God's Firstborn Son

-Gear City, Anaheim

To someone from modern Blue Star, this city would have looked as though it had leaped straight out of an old science-fiction film. It blended Victorian elegance with the wildness of steampunk. The scents of steam and machine oil mingled in the air, while enormous gears turned slowly, driving the heart of the entire city.

The former Mock Town had been almost entirely transformed into a steampunk city. Residents' health had been taken into account: not only were there plants throughout the urban area, but most power came from wind or tides. Most facilities that would disrupt daily life had been placed on the outskirts. As a result, the overall atmosphere was hardly gloomy; it even had a touch of fairy-tale charm.

Under the Mechanical King's rule, the living conditions and regulations governing the bustling crowds had changed considerably, but people generally lived peaceful, comfortable lives. At the very least, the crime rate was unbelievably low, something many elderly townspeople found a little hard to get used to.

Along Anaheim's central streets, the faint sound of meshing gears could be heard from the shops. Valves and gauges decorated their facades in carefully arranged patterns. As for the intricate networks of pipes, perhaps only the Mechanical King knew what they actually did.

At around eight in the morning, the shops along the street began opening one after another.

A woman with long, wavy, pale-green hair strolled down this street, where steampunk mingled with mechanical fairy-tale imagery. Behind thick, bottle-bottom glasses, her golden eyes studied the strangely designed town with interest.

Her beautiful face and tall, slender figure made passersby turn their heads involuntarily. With every step, there was a gentle swaying... and with that motion, her bangs occasionally covered her left eye. Combined with her thick glasses, it gave her an air of shy, bookish beauty.

As she continued onward, her surroundings grew increasingly bustling, until she reached an enormous clock tower. This was her destination, Anaheim's comprehensive administrative center, known simply as the Clock Tower.

"Hello... I'm Monet. I called earlier about coming in for an interview today."

The green-haired woman explained her purpose at reception. The receptionist asked her to wait a moment, then arranged for a small robot resembling a clockwork toy soldier to guide her to a small meeting room.

"Heeheehee~ Thank you~"

The robot did not seem to be one of the intelligent types she had heard about. It gave no reply, merely rattling as it returned to the lobby on its own.

After knocking and receiving permission, Monet entered a plainly furnished interview room. A female employee sat behind a large desk, wearing a warm, professional smile.

At the interviewer's gesture, Monet sat opposite her. Her long, pale-green waves fell gently over her shoulders. Maintaining an elegant posture, she rested her loosely folded hands on her knees.

"Miss Monet, twenty-three years old this year. Skilled in bartending and painting. Is that correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

The interview itself went smoothly. It posed no difficulty for her whatsoever. After all, she was an officer of the Donquixote Family's Hearts Pirates. Intelligence gathering and espionage were her professional specialties.

A little over a month earlier, Doflamingo had... received quite a scare here, one could say. In a straight fight, he did not believe Babbage was his match, but he was not certain he could defeat him either. If things truly turned ugly, he would only gain another powerful enemy.

Considering the precedent of Gild Tesoro, whatever disagreements he had with Babbage were nothing compared with his conflict with the Golden Emperor.

And those "Artificial Angels" really had intimidated Doflamingo somewhat. If their combat strength were measured in bounty terms, they would be worth around eighty million-the biggest problem was that these things were manufactured!

After some brief negotiations, Doflamingo and Babbage had officially become business partners. A regular trade route had also been established between Dressrosa and Titans.

The Donquixote Family became Titans' distributor in the New World. Various [export-model] mechanical products, mechanical prosthetics, Electromagnetic Rifles, and even Sky Island specialties were included on the trading list.

After returning to Dressrosa, Doflamingo had unhesitatingly ordered Monet to infiltrate the country as a spy. Better still if she could get close to Babbage by becoming his secretary or something similar.

"Well then, you can begin the onboarding process tomorrow. Welcome aboard."

"Heeheehee~ Thank you. We'll be colleagues starting tomorrow."

The last time Monet had worked as a spy, she had entered the royal palace as a maid and abducted Princess Viola. Before her departure, Doflamingo had emphasized the importance of this mission and told her plenty of things along the lines of "I have high hopes for you."

Utterly loyal, Monet resolved to give her all for the young master. Although she was currently only an ordinary clerk at the administrative center, she would find a way into the upper ranks, uncover this country's technological secrets, and, secondarily, investigate whether it had a stable route to Sky Island.

-Sky Island, Babylon

May 1, 1515.

For Babylon, today was a special day. Some people on Sky Island who knew the details were a little worried, but overall, the island remained immersed in joy and anticipation. The adults' conversations were gentle and full of hope-God's firstborn son was about to be born.

Over the past year and a half, Sephiroth had greatly improved most of their living standards. Those tangible benefits had indeed won the Skypieans' support for their new god. They sincerely hoped that the divine child would grow up to be a benevolent ruler as well.

