It would not be quite accurate to say that those combat suits were essentially just cosplay costumes, since they did possess some special abilities. However, these were not combat suits in their complete form.
Judge’s research was not purely innovative either; it also had an archaeological aspect to it. The difference was that Vegapunk studied the world’s past, while Judge studied the legacy of the Vinsmoke family.
Long ago, when Germa was at its peak and controlled nearly the entirety of North Blue, such special combat suits had already existed.
However, with the passage of time and Germa’s decline, many things had been lost. The core elements remained, though, and through his research, Judge had successfully replicated quite a few of them.
It was a special kind of shape-memory alloy that possessed both the flexibility of cloth and the strength of metal, though it was not easy to manufacture.
The Wapolmetal that Wapol accidentally produced using the Munch-Munch Fruit was a metal with similar properties.
However, before Wapol began his life of wandering, this metal was still an extremely rare material, and only a handful of people had conducted similar research into it.
Although Judge’s other sons, aside from Sanji, could hardly be described as kind-hearted, no accidents occurred with Judge’s orders keeping them in line.
Among Judge’s children, however, Sanji really was just cosplaying. Germa’s combat suits inherently contained special genetic code, allowing the power of the Lineage Factor within the body to combine perfectly with the external combat suit.
The current combat suits were merely prototype children’s versions. Reiju, Niji, and the others had not fully awakened either, so the two incomplete sides happened to complement each other.
Sanji, on the other hand, was still only an ordinary person and could not use even a simplified combat suit. Had the comic strip not depicted five people, Judge would never have let Sanji come out at all.
Even now, Sanji was being kept in the rear as a mascot. His siblings all possessed superhuman physiques and had little to fear here, but Sanji did not.
After all, it was not as though Judge felt absolutely nothing for Sanji.
The distribution of the medicine brought the Amber Lead Syndrome outbreak under control. Most people received effective treatment after being injected, while a small number remained alive with the help of dialysis machines.
Even so, some still died due to their constitutions, the chaos caused by the blockade, and the lack of fresh water and food.
Furthermore, the personnel Otohime had dispatched were not merely administering injections. They also explained clearly to the locals what had truly caused the disease.
A sense of resentment toward the royal family of Flevance and the World Government began to take root across the land.
Meanwhile, Judge approached Otohime and raised a question.
“Germa is essentially a mercenary organization as well. We often handle work of a less respectable nature. Is there anything you need us to do?”
“Ryugu Kingdom has no need for mercenary services.”
Warmongers, evil army—those were some of the names associated with Germa 66. Their reputation in North Blue was hardly good, but that did not change the fact that the Germa Kingdom was an affiliated nation of the World Government.
Until it was stripped of that status, Germa still held a certain amount of influence with the World Government. Unlike the Otohime of the original timeline, who knew little about the outside world, the current Otohime had a reasonable understanding of the outside seas’ political situation.
Since North Blue was her main area of operation, she naturally knew of this “tyrant of North Blue.”
“Is that so? Once the Amber Lead Syndrome crisis is resolved, the royal family of Flevance may not be willing to abandon the land that originally belonged to them. They will certainly return and try to rule this place again.
The World Government will most likely support them as well. But if some accident were to occur on their way back… say, if they were attacked by pirates, then Flevance would become a new ownerless territory.
The living royals have people willing to support them, but the dead have no voice within the World Government. What becomes of this land would then be uncertain. Perhaps it might end up like the Deul Kingdom?”
When it came to creating maritime disasters, the Fish-Men were naturally more skilled. Judge was well aware of that. However, some matters were cleaner when entrusted to outsiders.
Judge could understand that Ryugu Kingdom wanted prestige, but he believed prestige was not all it wanted.
By Judge’s calculations, as long as the former royal family died in a plausible manner and the Heavenly Tribute issue was properly handled, Flevance could be smoothly incorporated into another nation’s territory. Fishman Island just happened to possess the ability to accomplish that.
After all, it did not matter who paid the Heavenly Tribute. As long as the money arrived, the World Government would not interfere too much.
Of course, had Judge known that Fishman Island possessed a miraculous tax-exemption period, he would not have thought that way.
Judge wanted to make it clear that he could handle certain dirty jobs that Fishman Island found inconvenient to carry out itself, thereby using the opportunity to establish ties with Ryugu Kingdom.
