Chapter 254: Schemes and Alliances

After hearing Krell’s arrangements Charlotte Linlin kept guessing—just what was Karl up to?

It wasn’t the start of the year, nor was it any special holiday, so why hold a tea party now?

She knew Karl well. He wasn’t the type to give random orders; there had to be a reason. What she really wanted now was to hear him say it to her face.

Karl reached out and gently tapped her nose. “I knew you’d be wondering about that.”

He’d actually been considering whether or not to tell Charlotte Linlin what happened with the Heavenly King Uranus.

But it seemed that even without mentioning Uranus, she’d probably already guessed his intentions.

Wanting her support and understanding, he simply came out with it.

“On the way back, the World Government unleashed the Heavenly King Uranus against me. I managed to pull off a special move and blasted a massive hole in it, though I have no clue how long it’ll take them to repair it.”

“So, I want to use this window to raise the strength of our people to a whole new level.”

“The idea is to see if we can build up enough power to launch an assault on Mariejois before they fix Uranus.”

“That’s why I called together all our forces this time.”

“If we succeed, all the better. If not, we’ll at least get a sense of what we’re dealing with.”

“I want to find out just how much hidden strength the World Government actually has.”

Charlotte Linlin nodded as she listened, finally understanding why Karl was in such a hurry. So, one of the World Government’s trump cards had been destroyed by Karl.

She had seen for herself how terrifying Heavenly King Uranus was during the God Valley incident.

Anyone below admiral-level couldn’t hope to stand against it, and even admirals couldn’t survive repeated blasts.

She was curious about how Karl managed it, but being as shrewd as she was, she didn’t push.

Charlotte Linlin fell silent for a moment. “Since we have no way of knowing how long it’ll take them to repair Uranus…”

“We have to be ready to attack as if it’s already back online.”

“That’s the only way to limit our losses and give us the best shot at success.”

Karl had thought about this on the way back too.

He might have been helpless before, but now—with Pure Gold on their side—he just needed Vegapunk to develop stronger gene soldiers. That way he could keep testing whether Uranus had been repaired.

He paused, his tone softening. “I’ve got the matter of testing Uranus’s repair status under control.”

“But the top priority now is ramping up our own power. Without at least several dozen admiral-level fighters, there’s no way we can take on the World Government head-on.”

Charlotte Linlin blinked. “What?”

Her voice shot up, somewhere between disbelief and frustration. “Dozens of admirals? Karl, you can’t be serious! You really think the World Government has that many?”

Her shock was justified—the idea of such a massive force was staggering.

If the World Government truly had dozens of admirals, then it would take the two of them forever to gather a fighting force to match.

“Let’s plan for fifty admiral-levels, to be safe.”

Seeing the stormy look on her face, Karl hastily explained. “That doesn’t mean we have to get all fifty by ourselves. Don’t forget Pure Gold—we can…”

Karl dragged out his last word, confident that Charlotte Linlin would get what he meant.

Sure enough, she seemed to catch on. Letting out a slow breath, her expression returned to normal. “Well, yeah—if we count in people like Kaido, Golden Lion, Whitebeard, Roger… all those powerhouses as allies…”

“That’ll cover a huge gap in top combat strength.”

“Though, it’ll take a long time to pull off.”

Karl waved his hand. “Of course. We’ll have to wait for all our kids to grow up first.”

“With the Titan bloodline, even if not every child reaches admiral level, we’ll still have plenty of strong fighters.”

“All I’m hoping is that the World Government waits a few decades before launching a full-scale attack on us.”

Karl sounded deeply worried. After all, he had no idea when the World Government might finally decide to wipe them out.

Vegapunk was here, Pure Gold was here, even Skypiea and Wano were under their secret control. Some of these things no one else knew about, others their enemies already did.

But once the World Government caught their breath, they’d inevitably strike back hard. Rather than just sit and wait to be slaughtered, maybe attacking first would let them seize the initiative.

They couldn’t let the pace of the fight be set by the World Government—otherwise, they’d always be on the back foot.

Karl wondered—how was Monkey D. Dragon coming along with building the Revolutionary Army? Did he need a hand?

If the Revolutionary Army kept stirring things up, the World Government would stay occupied with trouble at home and wouldn’t focus on the New World just yet.

Karl shot a knowing look at Charlotte Linlin.

The two of them spoke in unison. “Looks like it’s time to give the World Government a little grief.”

They exchanged a grin. For the first time, their thoughts were perfectly aligned.

As long as the World Government stayed busy elsewhere, they’d have plenty of time to prepare.

“Let’s pour everything we’ve got into this!”

…

Inside the lab!

Achille’s eyes sparkled with golden stars as he looked at the precision instruments in the lab. “Wow, Krell! The research equipment here is top-notch!”

He fiddled with this and poked at that—truth be told, he’d never seen instruments so sophisticated.

For a top chemist, it was rough—he barely had a chance to upgrade his old tools before pirates overran his lab, so he was still using basic gear.

“Hey! Hey, hey!”

“Who are you? Don’t touch the equipment.”

Boom, boom, boom!

Quinn, rocking sunglasses and a cigar, strode in from the back with heavy steps that echoed with every move.

His eyes were full of disdain. People who didn’t impress him with pure tech skill always got the brush off.

And this scruffy, wild blond guy was no exception.

“Doctor Quinn, this is Dr. Achille, a brilliant chemist Karl brought back from overseas.”

Quinn’s eyes bulged out from behind his tiny sunglasses, shock plastered across his face. “Nani? Karl’s back?”

Suddenly realizing he’d blurted it out, he quickly covered his mouth with one hand, glancing around the room. “Ahem!”

“Where’s Karl now? Is he already in the lab?”

Truth be told, Quinn was thoroughly intimidated by Karl. He and Caesar never really had much value in Karl’s eyes.

These days, Karl only cared about genetic research, while Quinn and Caesar mostly worked on chemical experiments and weapon designs.