Wano Country… on the outskirts of the Flower Capital.
The gigantic battleship, Pluton, floated silently a few meters above the ground.
Inside the vessel—more precisely, within its "belly"—was the energy chamber.
Luffy and Nami stood to the side, watching attentively as Franky walked back and forth, analyzing every detail of that place.
Contrary to what many might imagine…
The structure had nothing "futuristic" about it in the usual sense.
At the center of the room was nothing more than a large glass sphere, about one meter in diameter.
Around it, a dozen thick tubes connected through joints also made of glass, forming a complex and seemingly delicate system.
On the surface of the sphere…
There was a number.
0.
After a few minutes of silence, Franky scratched his head, clearly frustrated.
"I can't make sense of this at all…"
He sighed.
"I've seen the blueprints of Pluton before… but the original is completely different. The drawings don't show everything. A lot of the structure is hidden… without taking it apart, it's impossible to understand how this really works."
Luffy crossed his arms, observing.
"Is it powered by electricity?"
Franky nodded slowly.
"That's the only thing I can say for sure."
He pointed at the sphere.
"The current energy reserve is at zero. If it reaches one hundred… it'll probably be able to fire a single shot."
He fell into thought for a few seconds.
Then he turned to Luffy, a strange glint in his eyes.
"Luffy… can I take this apart?"
He paused.
"But I can't guarantee I'll be able to put it back together."
Luffy fell silent for a moment.
Then his eyes widened.
"You can't reassemble it… and you still want to take it apart?!"
Franky shrugged.
"It's the only way to understand it!"
Nami crossed her arms, looking at the machine with curiosity.
"If it runs on electricity… then I can charge it with my ability, right?"
Luffy looked at Franky.
"You can try," the cyborg replied.
He then crouched down and opened a metal panel just below the glass sphere.
Immediately, a dense network of wires appeared, all intertwined in an extremely complex manner.
"It's been eight hundred years…" Franky murmured. "The structure is aged. If too much energy is used at once… it might break."
"Break?" Nami blinked.
Franky lightly tapped the glass sphere.
"I mean… the charging system might explode."
He smiled.
"And judging by the blueprints I saw… if it explodes, it'll probably take all of Wano Country with it."
For a moment, there was silence.
Then he added calmly:
"But relax, Nami. You're a Logia. You'll be fine."
Veins popped on Nami's forehead.
She slowly turned her head… and stared at Luffy.
Luffy couldn't hold back his laughter.
"Shishishi… so, how long do you need to figure this out?"
Franky stood up quickly, energized.
"If I'm working alone… about fifteen days."
He reconsidered.
"No… one week should be enough!"
His eyes shone.
"In one week, I'll figure out how this works!"
He then tilted his head.
"But… what are you planning to do with this, Luffy? This thing… could destroy an entire island with a single shot."
Luffy shrugged.
"What else would I do? Use it as a deterrent."
He rolled his eyes.
"It's like a nuclear weapon. Its real value is in not using it."
But deep down, he knew that if he were to use it…
The target was already decided.
Mary Geoise.
One shot, and everything would be over.
"Keep studying," Luffy said, already turning away. "Let me know when you have results. Let's go, Nami."
He left Franky in the energy chamber and returned with Nami to the deck.
Nami ran a hand through her hair, small arcs of electricity sparking between the strands.
"Using electricity as an energy source…" she murmured. "Whoever built Pluton must have had access to an absurd amount of it."
Luffy raised an eyebrow.
"Hm? So what?"
Nami crossed her arms.
"Think about it… since East Blue, how many places have we visited?"
She looked directly at him.
"How many of them use electricity?"
Luffy fell silent.
She continued:
"Skypiea uses dials. Alabasta uses oil lamps. Even the Marines use fuel-powered lighthouses… fish oil, vegetable oil…"
She shook her head.
"Electricity is rare in this world."
Luffy frowned.
Now that he thought about it…
The only place where he had truly seen large-scale electrical technology was Mary Geoise.
"Seriously?" he said. "I never thought about that."
Nami smiled faintly.
"Then there's a problem here."
She pointed at Pluton.
"If this thing was built eight hundred years ago… then back then, there must have been a compatible energy source."
She took a step forward.
"And whoever hid Pluton in Wano Country probably did it with the future in mind."
"Even if someone found the weapon… they wouldn't be able to use it without energy."
She lifted her gaze.
"In other words… there must be a place with an abundance of electricity."
Her eyes shone.
"A hidden place."
"What kind of place would that be?" Luffy stayed silent for a few seconds.
Then he answered:
"Laugh Tale."
The answer came naturally.
Almost instinctively.
In the next moment, he pulled Nami by the waist and kissed her firmly.
"You're a genius!"
A power plant?
No.
Probably far more than that.
Nami didn't resist.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss as if no one else existed.
"Hehehe… so you came to that conclusion too."
A voice interrupted.
The two slowly pulled apart.
Nami blushed slightly… but didn't step back.
Luffy simply blinked, as if it were something familiar.
He had gone through something similar before.
At Amazon Lily.
"Rayleigh… what are you doing here?"
Sitting in the ship's shade, holding a small bottle of liquor, was Silvers Rayleigh.
"I heard you brought Pluton out," he said calmly. "I got curious."
He took a sip of his drink.
"We found it in the past as well… but to retrieve it, we would have had to destroy the natural barrier around it."
Luffy crossed his arms.
"With your strength, you couldn't do it?"
Rayleigh smiled faintly.
"We could. But Roger wasn't interested."
His eyes grew distant.
"At that time… he was already sick. He didn't have time for ancient weapons."
He looked back at Luffy.
"But you… are different. You need this power."
Luffy went straight to the point:
"Of the three Ancient Weapons, I already have two. And Uranus… do you know where it is?"
Rayleigh answered without hesitation:
"With the World Government."
He then ran his hand along Pluton's hull.
"Funny… I always thought it was made of steel."
He lightly tapped the dark wood.
"But it's wood."
Not just any wood.
It was the same material as the Thousand Sunny.
The legendary Treasure Tree Adam.
An extremely rare resource.
The Sunny's keel alone was worth a fortune.
And Pluton… was dozens of times larger.
Its value was simply incalculable.
"Let's go," Luffy said, turning away. "Nami, let's head back to the Flower Capital."
—
A short while later…
Sanji returned.
He went straight to Luffy.
"I went to the old prison in Udon," he said. "There was a big fight there."
He lit a cigarette.
"But I didn't find Moria. He was probably captured."
Luffy narrowed his eyes.
"Queen?"
Sanji nodded.
"He probably took him back to Onigashima."
"And Drake?"
"He must have gone with him."
Sanji slowly exhaled the smoke.
"So… what do we do now?"
He smirked.
"Do we storm the place… or knock on the door first?"
---
(End of Chapter)