Bought a New Battleship.
It has arrived.
But now it won't start. What should I do?
I'm kind of in a hurry...
At this moment, Tsuru was a bit flustered.
It's just a ship—how could it be so hard to operate?
Then the officer explained.
Back in the days of our sailing ships, it was basically just controlling the rudder and the sails.
Yeah, no buttons at all.
But now, on one ship, when you add up all the stations, there are hundreds—maybe thousands—of buttons.
How do you even operate that?
Forget taking it out to fight.
She didn't even know how to start it, or what exactly to use to start it.
And to make things weirder, every ship's cargo hold was stuffed with Cola—more than half a hold full.
Those people from Jun Lin drink that much Cola? Aren't they worried about getting fat?
The officer kept complaining, while Tsuru remembered what Luo Lan had just told her: these battleships were powered by Cola.
At first...
She thought he was joking and even gave him a look.
"I'm just wondering, could it be that this Cola isn't for drinking, but actually the basic power source for the entire ship?"
"No way, absolutely impossible!"
The officer immediately denied it without a second thought.
What a joke—if you could actually power such a huge steel monster with Cola, he'd gladly eat dirt standing on his head!
That officer basically set a "flag" right then and there.
Tsuru sighed quietly and then pulled out her "phone bug."
Brrr brrr brrr...
"Who's this?"
"It's me!!"
"Oh, Auntie Tsuru, what's the order?"
"That training service—you know, the Devil Fruit? We'll take one!"
"Got it, coming right up!"
Luckily, when they arrived at the G1 base and just left earlier, the Danaan hadn't used the second layer of the ship's membrane yet.
So going back now wasn't a problem.
A Devil Fruit is never wasted!
Of course, Luo Lan would never leave someone here just for training. Even if he trusted Tsuru, he didn't trust the World Government.
What if the World Government arrested his people and tortured them for information?
That has nothing to do with loyalty—there are just too many ways to extract memories in this world.
So the plan stayed the same: training is fine, but a batch of people would directly follow Luo Lan, finish training, and then be sent back to Navy Headquarters.
As for those battleships? That was simple.
He'd just use other ships to tow them back.
They're going official anyway, so no need to use the Fish-Man Island route, right?
In any case, if you can get a Devil Fruit for free, why not?
As for the cannonballs...
They weren't hard to imitate, but the Navy's current technology couldn't match the quality.
Even if they managed to copy them, their performance would be much worse.
And there was a certain danger in using them.
This wasn't about whether Vegapunk was awesome or not—unless he could industrialize the entire world in no time, there was no way.
After all, they didn't have Luo Lan's modern factories or production lines.
Nor did they have Jun Lin's top-notch manufacturing talent.
So, in the end, they'd have to buy cannonballs from him.
The ship was sold to you, but whether you could use it properly was up to my mood.
---
Luo Lan returned to the G1 base.
He began a tough negotiation with Tsuru.
In the end, the Navy bought the full Jun Lin training service in exchange for a single Paramecia-type Devil Fruit.
They pulled 278 people from the G1 base—the minimum crew to operate this battleship (not full strength)—and handed them all to Luo Lan.
The agreement was to complete the training within 100 days, then send them back to Navy Headquarters.
During training, these people had to obey Jun Lin's orders completely.
Therefore...
Luo Lan proposed that these 278 people voluntarily join Jun Lin temporarily for easy management, for the duration of 100 days.
Tsuru had no objections.
After all, towing those ships back to Navy Headquarters would take at least half a month.
Not to mention, dismantling and copying them would take even longer, with no results for months.
As for having those marines temporarily join Jun Lin?
He had no problem with that either.
It was temporary, after all. Could you really expect to convert all 278 people within 100 days?
Remember, these were all loyalists personally selected by Akainu from the G1 base, with zero chance of betrayal!
Tsuru was quite confident.
With everything settled, the Navy personnel were brought on board, and Danaan once again slipped away underwater.
Behind Tsuru...
One officer was standing there looking flustered in the wind.
What had he just said?
If you could power such a huge steel monster with Cola, he'd eat dirt standing on his head?
sigh
No way...
He was a man of his word—even if only in his heart, he had to follow through.
He bit his lip.
The officer turned and walked into a cabin, closing the door behind him.
An hour later...
Tsuru sent marines to clean the battleship and enter that cabin.
They immediately frowned.
What...
Why does this cabin smell so bad? It's like a latrine!
---
Mary Geoise, the Holy Land.
Among the powers.
"Just got a message from Sengoku—The Navy and Jun Lin made a secret deal!"
"For seventeen Devil Fruits, they bought four battleships from Jun Lin!"
The curly-haired Gorosei member, Jaygarcia Saturn, tapped his cane on the ground and announced.
The other four in the room were stunned.
What the hell? The Navy made a secret deal with Jun Lin? Seventeen Devil Fruits for four battleships?
Is Sengoku crazy?
"That bastard Sengoku—has he lost his mind?"
"Seventeen Devil Fruits for four battleships?"
"He's aiding the enemy!"
The blonde Gorosei, Shepherd Ju Peter, slammed the table and shouted.
"Looks like being Fleet Admiral has gone to his head. He doesn't know who he is anymore!"
"Hmph, we should just send people to Navy Headquarters and arrest Sengoku immediately!"
The mustached Gorosei Topman Warcury and the long-bearded Gorosei, Marcus Mars, also shouted angrily.
However, the bald Gorosei Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro remained calm.
"Saturn, are those battleships really special?"
He didn't believe Sengoku would do something so reckless.
If that was true...
There was only one possibility.
These battleships were worth far more than seventeen Devil Fruits.
"That's right. These four battleships are made entirely of steel and are even larger than the Navy's current super warships. The most critical part is..."
"They're equipped with new-style naval guns and shells. The main guns have a range of 12 nautical miles. According to Sengoku, their firepower can severely damage or even kill pirates with bounties as high as 500 million berries."
"Additionally, these battleships have very fast speeds—up to four times faster than current sailing ships!"
"Everyone, do you understand what this means?"
Even at the top of power in this world, the four Gorosei gasped deeply after hearing this.
If these stats were true...
Then seventeen Devil Fruits really wasn't a bad deal.
Remember, they were the World Government, with the best scientists in the world.
Once they finished copying these battleships...
With the World Government's financial resources, they could soon produce ten or even a hundred times more battleships than Jun Lin.
At that time, pirates, revolutionary armies, Jun Lin—all would be swept into the dustbin of history.
"Sengoku did well this time. Have him escort those battleships back immediately, no mistakes allowed!"