One Piece Gunslinger

Therefore, in order to take over this place, Li Ang devised a plan called "Plague Plan," which targeted eighteen islands and thirteen countries between the Revolutionary Army's sphere of influence and Dressrosa.

The gist of it is that everything that has happened in the past few years has been a facade. They deliberately slowed down their expansion and avoided the Dressrosa area, causing the World Government to misjudge the Revolutionary Army's efficiency, combat capabilities, and other aspects.

The revolutionary army had infiltrated these countries like a virus over the years, waiting for the day it would erupt and, with the help of both inside and outside forces, liberate them in one fell swoop.

Then, when a world government focuses its attention on the World Conference, when a large number of navies have protected Mary Geoise as if it were impregnable, and when various countries and kings have all gone to Mary Geoise to attend the World Conference, it will be too late for them to withdraw and take charge of the overall situation.

Give these slave owners a hard blow, catch the World Government off guard, seize this large territory in one fell swoop, and use it to directly besiege the city, placing a sharp knife next to the heart of the Celestial Dragons.

Li Ang was able to devise this plan thanks to the Fishman hero, Fisher Tiger. If he hadn't single-handedly ventured into Mary Geoise and freed a large number of slaves, making the World Government and Navy realize that the cliffs of the Red Line weren't necessarily safe, they might not have increased their defenses at the subsequent World Council meeting.

In fact, this plan has been underway for several years, but it has been in the incubation period. Now is the time when the virus has truly broken out.

After briefly reiterating the current situation and the revolutionary army's plan that had been in the works for several years, Li Ang began to appoint specific leaders for each battlefield.

"Commander of the First Army Group—Sabo!"

"Huh?" Sabo was stunned. Why was the most important and arduous First Army Group entrusted to him? The original plan was that Yulong should personally take on this important task, and then Sabo should assist him from the side.

After unfolding a map, Leon pointed at it and said to Sabo, "Your mission is the most important because these three countries are closest to Dressrosa and furthest from us, and haven't been greatly eroded. Therefore, you will receive the least intelligence and spies during the war."

Furthermore, because this location is closest to Mary Geoise, operations here are most easily exposed, and news of it is extremely difficult to contain. If the World Government realizes this, it is highly likely that they will send reinforcements.

Even so, we don't have much time to prepare, and we don't know how long we'll have to wait for the next World Parliament. We must complete our mission this time as well.

Therefore, my advice to you this time is—to achieve merit without making mistakes. There's no need for an overly aggressive and fierce attack; instead, you must maintain strict secrecy, block all information, and absolutely prevent any leaks. Otherwise, even if you conquer these three countries, you will suffer a severe blow.

Even if we can't take it down in a short time, we can wait for the Second and Third Front Armies to finish dealing with the aftermath before coming to our aid. We must not act rashly.

Although Sabo has remained mischievous these past few years, that's within the base. When it comes to important matters, he becomes more composed and knows how to prioritize. Entrusting him with command of the most important and challenging First Army Group was a well-considered decision by Long and Leon. It's believed that after years of growth and training, Sabo is now capable of handling things independently.

After Li Ang finished speaking, he handed the map and a letter of appointment to Sabo. Sabo first looked at the dragon standing to the side, and when he saw the dragon smile and nod at him, he solemnly accepted the map with both hands and replied, "I guarantee to complete the mission! I will never betray your trust."

Sabo then put away the letter of appointment and stood aside with the map.

"Commander-in-Chief of the Second Army Group..."

"Commander-in-Chief of the Third Army Group..."

……

And so, Li Ang distributed his letters of appointment and maps to the officers present one by one. Like Sabo, he also provided a detailed overview of the battlefield, assigned tasks, and offered suggestions.

For example, Li Ang's advice to the Sixth Army was to quickly capture it, even if it was a failure. That place was closest to the Revolutionary Army, so there was no need to worry too much about leaks. On the contrary, if the outside world knew that the Revolutionary Army had now left its rear vulnerable, then they would definitely need to return to defend it as soon as possible.

Aside from Ryu, Fujitora, and himself, almost everyone capable of fighting and commanding operations was dispatched this time. It's fair to say the Revolutionary Army mobilized its entire force; it's no wonder their rear was vulnerable.

As the meeting was drawing to a close, Li Ang concluded by saying, "Okay, now almost everyone has received their tasks. I want to reiterate this one last time: everyone's task is crucial. If any link in the chain goes wrong, the whole thing will fail."

"So in the end, I won't say you absolutely have to complete the mission. This kind of thing is inherently very risky. I only have one request: if the mission fails, I hope you all come back alive!"

Chapter 230 seems to be alright.

As for Li Ang, Long, and Fujitora, they had other important matters to attend to and therefore did not participate in the direct battles against the thirteen kingdoms and eighteen islands. Speaking of which, Fujitora is also not attending the meeting; he's currently escorting a fleet to Alabasta.

However, we will leave aside for now what exactly the three of them were planning to do.

After the meeting, Li Ang first found Robin and the other two, who were still in a daze, and asked, "How was it? Was this the first time you've experienced this kind of atmosphere?"

