Rosen didn't answer Robin directly. Some things were simply better left unexplained. What surprised him more, however, was the battle between Hathaway and Moris—it had gone far beyond his expectations.
The two of them were truly evenly matched. They had been fighting for over four hours now without a clear victor.
Meanwhile, Rosen had taken Robin and the others to eat and drink their fill. At the same time, he exchanged most of their gold for cash, nearly emptying Paradise's reserves.
After all, he had exchanged a staggering three billion berries. Ordinary towns or islands could never handle such a massive amount of gold. Paradise was one of the few places that could.
Since gold was a hard currency and paper money could be unreliable or easily damaged, Rosen didn't convert everything. Even so, the head of Paradise's gold bank was grinning from ear to ear.
He had never dealt with such a huge client before. He himself was one of Tezoro's gold collectors outside, and because Tezoro was an awakened user of the Gold-Gold Fruit, he had a pathological obsession with both money and gold.
His past had been tragic, and in the end, he blamed it all on poverty.
"Lord Crocodile, our master Tezoro is very pleased. He will be arriving in Paradise tomorrow and cordially invites you to tomorrow night's banquet," the banker said respectfully.
Because tens of billions in cash were involved, Tezoro had to coordinate with other businesses in Paradise to pool the funds together. A single bank alone couldn't possibly cover it.
"If I have time, I'll attend." Rosen didn't commit. He disliked such banquets. Every time he had attended one in the past, something had gone wrong, and he had never once enjoyed the atmosphere.
So he wouldn't agree. Besides, he had no real connection with Tezoro, nor any reason to.
Paradise, Imperial Dragon Hotel.
Rosen rented out the entire hotel for his crew, letting them stay and indulge freely. They weren't short on money now, and with wealth came the chance to live richly.
Especially since they had recently lost comrades, the crew's nerves had been tightly wound. Some relaxation was necessary.
After all, another conflict was just around the corner. It wouldn't be a head-on battle, but it required careful planning—and runners to carry out errands.
"Enel, Robin, what do you think? Can this be built?" Robin had indeed given Rosen a huge surprise.
Especially since she and the others had managed to leave no loose ends, Rosen had made up his mind—Pluton would be built.
Inside the hotel's conference room, Enel extended his Mantra, even knocking out several agents who were secretly monitoring from the floor above.
Though Paradise was large, Enel's Mantra could still cover the entire island. And Pluton was something no one else could be allowed to know about.
Only a select few were present for the planning: Robin, Daz Bones, Enel, Valentine, Mr. 5, Miggs, Liya, and Natalie, who was absentmindedly leaning on the window, staring at the scenery.
Natalie had simply wandered in.
Robin had just tried to explain the Pluton blueprints to Enel. But because they were annotated with encrypted Poneglyph text and ancient script, the average person—even with the diagrams—could only reproduce the outward form. Subtle differences in wording were beyond ordinary translation.
"Incredible! This thing is no worse than my Ark—no, it's even stronger! The propulsion system is precise and flawless. I can't believe the ancients built warships this advanced!" Enel, once again the mechanic, looked at the plans with shining eyes.
"Can it be built?" Rosen asked, trying to cut through his excitement. It was good that Enel had regained his spirit, but he needed a straight answer.
"Yes. As long as the materials are sufficient. My thunder metallurgy can handle most precision parts, but some resources are rare. This design calls for massive amounts of Seastone and rare metals—dark gold, platinum… what even are these? I've never heard of them." Enel clutched the blueprints like a treasure.
His Ark had just been destroyed, and now he desperately needed something new to fill the void.
"I've seen those before, back on Lantis Island. I know what they look like." Natalie perked up at the names. Pirates who came to Lantis had often sought out such rare metals.
"Seastone isn't hard. With money, we can buy it. Let Xia handle that—she's a merchant," Rosen added.
That meant with enough money and materials, they really could construct Pluton—the weapon the ancients had called a god.
"We can't build it here in Paradise. Too many eyes. Once we seize a coastal stronghold, we'll build our base there. But the materials can be ordered in advance. How much will it cost?" Rosen asked, already thinking of Xia for assistance.
"Based on Blue Sea prices, just the raw materials will be about ten billion berries. The more hands, the faster the construction," Enel estimated.
Robin and the others were stunned. That was just the cost of materials—no labor. But then they remembered: a weapon said to be able to wipe out an island in a single strike was never going to come cheap.
"As for manpower, I can reach out to Alice directly, in the name of the Queen or Regent, and summon Lantis warriors. You mentioned war before—this would also require an army to control the battlefield," Liya added.
"Then it's settled. Enel, Natalie, take a few crew members and start collecting materials here in Paradise and on nearby islands. I'll arrange warehouses through the merchants to store them temporarily," Rosen ordered.
"Fine," Enel replied calmly.
"Yay, I can go out and play!" Natalie grinned.
"Daz Bones, Mr. 5, you two head to the royal fortress. Stay hidden and observe the nobles and the situation there. Outside intelligence is useful, but not always timely or accurate. The Andia Kingdom strictly controls communication, but I'll give you contact points with the Yordle and AKS merchant guilds—they can handle it."
"Understood."
"Liya, summon a group of Lantis warriors. Have them disguise themselves as merchant crews. I'll secure the permits." With Moris and Xia's guilds cooperating, what would normally be difficult had become much easier.
"Valentine, you and Hathaway will go to the Andia Kingdom's Iron City. Track a man named Raymond. Be cautious—there's a high chance of a fight," Rosen warned.
Raymond didn't seem like someone easy to handle, which was why Hathaway, their second strongest fighter, had to go.
"Robin, get ready. We're heading to Valos Fortress."
"Alright, Boss." Robin nodded with a smile.
"If anything goes wrong, survival comes first. Forget everything else. Is that clear?" Rosen gave one last reminder.
"Clear!" everyone responded in unison.
The plan was now set: quietly seize control of the Andia Kingdom, turning it into the foundation for both Lantis's growth and the construction of Pluton.
(End of Chapter)