Only Sephiroth himself had a few grumbles about the birth date, wondering whether his firstborn was destined to be a nuclear-powered workhorse.

Within the ancient Greek-style Temple, carefully pruned olive trees and grapevines wound around tall stone columns. Naturally, the rooms inside had undergone as much "modernization" as possible.

Outside the delivery room, Sephiroth sat on a sofa with his chin propped on his hand, his leg bouncing as his heel tapped the floor like a telegraph. The maids around him remained cautious and silent, keeping their eyes lowered.

The Birka church's finest midwife, trusted family maids, and female knight guards were all inside the delivery room.

Lilith, Laki, Conis, and the other maids waited outside the door. Everyone else involved waited in the corridor, barely daring to breathe as they awaited news.

That morning, they had still been in the Central Sixty-Four Chambers' meeting hall, discussing how to formulate policies for contact with the Blue Sea People.

In reality, the White Sea and the Blue Sea were not particularly closely connected. Only a very small number of Sky Islands had relatively safe means of access.

The so-called White Sea was not a complete, stable "ocean," either. It consisted of enormous island clouds drifting with atmospheric monsoons. The success rate for reaching Sky Island was even lower than that of the route to Fish-Man Island.

On top of that, the vast majority of Sky Islands had no mineral resources at all. Only a few local specialties held some scarcity value in the Blue Sea.

Most factions in the Blue Sea had no means of reaching Sky Island, while those capable of conquering one saw little point in doing so. Broadly speaking, Sky Island was safe.

But once a stable route based out of Titans appeared, the pressure on national defense would be another matter entirely.

Just as they were pooling ideas and proposing plans, Conis had suddenly burst in and announced that Her Highness Isabella was going into labor.

Everyone instantly abandoned their official duties and descended into a flurry of chaos. That was how they had ended up stuck waiting in the corridor.

Strictly speaking, Babylon was currently a political system combining religion with a city-state structure. The birth of God's firstborn son was indeed an extraordinary event.

"Sephi... don't worry. Bella is a Grand Knight. She's very healthy."

Lilith's own belly had begun to swell slightly. Her voice was gentle as she lightly pressed a hand against Sephiroth's bouncing leg.

What she left unsaid was that ordinary maids were present, and this behavior was rather unbecoming of a god.

"...That may be true... but I'm feeling a lot of things right now."

Dressed in his lavish archon's robes, Sephiroth certainly did not look much like a High God. He looked more like an anxious, restless young man.

"Besides, you're not as physically strong as Bella. Now that you've said that, you've doubled my worries ahead of time, hey-"

Lilith had always been rather sly beneath her sweet exterior, but pregnancy had brought a curious change in her. At Sephiroth's words, her little face flushed. Just one of her black wings slipped gently forward, blocking his view, yet with such precision that it covered only the upper half of her face. Her chin remained visible, lifted in a slightly haughty pout.

-You're far too good at this.

Who knew what the little angel Conis had imagined, but she turned into a steam engine too.

The female warrior Laki watched the three of them with clear eyes tinged with a little foolishness, utterly confused.

The maids all looked down at their toes, screaming inwardly. Some were swooning over the couple, some were rolling around in their minds, and some desperately wanted to escape.

The awkwardness did not last long. A baby's piercing cry rang out from the delivery room.

"...Quite a set of lungs."

Sephiroth smacked his lips. He had lived two lives, and never expected to accomplish, so soon after reaching adulthood in this one, what he had failed to accomplish even by the age of becoming a wizard in his last life.

A little while later, a midwife emerged and spoke respectfully.

"High God, mother and child are safe. It's a boy."

As the news spread, the quiet corridor filled with joyful conversation. The news also continued spreading throughout Sky Island.

Led by the midwife, Sephiroth and Lilith approached the bed in the inner room. Isabella looked a little pale, though a faint flush colored her cheeks. Her eyes shone with maternal love, and her smile was warm and accepting. With her face turned to one side, she watched the baby beside her shoulder, swaddled so that only his head showed.

The baby had sparse golden hair, a shade deeper than his mother's pale gold and closer to his father's reddish gold. His little face was still somewhat wrinkled, and his eyes had yet to open.

"Bella, I'm just glad you're all right."

Sephiroth himself had only just reached adulthood. He had not wanted a child so early, but Isabella's own wishes, along with numerous other considerations, had led to this day.

"Mmm, this is our child, darling♪"

-So dazzling.

He had no experience from his previous life, and in this life, Sephiroth had only come of age this year. Restraining his impulse, he leaned in gently and nuzzled Isabella's cheek with the delicate intimacy of sipping red wine.

Just then, the baby opened his eyes. They were red, just like Sephiroth's.

"...Let's name him Gilgamesh."

Kid Gil is pretty adorable, isn't he...?

Sephiroth admitted to himself that, besides the blond hair and red eyes, the May 1 birth date counted as a reason too.

As though sensing the cross-dimensional malice of his shameless father, Gil Future Yulu burst into tears.

