Research Base

Beyond that, there was a vast array of agricultural support equipment.

Hades estimated that once this system was complete, the Kingdom of Kronos could reap dozens of times its current returns from farming and livestock, if not more.

He knew exactly how much an advanced production system like this could yield.

For the people and the country alike.

Fewer people would need to farm, freeing up more workers to help build the country.

There had not been time to put it into practice yet. A reform of this scale needed careful planning and a gradual rollout to keep its impact to a minimum.

The small test plots specially approved by the kingdom had already produced results. After he left, the rollout would begin in the core regions and gradually spread across the country according to plan.

The whole process could take years.

The Kingdom of Kronos was vast, though not all that vast in Hades's eyes.

As for the rest, he could leave it to others in the kingdom. There was no shortage of talent or ability to carry it out.

The Tartarus Royal Family ruled the kingdom. The Kingdom of Kronos had only one noble house: the Tartarus Royal Family.

The other nobles had long since been wiped out or fallen into obscurity. Any who remained had no standing and dared not cause trouble.

Only the Tartarus Royal Family endured.

Those with disloyal intentions had also been largely purged after the last war launched by the World Government.

Hades considered himself fortunate to live in such a kingdom, where the Royal Family ruled absolutely and the state held absolute control.

It was a blank canvas on which he could paint and revise as he pleased.

That very power made the World Government wary and rendered its efforts to carve up the Kingdom of Kronos exceedingly difficult.

Even while Hades was away, the Underworld Prison and the Royal Academy of Sciences would continue reporting intelligence and progress to him.

From the moment he formally took charge of the Underworld Prison, he had become one of the kingdom's two rulers.

The Kingdom of Kronos was powerful, but even it could not prevent the World Government from sending assassins.

The agent who assassinated his double was a top operative with exceptional stealth skills. He was also a Devil Fruit User who possessed the Presence Fruit.

He had developed his Fruit Ability to an extraordinary degree, allowing him to suppress his presence until people subconsciously overlooked him.

That was how he had slipped past layer after layer of defenses and infiltrated the Royal Palace.

In the end, his assassination succeeded—and failed. His target had only been a double, and he died under the defenders' combined assault.

But what if his target had been Hades himself?

Who knew what other strange Devil Fruit Users the World Government had at its disposal?

That was one reason Hades intended to leave the kingdom. His Observation Haki could sense emotions, but his own strength remained his greatest weakness.

The kingdom was powerful, but it was not completely safe.

More than anything, he longed for strength. The assassination had left him with a sense of danger. He needed greater pressure to grow quickly and gain real power.

Orcus.

The Royal Capital of the Kingdom of Kronos.

A research base stood in the northeastern part of the Royal Capital.

Hades came there that day to see how the research was progressing before he left the Kingdom of Kronos.

The intelligence passed to him by the Underworld Prison was incomplete. It and the Royal Academy of Sciences were separate organizations, neither subordinate to the other.

"Your Highness, you're here!"

A young researcher in a white coat greeted Hades respectfully when he saw him arrive.

Word of Hades's visit had reached the research base in advance, and someone had been assigned to wait outside.

"Let's go in and have a look." Hades gave a slight nod.

Before anyone touched it, the sealed entrance opened automatically. The camera at the door had already scanned Hades.

It had even read his iris from the image.

Hades unquestionably held the highest level of access to the entire research base.

Inside, it was another world.

Technology was everywhere. Long corridors connected laboratory after laboratory.

Firearms design and manufacture, performance testing—most of the Kingdom of Kronos's newly developed weapons came from this research base.

The base had existed before Hades founded the Royal Academy of Sciences. Since then, it had become too small to meet their research needs.

So the Kingdom of Kronos had built a larger research base elsewhere.

The old base had not been abandoned. Research, upgrades, and improvements in the manufacture of conventional weapons still took place there.

The truly important classified work—research into advanced weapons technology—had all been assigned to the new base.

Compared with that technology, sniper rifles and automatic rifles were hardly secrets. The gulf in their importance was enormous.

That did not mean the research base beneath the Royal Capital was neglected. There was simply no need to have outstanding scientists spend their time there.

Once Hades entered, no one followed him. Every scientist and researcher at the base was busy with a project.

Most of those projects were related to the important work underway at the new research base.

Compared with the advanced technology there, the weapons developed here were decidedly basic.

Anyone whose research earned recognition could take the next step and enter the more advanced base known as Heavenly God.

It brought together some of the finest scientists in the kingdom and even the world.

This research base was called Spark. The names alone made the difference clear.

They also knew that someone of Hades's standing had not come all this way just for Spark Research Base.

Hades went to the deepest part of the base, where a special room stood.

A facial scan granted him access, and the door opened.

Rows of weapons came into view, with more displayed along the walls.

Semiautomatic rifles, sniper rifles, automatic pistols, automatic rifles, machine guns, submachine guns, light machine guns, assault rifles, rocket launchers, knives of every portable design, grenades, and flashbangs.

In both his previous life and this one, Hades had wanted nothing more than an armory of his own. Now that dream had finally come true.

Most of these weapons had already been developed. A few were still conceptual models that could be made into working weapons given enough time.

But that was not why Hades had come. He only wanted to take a look.