The warship’s dining hall was especially lively during dinner.
With all the noisy Marines gathered together, an ordinary meal had practically turned into a banquet.
Some raised their cups and laughed, while others threw arms around each other’s shoulders and sang at the top of their lungs.
They were young, after all, most of them only in their late teens or twenties.
Nate, as antisocial as ever, had claimed an entire table for himself.
That table also held more food than any other, piled so high that it looked like a small mountain.
His way of eating could only be described as savage.
He had abandoned utensils completely and simply grabbed food with both hands.
His arms moved so quickly they left afterimages in the air as plate after plate vanished into his mouth.
The mountain of food shrank at a visible rate.
There was no helping it.
His body had consumed far too much energy today, so he needed an enormous amount of food to replenish it.
Inside the Dream World, Nate could create any delicacy he wanted with a thought.
The taste and texture would be perfectly reproduced, but a dream was still only a dream.
It couldn’t provide energy to his body in the real world.
‘When am I finally going to become a real god walking among mortals?’ Nate pondered this troublesome question while continuing to eat.
Strangely, no matter how much food disappeared into his stomach, his abdomen never bulged in the slightest.
It was as though his stomach were a bottomless pit.
That was the value of Life Return.
Having completely mastered the Six Powers long ago, Nate had naturally learned the technique as well.
By using his will to control his digestive system, he could break down and absorb food almost as soon as it entered his stomach.
While devouring dinner, Nate also spared part of his attention for the Dream World.
More specifically, Buckingham’s dream.
The corner of his mouth slowly curved upward.
‘She seems to be enjoying herself.’ And judging by what Nate could see, Buckingham really had been repressing herself for far too many years.
She was practically pushing the human body to its limits.
‘Those old-timers really do know more tricks.’ Fortunately, Buckingham had regained her youthful appearance inside the dream.
Otherwise, the scene would have been rather painful to look at.
The mother and son were actually dreaming inside their own individual dreams.
Since their dreams had already become part of Nate’s Dream World, he had separated each one into an independent space made specifically for them.
As a result, everything inside their personal dreams felt incredibly real.
At least as far as their senses were concerned, there was no way to distinguish dream from reality.
They had already lost the supreme authority they normally possessed over their own dreams, so they couldn’t reshape those spaces however they pleased.
Still, Nate had left them a small amount of freedom.
They couldn’t consciously alter the dream, but the dream itself would naturally take the form of whatever they desired most deeply.
That was why Buckingham found the fake Whitebeard so difficult to resist.
That Whitebeard had been shaped directly from the image buried deepest within her heart.
‘Basically Infinite Tsukuyomi.’ For now, with only Buckingham and Weevil connected, Nate could let them enjoy their private dreams however they wished.
Once more people entered the Dream World, however, he couldn’t have everyone playing their own single-player game forever.
They would eventually need multiplayer.
Which meant— ‘I need a proper open world.’ Nate fell into thought.
The Dream World needed a fixed form.
Even while thinking, however, his hands never stopped moving.
Before long, the mountain of food on his table had almost completely vanished.
“Speaking of which, Nate.” At the neighboring table, Binz gnawed on a chicken leg while casually calling over to him.
“Once we get back to Headquarters, everyone’s going their separate ways.
Where are you planning to go?” “Nate’s obviously staying at Headquarters, right?” Another Marine at Binz’s table looked over enviously.
“Maybe he’ll even get assigned directly under one of the Admirals.
Damn it, I wish I were a genius like him.” “Haha, you don’t need to be a monster on Nate’s level.” Binz grinned proudly.
“As for me, I might be able to stay at Headquarters too.” “Binz!
You betrayed us!” The Marine beside him immediately grabbed Binz by the shoulders and shook him violently, his eyes practically turning red.
“No!
You’d better turn them down!” Nobody would be jealous if Nate stayed at Marine Headquarters.
But Binz?
What right did that bastard have?!
Nothing was harder to accept than watching one of your idiot friends succeed.
“Hahaha!
I’m still a Devil Fruit user, you know!” Binz didn’t resist at all, laughing smugly while being shaken.
“My training results were near the top too!
You guys can obediently head off to the branches.
Nate and I will wait for you at Headquarters!” Nate had already cleaned every plate on his table.
He lazily wiped his mouth, then slumped against the back of his chair and glanced sideways at Binz, who was being mobbed by several recruits.
“Don’t lump me in with you, Binz.” His voice remained as sleepy as ever.
“Headquarters?
That sounds way too boring for me.” “Huh?” Binz froze.
“Boring?
What do you mean?” “Getting promoted normally, one step at a time…” Nate rested his cheek against one hand.
“Doesn’t that sound incredibly boring?” Binz’s mouth twitched.
“Wow…” “So, Nate…” From the table on Nate’s other side, Ain opened her eyes slightly wider.
“Don’t tell me you’re planning to stay in the New World.” “I don’t have time to waste playing around with small fry from Paradise or the Four Blues.” Nate spoke casually.
“The front lines are where promotions happen fastest, right?” He tilted his head slightly as if calculating something.
“Instructor Zephyr became an Admiral at thirty-eight.
I’ll just move that record forward by ten years or so.” The New World was the region where the World Government’s control was weakest.
There were plenty of opportunities there.
And it was true that the front lines offered the fastest path to promotion.
‘When I’m being a bad guy, I’ll properly play the bad guy.
When I’m a Marine, I’ll properly be a Marine.’ ‘That’s how things should be done.’ “You really dare to say anything, don’t you?” Binz clicked his tongue.
Zephyr’s rise through the ranks had already been among the fastest in the Marines’ eight-hundred-year history.
