more fuel to the fire, giving their trade route an irreplaceable commodity, such as... Seastone.

Finding a pause in their discussion, Mobius spoke at the right moment in a contemplative tone:

"Since that's the case, we should also need a treasure land to serve as the foundation of our development."

"You mean a base?"

Shakky considered it. Having a base would indeed strengthen the ties between their forces, like Hachinosu of the Rocks Pirates back then.

"Is there anywhere more suitable than here?"

Fish-Man Island lay ten thousand meters beneath the sea, with the resources of an entire stretch of ocean, isolated from the outside world. What place could be more suitable?

"How should I put this..."

Mobius moved his hand and revealed a somewhat terrifying smile.

He looked at Whitebeard, then at Rayleigh. Under the gradually furrowing brows of the two men, Mobius slowly spoke:

"Do you remember Kozuki Oden?"

!!

Whitebeard and Rayleigh looked up at the same time, their eyes full of surprise and nostalgia.

The difference was that Whitebeard had an added fury, as well as resentment toward Rayleigh; Rayleigh, meanwhile, looked somewhat apologetic and embarrassed.

Oden had originally been Whitebeard's Second Division Commander. But because he could read Poneglyphs, Roger had borrowed him to begin his journey to conquer the Grand Line.

Yet after the Roger Pirates completed their voyage and all disbanded, Kozuki Oden did not return to the Whitebeard Pirates. Instead, he seemed to have suddenly vanished from the sea.

Among Whitebeard's many children, a beautiful woman dressed like a courtesan, with an unmistakably Japanese style, suddenly lit up. Lord Kozuki Oden!?

"Kid, you know about Oden?"

Whitebeard spoke, his expression rarely serious, his features seeming sharper and deeper.

"How should I put this? Because I have an ability similar to that Kaido of the Beasts Pirates, I investigated his information and learned something."

"Speak."

"His current stronghold is Wano Country."

BAM!!!

Whitebeard's aura suddenly erupted, rage surfacing in his eyes.

"Then Oden..."

"He died while fighting Kaido for Wano Country."

Crack, crack, crack...

The moment those words fell, a stretch of deep sea around Fish-Man Island suddenly split apart.

The world's strongest man was angry.