Sora shifted his gaze away from the system notification and picked up the newspaper from Anna's hands.
"Heh… 1.5 billion on the first bounty, huh."
"Sengoku sure went all in."
"But I bet this is just a setup to build me up, only to have someone else take me out."
His brow arched as he stared at the bold headline.
A massive bounty like that would certainly scare off the weak—but it also meant he'd be hunted by people with bounties above a billion. And those people were not pushovers.
Still—
The 1.5 billion bounty now met the requirements to upgrade his pirate crew: just one billion. As long as he filled all current crew slots, the crew would level up, unlocking more slots and rewards.
Tsk, Akainu himself is leading the task force to hunt me down.
Bit much, isn't it?
Sora chuckled. He wasn't concerned.
With the Divine Slave under his command, Akainu wasn't going to catch him that easily.
Besides, he still had two top-tier Swordmaster Experience Cards. If it came down to a clash, he was confident enough to put up a fight.
Still, he had to keep growing stronger—fast.
He turned to Reiju and said:
"Miss Reiju, may I take a look at your battle suit?"
Reiju's toxic abilities didn't come from a Devil Fruit, but from genetic modification. So even with Sea Prism Stone cuffs on, she could still use her poison. That's why Sora kept his distance.
After all, despite his growing infamy, his real strength was still nothing more than an Ensign—hardly impressive.
So that's what he's after… the Germa tech.
Hearing Sora ask about her battle suit, Reiju immediately understood his angle.
She chose her words carefully and replied:
"Since you're aware of our Germa battle suits, then you must also know they're designed to work alongside our genetic modification tech."
"The suit's full capabilities can only be unlocked through the bloodline factor engineering that Germa developed."
"And that requires over a decade of continuous experimentation."
"To date, only the Vinsmoke family has undergone such modifications successfully."
Ah, that explains it.
No wonder Vinsmoke Judge didn't outfit his clone soldiers with battle suits—without the genetic tweaks, they'd be useless.
Otherwise, with just those suits, Judge could've ruled the North Blue outright. Why would he need to seek Big Mom's support?
The strength of the Vinsmoke siblings wasn't outstanding—more like average commanders under a Yonko. But an entire army equipped with those suits and enhancements? That'd be terrifying.
Sora frowned slightly at the explanation.
Reiju continued:
"Of course, if you're not trying to maximize the suit's potential, we can make one for you. But its combat utility would be minimal."
Sora gave her a calm smile.
"In that case, let's look forward to a successful partnership."
"As long as your father's willing to cooperate, I won't make things difficult for Germa."
Whether the suit enhanced him a lot or a little, he intended to try it out.
Seeing is believing.
"That would be ideal." Reiju nodded, subtly relieved. She wanted nothing more than to avoid ending up like Anna and Shalria—being punished under Sora's rule.
Then, Sora looked at her again.
"Miss Reiju, would you be willing to join my pirate crew?"
Reiju shook her head. "I'm sorry."
Sora wasn't surprised.
She hadn't lost her emotions like her brothers, but she still couldn't defy her father's orders. Trying to recruit her now was clearly a nonstarter.
But if he could convince Judge… bringing Reiju aboard would be no problem at all.
And Sora already had a plan to do just that.
Grabbing the Den Den Mushi from the Germa ship, he initiated contact with Vinsmoke Judge.
In the Germa Kingdom—
Judge took the snail phone from a servant and spoke in a low voice.
"Godslayer Sora, what is your goal in capturing Reiju and Yonji?"
Sora's calm voice came through the speaker:
"Vinsmoke Judge… if you truly wish to dominate the North Blue, perhaps we can work together."
As a transmigrator, Sora knew exactly what Judge wanted most.
So he hit him with the biggest bait right from the start.
Reiju's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected Sora to try convincing her father with that.
As Judge's daughter, she knew full well how tempting the idea of ruling the North Blue was to him.
"Rule the North Blue?"
Judge sounded stunned.
Restoring the Vinsmoke name to its former glory—making Germa the undisputed power in the North Blue—was his lifelong dream.
Sora chuckled into the receiver.
"You've probably heard about my attack on the Celestial Dragons. From them, I learned… a lot of things about this world."
"Things that could help Germa gain a huge power boost."
"And I can do things… you'd never dare attempt."
"So, interested in working together?"
Judge fell silent for a long moment.
But Reiju could tell—her father was almost certainly convinced.
And she was shocked. Just a few sentences had nearly swayed the most stubborn man she knew.
Secrets? What secrets?
Shalria, still kneeling nearby, raised her head and stared curiously at Sora.
"You really think a few lines are enough to make me cooperate?"
Judge's voice came through again—skeptical, but not dismissive.
Clearly, he wanted Sora to offer something more substantial than dreams.
Sora grinned.
"I know where the blueprints for the Ancient Weapon Pluton are."
Reiju, Anna, and Shalria all gasped in shock.
They hadn't expected Sora to possess knowledge of that magnitude.
The Ancient Weapons—Uranus, Poseidon, Pluton—were said to each possess the power to destroy the world.
On the other end of the line, Judge was just as stunned. If he could build Pluton, not only would ruling the North Blue be easy—he might even aim for world domination.
His breathing grew heavy.
"What do you want?" he asked quickly.
Anyone offering this kind of deal obviously expected something in return.
Sora smiled, glancing over at Reiju.
"I want your scientific battle suit tech… and your cybernetic modification data…"
Reiju's heart sank.
She suddenly had a very bad feeling.
"And," Sora added with a smirk, "Vinsmoke Reiju herself."
_____
You give me a power stone, and I will give you a mass release deal? And if you like this story, add it to your library and give me a review, and I will reward you with mass release.