Chapter 474: Prelude to War: The Dawn of Revolution

As a huge number of troops and war machines were shipped off to Skypiea, Karl arrived alone at this massive, ever-expanding research facility.

While watching One Piece, he always wondered: why hadn’t there been any real technological breakthroughs in the past 800 years?

It made sense—the World Government stifled advanced technology to keep control of the seas.

After learning the Heavenly King Uranus was actually a sky-faring warship, his curiosity fueled a desire to start inventing. He hadn’t had long—just a few short decades to work.

Yet the array of equipment here was staggering. Although they hadn’t cracked atmospheric warships, they’d built aircraft carriers, land battleships, 99a tanks, attack helicopters, surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles, and more.

Karl had come to the research base this time with one question: had they finally developed nuclear weapons?

“Lord Karl, what brings you here in person?”

Cursed by knowledge, Vegapunk still sported that massive head as he appeared before Karl.

In recent years, thanks to Vegapunk and his handpicked team of researchers, they’d developed technology that far surpassed anything in the One Piece world.

It was only in the past three years that they shifted focus to nuclear arms. Vegapunk’s brain had nearly doubled in size to oversee the project.

“How’s the nuke coming along? Is it ready for long-range strikes against the World Government?”

Designing a nuclear weapon wasn’t too hard. Once Karl handed over everything he knew about nuclear physics, Vegapunk went all in on the project.

Nuclear reactions, explosions, and radiation were all devastating. But for Vegapunk, pulling it off was simple enough. The real hurdle was reaching targets thousands of kilometers away.

Fortunately, last year they launched several spy satellites, mapping everywhere but Mariejois by coordinates. Now, long-range strikes became a reality.

Still, nuclear physics was unpredictable. Storage was risky, so Vegapunk quickly pivoted to developing cleaner, even deadlier hydrogen bombs instead.

“Because we’re still early in the process, nuclear missiles have about a one-kilometer margin for error. But we’ve finished the hydrogen bomb—so even if it misses a bit, the fallout won’t hit our own forces.”

Vegapunk led Karl to the main lab, where walls of vibrant data flashed. He practically bounced with excitement.

“That’s what I want to hear. In seven days, we launch our assault on the World Government, so when it comes to firepower, I’m counting on you.”

War was looming. Even Karl couldn’t be sure of victory. But the hydrogen bomb—now complete—would give their side a powerful edge and tip the scales toward victory.

“So the day has finally come?”

Recently, with all the weapons rolling out, Vegapunk had sensed this was coming.

After all, short of a world war, Karl had never ordered his war factories to churn out weapons on such a massive scale.

The fifty-six islands in the Sweets Sea were going all out, amassing enough weapons to arm millions. There was no one else in the New World that could make Karl prepare like this.

“That’s right—a world of equality, justice, and the rule of law is almost here.”

“Here’s to our success!”

“Success doesn’t need my name on it, but I’ll make sure it happens!”

To keep the Navy and World Government from discovering their activities, Vegapunk unleashed a legion of clones to fill in for missing personnel. This trick would only keep them hidden for three to five days, but that was all they needed.

…

Three days later, Sengoku returned to Marineford from Mariejois with a heavy heart. Even though the World Government promised three Holy Knights would help, he had a bad feeling.

“We need to make our move before it’s too late!”

“Messenger, call everyone—meeting in the main hall!”

“Yes, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!”

Three days prior, Sengoku had already recalled admirals from the Four Seas and everywhere else, making sure the Navy Headquarters was packed to the brim with talent.

They had five admiral-level fighters, dozens of vice admirals, hundreds of rear admirals, and nearly 100,000 elite marines. Unless two of the Four Emperors showed up together, they could handle anything.

“You probably all know why I called this meeting today.”

Sitting in the grand conference room, Sengoku set down his folder and glanced at the neat ranks of officers before him.

“We’ve gathered everyone to decide the fate of Ace, Second Division Commander of Whitebeard’s Pirates—he’s to be executed.”

“What? They’re going to execute Whitebeard’s Second Division Commander?”

“Whitebeard is fiercely protective—won’t this mean an all-out attack on the execution platform?”

“No wonder everyone got called in. This is huge.”

“Word is, Blackbeard Teach is the one who turned him in.”

“That’s low, even for Blackbeard. After killing a fellow crew member, the Whitebeard Pirates hate him—but now giving up Ace lets him get rid of a rival and weaken the marines. It’s a perfect double-cross!”

“Knock, knock, knock!!”

“Everyone understands how severe the situation is. I’m making it official—in four days at noon, Ace will be executed. Nobody is to be absent, and the summons goes to all Seven Warlords. This time, Whitebeard’s crew will be wiped out in one stroke.”

“Yes, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!”

With the battle orders set, the Navy’s officers filed out in sequence. There was still a mountain of work ahead.

“Garp, I hope you remember your duty.”

“Yeah, old man knows!”

“I’m going to see that boy.”

That was his godson, after all. Garp’s heart ached, but he forced himself to be strong. He boarded his own dog-headed warship, setting out for Impel Down.

Meanwhile, a despondent Luffy and crew made it to the Sabaody Archipelago within those three days.

The whole group was numb—even arriving at the Sabaody Archipelago, no one knew what to do next.

“Hey, Johnny, Yosaku, Gin, you three, come with me.”

Zoro wasn’t one for comforting others, and the rest were deep in grief. Sanji, though, couldn’t let them go hungry, so he took the three to shop for necessities in Sabaody.

An hour later, their hands full of supplies, two young pirates started debating over a newspaper headline.

“The Navy’s actually going to execute Ace, Second Division Commander of Whitebeard’s crew.”

“Yeah. Who would’ve thought the Navy would take on the Whitebeard Pirates? They’re one of the Four Emperors of the New World!”

“Exactly. Just mentioning the Four Emperors in the New World is enough to get anyone’s attention.”

“Maybe the Whitebeard Pirates are about to attack Navy Headquarters.”

“Seriously? Even for Ace, I doubt they’d go that far.”

“Guess you don’t know—the Whitebeard Pirates fiercely protect their own, especially their Second Division Commander.”

“Hey, who’s this Ye Fan from the Straw Hat Pirates?”

“No idea, but making front-page news means he’s gotta be someone important.”