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“The new master?” The leading man’s expression changed as he spoke in shock.
“That’s right. As the new master of Upper Yard, I’ve decided to give you a gift.” Kojin said with a smile.
The Shandian squad looked at one another, unsure of what the man who had suddenly appeared was trying to do.
“What gift?” The tall, thin leader asked.
“Go back and inform your people. From this moment onward, you Shandians may return to live in your homeland.”
Lightning flickered around Kojin’s body. The blinding light forced every member of the Shandian squad to shut their eyes.
When they opened their eyes again, the man had already vanished.
“Who exactly was that guy?” The Shandian squad looked astonished.
They were still skeptical about what he had said.
The war between the Shandians and the natives of Skypiea had lasted four hundred years, and most of the time, the Shandians were at a disadvantage.
In the end, they were forced to hide in their Hidden Village.
“What if what he said was true?” One of them whispered.
“Whether it’s true or not, we’ll know if we try,” The tall leader replied in a deep voice.
Soon, they encountered a God’s Shrine Guard patrol in the forest. Both sides stared at each other cautiously, but neither attacked immediately.
“Shandians! Our war is over!” Suddenly, the commander of the Shrine Guards spoke in a deep voice.
The Shandian squad looked puzzled, waiting for an explanation.
“You must have noticed the group of Blue Sea dwellers that entered Upper Yard earlier. Their leader is extremely powerful and has already forced God Gan Fall to submit. He is now the new god here.” The commander of the shrine guards sighed.
“He ordered us to inform you. From this moment on, you may enter this place again.”
He paused, his expression difficult to read.
“The war between us… that lasted four hundred years… Is over.”
The Shandians’ bodies trembled slightly in disbelief. Then, an indescribable emotion rose in their hearts.
Four hundred years.
Such a long span of time.
How many ancestors had died in wars between the two sides?
Yet today, the war had suddenly ended.
“The master of Upper Yard… the lord of Skypiea… Just who exactly is that man?”
The Shandians were intensely curious about the mysterious figure who had appeared earlier.
Meanwhile…
Kojin stepped down from the massive vine tree, holding the enormous Golden Bell in his hands. The enormous bell was cast entirely from gold and had a smooth surface without a single scratch. It was preserved perfectly and could practically be called a work of art.
“Leader, I’ve never seen such an enormous amount of gold in my life! This place is filled with the aura of history. It reminds me of the fairy tales sailors often talk about,” Capone Bege said in shock.
After exploring the ruins, he was completely stunned.
Beneath the ruins and layers of dust were countless treasures: gold, artwork, jewelry, so many that they were impossible to count.
He had even seen gigantic golden pillars.
They seemed to be the pillars that once supported a palace. But who would build a palace out of gold?
Despite being a Mafia godfather in West Blue, he had never seen such an unbelievable amount of gold.
“The City of Gold, huh?” Kojin said with a smile.
“Yes! Exactly… the City of Gold! Everything here once seemed to be made of gold. It’s just that, after so many years, everything ended up buried underground. Lieutenant Commander Feren and I will need some time to dig it all out.” Capone Bege said.
Standing beside him, Lieutenant Commander Feren nodded.
He too was shocked by the sheer quantity of gold here. If he took even a small portion out of here, he could live comfortably for the rest of his life.
“Take it slowly. We have plenty of time to do this,” Kojin said with a smile.
“Also, arrange for a group of craftsmen. You can contact the natives of Skypiea as well. We’re going to build a base here.”
He paused slightly.
“I have an important use for it.”
Hearing this, Capone Bege immediately replied, “I’ll arrange it right away.”
Six hundred elite Marines and six hundred Mafia members quickly began loading the gold of Shandora onto the flying ships under Kojin’s supervision.
Using his domain, Kojin observed everything.
His electromagnetic force penetrated deep underground, and he soon discovered more buried chambers filled with gold. With a slight thought, blue lightning began flashing across the sky above the entire island.
Everyone looked up.
The entire sky had changed color.
Dense lightning covered Upper Yard, and an invisible force spread outward.
The ground began to rumble violently.
About a dozen seconds later, Capone Bege and the others watched in shock as huge quantities of gold rose from the earth. The gold floated through the air, piling rapidly into a mountain.
