Chapter 297: Storm Over the Skies: The Scramble for Rare Metals

Gan Fall had just returned to Skypiea and barely had time to rest before this news reached him. He hadn’t even warmed his seat yet.

The member assigned to deliver the documents watched Gan Fall’s furrowed brow, and cautiously reminded him.

“Lord Gan Fall, we’re on Skypiea now. If we want to gather those ores, we’ll have to go down to the sea surface.”

“If the Navy discovers us…”

That was indeed a problem. The Navy already suspected that Karl had a mobile island at his disposal.

If word got out, Gan Fall and his people simply didn’t have the strength to protect this floating island from being taken.

But these orders came directly from Karl. They couldn’t just refuse to follow them.

Gan Fall thought carefully about what would happen if he failed. His tone grew solemn.

“These are Lord Karl’s direct orders.”

“I don’t care about the data, and I don’t want to see any casualties.”

“What I need you to do now is gather all the ores and seastone as quickly as possible. Waste no time.”

A small-scale collection could work, but Karl’s instructions were that not even a single piece could be allowed to slip through the cracks. That meant they’d have to use Skypiea’s unique mobility.

If they had to ask Karl for every single strategic decision, what use were they?

He couldn’t let Karl see him as incompetent.

Probably thinking about Skypiea’s ability to rise and fall being discovered by the Navy, he added a point.

“Skypiea is just a relay point, not a ship. Don’t treat it like one. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Meanwhile, Government procurement officers noticed the output of these ores had drastically dropped. They immediately reported the news to Kahwa.

At first, Kahwa only received reports from the first half of the Grand Line.

“Why has the production of Alabasta’s sand crystal plummeted?”

Sand crystal was a unique specialty of Alabasta, but the locals and royal family never knew its true value.

It was extremely fragile, yet possessed extraordinary conductivity.

With Alabasta’s level of technology, there was no way for them to discover the crystal’s real purpose.

“It’s because other teams are collecting it too.”

“That’s caused our output these past two days to drop significantly.”

Kahwa frowned. Who would bother collecting this stuff that nobody wanted?

In Alabasta, sand crystal was nothing more than a child’s toy—a curiosity, barely circulating on the market. A handful of merchants, all working for the World Government, bought them cheaply.

“What do they even want with this stuff?”

“Would they even know how to use it?”

Bang!

The doors burst open as another messenger dashed in.

He saluted and then began reading from the documents in his hand.

“Reporting to Lord Kahwa!”

“The tungsten steel from East Blue has also seen a massive drop in yield.”

“It’s even less than a tenth of what we brought in a few days ago.”

Kahwa had just opened his mouth to reply.

Then several more intelligence officers crowded into the entrance.

“West Blue’s output…”

“North Blue…”

“South Blue…”

Kahwa instantly sensed something unusual. Clearly, another power was interfering.

“Leave the documents here. You can all go.”

Once the intelligence officers left, Kahwa immediately called the Five Elders.

The call was brief and left only two directives.

First, investigate which forces are secretly buying up these materials.

Second, by any means necessary, ensure the World Government receives enough raw materials.

The deeper secrets behind this, he didn’t bother explaining. These were vital for building their trump cards.

The fewer people who knew, the lower the risk of exposure.

At the same time, in East Blue, the Batoia family’s mafia boss stood at the port, staring at another ship loaded with tungsten steel, a look of disbelief on his face.

Acquiring tungsten steel itself wasn’t difficult—the trouble was, they were spending only their own family’s fortune.

Who could have guessed the East Blue’s tungsten steel supply was so vast? Even after spending over a billion berries, they managed to buy only seventy percent of the total output.

The order he got was crystal clear—not a single piece of tungsten steel was allowed to fall into the World Government’s hands.

And to keep things hidden, they couldn’t just attack the World Government’s ships whenever they felt like it.

“Boss, we’re almost out of funds at home.”

“What are we supposed to do next…”

“Get these shipments out of here first.”

“As for the money, that’ll be sorted out soon.”

He needed to put his men at ease, and truthfully, to calm his own nerves as well.

His subordinate wasn’t worried, seeing the boss’s confident demeanor. He turned and left.

The Batoia boss immediately called Krell. On the line, he learned that all the funds for the tungsten steel would be handled by Cake Island.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

With a solid backing, gathering up the materials no longer felt like walking on thin ice.

But just as the first shipment of tungsten steel went smoothly, the second was stopped by a ship from the World Government as soon as it hit open water.

The Batoia boss sped across the open sea in a small boat.

On board the tungsten steel ship, World Government officers were already negotiating with his men.

“This batch of goods is now under World Government jurisdiction.”

“You must follow these orders. If you don’t, don’t blame us for what happens next…”

Dozens of World Government agents in crisp white suits stood guard over the entire vessel.

“You sure have some nerve, World Government. You just waltz in and claim the shipment! Who’s paying for this? You think you can just take it for free?”

“Besides, even if you had the money, I wouldn’t sell. What are you going to do about it?”

The lead subordinate eyed the dozens of World Government men.

But deep down, he wasn’t worried in the slightest.

If he weren’t waiting for the boss to arrive, he’d have tossed these guys into the sea as shark food.

The two sides were deadlocked. Nobody wanted a direct fight—neither the World Government nor the Batoia clan.

The Batoia family ran the entire East Blue underground.

And right now, what the World Government needed most was calm and secrecy. If the situation blew up, getting these materials later would be even trickier.

That didn’t fit their plan. Otherwise, they would’ve crushed these mafia types ages ago.

As soon as the Batoia boss boarded, he overheard voices from both sides.

He quickly forced a laugh to lighten the tension.

“Let’s all calm down. There’s got to be a peaceful way to settle this.”

He smoothly slid between his man and the World Government agent, offering a handshake.

“My people were out of line.”

“Please accept my apologies on their behalf.”

“But can I ask, what exactly is the World Government after by doing this?”

The agent, wearing white gloves, shook his hand.

“Orders from higher up.”

“That’s all I can reveal.”

After letting go, the Batoia boss’s expression changed for a moment. “Can’t believe it takes the World Government itself to show up for a shipment of tungsten steel.”

“But this shipment is meant for people in the New World.”

“You wouldn’t want the flames of war spilling into East Blue, would you?”

With such a huge shipment, there was no way to cover their tracks. Sooner or later, the World Government would learn where it ended up.

Rather than pretend ignorance, it was better to lay his cards right on the table.