Chapter 56 Hidden Riches: Dragon Kingdom's Astonishing Resource Reserves

The video shows Gao Yang, a king with his ideals.

Many people are impressed by him, including beautiful women and the Pirate Empress.

He wants to build a unique kingdom in this world and even wants all nations to come to his kingdom one day.

This is different from the thinking of many kings today, who are mostly only interested in enjoying themselves.

Some kings, like Cobra and King Riku, are kinder to their people, but they are still rare.

Many kingdoms wage wars, but most of them are for temporary enjoyment or out of necessity.

This is because pirates are rampant and it is difficult for kingdoms to protect themselves.

Many affiliated countries even have to turn to the World government for help.

The World government is the ruler of the world, so it is unlikely that any king would have the pride to challenge them.

[Red Hair: Dragon Kingdom is unique. It's hard to find another country like it in the world.

[Kaido: There are many wonderful countries, and Dragon Kingdom is not necessarily the most special. Even the World government is only superficial. Dragon Kingdom doesn't have the strength to make all nations come to court.]

When others say this, it makes people feel overwhelmed.

Dragon Kingdom is not weak, and they probably have a lot of Logia and phantom beast ability users.

But as one of the Four Emperors, it's only natural for Kaido to say this.

He's a monster-level powerhouse, so of course he's confident.

It doesn't matter how many abilities you have or how many people you have, if you're not on the same level as him, you're not qualified to compete with him on the sea.

Whether it's confidence or arrogance, it's because of the distance between them.

Kaido is one of the top people in the world, and he knows it.

"You're just an ambitious little devil who doesn't know the cruelty of the sea. You think you can make all nations come to Dragon Kingdom in 20 years? Do you really think you can match us in the future?"

One of the 5 Elders was a little disdainful.

He said that they, the monster-level powerhouses, didn't really care about what other monster-level powerhouses said.

Unless that monster-level powerhouse had a very powerful force, then they might recognize them.

But the king of the Dragon Kingdom was not worthy in their eyes.

"He did a good job, but he took some detours. They have the wealth and technology to build a strong kingdom, but they didn't take the traditional route of building infrastructure. Now they are at least as strong as Kaido of the Beasts. But thanks to his detour, it will be easy for us to take over Dragon Country. I can't wait to try some of their angel potions."

One of the Five Elders smiled as he stroked his beard.

Suddenly, a message popped up in the chatroom. It was from Vegapunk.

[Vegapunk: Dragon Kingdom technology is developing so fast, where do they get all their energy from? Electricity isn't a direct form of energy, it's generated by burning other fuels. Sure, some people with Logia abilities, like the Mera-mera Fruit, can be used as fuel. But that's only enough for basic needs. In the video, Dragon Country is developing in all aspects, from basic infrastructure to ground trains, personal transportation, military equipment, and medical technology. All of that requires a massive amount of energy. Normally, Dragon Kingdom wouldn't be able to sustain that level of energy consumption. After all, their territory is limited.]

[Kizaru: I didn't see Dragon Kingdom importing any natural gas, coal, or other fuels in the video.]

[Aokiji: If they were importing that much fuel, we would have found out about Dragon Kingdom a long time ago.]

[Whitebeard: Dragon Kingdom has always been self-sufficient.]

[Vegapunk: That's true, but it's not normal. Based on the climate zone, Dragon Kingdom would be considered very rich if they had even one or two small coal mines. But one or two small coal mines wouldn't be enough to sustain their current level of development.]

[Sengoku: So why is Dragon Kingdom able to develop so vigorously and not seem to be short on energy?]

[Vegapunk: I don't know.]

[Kaido: Could it be that Dragon Kingdom has resources that we don't know about?]

Kaido's face turned dark.

He was already angry that Dragon Kingdom had so many seastone mines.

Now he was wondering if they had other natural resources too.

It didn't make any sense!

[Red Hair: It looks like they have other resources.]

.....

There are many videos of different industries in Dragon Kingdom.

