Chapter 147: Dynamite Rock, Arrival
Seastone was a powerful weapon against ability users.
But its only drawback was that it was too difficult to process. Its hardness surpassing diamonds and extraordinary toughness made this stone one of the strongest natural minerals, probably only ranking below the stone used to create the Poneglyphs.
Ordinary stonemasons were completely unable to process seastone.
Even the World Government could only manage crude processing at best. Though this sounded absurd, in reality, only the craftsmen of Wano had mastered the technology for finely processing seastone.
Fish-Man Island's craftsmen would have an even harder time.
Just trying to polish natural seastone smooth might not even be achievable, let alone any fine processing.
Even if they excavated seastone ore, for it to be useful it could probably only serve as projectiles to throw at people or be carried somewhere on the body to ambush someone.
So did this mean they'd need to make a trip to Wano next to get some seastone processing technology?
That wouldn't be an easy task.
Kaido was Doflamingo's partner, and strictly speaking, his position was hostile to Brett's own.
That guy's temperament wasn't much better than Charlotte Linlin's, and his strength was even a notch above Big Mom's. If it wasn't necessary, it was better not to go stir up trouble in his territory.
Brett was already wary of the possibility of his abilities being exposed - what sense would there be in delivering himself to their doorstep?
Let it be for now. Being unable to finely process seastone didn't matter - there weren't that many ability user enemies to deal with anyway.
Moreover, in these deep seas, seastone wasn't really needed. After all, seastone was the solid form of the sea, and this place was already the depths of the sea.
After the three discussed it, their final decision was to split off a small department from the mining company specifically responsible for seastone excavation.
They didn't need too many people, because without processing capabilities they didn't need to excavate much seastone - just having a certain stockpile to ensure it could be useful at critical moments was enough.
The leader of this department was confirmed to be Mark - this could be considered Brett pulling some strings for an old friend.
When going back to sleep, Brett had some associations.
"Since seastone can be found on the seabed, could other kinds of stones be found too?"
Besides seastone, there were many other extraordinary stones in these seas.
For example, the stone used to carve Poneglyphs had strength far more exaggerated than seastone.
And for instance, the Dynamite Rock that the Marines secretly stored away - something very few people on the seas knew about.
That stuff could sink an island with just a few pieces, and with sufficient quantities, its power was comparable to Ancient Weapons!
Most critically, Dynamite Rock couldn't be exposed to air - it would explode immediately upon contact with air. So where would the production site of such stone be?
Naturally, on the seabed.
Otherwise, how could it be excavated on land?
As for the specific location, it should be near that island where the Marines stored Dynamite Rock, right? Due to fears of problems during transportation.
Otherwise, why would such important materials be stored at such an unremarkable base?
Unfortunately, he didn't know the name of that island.
He only knew it was in the New World.
But Brett thought again - just knowing it was in the New World should be enough, right?
How many large bases could the Marines have in the New World?
Moreover, that island was one of the three legendary END POINTs that could destroy the New World.
Brett was so excited he could barely sleep.
He immediately got up from bed and made a call.
"Which bastard is this?"
Soon, Tesoro's voice full of resentment came through the phone.
"Help me find a Marine base."
Brett said directly.
"Hah? Brett? Who cares, you bastard!"
Tesoro said angrily, "Don't you know to wait until tomorrow for whatever it is?"
Dressrosa was east of Fish-Man Island, so the time there was even later than Fish-Man Island's.
"This matter is very important - it concerns our future endeavors!"
Brett said.
The power of Dynamite Rock was unquestionable. If he could really stockpile a batch, it would definitely play a key role in future wars.
When the time came, he could take a batch and fly over Mariejois from above, then drop them down.
He could blow the World Government's center straight to heaven.
"You bastard really know how to cause trouble for people!"
Tesoro's annoyance at having his sleep disturbed gradually calmed. "Speak up, what base?"
"I don't know the specific name of the base, but do you know about the END POINTs? That base is one of them," Brett said.
"Hah? END POINT?"
Tesoro was momentarily stunned. "Are you joking, Brett? That's just an ethereal legend, isn't it? How could such things exist?"
END POINT was a legend that had circulated in the New World for many years.
Legend had it that if those three islands were destroyed, the entire New World would be annihilated.
"No, it's actually real."
Brett said seriously. "Those three islands are all at key convergence points of the New World's underground magma. If the three islands are blown up, the entire New World will face an unprecedented super volcanic eruption, and everyone might be cooked alive."
"B-Brett, are you being serious?"
Even through the Den Den Mushi, Brett could hear Tesoro's anxiety.
He lived in the New World, after all.
"I'm not joking at all. Please help me look for it - it's very important."
Brett said.
"Even without you saying so, I'll go look. Three islands that can destroy the New World - of course I need to confirm their status!"
Tesoro's voice was low.
He was currently living on top of a pile of powder kegs. Though he couldn't throw all the powder kegs away, at least he should confirm the condition of the fuses.
"Anyway, I'm counting on you."
After ending the call with Tesoro, Brett let out a long sigh of relief.
If everything went smoothly, by the time of the decisive battle with the World Government, his side would have at minimum Poseidon, Pluton, plus Dynamite Rock comparable to Ancient Weapons.
He couldn't imagine how to lose.
Unless that Lord Imu truly possessed power that single-handedly surpassed Ancient Weapons.
No matter what, everything was developing toward better goals.
Over the next few days, Brett focused his work on seastone excavation.
Mark and those previous miners were all assigned to the new department, and that mine shaft was put in a semi-sealed state. Though entry wasn't prohibited, when scheduling shifts they would try to keep miners away from that area.
After that, formal excavation work began.
Seastone mines were similar to diamond mines, mixed within rock layers, so although seastone had extremely high strength, excavation wasn't too difficult.
The excavated seastone used separate transport channels. Brett specifically transferred a squadron from the Immigration Bureau to be responsible for this. Every day after seastone was excavated, it would be sent to a newly built underwater warehouse in the industrial district for storage. They didn't use bubble isolation to prevent human observation.
While Brett was busy with these matters, he didn't know that a certain guy had quietly arrived at Fish-Man Island aboard a merchant ship.
"Mama, I will figure out the situation on this island!"
This man who had no reputation whatsoever on these seas had come carrying Charlotte Linlin's mission.
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