Chapter 289: Sengoku—"I Didn't Plan to Rebel… I Was Tricked!"

A meeting of this scale, one that would determine the course of global warfare wasn't something that could be wrapped up in a single day.

In fact, it stretched across several consecutive sessions.

On the third day, Nusjuro officially confirmed at the meeting that the World Government would expand the scale of the upcoming Reverie, inviting a hundred nations to participate.

This decision would serve as a cover for the impending "War on the Top."

That's right, the official codename for the operation had been decided.

"The War on the Top"—a battle among the strongest forces in the world.

…Though, personally, Claudius found the name to be a bit pretentious.

At the end of the day, they were just dealing with pirates.

Was it really worthy of being called a world-shaking war?

Regardless, he still took the operation extremely seriously.

To him, this war was the prelude to a new era.

---

Now, back in his palace at Mariejois, the strategic meetings had finally concluded.

Everything that needed to be discussed had been covered, multiple contingency plans had been formulated, and now…

All that was left was to execute.

No battle ever unfolds exactly as planned, but with the level of preparation the World Government had put into this, they were ready to handle almost any scenario.

The rest would depend on performance in the field.

Most of the high-ranking Marines had already left to begin preparations.

However, Sengoku had remained behind, seemingly in no hurry to leave.

Instead, he had opted to sit down for afternoon tea with Claudius.

Sipping from his teacup, the Fleet Admiral let out a sigh.

"Fifty billion Berries in funding… should be enough to fortify Marineford properly," he mused.

---

For a battle of this scale, there was no way the Marines would be expected to fund everything themselves.

Thus, the World Government had allocated an additional 50 billion Berries on top of the standard annual military budget.

This money was specifically earmarked for war preparations, including the large-scale reconstruction of Marineford.

And depending on how things developed, more funding could still be allocated in the future.

In the past, Sengoku would have celebrated such a sum.

But now?

Now, after working so closely with Claudius, he barely found it impressive.

---

Over the past few years, Calm Belt development had surged forward.

With the cooperation of the Marine Science Division and the Water 7 engineers, the first-ever sea train line through the Calm Belt had been completed.

This development had massively improved Marine logistics, reducing their reliance on warships for transport.

Although the current rail line only connected Amazon Lily and three key resource islands, the benefits were already immeasurable.

At present, a total of seven islands in the South Calm Belt had been successfully developed:

Two were iron-rich islands.

One was a copper mine.

Three were used for large-scale agriculture, serving as food supply bases for the Navy.

The final island… was the most valuable of them all—a gold mine.

Although gold extraction was still in its early stages, even the small amount of production so far had been hugely profitable.

With just four mining islands, the Marine forces had already established a massive secondary income source.

Compared to that…

50 billion Berries?

Sengoku barely even considered it a large sum anymore.

"Hahahaha!" Claudius laughed at his reaction.

"What's this? Now even 50 billion is 'too little' for you?

Marine Headquarters really is thriving, huh?"

Sengoku chuckled.

"With our current revenues, 50 billion is just about two months' worth of earnings from the Calm Belt project.

Honestly? It doesn't even feel like that much anymore."

Then, with a sigh, he added,

"If only we could develop the Calm Belt without restrictions… our progress is still painfully slow."

---

The truth was, they had barely scratched the surface.

The Calm Belt was massive, spanning hundreds, possibly even thousands of undeveloped islands.

Even if they only counted resource-rich islands, there were at least 500 major targets for future development.

And that was just in the South Calm Belt.

If properly utilized, the total annual income from full-scale development could reach into the trillions.

Claudius smiled.

He was well aware of the potential here.

But he wasn't about to hand all of it over to the Navy.

---

If Claudius ever fully seized power over the World Government, one of his first priorities would be reducing the Heavenly Tribute tax system.

It wasn't about eliminating it entirely after all, the Donquixote lineage still needed a legitimate reason to collect wealth.

However, milking the allied nations dry wasn't sustainable.

Instead, he planned to legitimize a new financial system, one that would keep most of the wealth circulating within the World Government's economy.

He knew that gaining support from more nations required more than just military power.

Economic incentives were just as important.

And the Calm Belt was his financial trump card.

If he could fully develop it, the World Government could become economically self-sufficient, no longer dependent on forced taxation.

Of course, that was all in the future.

For now, he needed to keep using the Calm Belt's wealth as a means to bind the Navy to him.

Ensuring their loyalty in the coming years.

---

Hearing Sengoku's complaints, Claudius smirked and casually remarked,

"Well… maybe in the future, we'll get that chance."

Sengoku's eyes flickered slightly at those words.

Sengoku wasn't a fool.

He knew that Claudius had been investing heavily in the Navy.

And he also knew that Claudius wasn't doing it for nothing.

For a long time, he had tried to figure out what Claudius' true goal was.

At first, he had assumed that Claudius was simply trying to strengthen the World Government's grip on power, securing his own political standing.

But over time…

He began to suspect that Claudius had grander ambitions.

Sengoku had no doubt that Claudius was destined to make history.

At times, he even wondered…

"Is he planning a coup?"

But whenever he truly thought about it, the idea seemed ridiculous.

Why would a Celestial Dragon want to overthrow the World Government?

It made no sense.

At the same time…

If he wasn't planning rebellion, then what was he building all this power for?

In the end, Sengoku settled on the most logical explanation.

Claudius wasn't trying to destroy the World Government.

He was trying to take over Five Elders' authority.

Of course, Sengoku still wasn't aware of Imu's existence, if he had been, his entire perception of the power structure would have been different.

Right now, all he knew was that Claudius was gathering strength, and that, somehow, Marine Headquarters had been pulled onto his side without even realizing it.

And at this point…

It was too late to back out.

The Navy was already tied to Claudius.

They had taken his funding.

They had joined in his Calm Belt project.

Even if Sengoku tried to separate himself now, Five Elders would never trust him again.

If Claudius lost, the entire Marine leadership would be purged.

So now, Sengoku had only one choice.

Stay the course.

No matter what Claudius was planning…

He had no choice but to see it through to the end.

***

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