“The leader has dug up all the gold!”
“So what are you waiting for? Hurry up and load it!” Capone Bege shouted.
Everyone began moving, still visibly shocked. By the afternoon, the Shandians cautiously entered the Upper Yard from the outside.
They saw the God’s Shrine Guards standing there as well.
Gan Fall stood at the front. The Shandian chief hesitated for a moment before stepping forward. “Are the messages the youngsters brought back true?”
“That lord is willing to open Upper Yard to you.” Gan Fall replied with a complicated expression.
The Shandian chief trembled slightly, and excitement appeared in his eyes.
“Where is he?”
“Oh, no, where is that lord?”
Gan Fall sighed.
“At Shandora. If you walk to the center, you’ll see him. He’s currently transporting gold.”
“Gold?” The Shandian chief froze for a moment.
But he didn’t care much about that. For generations, the Shandians had wanted to reclaim their homeland.
A quarter hour later, the old chief arrived in front of Kojin, escorted by several strong warriors.
“Thank you for your generosity, my lord! Now the Shandians can live on this land once again… It is truly wonderful!” The Shandian chief bowed deeply, tears in his eyes.
The Shandian warriors behind him also bent forward respectfully, their faces filled with emotion.
“But this was originally your homeland, wasn’t it?” Kojin said with a light smile.
“Old Chief, you can rebuild a new home for your people on the ruins of Shandora. This time, no one will stop you.”
Hearing this, the Shandian chief trembled with excitement.
“Thank you! Thank you! The Shandians will forever remember your kindness!”
Kojin nodded with a smile.
That evening, large numbers of Shandians poured into the area.
Instead of building their homes immediately, they voluntarily helped Capone Bege, Lieutenant Colonel Feren, and the others load gold onto the flying ships.
“This is the Shandians’ voluntary action to repay your kindness,” The chief said gratefully.
Kojin looked into the distance at the constantly moving figures and suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion.
“Four hundred years… Your Golden Bell is over there.”
He raised his hand and pointed.
The great golden bell stood quietly within the ruins of Shandora, resting on a relatively intact pedestal.
“I need this gold. So I can only leave you with the Golden Bell, as it was once the symbol of Shandora.”
The chief stared blankly at the massive bell, which shone with golden light under the setting sun.
For some reason, a deep mixture of emotions… gratitude, sorrow, and joy, welled up in his heart.
He stood there motionless.
Before he knew it, tears had blurred his vision.
Four hundred years.
Such a long time.
What stories had the Shandians experienced during that time?
How many storms had the City of Gold, now reduced to ruins, endured?
Time had passed, and winds and rain had eroded everything, leaving only legends and stories behind. The next morning, the first ray of sunlight shone upon the Land of Gold.
A long, melodious bell chime echoed through the air. The sound of the bell carried far into the distance. It traveled all the way down to the Blue Sea, ten thousand meters below Upper Yard.
On the other side of Mock Town, in front of a crude wooden house, a tall man stood frozen in place, tears streaming down his face.
“It’s real… The legend of the City of Gold… It’s all true!”
Twelve flying ships.
Each ship could carry about 30 tons of gold.
Together, that meant 360 tons of gold.
Yet, even that amount was far from the true wealth of the City of Gold.
“It’s enough to build a kingdom of my own,” Kojin said with a sigh.
“Load this onto the ship as well.”
He pointed toward the Poneglyph that had stood there for who knew how many years. Its surface was carved with dense, mysterious characters.
Although Kojin had a general idea of its meaning, he couldn’t read a single word. It could be left for the scholars of Ohara to study carefully, though.
On the third day, the fleet returned fully loaded.
“I’ve already found a massive warehouse and stationed heavy guards around it. Lieutenant Colonel Feren will also assist me.” Capone Bege reported.
Kojin nodded but didn’t say anything further.
Once a force reaches a certain scale, many things are naturally handled by subordinates in advance.
He returned to G-18 Base and resumed his leisurely lifestyle.
Capone Bege carefully calculated the total value of the gold, compiled a detailed report, and sent it to him personally.
