Monkey D. Dragon

"You have Poneglyphs?"

A surge of emotion welled up inside Yake. Dragon definitely was not trying to take Robin, because that would anger Yake, and Dragon was not that foolish. So he must have wanted Robin to help translate the Poneglyphs. But Robin was known within the Revolutionary Army as "the Flame of Revolution." What exactly did Dragon want?

Dragon smiled faintly, took a stack of documents from his coat, and placed them on the table.

The writing on them was all too familiar. Yake recognized at a glance that they were rubbings of Poneglyphs. Dragon actually had this many!

But considering that he was the leader of the Revolutionary Army, it was not surprising. They incited rebellions across the world and seized control of nations, so Dragon surely understood the importance of the Poneglyphs. If certain countries possessed Poneglyphs, Revolutionary Army officers would definitely make copies and send them to Dragon. They simply had never been able to decipher their contents.

"Lord Yake is a smart man, so I'll be direct. I need Miss Robin to translate the contents of these Poneglyphs for us."

"Also, we need a large number of weapons. Our officers have already investigated. The weapons used by your city defense forces seem somewhat unusual?"

When the Sky God Kingdom had first been founded, the Revolutionary Army's intelligence division had disguised themselves as tourists to investigate it. Aside from those miraculous shells, the weapons used by the Sky God Kingdom's soldiers had also caught their attention. They fired quickly, were easy to reload, and every soldier carried one. That meant the Sky God Kingdom could at least mass-produce these exceptional individual weapons. Yet they had never managed to locate the weapons factories or research centers.

"That's right. That automatic weapon is called the AK-47, the finest firearm in the world, created by the Sky God Kingdom's research division. It's powerful and cheap to produce. Is the Revolutionary Army interested?" The moment money came up, Yake was wide awake. Though he did not particularly like money, maintaining a nation required an astronomical amount of it. What he needed now was a stable buyer.

"AK-47? Was it named after you? Hahaha, our Revolutionary Army needs large quantities of these weapons." Dragon had already begun calculating. These weapons could replace the old single-shot muskets used by the Revolutionary Army. They could quickly dispose of the old weapons for cash, then equip every Revolutionary Army soldier with these new firearms. The Revolutionary Army's combat strength would rise dramatically.

Two of the world's greatest powers argued until they were red in the face over the price of a gun. Yake wanted to earn more, while Dragon wanted to spend less and buy more. It was an invisible clash between two leaders.

"Forget it. I'll name a price: 5,000 Beli per gun. But you must agree to one condition." Yake had no patience to keep arguing and haggling with Dragon. He would still make a twenty percent profit at that price, and the Revolutionary Army had so many soldiers. He could treat it as low-profit, high-volume business.

"Agreed. Please, name your condition." Dragon was in high spirits. He had not expected the deal to actually go through. I really am a master at bargaining.

"I want the Revolutionary Army to continue collecting Poneglyphs. I need rubbings, and I can share the translated contents with you. But the Revolutionary Army's intelligence network must be shared with me. Whenever I need intelligence..." Yake said in a tone that brooked no refusal. The Revolutionary Army's intelligence network was what Yake valued most. Their undercover agents were spread across the world. Yake did not have the energy to build an intelligence division himself, and this one had conveniently come right to his door.

Dragon pondered for a long time before slowly raising his head. "Fine. If you need intelligence, you can contact me."

"But there is one question I hope Lord Yake can answer for me."

"Ask away!"

"We have not been able to locate the Sky God Kingdom's weapons factories or research institutes. Have they been hidden away?" This was Dragon's greatest doubt. Vast quantities of weapons were being sold, yet there was not the slightest trace of any weapons factory. It was as though they had appeared out of thin air.

Yake burst into laughter when he heard that. Of course they could not find them. Since he had prepared to found a nation, a mixed crowd was naturally unavoidable. Whether it was the Revolutionary Army, Cipher Pol, or the Marines, they would never imagine that above Space Island was the White-White Sea, ten thousand meters above sea level.

That place was not open to the public. In fact, no one besides members of the Ark Pirates even knew about it. It housed Germa's research institute and weapons factories, where Germa researchers and clones handled all research and production. Spies could never infiltrate it.

"That is none of your concern. I can only tell you that they are somewhere in the Sky God Kingdom." Yake smiled. This was among the Sky God Kingdom's most closely guarded secrets. The people of the world did not even know that Germa already belonged to Yake.

"So that's how it is. It is that secret?" Dragon said with a frown. What he was considering was whether the Revolutionary Army's communications division could establish a base there as well. The Sky God Kingdom was easy to defend and difficult to attack, with only one entrance and exit. There would be no need to worry about Marine encirclement, making it extremely secure.

"Then, Lord Yake, I hope to purchase a secluded plot of land in the Sky God Kingdom to serve as the headquarters of our Revolutionary Army. What do you think?"

"I agree, and I'll give that land to the Revolutionary Army for free." Yake spoke generously. There were plenty of undeveloped places on Skypiea. They could just find a spot on the White Sea. It was merely a favor at no cost to himself.

"Then thank you very much, Lord Yake. I'll leave these Poneglyph rubbings with you. Once Miss Robin has finished translating them, you may contact me at any time. I won't stay any longer. Happy cooperation!" Dragon extended his hand.

"Happy cooperation! Mr. Dragon, are you heading somewhere?" Yake remembered that morning's newspaper. After Luffy defeated Arlong, he would probably be heading to Loguetown next. Then he would encounter Smoker, the persistent shadow who would follow him for life, and his father would make his first appearance...

"That's right. Oh, and one last piece of intelligence for you: Whitebeard's Second Division member, Marshall D. Teach, killed Thatch and stole the Dark-Dark Fruit. He defected from the Whitebeard Pirates, called himself Blackbeard, and is now active across the seas. I heard he lurked aboard Whitebeard's ship for more than twenty years. What a frightening man..."

"Even if I hadn't told you, the news would report it in a few days. I simply thought you might be interested. I'll be leaving now." With that, Dragon departed without looking back.

"Blackbeard?" Yake watched Dragon leave and murmured to himself. A thick stack of Poneglyph rubbings lay on the table.

"Stage Three reward for Seeker of Historical Truth has been issued. Lottery draws +10."

The reward had already been issued, but Yake's attention was no longer on it.

Blackbeard had begun moving across the world. The Worst Generation had finally arrived.

If nothing unexpected happened, Ace would soon go after Blackbeard, only to be captured. The Marineford War would inevitably begin as well.

The turning point of fate... had begun.