June 10, 1515.

Monet had been working there for a month.

During that time, she had more or less figured out the basics of Titans. Its illicit industries, such as slave markets, had been eradicated.

Adult entertainment venues had been restructured as "hands-off" establishments, with no groping allowed. Private personal conduct was another matter, but both parties had to consent; coercion was forbidden. Casinos had imposed entry requirements and daily spending caps.

At first, Monet had inwardly scoffed, assuming these were merely words, until she discovered that supervision and enforcement were handled by those rigid lumps of iron-and those things really would not bend the rules.

Titans' main businesses were much the same as the projects it operated with the young master: mechanical products, mechanical prosthetics, Electromagnetic Rifles, and Sky Island specialties.

During this period, Monet had frequented steam-filled bars, prosthetics shops, weapon shops, and other establishments, dealing with all sorts of people.

The crucial "Artificial Angel" technology was kept under extremely tight secrecy. She had indirectly questioned many people with things like "What kinds of robots are there?" Yet no one had ever mentioned anything resembling Artificial Angels.

The vast majority of affairs in Titans were still handled by humans. Only the core zone and production zones were managed entirely by robots.

What frustrated her most was that Babbage rarely appeared in public, always remaining inside the Mechanical Laboratory. She had never heard of him having any human assistants, much less a position such as secretary.

Another workday arrived.

Monet changed into the Clock Tower's uniform, an outfit blending vintage British fashion with steampunk style. Her hair had been artfully woven into several small braids, adorned with tiny mechanical ornaments that gleamed faintly, as though ready to activate some unknown mechanism at any moment.

With a confident smile, Monet entered the Clock Tower's administrative hall. This was the city's nerve center, where countless streams of people and information converged every day-an ideal place to gather intelligence.

She deftly operated the vintage mechanical keyboard at the front desk, having already integrated perfectly into the city.

Using her position at reception, Monet skillfully guided every visitor: citizens, craftsmen, merchants... but no pirates. Titans generally prohibited pirates from docking unless they had special permission from the Mechanical King.

Work proceeded smoothly... on another ordinary afternoon, sunlight streamed through the administrative hall's towering glass windows and fell across Monet's intricately engineered workstation.

Monet concentrated on processing documents, her fingertips dancing across the keyboard as she considered where to get a drink after work.

It was not that she had forgotten her mission. Of course, her loyalty to the young master was boundless, but that did not prevent her from gradually beginning to enjoy life in Titans.

Just then, a small commotion arose at the entrance.

Although Monet wanted to investigate, she could not easily leave her service window for the moment, and she did not know Observation Haki (the Haki section on her official character card was blank).

Before long, amid quiet murmuring and faint gasps, the source of the commotion appeared.

Mechanical soldiers cleared a path in two columns like a ceremonial guard. Between them walked seven Skypieans. Unlike the ordinary people gasping at their wings, Monet naturally knew these people came from Sky Island.

Six of them were dressed like medieval knights and were clearly attendants. The one at their head made even Monet's breath catch.

The blond, red-eyed young man was extraordinarily handsome. For a man, his appearance could even be described as so beautiful that it bordered on uncanny.

He wore black technical clothing laden with religious motifs and an asymmetrical robe incorporating mechanical elements, beneath a white, cross-emblazoned knight's cloak and a deep-crimson military sash. Behind him spread pure-white wings far broader than those of ordinary Skypieans, while his crystalline wine-red eyes captivated the soul.

(This was added afterward.)

Regarding the original characters and the child, my personal logic went like this-

[Abilities and identity]

To get the Rumble-Rumble Fruit → the protagonist needed to start on Birka Island → I wasn't doing the whole bitter, tragic opening routine → he needed a suitable enough identity → judging from the original work, Birka should have been a religious nation → make the protagonist a Religious Holy Son.

[Original girls]

Which named characters were there in the Sky Island arc? → the Four Priests, Enel, Gan Fall, Wyper, Conis → Enel's personality was unstable → just ban him outright →

Who had administrative ability? → Gan Fall → the home base needed management storylines → every time the protagonist returned to base, he would be facing Gan Fall → that didn't seem right →

What about recruiting the others? → the timing was wrong; either their ages weren't suitable, or they couldn't be found under the circumstances at the time, or there was no way to recruit them → original characters were the only option → since they were original anyway, make them girls, otherwise it would be even more awkward.

[The child]

Not get together with the girls around him → I would inevitably get flamed → he had to get together with them → as a king, logically, he needed a child → but inevitably some people would dislike that, and it wasn't easy to write →

So could he go without a child for now? Delay it until the ending, for example? →

The story officially began in 1514 → roughly eight years until 1522 → too long → without a child, some people would inevitably call him impotent, and it wouldn't make sense either → having fewer readers was still better than getting flamed for being sexually incompetent, right? →

Could I move his transmigration later, shortening the time span and avoiding the child issue? → push his age any later and he would miss certain events → no way around it; he had to have a child.