Karina took two quick breaths before saying, "Wow, the atmosphere just now was terrifying! It was so oppressive it was hard to breathe. Was it really that scary?"

The three were indeed quite frightened by this group of thugs. With a wave of their hands, they claimed thirteen countries and eighteen islands, and then appointed commanders of various armies one after another. The high-spirited atmosphere of the entire meeting never ceased.

Karina didn't finish her sentence, especially regarding Li Ang, who was completely different from usual. Despite being weaker than the others, the aura he exuded—the commanding presence, the life-or-death authority—was stronger than anyone else's. Even facing Li Ang directly felt like being unable to breathe.

"Hehe, it's good that you're feeling uncomfortable," Li Ang laughed. "Being unable to breathe means that I've achieved my goal of bringing you to this meeting."

They were so powerful just a moment ago, but now that the meeting is over, they've immediately reverted to their old ways. Even Nami couldn't stand the mockery and yelled, "What do you mean by 'feeling bad'? So you dragged me here just to make fun of me?"

Seeing the enraged Nami, Li Ang quickly explained, "Hey, hey, don't hit me, let's talk this out. I'm just thinking about your future. I want you to get used to it in advance. You'll inevitably have to go through these kinds of situations in the future. Although this meeting doesn't have much to do with you now, you'll make a fool of yourself if you come here when it does."

Although Li Ang's words made a lot of sense, Nami still wanted to punch him whenever she thought of his smug, mocking voice.

"Hehe, Li Ang has put in a lot of effort. It seems we still have a lot to learn." In the end, Robin came to the rescue. Among the three, Robin was the most composed, probably because she had experienced a lot at sea.

"Hey, Robin's the best, she understands me," Li Ang said happily, then added in his mind, "She's definitely a fan of mine."

However, Li Ang only said the first half of the sentence, which caused the meaning of the sentence to be completely changed in the minds of the three people.

Li Ang, oblivious to the subtle changes in the three men's expressions, continued, "However, you three can't just sit idly by. I have other plans for you."

Li Ang's words successfully diverted attention from that slight oddity and brought it back to the present.

"Oh? We can finally have something to do?" The happiest person was the more active Karina. "I've been studying all these days and haven't done anything else."

"Yeah, yeah, we're so bored we're about to die. If it weren't for the fact that everyone in the General Staff is so talented and speaks so nicely, we would have given up long ago." Nami nodded in agreement.

Upon hearing this, Robin asked curiously, "Oh? So you need to learn something. What do you need to learn?"

"Oh, this is it." Nami said, pulling a book out of her pocket.

Robin looked closely and saw a line on the cover that she recognized very well: Carry the revolution through to the end.

"Hehe, I've actually read this several times already, so maybe I don't need to go through this step." As she spoke, Robin also took out her copy.

I've looked at it several times. Judging from the cover, this book has been flipped through countless times, and it's already damaged in many places.

"So you'd already seen it, sister," the two said in surprise. "That's amazing. If something hadn't happened, I definitely wouldn't have been able to watch it."

Robin just chuckled and didn't say anything more.

Hey, where's Li Ang? Did he go offline? What happened to the plan he made for the three of them? Why did he just say one sentence and then go silent?

Li Ang was in a bad mood. He wasn't offline; he just didn't dare to say a word, afraid of getting beaten up if he did.

After Karina blurted out, "I've been studying all the time, I haven't done anything else," Li Ang swallowed back what he was about to say.

"Well, cough," Li Ang said with an apologetic smile, "I still need to continue studying."

"What?!" Robin didn't react much, but the other two were completely taken aback. "You come back and this is what you tell me?"

Li Ang could only bite the bullet and explain, "Well, although you are geniuses, no matter how talented you are, you can't compare to the wisdom accumulated by our predecessors over thousands of years. If you don't continue your studies, it will only be a waste of your talents."

Seeing that the crowd's expressions had softened, Li Ang realized they had accepted his point of view. He continued, "Although you can all stand tall and go far, becoming giants even without studying, wouldn't you be able to stand even higher and go even further if you stood on the shoulders of other giants?"

"Oh my god, luckily I was quick-witted, otherwise things would have been really difficult today." After saying this, Li Ang secretly gave himself a thumbs up.

Li Ang's words immediately put the two of them at ease: "Thinking about it this way, it seems to make some sense. It's like you always manage to say something that sounds very reasonable."

What does it mean to have some merit? It's not just about whether something sounds reasonable or not.

"Well, I'm standing on the shoulders of giants too." Li Ang couldn't explain this problem, so he could only give a perfunctory answer.

Then Li Ang quickly said to the three of them, "Um, Nami, the dragon will send you to a sky island in a while, but that sky island is not under our control, so..."

Before Li Ang could finish speaking, Nami asked in confusion, "Sky Island? Island in the sky, do those legendary places really exist?"

Well, at this point, neither Nami nor Robin had ever been to Skypiea, nor had they ever ridden the rising ocean currents. Carina, of course, was the same; they only considered Skypiea a legend.