Otherwise, the only connection Judge could exploit was the fact that he knew Wobbegong.
“No, Mr. Judge, I believe you’ve misunderstood. We have no ulterior motives whatsoever. This is simply humanitarian aid, nothing more.”
“Is that so? Then it seems I was overthinking things.”
Since Otohime had said as much, Judge did not press the matter. However, subsequent developments unfolded much as he had predicted.
As news spread that Amber Lead Syndrome had been cured, the royal family of Flevance returned from Mariejois to Flevance some time later.
In their public statement, they continued to claim that Amber Lead Syndrome was merely an infectious disease, only now there was a specific medicine capable of treating it.
They wanted the people of Flevance to continue mining Amber Lead and hoped that Amber Lead would remain popular throughout the world, thereby preserving their wealth. To achieve that, they needed to sever any connection between the disease and Amber Lead.
“Since it can be cured now, it doesn’t matter even if they fall ill again in the future. Those peasants won’t reject the wealth brought by Amber Lead.”
Those were the words spoken by the king of Flevance before issuing the new order.
Moreover, this time, the king, who knew the truth, did not conceal it. He told the citizens that the disease only manifested after prolonged accumulation. Since the toxins had already been completely purged, even if the disease appeared again, it would be a problem for their descendants.
When the time came, they could simply undergo treatment again.
However, he overlooked the fact that many people in Flevance had lost friends and family during this massive outbreak of Amber Lead Syndrome.
It had been cured this time, but who could say what would happen next time?
No one believed the royal family’s words. The large-scale outbreak had already destroyed their trust in him.
The king of Flevance also failed to notice that after the first wave of turmoil had ended, a woman with a purple afro—or more precisely, an okama with a purple afro—had arrived in the country with a group of followers.
It was Ivankov. Having already eaten the Horm-Horm Fruit, he seemed to have discovered the true meaning of life, calling himself a Newkama and joining the ranks of the okama.
The moment the king of Flevance attempted to force all citizens to restart the Amber Lead industry, a massive rebellion erupted across the country. More accurately, it was not a rebellion, but a revolution.
It was not only the miners, doctors, and civilians working in ordinary professions.
Even the former members of the kingdom’s army refused to defend the king this time. They, too, were victims of Amber Lead Syndrome.
Only the royal family, who knew the truth, had been able to avoid contact with Amber Lead. Ordinary people had no such luxury.
With officers of the Revolutionary Army taking the lead, the Royal Palace of Flevance quickly fell.
As for the Marines…
There were indeed Marines stationed nearby. Even a warship from Marine Headquarters, personally commanded by Tsuru, was operating in the area.
However, those Marines did not come to Flevance’s aid. They had more urgent matters to handle. Doflamingo was stationed not far away, and he was their true target.
Furthermore, the Revolutionary Army had not come to seize territory. After causing a major upheaval, they did not turn Flevance into a base. They simply took the population away.
Flevance was not large to begin with. Since they had come prepared, they quickly transported everyone willing to leave with them to another location, turning Flevance into an empty city.
The royal family that had returned there was eventually killed by unknown hands, while the vacant land of Flevance was later divided among several neighbouring countries after negotiations.
The Heavenly Tribute was calculated according to population. Even if they took over an empty city, it would not increase their burden.
At this time, the other countries were not paying much attention to Flevance. In their view, this was simply the consequence of the Flevance royal family’s own failure to handle matters properly.
The so-called Revolutionary Army was nothing more than a pack of rats hiding in the sewers. They caused a commotion and then fled, incapable of accomplishing anything significant.
Had they not been lucky enough that the nearby Marines were busy pursuing Doflamingo, the rebellion would never have succeeded.
The Deul Kingdom did not interfere either. It merely took in some of the homeless refugees. After all, the current citizens of the Deul Kingdom were primarily those whom the old Deul Kingdom had once regarded as “lower-class people.”
They could deeply empathize with those who had suffered miserably due to the tyranny of the royalty, and they were willing to lend a helping hand.
Meanwhile, in Ryugu Kingdom, Nereus had two reports in his hands. One had been sent by Otohime, while the other had been written by Jinbe himself.
The two reports conveyed roughly the same message, but they differed in their attitudes toward future development. Otohime advocated slowly influencing the outside world through peaceful means and did not support the use of force unless absolutely necessary.
