Chapter 111: Red-Haired Shanks Dumbfounded!
[Crash, crash, crash]
Large amounts of Gold and Jewels, made into various round coins, bars, or inlaid in Crowns, Swords, Necklaces, and Rings, poured out from overturned Wooden Boxes. Nearby, Loaders used their Large Shovels to continuously scoop up the overflowing Treasure and pile it back inside.
This was a large open space specifically cleared out within the Holy Land Marie Geoise, from which Pangaea Castle could be seen in the distance.
At this moment, ten Government Officials holding Visual Den Den Mushi were broadcasting the process of the 'ONE PIECE' being piled up little by little from various angles to countless Citizens in Various Places in the World. To ensure the sense of shock, they even dispatched an Ability User who had eaten the Bird-Bird Fruit to film from the air.
"..."
Silence. Everyone in front of the Projection Screens fell into a dead silence, each person staring dumbfounded at the unbelievably vast amount of Gold and Jewels on the Screen Feed.
Nearly two hours had passed, and Loaders were still holding up Large Wooden Boxes and continuously pouring out more Jewels. At this point, a dazzling golden hill of Jewels had formed on the Screen Feed.
Yet, even so, there seemed to be no sign of it ending!
However, a small number of people vaguely sensed that something was wrong. They felt that the current amount of Treasure had already exceeded the carrying capacity of two Large Cargo Ships, but they weren't entirely sure.
In fact, they were right.
The Five Elders had long thought that while the Treasure from two ships was a lot, it wasn't quite presentable enough to show to the whole world.
But they couldn't really hide all the excessively exaggerated Treasure in 'Laugh Tale' in the 'New World'. How many Cargo Ships would it take to transport it there?
Would that still serve the purpose of secrecy?
Also, what if there were too many Cargo Ships and something went wrong when the Marines transported them back? Leaving aside other things, if the Whitebeard Pirates and the BIG MOM Pirates had truly joined forces with Kaido and launched a massive attack, how many Cargo Ships could they protect?
Although the World Government had a vast fortune, they wouldn't throw most of their Treasure into the sea.
So they came up with a plan.
Only transport the Treasure from two ships there and then transport it back. This way, even if something unexpected happened and it became 'sea drift', the loss wouldn't be too great.
Then, when they Public Broadcast it for the world to see, they would simply pull out more Treasure from the Holy Land Treasury nearby, but it wouldn't appear on camera.
Wouldn't that be completely foolproof?
Even if someone stood up later to point out the inconsistencies, that little influence wouldn't be worth mentioning. They only needed to shock the majority of the Citizens.
So, how much Treasure were the Five Elders prepared to release?
Lord Imu, who was currently enjoying himself with the Citizens in the Treehouse between the Moon and watching the Live Broadcast, naturally knew the answer to this question. The specific value in money wasn't mentioned because the astronomical extent was difficult to describe with numbers.
In short, the meaning of those five people was to use Gold and Jewels to pile up a golden mountain on the other side of the river that was as tall as Pangaea Castle.
It is said that even this was less than half of the Treasury, and didn't include Meito, Devil Fruits, Banknotes, etc. The Foundation accumulated over eight hundred years was truly terrifying.
"Speaking of Treasure, I remember there were three other Great Treasure. Captain John's Treasure, a former Rocks Pirates Member, the Jewel Iceberg located on the Extreme Ice Continent, and the Golden City Shandora on Upper Yard in Sky Island..."
Im stroked his chin and pondered inwardly.
"Captain John's Treasure, I remember Marine Scholar speculated that Buggy found it and used it as Capital to establish the so-called Pirate Dispatch Company, 'Buggy Delivery'. But now everything has changed, and finding it again won't be easy."
Thinking of this, he shifted his thoughts from that to the other two places.
"Extreme Ice Continent, Chinjao's pointed head was flattened by Garp's punch six years ago, so the Treasure inside is still intact. It shouldn't be hard to find, the key is how to open it..."
Im's first thought was to send Garp there. After all, if Chinjao's pointed head could crack the Ice layer, then Garp's stronger fist could too.
But thinking about it again, it seemed a bit unreliable.
Firstly, there was his personality, and secondly, he felt that opening the Ice layer required skill. At the very least, it needed to be just enough to open the Ice layer above the Treasure. If he used too much force and smashed it directly, wouldn't everything fall down?
Right, he could send Aokiji. He is an Ice-Ice Fruit Ability User. Who could be more professional than him at controlling Ice?
Let him go quietly retrieve the Treasure, and then restore the Ice layer perfectly. He believed that when Chinjao went to see it next time, his Expression should be quite spectacular!
"It just so happens that the Marine Branch Base on Fish-Man Island hasn't been built yet. After he goes to the Extreme Ice Continent and comes back, I believe the Base will also be completed. The timing works out..."
Im made his decision and was about to pick up the Transponder Snail on the Coffee Table to call the Five Elders. As for Shandora on Sky Island, he planned to go personally.
He would just treat it as a trip to Sky Island for tourism and bring back some Specialty Product along the way. That wasn't too much, was it?
[Purupurupuru, Purupurupuru]
Unexpectedly, just as he reached out his hand, the Transponder Snail itself started ringing. He picked up the Handset and heard it say, "Lord Imu, Figarland Shanks has been sent to the Figarland Family's Manor. That Buggy is still on his way to Punk Hazard."
"Understood. Keep an eye on him, don't let that kid run off."
"Yes, Lord."
With a *plop*, the Transponder Snail closed its eyes and fell back into slumber. Im put the Handset back and took a sip of Red Wine from his Wine Glass.
Since transmigrating, he didn't know if it was due to the influence of his predecessor, but he particularly liked drinking this sweet Red Wine. Perhaps it was also because the kind he drank was the best, so the taste was especially delicious.
"Shanks..."
To be honest, he wanted to make use of this person. After all, he was a Talent, someone with the potential of a Four Emperors, and he himself had Celestial Dragon blood.
But the problem was that this kid was adopted by the Roger Pirates from a young age, and his mind and body were completely 'polluted'. He was already fifteen years old now, his Three Views had long been formed, and it would be difficult to re-educate him.
However, Roger was dead, and the Roger Pirates had disbanded, which was a good thing.
"Forget it, let's just keep him for now. Thinking carefully, his only use is in Combat Power. The future World Government will not lack this. From this perspective, he is even less useful than Buggy..."
Im coldly decided to temporarily ignore Shanks. As for whether he would completely forget about him later, leading to him being raised into a useless person, he didn't think about it.
Honestly, if he became useless, so be it. Couldn't he afford to support one person?
Unless one day, this Shanks could Wash Heart, completely accept his Identity as a Celestial Dragon, and be willing to contribute forever to the Authority of the Celestial Dragons, then he could consider cultivating him.
"Perhaps I can let Mihawk meet him as an Elite Celestial Dragon. If they can become Friends like in the original work, that wouldn't be bad."
Hehehe, indeed, as a Transmigrator, he still had a good impression of the extremely cool Red-Haired uncle. If he could help him a little, he would.
If even Mihawk couldn't make Shanks turn over a new leaf, then so be it!
On the other side, in a Luxury Villa within a Manor belonging to the Figarland Family in the Celestial Dragon Exclusive Residential Area in the Land of the Gods, Shanks sat on the Sofa with a dark Expression, staring blankly at the Clothing neatly arranged on the Coffee Table.
Celestial Dragon Attire!