They had already planned how to use the gold. It would fund the organization’s development and train Marines, and it would be enough to sustain them for a long time.
Meanwhile, more flying ships continued to be built. With abundant funds, Kojin’s fleet expanded at a visible rate.
It was practically an explosion of a military buildup. After receiving authorization from Kojin, Capone Bege built two additional shipbuilding factories.
The construction of battleships also began.
These new battleships were equipped with electric engines and a Seastone system. Compared to the battleships used by Marine Headquarters, these ships performed better and were faster.
“Looking at it this way, it won’t be long before I have a fleet of one hundred ships,” Kojin thought to himself.
With sufficient funding, he waved his hand and issued another order to expand recruitment. Originally, West Blue’s total military strength was about 280,000 soldiers.
However, Kojin felt that this was far from enough. To build an elite group of soldiers and officers, he needed to select them from a much larger pool.
The reason Marine Headquarters had remained strong for hundreds of years, constantly producing powerful fighters, was precisely because their base population was large.
Some people call this a population dividend.
Kojin had even considered establishing a Marine Academy in West Blue to cultivate talented Marines.
A month later, Capone Bege brought news that the transportation of gold was almost complete.
At the same time, the number of flying ships exceeded twenty-eight.
This was already considerable.
Although the flying ships weren’t particularly large, they each had a carrying capacity of about 45 tons. Meanwhile, a group of workers had been recruited and sent to Skypiea to begin constructing the base in Upper Yard.
“The Shandians have been helping as well. After we paid them, the natives of Skypiea joined us the next day,” Capone Bege reported. “These days, they’ve been integrating quite well. We’re basically acting as mediators between them.”
Kojin smiled slightly upon hearing this and asked another question.
“How is the procurement going for the items on the list I gave you?”
Capone Bege immediately lowered his voice.
“Most of them have been obtained through auctions, smuggling, and various other methods. But some items rarely circulate on the market, so obtaining them will be difficult.”
Kojin nodded.
“Do everything you can to get them. They’re very important to the organization.”
“Yes, sir.” Capone Bege replied.
Five months had passed since their first trip to Skypiea in the blink of an eye.
Kojin received reports that Lieutenant Colonel Feren, Gan Fall, and the old Shandian chief were getting along quite well.
With their help, they had already established a hidden base northwest of Shandora.
Vegapunk had designed the blueprint for the base.
One could say the Skypiea research base was constructed strictly according to his requirements; it was both well hidden and highly secure.
As for the assistants Vegapunk needed, they had been recruited from across West Blue. However, after nearly half a year, only five qualified candidates had been found.
In the blink of an eye, another year passed.
Four years had passed since the beginning of the Great Age of Pirates.
The Skypiea Research Base was fully complete.
With Kojin’s permission, Lieutenant Colonel Feren had begun recruiting soldiers in Upper Yard.
On this day, Kojin accompanied Vegapunk on a flying ship bound for the Skypiea base.
“It’s already been two years before you finally got my base ready, Kojin. Time is life!” Vegapunk sighed.
“It took a while, but you’ll definitely be satisfied.” Kojin replied with a smile.
“I hope so. However… In the past two years, I’ve also made progress in my research on Lineage Factors.” Vegapunk chuckled.
“Oh?”
“How far has your research progressed?”
Kojin asked.
“My research on your lineage is still in the early stages. But regarding the Lunarian Tribe, I’ve already achieved some results. I have an idea. Perhaps I can use the Lunarian Lineage Factor to create a clone of myself.” Vegapunk said with an excited smile.
Hearing this, Kojin’s heart skipped a beat.
He knew that in the original story, Vegapunk had created six clones of himself and replicated the Seven Warlords of the Sea, producing extremely powerful beings.
“That’s a truly incredible idea. I look forward to your success.” Kojin said with a sigh.
The flying ship quickly ascended into the sky, heading toward Skypiea.
Not long after the fleet departed, high above West Blue, thousands of meters in the sky, a massive floating island slowly drifted closer.
On top of the island’s highest pavilion stood a tall figure with golden hair draped over his shoulders. His presence was as fierce as a lion’s.
“Kojin!”
“I, the Golden Lion, have arrived!”
(End of Chapter)
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