Jinbe, on the other hand, believed that the restrictions on using force should be loosened somewhat, otherwise things would become far too troublesome.
Nereus had just finished replying to their messages when he noticed Nanamo entering with a stack of documents, something she rarely did. Under normal circumstances, this was not the sort of work she was supposed to handle.
Amber Lead had been a product in a league of its own for years. Just as Seastone was produced only in Wano Country, all the Amber Lead raw material throughout the seas came from Flevance.
After the Flevance incident, Flevance did not side with the royal family and continue concealing the truth about Amber Lead. Instead, it disclosed everything and clearly stated that Amber Lead itself was the cause of Amber Lead Syndrome.
Artwork, fuel, tableware—Amber Lead had once become fashionable in the daily lives of nobles everywhere, and it had even been used as a seasoning.
No one knew which genius had first tasted Amber Lead, discovered its faint sweetness, and begun promoting it under the brand of “healthy sugar.”
On top of that, in order to emphasize the difference between themselves and commoners, those image-conscious royal families would even make a point of using it.
Although using Amber Lead in such ways was harmless to the body, no one dared take the risk anymore. Ryugu Kingdom and Germa Kingdom had even received messages from many countries.
They wanted nothing else, only some of the medicine that had been used to treat Amber Lead Syndrome, just as a precaution.
“So?”
“Those lunatics even dared to use Amber Lead as a seasoning. If we find some minerals from the deep sea that are uncommon in the outside world and package them properly, wouldn’t this vacant market become ours?”
“Let me guess. Tesoro’s suggestion?”
“That’s right. He really knows how to make money. If we hadn’t discovered someone like him, it would have been such a waste of talent.”
Once he found the right stage, Tesoro’s abilities gradually began to reveal themselves. They were not especially apparent in terms of combat power, but they had certainly helped Nanamo earn a great deal in profit shares.
Even Tesoro himself had never imagined that making money could be this easy.
He had tried similar things before, but it had been extremely difficult. He lacked the connections needed to smooth over the necessary hurdles, secure trade permits, or intimidate pirates and use sufficient force to protect his goods.
Never mind those complicated matters, even the gangs collecting protection money were more than Tesoro could handle.
After several attempts, he had returned to his old methods, but things were different now.
None of those were problems Tesoro needed to concern himself with. He only had to provide a practical money-making idea, and all the difficulties that had existed before would simply disappear. This gave Tesoro enormous room to display his talents.
Were it not for Stella giving Tesoro a conscience and a bottom line, he could have made even more money. After all, as long as one abandoned one’s conscience and moral principles, there were countless ways to profit on these seas.
“If you want to do it, then go ahead. You’re better at this sort of thing than I am.”
After receiving authorization, Tesoro’s side began making plans. Fishman Island was no longer the Fishman Island of the past, and its reputation in the world had changed as well.
Specialties from ten thousand metres beneath the sea were rare sights. With proper management, the idea was entirely feasible.
Meanwhile, in the first half of the Grand Line, near Alabasta, a ship flying no flag was approaching the country.
There were two people aboard with black wings growing from their backs. They were Amphitrite and Chloe. Yamato was lying on the deck nearby, looking rather unwell.
“So hot… Even the sea breeze is hot… Is this what a Summer Island is like?”
“It’s more than just a Summer Island. Most of this country is covered by desert, so even among Summer Islands, it is one of the hotter ones.”
“I’m so jealous of you…”
Looking at Chloe, who had not shed even a single drop of sweat, Yamato began envying her constitution for the umpteenth time.
Not only did she never get sick, even what she wore depended entirely on her own preferences.
Whether she wore a padded coat in the height of summer or short sleeves in the dead of winter, her body would adapt automatically.
“If it’s that hot, why don’t you just make some ice?”
“Oh, right. I almost forgot I’m a Devil Fruit user.”
After transforming into her Beast Form, Yamato quickly created an ice house beside herself, shutting out the surrounding heat.
As the ice began to melt, it absorbed the heat around it. Since the ice house had been made large enough, it practically turned into a giant air conditioner on the deck, and even the other crew members were no longer affected by the sweltering heat.
“By the way, Aunt Amphy, what did we come here for? Can you tell now?”
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