Floating Island. Akatsuki Organization Headquarters.
After Iceberg and his foremen were "invited" to the Floating Island, Reynolds always treated them with courtesy and did not restrict their freedom.
Except for a few important areas designated by Pain that they couldn't enter, Iceberg and the others were allowed to visit other parts of the Floating Island freely.
Although Iceberg felt the Akatsuki Organization's hospitality, he was still very uneasy. Iceberg knew that the Akatsuki Organization's goal was to have his subordinates build the Battleship Pluton.
But Iceberg was helpless because it was currently impossible to build the Battleship Pluton. The pluton battleship couldn't be built just because they had the Materials and blueprints.
"Mr. Iceberg, this is our first meeting."
"I am Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki Organization."
"I believe Mr. Iceberg knows the purpose of our invitation for him to come to the island."
Pain introduced himself to Iceberg to facilitate their upcoming conversation.
"Pain, there's one thing I must tell you truthfully."
"Even if you now possess the battleship blueprints and Materials, we currently have no way to build the Ancient Weapon Pluton."
"Because another necessary condition has already disappeared."
"That is, only my master Tom's shipbuilding dock on Junk Island had the conditions to build the Battleship Pluton."
"Now, it has been submerged by seawater as the foundation sank."
Iceberg patiently explained the reasons to Pain, hoping Pain would understand their difficulties and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.
"He's telling the truth, Pain."
Oden walked in from outside the door, confirming Iceberg's answer.
"The pluton battleship must be built with special tools from the old shipyard, a Legacy passed down through generations in Water 7; otherwise, the Material segmentation would be a huge problem."
Oden knew the conditions for building the Battleship Pluton, so he affirmed Iceberg's words and added some information that Iceberg had not disclosed.
It was Iceberg's first time meeting Kozuki Oden, and Iceberg was very surprised why an outsider would understand the Legacy of Water 7.
This information had always been known only to the previous generation's closed-door Disciple. Unsure where an outsider obtained it, Iceberg politely asked for the person's name.
Oden also gave a simple self-introduction and mentioned the Kozuki Family of Wano Country, which made Iceberg suddenly understand.
Iceberg's ancestors and Oden's ancestors had connections 800 years ago. The complete blueprints and secrets about Pluton at that time were handed over by Iceberg's ancestors to Oden's ancestors to be carved into poneglyphs and scattered across the world.
Iceberg's ancestors, on the other hand, passed down the method and blueprints for building the Ancient Battleship Pluton for generations, until the blueprints were reluctantly burned in Franky's hands.
"So it's Mr. Oden. Now I finally understand the source of the blueprints."
"You already understand the current situation. Since the battleship can no longer be built,"
"Please send us back. My subordinates will be very anxious after such a long delay, and there are many pending matters. I hope you understand."
Iceberg was eager to return home now and no longer wanted to stay on Sky Island. He wanted to return to Water 7 to deal with the matters that had accumulated due to long-term neglect.
"Mr. Iceberg, do you think you can return safely now?"
After listening to Iceberg's and Oden's explanations, Pain understood that the plan to find a quiet place to build the Battleship Pluton would not work.
Pain actually wasn't very optimistic about the Ancient Weapon Pluton. Pain believed that no matter how strong these things were, they were merely external objects, and the help from external objects was ultimately limited.
In Pain's view, the Ancient Weapon Pluton was an expendable existence; it wasn't necessarily crucial to build it. However, this was Oden's dream and Pain's promise to Oden for joining the organization, so Pain had to help Oden fulfill it.
Iceberg fell silent in the face of Pain's question, unsure how to answer.
Iceberg was a smart man, and he understood the meaning of Pain's question. This was not a threat but a fact.
The struggle between the Akatsuki Organization and the World Government had not yet yielded a result, and returning now might still lead to being controlled by the World Government.
This put Iceberg in a dilemma: returning meant implicitly accepting the World Government's control, while not returning meant accepting the Akatsuki Organization's "protection."
There were only these two choices, and no matter which one he chose, it was a trap. This was the consequence of lacking strength, only able to survive in the cracks between various forces.
Fortunately, the Akatsuki Organization's attitude towards Iceberg and the others was relatively gentle, which greatly reduced Iceberg's unease.
"You understand the current situation, and I can also tell the World Government people this way, which can also make them give up, right?"
"Does Mr. Iceberg really naively believe that this can solve the problem?"
This time, Oden raised the question, because Oden could not give up on building the Battleship Pluton, nor could he allow Iceberg to fall into the hands of the World Government.
Iceberg chose to remain silent, but Pain thought of a solution.
"You said the important tools for building the battleship have sunk on Junk Island. How deep are they buried by the seawater?"
"Water Seven is hit by the 'Water God' every year, so it gets submerged by the sea once a year."
"Each submersion causes the foundation of Water Seven to sink by about five meters."
"Five years have passed since the old shipyard on Junk Island sank..."
"According to this calculation, it would be about twenty-five meters."
Iceberg answered Pain's question truthfully, not wanting to hide anything.
"Twenty-five meters, huh?"
"If we use Super Chibaku Tensei to suck away the seawater from where the old shipyard on Junk Island sank... and then add Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit ability to make the old shipyard float, I wonder if that would work..."
Pain pondered the feasibility of this matter in his mind, also considering the possibility of attracting a Marine encirclement due to the large commotion.
Thinking of this, Pain gathered everyone and proposed his idea from earlier to them for reference, to see if anyone had good suggestions to offer.
"Pain, after you use your ability to suck away a large amount of seawater, I can also use my ability to float away some seawater, but what I'm afraid of is the endless inflow of seawater."
"Once the seawater flows in endlessly, I won't be able to reach the sunken old shipyard to make it float, and then all our efforts will be in vain."
Golden Lion understood Pain's plan and then offered his opinion.
"I have a way to solve the problem of seawater backflow."
"Capture the person with the Space Fruit ability in the CP0 organization."
"Have Pain strip him of his Devil Fruit ability, then find someone to consume it. Through the Space ability, a spatial barrier can be formed near the sunken old shipyard to prevent seawater from flowing back in."
Konan had fought Nero before and knew the power of the Space Fruit. She also knew that the Space Fruit could definitely form a spatial barrier, so she proposed this plan.
Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard Konan's suggestion. For now, this seemed like the best solution.
But how to capture Nero became the primary concern for Pain and the others.
Pain had already subdued Nero last time and intended to take him, not even activating Rain Tiger at Will Technique to conserve Chakra, which led to Kizaru's successful sneak attack and their eventual forced retreat.
Now, it would not be easy to capture someone from CP0 again. Both sides had already squared off and fought. Lucci and the others already knew Pain's power and certainly wouldn't blindly attack again, causing unnecessary casualties.
Unless Pain decided to lead people to attack Enies Lobby, only then might it be possible to capture Nero, but the World Government's reinforcements would arrive quickly, and if they delayed too long, they would face an encirclement by the World Government.
Iceberg couldn't help, and he now understood that only staying on the Floating Island was safe. He just hoped that someone would go to Water 7 to inform Iceberg's secretary of his safety and arrange the matters Iceberg had entrusted.
But Iceberg knew it wasn't the right time to speak and chose to remain silent.
For a time, everyone fell into contemplation again... To be continued...