The video that was playing before was just one of the representative videos.

Other videos are showing different events that are happening around the same point.

Red Hair sent a message in the chat, and everyone looked at one of the videos with confusion.

The video showed a blond figure practicing swordsmanship in the courtyard of the Dragon King Palace.

The swordsmanship was both wide and close-ranged, and it fully displayed the beauty of violence.

When the swordsmanship reached its peak, Arturia let out a high-pitched scream and emitted starlight.

"Excalibur!" A beam of light shot out from the sword and went straight up into the sky.

It exploded in the sky, creating a brilliant and deadly sight. It was quite frightening to see.

.....

[Hawkeye: What kind of swordsmanship is that? The sword moves, and the starlight moves with it. It's so powerful!]

Hawkeye felt that this sword light was already too powerful for him to handle.

[Queen: I didn't see her use that move in the video I saw before!]

[Red Hair: Maybe she fought other cadres besides Jack! We didn't see her true strength!]

[Kizaru: Are young people so powerful these days? It's scary! They're not weaker than us old guys anymore!]

[Momousagi: What a strong and strange swordsmanship! Could she be someone with a flash ability?]

[King: Don't underestimate this female swordsman!]

King solemnly reminded everyone that they should not underestimate the blond female swordsman.

He felt that she probably had more terrifying power hidden in her body, but he couldn't believe it because there are too few people who are substantially stronger than himself.

"This female swordsman is much stronger than we thought. She's probably as strong as the blind man who is almost as strong as a Marine Admiral. Saint Saturn, can you tell if this is her full strength?"

Mars asks Saturn, who is a valkyrie of scientific defense.

Saturn replied lightly, "I can't tell, it's the first time I've seen such a strange sword technique. But I can be sure that the starlight is not a flash ability."

.....

"Your control has improved a lot. You're better at controlling your output now. After using the Sword of Promised Victory, your power won't be exhausted all at once, so you can fight longer."

"Thanks to you."

The people who watched the video were a bit confused

[Queen: What does she mean? Could it be that the king of Dragon Kingdom also knows swordsmanship, and even taught this powerful female swordsman?]

[Morgans: The king of Dragon Kingdom is also a powerful swordsman!?]

Artoria's words are so convincing that people have to agree with her

[Red Hair: I don't think so. Based on his behavior in the video, he doesn't seem like the type of person who exercises regularly.]

[Marco: I agree. It's probably just her being humble. After all, it's only natural for the kiss to compliment you in a more tactful way.]

[Beckman: I'm surprised, Marco. You're quite sophisticated!]

[Marco: I'm mad! What kind of image do I have in your eyes? Ochoku just said I was fine, but why are you talking to me like I'm a child?]

[Beckman: Sorry, I didn't mean it that way.]

[Ochoku: I just think of you as Whitebeard's kid. Is there a problem with that? Whitebeard takes care of you so well, so there's nothing wrong with calling you kids!]

[Marco: Old man! Just wait for me!]

After chatting for a while, Arturia asked directly, "Do you have anything for me to do?"

"Yeah, there are a few more mining areas in the country, and an oil field near the coast. There have been some wandering pirates lately, and I want to entrust the safety of these areas to you."

"No problem."

"Do you have a pen and paper? I'll mark the specific location and depth, and you can just hand it over to the mining team."

"Okay."

Gao Yang marked the locations quickly.

"There are quite a few places this time, but luckily, they're all concentrated in one area!"

Artoria reacted the same way as Boss Bai did before.

She didn't show any surprise or emotion.

This is why Gao Yang often goes to them for help.

They trust each other unconditionally.

[Kaido: Dragon Kingdom has other resources?! And not just one or two! It looks like there are seven or eight marked out on the paper! Are you kidding me?! It's already an exaggeration that Dragon Kingdom has so many seastone mines!

[Whitebeard: This conversation sounds familiar...]

