Gusion's eyes lit up when he saw the mission—as he'd already heard the End Space's notification sounds.
[You have completed Side Quest: Fame at Sea, Stage 1 reward issued…]
[You have completed Stage 2…]
[You have completed Stage 3…]
…
The continuous notifications and the rewards appearing in his storage space left Gusion dizzy with happiness.
The mission was settled in stages, like an achievement chain in a game—claimable as you meet each goal.
With his current bounty of 790 million, he could claim up to the Random Devil Fruit Chest reward, plus all previous rewards.
He never thought that just by looking at a wanted poster, he'd instantly gain 40,000 End Coins, 4 Medium Inheritance Crystals, 6 Free Attribute Points, a special title, and a Random Devil Fruit Chest.
Except for the title (which would be finalized after returning), all the other rewards were delivered instantly. Gusion couldn't wait to open the Devil Fruit Chest.
With his doubled luck, maybe he'd pull a Mythical Zoan!
"Well done. You can go now. Report the reservoir progress to me tonight."
Gusion waved Fukurokuju off, then took out the chest.
He wasn't worried about being seen—space-exclusive chests couldn't be seen by people of the derivative world. At most, they'd just see him reaching into thin air.
Gusion rubbed his hands in anticipation and opened the chest.
[You have obtained Paramecia: Shadow-Shadow Fruit]
At first, seeing "Shadow" excited him, but when he saw it was Paramecia, his enthusiasm faded.
He checked the details: all Devil Fruits were epic-level bloodline items, giving a direct boost, but this one was underwhelming.
Its ability—turn invisible in shadows, but visible in strong light—seemed like a weaker version of the Clear-Clear Fruit.
Still, Devil Fruits' true value depends on development. Who knows, maybe on awakening it could get stronger. As a base ability, it suited assassin-type explorers, so at least it could sell.
"Not great…"
Gusion sighed. While it wasn't worthless, it was clearly less powerful than Kaido's Ancient Zoan T-Rex Fruit, and probably wouldn't fetch a high price.
Selling it wasn't the main thing. He'd hoped for a lucky pull—a powerful Mythical Zoan—so he could eat it himself to strengthen his position and plan further gains.
Even though he didn't get his dream fruit, Gusion felt better seeing the progress reports on his desk.
Now, all sectors in Wano were on track. The Numbers had dug canals connecting factories, solving pollution issues. Factories were operating, and the unemployment problem was being resolved.
At Gusion's suggestion, a central reservoir was under construction—the Numbers were unstoppable, like living construction machines.
The ancient Giants, tens of meters tall, really could move mountains. In just over two weeks, the reservoir was taking shape.
Next, they'd use the Stone-Stone Fruit to build dams and finish the project.
Speaking of Pica, the Donquixote Family officer, he'd been working in Wano with his heart in his mouth.
Pirate information security was poor; soon after Gusion had announced the closure of the Devil Fruit factory, Pica had caught wind.
He worried that his boss would be targeted by Kaido, and as a family officer in Kaido's base, he felt he couldn't escape.
But after a few weeks, Gusion just had him work—no retaliation. This made him even more uneasy, thinking Kaido was plotting something bigger.
But whatever Pica worried, he couldn't change things. In the New World, he might be strong, but in the Beasts Pirates, he was average.
Any Lead Performer could easily defeat him, so he just focused on his job.
How did Kaido really feel about Doflamingo?
After the meeting, Kaido was furious and drank heavily. If not for King stopping him, he might have flown off to deal with Doflamingo.
…
The next day, Gusion talked Kaido down, explaining that now wasn't the time to break ties.
Doflamingo was cunning but still useful to the Beasts Pirates. Even if they stopped the Devil Fruit business, and were cheated, killing him now would be pointless. Better to intimidate him and keep using his network.
Wano's weapon and seastone factories still needed Doflamingo's distribution—now wasn't the time to burn bridges.
Kaido realized this and, though annoyed, decided not to kill Doflamingo—for now.
Gusion, of course, didn't tell Pica any of this. The Donquixote Family was cruel in Dressrosa, but Gusion didn't have the energy to deal with them yet—though he could scare them.
With the Giants and Stone-Stone Fruit, the reservoir was progressing daily and should be finished by month's end.
Meanwhile, Gusion didn't let idle people sit around—he sent the jobless to work on real estate construction.
Early digging didn't use the Stone-Stone Fruit, so Gusion used available manpower, having Pica build a new city, plus lots of houses in the countryside.
Pica's powers had limits—without steel frames, the buildings weren't earthquake-proof, so only low-rise buildings could be made. High-rises risked collapse in earthquakes.
Thus, the new city had mostly low-rise houses, with a business district and some residential areas, planned as a future commercial center.
Houses in the countryside were just homes for the people, to be distributed later.
Pica could only build rough shells; finishing required lots of labor and basic furniture.
Gusion assigned unskilled people to rough work, and skilled ones to finishing and furniture.
Most houses were 90 sqm, three-bedroom units, with two beds per room.
At first, people wondered what these houses were for, and if for sale, how expensive.
But when Gusion announced yesterday that all factory workers would be assigned a free house (right to live, not to sell), the people of Wano erupted.
Suddenly, factory workers became upper class.
Many in the capital had thought factory work was dirty and menial, but now, they were all moved.
Gusion was giving so much: high wages, great benefits, and even free housing!
The new houses were stone, not wood—warmer, better sealed, sturdier, fireproof, and much better than their old shacks.
Some even larger, more comfortable houses were for managers and skilled workers.
Now, everyone wanted to join the factories—but slots were limited and requirements high.
Want to join the weapon factory? Do you know what a lathe is? Do you understand steel processing? If you know nothing, why would we hire you?
With people eager to learn skills, Gusion pointed them to a newly built technical college beside the new city, with two programs: weapon making and seastone processing.
Crude for now, Gusion thought a smarter manager could split weapon making into a dozen specialties, but he just let the old craftsmen teach.
With the success seen from factories, Kaido no longer questioned Gusion's weird projects—he trusted him completely.
The new school opened and many signed up, even with tuition. Three months of training covered all courses, costing 7 silver—recoverable in a month's factory wage.
No money? The school offered student loans and full refunds if you couldn't keep up in a month. Graduates could pay back in installments.
Gusion had set the bar low—almost anyone could attend, even beggars. Kaido might've seen that as a loss, but Gusion wasn't running this for profit—just to train the people's habits.
He couldn't let them think everything from the Beasts Pirates was free forever. Otherwise, workers would grow lazy and unmotivated.
In short, people had to see factory jobs as honorable and hard-won, so they'd study and work hard.
Coming from a modern society, Gusion disliked extreme competition, but a society with zero competition would stagnate and stop developing.
..
Time passed, and in just over two weeks, the first batch of housing was ready.
Yesterday, Gusion had just finished the ribbon-cutting for the reservoir. Normally, Yamato would've done it, but she was away visiting remote villages, so she'd asked Gusion to handle it.
With everything on track, Gusion decided to suggest something new to Kaido.
After that, he could start planning his next move in this world.