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Chapter 180: The Great Expedition I
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That was a challenge for he truly wanted her to do her best, yet against Im, arguably the most frightening individual in this World, he remained undisturbed.
"Everything should be ready in a few months, so when will we start?" The speaker was none other than Monkey D. Dragon who asked with curiosity.
"Let's wait for about a year," Yovan responded as he took a sip of tea.
It's been about a week since his confrontation with Im, a time spent protecting not only the Pantheon but also the Strangers, making sure the numerous Treasures are transported safely.
The possibility of Im having methods to reach the Green realm, the realm in which the Pantheon resides, also made Yovan wary, as he started setting up some of his methods to protect it.
Even in his absence, the Pantheon should be able to stay hidden as he used his capabilities as a creature of the night to mask its existence.
"Oh? Why wait so long?" Dragon asked, having sought a meeting with Yovan for so long as he had many questions to ask, just like Nico Robin who was sitting to the side, quietly listening.
"I have a lot of preparations to do," Yovan didn't expand any further. He realized that he became too strong, way too strong for the World, so he needs to prepare... Such a contradiction was befitting of the Stranger.
"Are you optimistic? About the future?" Dragon asked.
"I will take time, but it should be alright, eventually," Yovan shrugged.
"So not too optimistic?" Dragon raised a brow as he asked.
"Well, at least the World will be better," Yovan nodded, "With the possibility of such monstrous power existing, people will have great ambitions. Who knows if another Uranus might appear."
Yovan gets it better than anyone, human ambitions are limitless, just like his ambition, but the limits in this World are much higher than that of his previous.
In the previous World, there was no such incomprehensible power capable of destroying mountains, even cities, or achieving miracles, but in this World, there is, so how could the living not seek it?
Yovan sees Devil Fruits, and those capable of Haki as something akin to Nuclear bombs, things that need to be controlled.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) includes a comprehensive set of prohibitions on participating in any nuclear weapon activities. These include undertakings not to develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use, or threaten to use nuclear weapons.
So naturally, Yovan believes that something similar should be implemented here, yet he's still not too optimistic for even in his previous world, there were still wars despite the United Nations' several measures to prevent them.
So Yovan did give Dragon some advice on how to keep the World as peaceful as possible, even a little bit more peace matters.
The two chatted a while longer, soon joined by Zeus as they started talking about the timeline of their plans to make sure everything goes perfectly, but no matter what, Yovan didn't speak about his own future.
It's important to note that both Kalifa and Kaku chose to join the Pantheon, the latter because of his love for building Ships as he wanted to help in creating an improved Pluton.
Even if the Strangers were once in Yovan's crew, the Pantheon wouldn't accept them easily. After all, Yovan had long left being one of the Gods, and his control over the Pantheon is fading, in accordance with his wishes.
Now Zeus and Dragon rule over it, and they wouldn't do something that's not to the benefit of the Pantheon or the World.
However, both Kaku and Kalifa were extremely valuable, especially Kalifa who has Yovan's blessing, so they were naturally accepted.
The two didn't get to meet Yovan though as the latter vanished after speaking with Dragon and Zeus, and soon after, an interesting piece of news started circulating throughout the World.
It was quite the shocking news, the Strangers disbanded, and soon even more shocking news became known, The Stranger might actually know the location of the One Piece, and he's looking for it.
People started putting things together, coming to the conclusion that the Stranger was greedy, and wanted the One Piece for himself alone.
That made the World even more sure that he knows the location of the One Piece, only the One piece would make someone so greedy as to disband their crew.
The World was suddenly split, some laughing at the Strangers who have been abandoned while others sympathized with them.
Either way, Yovan's true goal was achieved, isolating himself from the Strangers lest they be pursued by those who desire the One Piece.
What happened, or at least what the World thinks happened insinuates that the Strangers don't know of the location of the One Piece, but some might think they do, so Yovan left behind some protection, just in case.
The Pantheon previously already made the location of all the Road Poneglyphs known, basically making enemies of the World Government and the Four Emperors.
The Four Emperors did have some trouble as no matter what they did, the Pantheon would know the exact location of the Poneglyphs even if they move it.
And you'd be surprised at how many people tried to copy the Poneglyphs even if it means going against the Four Emperors, including Shanks who took it upon himself to take the Road Poneglyph from Zou.
His actions basically saved Zou from the cruelty of Pirates, and he took it upon himself to protect the Poneglyph, but without a doubt, the one who had the most trouble was none other than Blackbeard.
Blackbeard was a new Emperor in New World, so many saw him as an easy target much to his annoyance, but that's just it, only annoyance.
The end of that annoyance came today as the World's attention switched to the Stranger, Yovan, but he was nowhere to be seen.
So they started tracing his steps, and they found something interesting, his traces vanished near Elbaf, and the Strangers disbanded not long after.
They soon realized that he might be heading to Lodestar Island, and those with ambitions sought to follow... They couldn't.
The World slowly but surely realized that even reaching Elbaf was extremely difficult and dangerous, let alone going further into New World.
Elbaf became a blockade for those desiring the One Piece, becoming the most prosperous Island in the entire World due to how many people started visiting.
The New King of Elbaf, Loki, soon made a declaration. He will sponsor the journey, making sure everyone can reach Lodestar safely only if it means the Stranger dies for it was he who killed the previous King, Ymir.
So a state of preparation started, and Elbaf wasn't alone in this as all the other Emperors and almost all Pirates started preparing for the Journey.
Even the World Government and the Marines started acting, although their purpose was very different, each with their own conspiracy.
All the while, Yovan was nowhere near Elabf or Lodestar. He wasn't even in New World. Yovan was in the West Blue, the place where he started.
He was on the very Island he first found himself in when he opened his eyes to this new fabulous World.