The treasure mountain in the open space opposite Pangaea Castle grew taller and taller, almost reaching the height of the castle itself, but in the end, the Five Elders ordered it to stop.
They felt that allowing the latter's height to match or even surpass the former would be a desecration and an insult to Lord Imu.
Even so, this enormous mountain of gold and jewels had completely shocked the entire world! Yes, the world itself.
If one were to lack a clear concept of it, imagine standing in front of a hundred-story skyscraper.
Now replace that with a heap of gold treasures and expand its area by several times! A true mountain of gold! At this moment, the East Blue, South Blue, West Blue, North Blue, the first half of the Grand Line, the second half of the Grand Line, and even Fish-Man Island, ten thousand meters beneath the sea, all fell silent.
The world seemed to quiet down, leaving only the sound of waves crashing on the sea. "What the hell is going on!!"
Inside the ship's cabin, Buggy, though only fifteen years old, looked just like his future self. He stared at the screen showing the mountain of gold and roared.
"If we had that much treasure, who the hell would want to be a pirate!!"
Buggy's eyes turned green with envy as he greedily gazed at the countless gold and jewels. He thought it was impossible to possess so much treasure even in a lifetime. "Ahhh, where the hell are these guys taking me?" He clutched his head in a frenzy, looking extremely pained.
Earlier, when he was aimlessly wandering in the East Blue, those cool-looking men in black appeared before him, knocked him out without a word, and when he woke up, he found himself on this ship.
"You are going to Punk Hazard, the secret base of the Science Force, oh no, now it's the Academy of Science." At that moment, a man in black pushed open the door and walked in with a smile.
"Why are you taking me there?"
Seeing someone finally willing to communicate, Buggy quickly stood up and asked.
"Because we noticed your talent in researching gunpowder, so we will teach you more professional knowledge there. From now on, you should seriously become a scientist in the field of gunpowder!"
"..."
Buggy was dumbfounded, his mouth agape, unsure of what to say.
He could only stammer in confusion, "Y-you, how did you know I've been researching gunpowder? I only thought of it last week!"
How ridiculous, how absurd?
He had only developed an interest last week and hadn't even gathered the research materials yet.
And now the World Government sends someone to tell him he has talent in this area?
They even used force to capture him, with the purpose of sending him to a place to learn? The man in black opposite him was also stunned, blinking his eyes, as he too didn't know what was going on.
So what now, should he say something? "Um, you should know Shanks, right? You were on the same ship before."
"Right, it was he who told us you have a particular talent in this area."
The man in black coughed a couple of times, forcing himself to find a reason.
"Shanks!!!"
Buggy instantly exploded with rage, his white teeth turning into sharp fangs, his anger burning fiercely.
He never expected to be betrayed by that bastard again.
It was because of him that he had mistakenly eaten the Chop-Chop Fruit and turned into a landlubber, losing out on many treasures beneath the sea.
"Where is he now?!"
"Cough cough, Shanks, we found out he is of the Celestial Dragon Figarland bloodline, so he has already been sent to Mary Geoise."
"???"
Buggy's face stiffened, three golden question marks popping up above his head as he shouted in disbelief.
"What did you say, that bastard Shanks is a Celestial Dragon!"
The man in black nodded seriously and said, "Yes, so please watch your words from now on, unless you want to be captured in Punk Hazard for disrespecting the Celestial Dragons."
"Why, why him? Do you have proof?" Buggy gritted his teeth and asked, his tone laced with uncontrollable envy.
A Celestial Dragon! That meant endless wealth, supreme status, and the protection of Marine Admirals at all times. God, he wanted to be one too. "Cough cough, although I don't know the details, as far as I know, there is no Red-Nosed clan among the Celestial Dragon families." The man in black glanced at Buggy's face and said expressionlessly.
"Who are you calling Red-Nosed!!!"
Buggy's furious roar erupted, reverberating through the wooden walls, echoing throughout the entire cabin, startling even the seagulls flying overhead.
The outside world.
As the sun began to slowly set, the live broadcast open to the world came to a close, believing that an afternoon was enough for the world's populace to have their fill of it.
At this moment, the officials of the World Government began moving the treasures back into the treasury. Judging by their current progress, they would have to work through the night until tomorrow morning.
But the higher-ups wouldn't care about such trivial matters.
"Next up is the World Conference."
Topman Warcury Saint sat in the middle of the sofa in the most authoritative posture, his face deep in thought as he spoke.
Marcus Mars asked, "Indeed, has the town for housing those slaves been completed?"
Previously, they had considered that after the topics of the World Conference were passed, they couldn't just release all the slaves in Mary Geoise at once, as many of them were mentally numb or harbored strong hatred towards the World Government.
So they discussed releasing only about ten thousand selected individuals through the world broadcast, while the remaining people would be kept under house arrest somewhere on the Red Line, and psychologists would be sent to see if they could help them recover.
As for those who were too deeply filled with hatred, they would have to be dealt with secretly. "It's almost done. The Construction Division's report says the infrastructure will be completed in two months at most, so normal living conditions will definitely be fine." Topman Warcury Saint nodded.
"Speaking of which, the Construction Division has quite a few projects to handle lately."
"The South Bird breeding base on Gaya Island, the Sea Train manufacturing plant in Water 7, the medical school in Drum Kingdom and the World Hospital, the Navy branch on Fish-Man Island, the renovation of the Thriller Bark, the expansion of the World Government headquarters, and the construction of the Army headquarters."
As he mentioned the last one, he deliberately glanced at Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, saying expressionlessly, "These projects being carried out simultaneously have already exceeded the Construction Division's capacity, so they can only recruit a batch of craftsmen temporarily from other kingdoms."
"Staying busy is good." The latter replied lightly.
Meanwhile, flocks of News Coo flew with small envelopes filled with freshly printed newspapers, flapping their wings as they headed to various parts of the world, containing news about today's live broadcast of ONE PIECE.
Thanks to the Den Den Mushi's powerful real-time broadcasting capabilities, people all over the world were basically aware of this matter.
However, as a newspaper agency, such an important event, one that could even be recorded in history, had to be documented in their newspapers, even if it meant an emergency extra edition.
Otherwise, that would be unprofessional and unprofessional! Thus, the headline of the extra edition newspaper read: "The Day of the Conclusion of the ONE PIECE Legend!"