Chapter 421: Ascending into the Sky

The crowd around fell silent, yet no one refuted Saint Nasjuro's words, simply because he spoke an indisputable fact.

The rise of Britannias had far exceeded their expectations in its speed!

A long while passed.

Saint Saturn could not help but speak, his gaze sharp and venomous, as if he had made up his mind:

"The repair of Uranus is progressing faster than we anticipated; beyond merely discharging energy over a wide area, it can now precisely lock onto targets!"

"Should we deploy it now to erase Britannias?!"

"Or... should we directly assassinate the Knight, Gao Wen?!"

Saint Peter stumbled, hastily intervening:

"Before confirming that Britannias is manufacturing an Ancient Weapon, let us not act rashly for the time being."

"As for the issue of combat power, perhaps it is not as urgent as we imagine."

"A few days ago, I received news that Lord Im has conquered Elbaf."

"Those giants have been blessed, transformed into Demon Giants; such a force is already qualified to destroy every power on the seas!"

Saint Saturn was startled with terror:

"Lord Im succeeded?"

"Is that not a matter of course?!"

Saint Peter stated with certainty:

"After all, that figure defeated Joy Boy eight hundred years ago, swept the seas clean, and reached the pinnacle!"

"With him personally making a move, there is nothing he cannot accomplish."

"After dominating Elbaf, Lord Im has already set out, killing his way toward the Cross Guild headquarters; news should return within these few days."

The expressions on everyone's faces eased slightly; the tension and anxiety from just moments before vanished completely.

As long as Lord Im makes a move, everything on the seas ceases to be a problem!

This was the consensus in the hearts of the five, and also a truth verified countless times over eight hundred years!

Saint Nasjuro exhaled a long breath:

"With such a force in hand, and with Lord Im suppressing the Knight Gao Wen, Britannias having the Navy is not too great an issue; furthermore, we possess Uranus."

"The advantage still lies with us; our primary task remains to thoroughly control the situation first, and only then deal with the problem of Britannias."

"Even..."

"We could seize this opportunity to thoroughly sweep the New World and reshape the structure of the seas!"

Bang!

Bang!

Bang—!

Urgent knocking sounds rang out.

Before the five could speak, the office door was pushed open; a high-ranking CP0 agent hurried in and knelt prostrate before the five.

Although he wore a mask, anyone could see his current panic!

"Elders!"

"The investigation regarding Britannias secretly constructing an Ancient Weapon has yielded results."

"Our people have confirmed that within the inland sea of Britannias, there indeed exists a secret shipyard."

"After several failed infiltration attempts, we shifted our focus to the cargo ships traveling around Britannias and made a discovery."

"In recent months, large quantities of timber harvested from the Adam Treasure Tree have been transported to Britannias, while cargo ships carrying various types of raw ore have also docked at ports within Britannias' territory."

"Additionally, within the territory of Britannias, we have also discovered the whereabouts of War Taowan!"

"It is almost certain."

"Vegapunk is currently in Britannias, and there is an extremely high probability that some sort of super-large warship is being manufactured there."

"We cannot rule out the possibility of it being an Ancient Weapon!"

The five exchanged glances, then waved a hand, dismissing this high-ranking CP0 agent.

Bang—!

After the office door closed,

Saint Nasjuro's expression finally changed; a trace of imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of his mouth:

"As expected."

"It is basically the same as what we guessed back then; Gao Wen truly is secretly manufacturing an Ancient Weapon."

"The reason he went so far as to invade Impel Down during the Summit War was also for this cause."

"However."

"In that case, the matters inside Britannias..."

It was just that.

This time, Saint Nasjuro's words were not yet finished before being interrupted once again by knocking sounds.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang—!

The five turned their heads again toward the office entrance, several degrees of anger already present in their eyes.

Saint Warcury looked displeased:

"Enter."