Even Aokiji, the youngest of the current Admirals, had already been thirty-nine when he received his promotion last year.
Nate stretched lazily.
“That’s why Binz is just Binz.” He glanced over with half-lidded eyes.
“And Nate is Nate.” “…” Ain was momentarily speechless.
‘Staying in the New World…’ For fresh recruits like them, that sea ruled by monsters was honestly still too dangerous.
But Nate really was different.
Binz suddenly stared at him with wide eyes.
‘Wait.
Did this bastard just say something ridiculously cool?’ His competitive spirit immediately flared.
“It’s just the New World!
What’s there to be scared of?” Binz clenched his fist.
“I’m applying to Instructor Zephyr too!
I’m staying in the New World!” “Do whatever you want.” Nate shrugged.
Ain quietly pressed her lips together.
‘The New World…’ …
One day later.
The towering Red Line pierced high into the clouds.
One bubble lift after another traveled straight upward along the sheer cliff face.
After reaching Red Port at the base of the Red Line, travelers had to board these specially designed bubble vessels to reach Mary Geoise above.
Inside the largest bubble lift, Nate sat cross-legged on the floor.
His cheek rested against one hand as he gazed lazily through the transparent bubble at the magnificent sea of clouds outside.
Sunlight reflected off the white clouds, bathing them in brilliant gold until they resembled an endless ocean of shining waves.
‘Pretty spectacular.’ Whatever else could be said about this world, breathtaking scenery was certainly never in short supply.
Zephyr sat nearby with his arms crossed, calmly watching Weevil and Buckingham, who were seated on the floor in Seastone restraints.
Bruises still surrounded Buckingham’s eyes.
That didn’t stop her from forcing them wide open as she carefully studied Nate sitting in front of her.
‘Is this the brat?’ ‘The one who defeated me earlier?’ The voice sounded right.
He was ridiculously young.
‘That bastard Zephyr actually trained another monster?’ But Nate wasn’t what mattered most right now.
Buckingham had already tested it many times.
Both she and Weevil could return to that mental world whenever they wished.
Inside that world, she was the queen of an entire nation.
She possessed endless wealth, countless servants who worshiped and obeyed her, and above all—A Newgate who loved her.
Buckingham knew it was fake.
But every one of her senses insisted that it was real.
She had even begun to lose herself in it.
Still, Buckingham wasn’t foolish enough to believe such pleasures came without a price.
Neither she nor Weevil could resist that mysterious Devil Fruit user anymore.
In fact, they might soon need to depend on him just to stay alive.
After all, they were being sent to Impel Down.
Buckingham had no confidence that her old body would survive very long inside that hell on earth.
‘I’ll just deal with things as they come.’ She had already resigned herself to her fate.
Nate completely ignored Buckingham’s stare.
Nor was he worried about her saying anything she shouldn’t.
All he needed to do was devote a tiny portion of his consciousness to her, and he could monitor the old woman around the clock.
At any moment, he could drag her consciousness into the Dream World and completely take over her body.
From the moment Buckingham entered his Dream World, she had ceased to be a threat.
The bubble lift continued climbing and soon reached the upper port of Mary Geoise.
The recruits gathered their luggage while Nate accompanied Zephyr in escorting Weevil and Buckingham.
At last, the group set foot on the Holy Land.
They boarded one of Mary Geoise’s distinctive Travelators and began crossing toward the port on the opposite side of the Red Line.
From here, they had a clear view of the towering Pangaea Castle in the distance.
Beside it stood the immaculate white city of Mary Geoise.
Still sitting lazily on the Travelator, Nate glanced toward the distant castle before slowly looking away.
‘The king of the world and his lackeys are right there.’ But after seeing the battle between Imu and Loki in the manga, Nate no longer felt that Imu was some impossibly unreachable existence.
“Instructor Zephyr, I wanted to ask this when we passed through on our way to the New World.” Because Binz ranked among the strongest recruits, he had also been assigned to help escort Weevil and Buckingham.
He licked his lips and grinned.
“Can we seriously not look around Mary Geoise for a while?
This place is practically legendary!” “Quiet, Binz.” Zephyr rejected the idea without hesitation.
“You’ll have plenty of opportunities in the future.” “…Yes, sir.” Binz’s shoulders immediately slumped.
A faint, knowing smile appeared on Nate’s face.
‘Instructor Zephyr is still too kind.’ If these recruits actually saw the darkness hidden inside Mary Geoise, how many of their beliefs in justice would shatter on the spot?
They didn’t even need to look far.
The Travelator beneath their feet was being driven by a group of slaves desperately pushing the mechanism below.
Speaking of slaves, Nate had considered connecting some of them to the Dream World when he’d passed through Mary Geoise the previous time.
They could have served as hidden pieces planted inside the Holy Land.
In the end, however, he abandoned the idea.
‘What could ordinary slaves realistically gain access to?’ Connecting too many of them would only increase the risk of attracting suspicion.
It would be better to establish a few new bridges among the Celestial Dragons themselves later.
The Reverie would take place next year.
If Nate earned a few promotions before then, he should have an opportunity.
The section of the Red Line occupied by Mary Geoise seemed to be one of its narrowest points.
It didn’t take long for the group to cross the continent and board another bubble lift down toward the sea.
They descended through the thick clouds.
Soon, the deep blue ocean appeared below them.
And there, not far away across the sea, stood the great fortress of justice.
Marineford.
It was naturally very close to the Red Line.
After all, one of Marine Headquarters’ most important purposes was to protect Mary Geoise.
Nate’s lips curved slightly.
‘Looks like the real show is about to begin.’ …