One meter doesn't sound like much, but for islands out on the sea, it's basically an extinction-level disaster.
"Let's not even talk about those tiny nameless islands in our territory that don't even get counted and can't stand on their own—they're all gone, completely submerged and turned into reefs. Out of the 108 registered islands, five went under: three in Totto Land, one in Wano Country, and one in O'hara."
After beating two of the Four Emperors, Totto Land and Wano Country were turned into autonomous regions, temporarily managed by two Pirates crews, with Sage's side providing technical and administrative support. Once they got familiar with the system, they could be formally integrated into his rule.
The area around Wano Country had a total of twenty-two islands, collectively called Wano Country, but now one of them has sunk.
Totto Land had thirty-four islands, but since it's an archipelago basically forced into shape by Devil Fruit powers, the terrain was already low as hell. Once the sea level rose, three islands were just gone.
If they were simply gone, he could still live with it; the real problem is that this rise...
"I just lost one-third of my land!"
Sage said coldly, "Losing production capacity is whatever—where there are people, there's production. Losing assets is also whatever—where there are people, you can rebuild! At the end of the day it's just a matter of spending money, but..."
Bang!
He slammed the table and sprang to his feet, shouting, "My land is gone! Gone for good! Goddammit!!"
A landlord can endure anything. If tenant farmers run off, you can recruit more. If fields go fallow, you can reclaim them. If buildings collapse, you just hire people to rebuild.
The only thing he can't accept losing is the land itself!
Both in terms of resources and sheer area, this is permanent loss!
One meter of sea level—O'hara might not look too badly hit, just half a harbor flooded, but if you add everything up, he's lost one-third of his turf!
And all because of this fucking seawater!
"Nothing like this has ever happened before..."
Hawkins frowned. "Is this permanent?"
"There's no sign of it receding so far."
Lily said, "It's not just normal high tide; since it's happening everywhere, there's no such thing as receding tide. I went through all the records and couldn't find any mention of this. Maybe this really is a permanent rise."
Hawkins nodded thoughtfully. "That does sound like Water Seven..."
Seeing Sage look over, Hawkins said, "Water Seven's actually got records about this. Even though it's called the Water City now, I heard it wasn't always like this. Those canals are actually just submerged streets. If you go deeper down, you'll find all the buildings are constructed on top of older ones. The current Water Seven was built on the ruins of the original Water Seven; the real Water Seven is under the water."
"If that's the case..."
Marika froze for a moment, then said, "Wano Country is the same. That water up above is held back by a gigantic wall. I heard that deep beneath the water, there's the old Wano Country. The current Wano Country is said to be a reconstruction."
"Hmph, more than just a reconstruction..."
Sage let out a cold laugh. "Inside that tallest mountain is Pluton. The mountain top looks like a damn Cannon Platform; once it's activated, it's basically a human-sized cannon."
At that, everyone was visibly shocked.
"P–Pluton is under the sea? No wonder I couldn't find it."
Renedia's eyes went wide. "That real Ancient Weapon, Sage—why don't you use it?"
"Can't take it. We don't know how deep it is, and we don't know how to retrieve it. We do have a few Fishman under us, but so what if they can dive down there? We ourselves don't even understand what that thing is."
Sage said, "What powers it, how to turn it on, how to operate it... Reni, even if you follow the blueprints, can you reproduce it?"
"No. The tech is way too advanced. There are parts I don't even understand. Ordinary energy sources probably can't even drive that thing." Renedia shook her head.
Sage nodded and glanced around at them. "Besides, I don't need that thing. A busted Pluton... I'd rather just shell something with cannons. Blowing up islands is blowing up islands—results are what matter."
Everyone knows Pluton is in Wano Country, and Sage even knows it's hidden under the sea near Wano. But if he can't bring it up, what good is it? Instead of going through all that trouble, he might as well think about how to squeeze more taxes.
Although... that might not hold anymore!
"It's really the whole world?" Sage asked Lily again.
"If the intel's right, yes. The Underworld in the East Sea and South Sea sent reports—various levels of flooding everywhere. I issued orders for them to measure the rise; the height is also one meter. Same on our side, so the West Sea and North Sea won't have escaped either."
Lily said, "We also sent people to investigate. The source of the problem isn't in our New World; it should be somewhere in the first half."
The Grand Line is called the Grand Line, but if you strip away the Calm Belt, it's basically just the East/South and West/North distinction. At the end of the day, it's all the same ocean.
It's only because the Calm Belt has no wind and few islands, and the weather and magnetic fields can't connect, plus the Red Earth Continent cutting things off, that they talk about the Four Seas versus the Grand Line. Otherwise, if the Four Seas were connected, there'd be no "Grand Line" to speak of.
Sage pondered for a while and clicked his tongue. "Bring me the phone. Connect me to Lucci."
Lily held up a Radio Snail and dialed Lucci's number. After a short ring, the line connected.
"Sage..."
"I'm not even gonna ask you what this one-meter sea level rise is. Patch me through to the Five Elders."
Sage said darkly, "I'm in a shitty mood right now and I don't have time to bullshit with you!"
The other side went silent for a moment, then said, "Got it."
Very soon, he heard the sound of another Radio Snail dialing from that side. Once it connected, Sage went straight in: "Was this your doing?"
Even though the blame is very likely on the World Government, how they did it and what exactly it is still has to be figured out through a little chat.