It was still that same high-ranking CP0 agent, only this time his face was somewhat pale; yet this was not due to fear of the Five Elders, but rather because of a phone call he had just received immediately after stepping out the door!

"Elders... our people, besides investigating the shipyards of Britannias, have also been looking into the energy source capable of powering Pluton."

"It has indeed been confirmed that there is only one energy source capable of driving Pluton."

"Yet Britannias possesses an immensely vast reserve of ley line energy, exceeding even one-third of the combined total of every other place in the world!"

"If this power could be..."

Crack—!

The wine glass in War Taowan's hand shattered at the sound, his complexion suddenly turning exceedingly ugly, even somewhat deathly pale.

CP0 noticed this scene, his body trembling.

He had seen such an expression before; he had even unconsciously displayed it countless times himself—it was anger, but more so, fear!

A fear that things had far exceeded one's control, and might even backfire upon oneself!

"Get out!"

War Taowan's voice was icy cold.

Upon hearing this, the CP0 executive scrambled out on hands and knees, hastily fleeing the Elders' meeting chamber.

Dead silence.

A silence as still as death once again enveloped the meeting room.

For the first time, an emotion named unease surfaced on the faces of the five.

Saint Saturn swallowed hard, his very voice trembling:

"If I recall correctly, the Red Dragon's ability is precisely the manipulation of ley line energy."

"Given Vegapunk's talents, how long would it take to analyze the principles behind the Red Dragon's control of ley line energy and apply them to Pluton?!"

No one answered Saint Saturn's question.

Simply because they knew clearly that Vegapunk's talents far surpassed imagination.

And even more because they did not know just how long the collaboration between Britannias and Vegapunk had already been ongoing!

Was the previous infiltration into Impel Down truly to rescue War Taowan, or was it using War Taowan as a bargaining chip to secure an opportunity for cooperation with Vegapunk!

They only knew they were feeling a rare sensation of cold.

A bone-chilling cold, emanating from the soul!

If Britannias truly manufactured an Ancient Weapon, their final trump card for dominating the world would also become useless.

With both sides possessing the capability to destroy each other, an equivalent deterrence would be achieved!

"A faction capable of sitting as equals with us is about to emerge?!"

Saint Saturn's face twisted grotesquely, unable to accept this point!

In fact, during the eight hundred years of World Government rule, Imu's status was supreme; he rarely took the initiative to inquire about affairs on the seas, with the Five Elders truly governing this world.

Having enjoyed absolute power, how could they possibly allow anyone to share in the spoils?!

"Immediately deploy the Ancient Weapon!"

"I want Britannias to vanish from the map!"

Saint Saturn was furious to the point of nearly losing his reason; Nasjuro Saint, standing nearby, was exactly the same.

He gripped the long blade in his hand tightly, his eyes extremely sinister:

"Looking at it this way, this so-called World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament is nothing but a shield Gao Wen the Knight put forth to attract the attention of all parties; for this, he even fabricated a so-called permanent pointer to Laugh Tale."

"His true objective, however, is to secretly construct Pluton!"

"We can wait no longer!"

"Anyone who dares to challenge the World Government cannot be tolerated; not only their flesh, but their very existence must be erased!"

Just as the two were erupting in rage, War Taowan, standing nearby, calmed down at this moment and said:

"The destruction of Britannias is unstoppable, but exactly how to proceed need not be rushed at this very moment."

"The preliminaries of the World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament have concluded, and the list of the sixteen strongest has emerged."

"In a few days, they will arrive at the Round Table Arena in Britannias to hold the final decisive battle; for this purpose, Gao Wen the Knight has even evacuated the commoners from Camelot in advance."

"Rather than making our move now, it would be better to wait until they have gathered in Britannias..."

"... and wipe them out in one fell swoop!"

"In this way, the pressure we will face afterward will be countless times smaller."

Nasjuro Saint froze for a moment.

He looked at War Taowan, with whom he had handled official duties for many years, and deep dread surfaced in his eyes!