A few days later, the kings or envoys of various kingdoms gathered one after another in Mary Geoise.
The Holy Land of Pangaea Castle, which had seemed somewhat desolate after the fall of the Celestial Dragons, became lively again.
In the Room of Authority, Roya sat on the sofa with Whitebeard, the Pirate Empress, and Kozuki Hiyori, discussing the matter of the extraterrestrial Harvesters.
The original masters of this grand hall, the Five Elders, now stood respectfully to the side, ready to follow orders at any moment.
Roya had already shared the information on the alien Harvesters with the others.
Kozuki Hiyori spoke with concern:
"SeasStone is the strategic resource they are most desperate to plunder, but it's also the only physical substance that can effectively harm them.
Should I return and reopen the SeasStone workshops, and resume accelerating the mining and forging of SeasStone weapons?"
Roya shook his head.
"Our conventional forces are nowhere near their match, so the more SeasStone we have, the more it will work against us."
Whitebeard's expression was equally grim.
"If Devil Fruits are the source of that black slime… once war breaks out, our top combatants might instantly mutate into the Harvesters' powerful enforcers and tools."
Roya looked at him.
"That's exactly what I'm most worried about. Which is why I plan to call upon all Devil Fruit users around the world to undergo the defruitization surgery as soon as possible.
Only thing is, that procedure can't begin until Vegapunk finishes solving the problem with his own body."
The Pirate Empress frowned.
"The entire world reveres Devil Fruits. On the black market, they're worth more than gold. Trying to get people beyond our sphere of influence to obediently give up their hard-won powers… that's as hard as reaching the heavens."
Roya was silent for a moment, then said:
"In a crisis like this, we can't afford to care about that. I'm preparing to authorize the Navy to use the Buster Call without limit."
At these words, the Five Elders couldn't help exchanging glances, for they knew better than anyone the terrible nature of the Buster Call.
Every Buster Call issued inevitably claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands.
If used without restraint, it would be nothing short of a species-wide genocide on a global scale.
Yet, beyond this, the Five Elders could think of no better way to deal with the Devil Fruit problem.
After all, there would always be selfish people who believed the World Government and Roya were merely fearmongering for their own gain, using terror to deceive and oppress others into surrendering their hard-earned Devil Fruit powers.
Once the alien Harvesters descended, these very people would undoubtedly be the first to mutate into the enemy's vanguard.
By then, the number of innocent lives lost at their hands would be no less than the current casualties under the Buster Call—and perhaps even worse, since those deaths would directly provide vital life-matter to the enemy.
More importantly, the deaths now would at least not result in such a severe resourcing of the enemy.
The Five Elders exchanged another look, and the one in the black flat-topped hat was about to agree to this harsh course of action that would be so damaging to Roya's reputation—
—but Roya continued:
"Of course, before executing a Buster Call, the Navy must first give civilians ample time to evacuate, then use SeasStone to carry out strict screenings. We absolutely cannot allow any Devil Fruit users to slip through."
Only then did the Five Elders realize that Roya's so-called 'unlimited use of the Buster Call' was merely a threat to force compliance with mandatory screening—not an actual plan for wholesale slaughter.
Relieved, they also felt a twinge of shame.
After all, they had genuinely been ready to carry out mass Buster Calls.
At that moment, the Revolutionary Army's leader, Dragon, entered the Room of Authority, personally escorted by Rob Lucci.
After a brief exchange of greetings, Dragon got straight to the point:
"Lord Roya, I already have a full understanding of the current situation through Father God.
Therefore, I volunteer to serve as Dr. Vegapunk's test subject, so he can more quickly develop a viable method of merging Devil Fruits with the primal essence of life.
That research should also greatly accelerate the process of removing Devil Fruits, shouldn't it?"
Roya couldn't help a quiet sigh. Humanity's individual traits might not be the strongest among civilizations, but what made them creators of so many worlds was precisely this enduring spirit of self-sacrifice and courage.
The others also understood the significance and consequences of Dragon's voluntary offering, and all gave him their deepest respect.
Dragon, a little embarrassed, went on:
"I just hope, Lord Roya, that you can promise me—before the transformation method is perfected—don't use it on Luffy or Ace and the other youngsters."
Roya nodded solemnly.
"Rest assured. Unless we all fall in battle—unless we reach the very last moment of utter exhaustion—I will never send them onto the battlefield.
The young ones of the Hidden Name Clan are not only humanity's seeds, but also the sparks of the Star Spirits.
Unless there's truly no other choice, I will never throw them into this inevitably brutal and desperate war."
Before he finished speaking, a hearty laugh rang out from the entrance of the hall.
Everyone looked up to see Kaido and Charlotte Linlin entering together.
Kaido laughed:
"Brother Roya! Last time, it was thanks to you that I realized just how stuck in my ways and deluded I'd been. Now that we have an external enemy to fight, how could I not lend the Hundred Beasts Kaido's strength?!"
Whitebeard immediately mocked him without mercy:
"Why don't you go find the muscles you've lost first! And don't forget—we old folks who rely on Devil Fruit powers might end up being more trouble than help!"
Kaido laughed heartily and patted his still shockingly thin chest.
"To tell the truth, my Devil Fruit power's been completely drained away by that brat Momonosuke.
Right now, Kaido's nothing more than an ordinary man with a body that's still fairly sturdy!"
He then turned to Roya:
"I'm a ready-made specimen. That should help that bastard Vegapunk speed up his research into removing Devil Fruits, shouldn't it?"
Speak of Vegapunk, and Vegapunk appears.
This time, he finally removed the black hooded cloak he never parted with, entering the Room of Authority in a form no different from an ordinary human.
Seeing him like this, Roya's heart leapt with joy.
Vegapunk had completed reverse integration—merging the low-level AI that had been built into his body into his own consciousness—thus achieving full Mechanical Ascension!
Now, even his head had been entirely purged of flesh, his whole body composed of alien biometal.
His consciousness now existed as particle energy, stored and nurtured within this immortal, indestructible body.
By deliberate control, he had discarded the alien Harvesters' ghastly green-flame skeleton appearance, and looked no different from an ordinary person.
Pls drop some power stones supper me at my
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