[Sentomaru: I don't understand it very well, but it doesn't make sense! Doesn't it mean that in the same climate and environment, there's a high probability of having the same kind of resources? Why does Dragon Kingdom have a seastone mine, a Devil Fruit forest that's still unexplained, coal, natural gas, and an oil field?!]

[Kizaru: Well, if everything on the paper is true, then the resources in Dragon Kingdom are unimaginably rich! It's too unreasonable!]

[Sengoku: Dr. Vegapunk, what do you think?]

[Vegapunk: How could I know something that goes beyond scientific common sense?]

[Akainu: The location is only written down now, which means it hasn't been mined yet. Was it detected?]

[Garp: He was also the one who told Boss Bai that there's a Devil Fruit Forest!]

[5 Elders: Does it have any special abilities?]

Everyone was confused for a moment.

They just wanted to see if the places that Gao Yang marked really had those resources.

"Are you leaving?" asked Arturia, still in a daze.

"Yes, is there anything else?"

"Well... tomorrow... I want to learn how to swim."

"Okay."

[Boss Bai: Hehe...]

Gao Yang felt a chill run down his spine.

"It seems that someone asked for it herself, not before..."

Boss Bai looked at Artoria expressionlessly.

Artoria blushed and quickly explained, "Of course not! I made great progress at that time and felt that I was about to learn it, so I thought about it..."

"But you haven't learned it yet!"

Megumi's words made Arturia stay put.

She was a little flustered and wanted to argue, but then she realized that Megumi is just a kid.

She didn't argue anymore.

Next video.

She brought people to an unremarkable open space.

A mining team was on standby.

"Artoria-sama!"

The mining team leader saluted respectfully.

Artoria handed him the paper with the locations of the resources.

The mining team leader will take over and check out the locations.

He walked over with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Arturia-sama, where did you get this information? I don't think there are any coal mines or natural gas in these places."

"It's the king's order."

"Okay, I understand. We'll start mining at the location."

"I'm sorry to bother you. We'll take care of the security. We'll make sure no pirates bother here."

[Vegapunk: The mining team leader is very professional. There are definitely no resources in those places. But if that's the case, why did Gao Yang give them that information and let them start working?]

[Garp: This is a mystery.]

But after the mining team started working, good news came from the mining team half a day later.

"Holy crap, there's coal!"

"Gas too!"

"The coal mine is estimated to have 110 billion tons of reserves! That's enough for Dragon Kingdom to use for years, and it's way more than any other coal mine we've found!"

"There's also a ton of gas here!"

"Holy shit, an oil field! And it's producing a lot of oil!"

Then they mine it, refine it, and put it to use.

Everyone watching the video was so excited that they couldn't sit still.

[Kaido: Dragon Kingdom really has a lot of resources! They have everything!

[Vegapunk: What is this liquid called oil? It's an amazing energy source! No wonder their ships are so fast!]

[Loan usury king: Dragon Kingdom is on the rise again! They have so many natural resources, they'll be unstoppable!]

[5 Elders: This is impossible! There's no way they have this many resources.]

[Queen: Dragon Kingdom has more resources than Elbaf and Wanokuni combined! This place must be blessed by the gods!]

[Mars: This kind of soil is supposed to be a wasteland! It's a miracle that there are even coal mines here, let alone several!]

[Saturn: Petroleum is an amazing energy source! It can provide a lot of power.]

[Ochoku: So many resources, it's enough to make anyone crazy!]

[Silver Ax: Are you starting to get interested?]

[Ochoku: Don't tell me you're not the same!]

All the pirates, the Four Emperors, the World Government, the Sea Chambers, and all the other factions are watching these natural resources.

Their heart is pounding!

This is even more exciting than a beggar who suddenly won 50 million belly!

Even though the 50 million belly doesn't belong to them, it's right in front of their eyes and seems to be within their reach!

[Garp: Damn it!! Damn it! Damn it!!]

Garp suddenly screamed!

All his calm and composure are gone!

[Sengoku: Garp, what's wrong? Why are you screaming?]

[Garp: Sengoku, did you not notice it? Did you not all notice something very scary?]