Pluton Revival Plan

"Are we going to Wano Country or not?"

As Rocks and Oak fell into thought, the scene grew quiet. Kaido was the first to lose patience and took the initiative to break the silence.

Rocks came back to his senses. His furrowed brows relaxed again.

"Let's make a trip to Punk Hazard first and see whether the Great Hammer Warband is there!"

Having regained his composure, Rocks made his decision. Although he desperately wanted to head to Wano Country at once and dig up the Pluton warship, he held himself back. He wanted to find the Great Hammer Warband first.

"Why?"

Kaido did not understand. Oak had already said that Pluton was in Wano Country, so why go through the trouble of looking for the Great Hammer Warband?

Rocks explained,

"From what I know, after that Pluton was built, it went through an enormous war and may have suffered some degree of damage. Whether it can even be activated now is still uncertain.

"Moreover, the Pluton built by the Great Hammer Warband, which was made up of Ancient Giants, is unimaginably huge and has an extremely complex structure. To control it, we must understand its construction. That isn't something we can do. The only ones capable of it are the Great Hammer Warband that built it!"

After speaking, Rocks looked toward the distant sea.

There was one more point he did not mention. Before knowing Pluton's exact condition or how to control it, releasing it rashly would inevitably draw the World Government's attention and intervention. By then, whether Pluton would still belong to him was hard to say.

Just as Oak had said before, there were beings in Mary Geoise that even he could not handle. Therefore, making thorough preparations beforehand was the safest choice.

"Do you have a way to revive the Great Hammer Warband?"

Thinking of this, Rocks wondered how he would revive those fellows if he really found the Great Hammer Warband.

So he turned his gaze once more toward Oak, who had given him several surprises today.

"I do!"

And Oak did not disappoint him.

"It's very simple. You only need to find a Devil Fruit called the Shadow-Shadow Fruit and eat it.

"Judging from its name, it is an ability that can control shadows. Its user can cut off another person's shadow and place it inside a corpse, reviving the corpse as a zombie. Furthermore, the revived zombie will completely obey the user's commands!"

Rocks' eyes lit up after hearing that. This was indeed a good solution.

"Do the revived zombies still have their memories from when they were alive?"

He continued questioning him. This was what concerned him most. The key reason he wanted to revive the Great Hammer Warband was because he needed their experience and memories of building Pluton.

"No."

Oak shook his head.

"Zombies revived by the Shadow-Shadow Fruit only possess the physique they had in life, along with the shadow owner's personality and combat experience. They do not possess either party's memories..."

Rocks was deeply disappointed by this. A Great Hammer Warband without its former memories was practically meaningless to him.

But in the next moment, Oak's words rekindled his hope.

"However, there is a way to solve the problem of missing memories. What you need is the experience of building Pluton, not the Great Hammer Warband's experience.

"So, when making the zombies, you can put in the shadows of craftsmen who have studied Pluton's construction blueprints beforehand.

"As it happens, I know where Pluton's blueprints are too!"

At that point, Oak gave a "heh heh" laugh. He felt that this whole plan could almost perfectly solve the problem of reviving Pluton. Perhaps that old thief Oda had set it up this way too?

He secretly guessed.

(In truth, it was the author's guess.)

"Wororororo! You really are my lucky star, Oak!!"

After hearing the entire plan, Rocks finally put all his worries aside. Now, he only needed to find the Great Hammer Warband to accomplish half of his plan. He laughed so hard he could barely close his mouth, vigorously patting Oak's shoulder. Letting Shiki bring him back in the first place had truly been the most correct decision.

"Don't celebrate too soon!"

However, Oak was not nearly as optimistic as him. Whether they could even find the Great Hammer Warband this time was still uncertain.

And even if his plan succeeded, only half of Rocks' overall plan would have been accomplished.

For the other half, whether it was persuading Harald to eat the Black Dragon Nidhogg Fruit and join them, or finding the Dark-Dark Fruit, both were hell-level difficulties.

Judging by Harald's personality in the original work, persuading him to join them, especially while bringing his national treasure with him, was practically impossible.

As for finding the Dark-Dark Fruit, that depended entirely on luck. It was no different from searching for a needle in the ocean.

What if the Dark-Dark Fruit appeared decades later, just as it had in the original work? Were they really supposed to wait decades?

Who could guarantee that no accidents would happen in the meantime?

The world changed every day. No one could predict the future.

Two hours earlier, the New World Navy's G-5 Branch had received a distress signal stating that the Rocks Pirates had attacked a World Government-affiliated nation within their jurisdiction.

The branch's Marines immediately mobilized. A massive fleet set sail in grand formation toward the location that had requested aid.

And now, that fleet had reached the vicinity of Punk Hazard.

"Vice Admiral Sengoku!"

At the bow of the flagship, Sengoku stood against the wind with his arms folded, worrying over the situation before him. After all, the enemy they were facing this time was the Rocks Pirates.

No Marine could remain calm when facing that man. The other side possessed the terrifying record of personally killing an Admiral.

At that moment, an urgent shout came from behind him, and a messenger hurried before him.

"Report, Vice Admiral Sengoku! According to intelligence from the Aira Kingdom, the Rocks Pirates have already withdrawn from their country, but... but..."

After saying "but" twice in a row, the messenger's hand clutching the documents began to tremble.

"But Punk Hazard has just sent... sent out a distress signal. They are under attack by the Rocks Pirates.

"The ones attacking are... their captain, Rocks, along with Edward Newgate and the two apprentices, Kaido and Tux Oak!!!"

Sengoku's eyes narrowed sharply upon hearing the report.

"What?"

"Those bastards attacked the Aira Kingdom just now, and then immediately turned around to attack Punk Hazard? What exactly are they trying to do?"

Sengoku's tone was extremely grave.

Moreover, Punk Hazard was merely a relatively unimportant Marine research base. What could possibly be so important that it warranted Rocks taking action personally?

Looking toward Punk Hazard and silently calculating the distance, Sengoku found that his fleet was only a little over ten minutes away. With a single command, he ordered the entire fleet to change course and advance toward Punk Hazard at full speed.

No matter what Rocks' objective was, he had to stop him.