“Well, well,” Li Ang sighed. “Sky Islands not only exist, but there are quite a few. The so-called legends are just the World Government’s policy of keeping the people ignorant. In the eyes of some powerful forces, they are not legends at all. Just like that comic book, the big talker Roland. In fact, what he said is all true. The Lilliputian Kingdom, the Golden Kingdom, and the Sky Islands all exist. It’s just that the World Government has distorted these things.”

Hey, this tactic of shifting blame is really effective. Basically, anything that can't be explained is blamed on the World Government.

"I see. Please continue."

Li Ang could only continue, "That place is not under our control, and it has no connection with our revolutionary army. So when you get there, you'll have to rely on yourself for everything."

Nami understood what Leon meant: "Wait, so I'm going to go alone? Doesn't that mean I'm cut off from the Revolutionary Army?"

“It seems there’s nothing wrong with what you’re thinking,” Li Ang nodded. “The main problem is that it’s too far away from us, and we can’t expand our influence there.”

"But none of that is the point. The point is that the Sky Island has the best meteorologists and navigators. You need to learn a lot from them and combine your talents with theory."

Nami retorted angrily, "How is this not the point? You come back and this is the first thing you tell me? I can't contact you anywhere by myself."

Li Ang didn't understand what he had done to upset Nami, so he could only apologize, "Well, I'm sorry about that. We had no choice. If there were other better places, we wouldn't have chosen that one. But the road to revolution is inherently arduous, and temporary separation and pain are for the sake of a longer-term goal. You know, you're the one who's going to draw up a world map; without that knowledge, it would be impossible."

Well, I don't know if Nami accepted his statement. Li Ang quickly changed his target and said to Karina, "You should follow Long for a while and learn about espionage and intelligence from him. After that, someone will arrange for you to become a star and learn about singing, dancing and art."

"Become a star?" Karina asked curiously. "Although becoming a star was one of my childhood dreams, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with being a star or working as a spy."

Li Ang shook his head and said, "It's a big deal. If you're just a country girl, you can only infiltrate ordinary people at most. But if you're a celebrity, you can infiltrate high society and seek bigger things. That's the difference between a regular spy and a top-notch spy."

After hearing Li Ang's explanation, Karina excitedly said, "I never thought I could realize my childhood dream legitimately. I thought I would have to do it secretly my whole life."

In fact, the revolutionary army just accelerated this process. Even if they hadn't met Li Ang, they could have become stars in a few years.

Li Ang continued to say to Robin, "Robin, you'll stay by my side for a while and familiarize yourself with the various matters of the General Staff. In about ten days, I will also be going on an operation, and then you and Kela can take my place."

This is why Li Ang brought Robin along. If every time Li Ang goes out, the staff has to work overtime, their eyes filled with dark circles, then Li Ang wouldn't dare to go out so often. But conversely, if they can find a large number of people, everything can be handled even if Li Ang leaves, then Li Ang will be freed from being tied down here.

Robin happens to be one of those many people.

"Wait, so she's the only one who doesn't have to be sent out and can stay here all the time?" Nami seemed to have grasped the key point.

“That’s right, that’s exactly it. Is there something wrong with it?” Li Ang asked, puzzled.

Chapter 231 World Conference

Although Li Ang couldn't understand why Nami was angry and found it all rather inexplicable, he still sent Nami and Karina away early the next morning.

Now is not the time for them to make a difference; it will take at least another two years.

Next comes the specific implementation process of the plague plan's outbreak phase. As the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army, Dragon is the only one who can take control of the plan and personally execute the first step.

So the next day, the whole world knew that the revolutionary army was also going to hold a world conference.

This news was nothing short of shocking. The World Government was holding a World Conference on this highly anticipated day, but unexpectedly, the Revolutionary Army was also preparing to hold a World Conference on the same day.

This is practically a direct confrontation with the World Government. It's blatantly going against them. But only the Revolutionary Army would do something like this; they're the World Government's arch-enemy.

Moreover, the Revolutionary Army's actions this time were significant, and they made no attempt to conceal anything. Along with announcing this major news, the Revolutionary Army also declared that not only countries within their controlled territories but also any nation not recognized by the World Government—including those under the rule of the Four Emperors and non-human races disliked by the World Government—were eligible to participate in this meeting.

However, that's the case. It's estimated that in the end, only the countries under the Revolutionary Army's control will be able to attend the meeting. After all, anyone who dares to come means they've joined the Revolutionary Army's camp, and that they're going to oppose the World Government.

Even the country under the rule of the Four Emperors probably won't come, since coming would be tantamount to offending the Four Emperors.

However, while people were still processing this bombshell news, another piece of news arrived immediately. The Revolutionary Army's Commander-in-Chief, Dragon, personally went to see Whitebeard.

As for why Dragon sought out the strongest man in the world, and what they discussed, no one knows. However, considering the news that the Revolutionary Army is about to hold a world conference, there are some speculations.

"Does the Revolutionary Army want to win over Whitebeard? Do they want Whitebeard or the countries under his rule to participate in this Revolutionary Army World Conference?"

This idea inevitably became mainstream, and at this point in time, these were the only things people could think of.