Chapter 789: The True Nature of Uranus
At this moment, Whitebeard and Shanks were also gradually regaining their vision.
The reason their eyes had been irritated by the glare was mainly because those reporters were too close to the explosion site at the time. At that distance, the intense light that burst forth was far too strong, and since everyone had been staring fixedly at the video feed, it felt like being hit with a flashbang at close range.
However, once their vision returned, all they could see was a completely black screen on the video feed…
“The signal’s cut off?” Shanks asked in confusion. “After that intense light, what happened?”
Whitebeard also looked around at everyone and asked, “Did anyone see?”
Similar to Ian, there were a few pirates in the crowd who had been wearing sunglasses to look cool, and these actually allowed them to see the subsequent events.
So, before Ian could speak, those pirates began chattering in terrified tones, describing the massive explosion that followed.
Upon hearing that so many ships of the Beast Pirates had been destroyed in a single strike from Uranus, almost everyone was left utterly stunned.
Over a hundred pirate ships—even the Marine Headquarters would have had to fight seriously against such a force—yet they had been wiped out so effortlessly. The whole thing sounded so unbelievable that many found it hard to accept, but the blacked-out video feed told them it was absolutely true.
Yonji spoke up: “What exactly was that massive explosion? Did it drop some kind of giant bomb?”
“No!” Crocodile shook his head. “Back when I was in Alabasta, I once created a huge bomb with a five-kilometer blast radius, but even that didn’t have such terrifying power. A bomb like this definitely isn’t something you can make by just piling up ordinary explosives…”
“How can Uranus’s power be this terrifying!?” Baccarat said, still shaken. “Back then, how did the other two Ancient Weapons even fight against it?”
“Exactly!” Reiju also wondered. “The war during the blank century should have lasted a long time. With the overwhelming power Uranus just displayed, how could the war have dragged on for so long?”
“It might not have actually lasted a full hundred years,” Robin shook her head. “The blank century likely started counting from when the Moon People arrived in the Blue Sea.”
“But that great war must have gone on for a long time, right?” Enel tilted his head. “How did the ancient resisters manage to hold out against such immense power from Uranus?”
No one could answer that question. But just then, Ian, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke: “It’s about yield and radiation!”
Everyone turned to look at him. Ace asked in confusion, “Yield? Radiation? What do those mean?”
“Yield refers to the power of that explosion,” Ian explained. He had been quiet earlier because he was using his limited knowledge to think about Uranus’s true ability.
At first, Ian had thought Uranus’s Devil Fruit ability was something like a Nuclear Fruit. But when he thought about it more carefully, he suddenly realized he had been wrong!
The Devil Fruit that Uranus had eaten was likely just a Paramecia-type fruit!
Moreover, this Paramecia fruit was probably of the same type as Mr. 1’s Dice-Dice Fruit or Jozu’s Diamond-Diamond Fruit!
Some might hear Ian’s guess and think he was bluffing, but wait—this was actually true. Mr. 1’s Dice-Dice Fruit could essentially be seen as an Iron Fruit, with its essence being the element iron. Similarly, Jozu’s Diamond-Diamond Fruit was essentially carbon. As for why Ian said Uranus had eaten the same type, the reason was that it might have eaten a Uranium Fruit or a Plutonium Fruit!
Yes, a Uranium Fruit or a Plutonium Fruit! Of course, this referred to their essence. If named according to this world’s Devil Fruit naming conventions, based on the abilities they displayed, calling it a Radiation Fruit might be more appropriate!
The dragon fang that Roger and Scopper Gaban had brought back from Laugh Tale was left behind by Uranus several hundred years ago. Even though it was just a tooth lost in battle, after all these years, it still possessed lethal power. This perfectly supported Ian’s guess. Because Uranus’s body had become a kind of radioactive element, the parts it left behind could maintain such long-lasting radioactive power!
This radioactive power harmed the human body. Based on Scopper Gaban’s description, the reason that dragon fang had left scars on Kaido was because this radiation affected the healing ability of Kaido’s own cells…
Furthermore, Ian even suspected that Uranus’s incredibly huge size might also be related to its radioactivity. The giant dragon Vegapunk had left on Punk Hazard was probably the normal size for a dragon. Uranus, on the other hand, was like the oversized rats and giant earthworms after the Chernobyl disaster—radiation could cause organisms to grow larger…
Having discussed the essence of Uranus’s fruit, the next thing to talk about was the development of its Devil Fruit ability!
Yes, development. Don’t forget, what truly determined the power of a Devil Fruit was how the user developed it. Although Uranus was just a giant dragon, it definitely had intelligence, just like Zunesha, and could think. Such a intelligent life form could certainly develop its Devil Fruit ability…
Thinking this way, the conclusion became clear: Uranus had simply developed its Radiation Fruit to achieve nuclear fission!
In other words, Ian’s earlier thoughts were a bit off. The explosion Uranus caused wasn’t the nuclear fusion attack he had imagined, but rather nuclear fission.
This realization made Ian breathe a sigh of relief. In his memory, the energy released by nuclear fission wasn’t as high as nuclear fusion. If he remembered correctly, nuclear fission was the basis for atomic bombs, while hydrogen bombs (nuclear fusion) were actually triggered by atomic bombs. They weren’t the same thing.
As for the Devil Fruit ability Uranus had developed, it might be chain reaction. Based on his calculations, Ian estimated that Uranus’s entire body might have been undergoing a very long chain reaction, one that could even be traced back eight hundred years.
Because of this chain reaction, Uranus could essentially be seen as a nuclear reactor. The reason the ancient Moon People wanted to use it as an energy source was that this energy could be converted into electricity. The Moon People’s cities had originally run on electricity.
However, after losing Uranus, they had to look for a substitute, which was the Rumble-Rumble Fruit that Enel later obtained. But they probably never got to use that Devil Fruit before the war caused their civilization and history to be lost. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was preserved until Enel found and ate it…
Since Uranus was just a flying nuclear reactor, its earlier attack could also be explained. With such a massive body, the energy sphere it spat out was only the size of a washbasin. This was entirely because its yield wasn’t high enough!
Ian didn’t know whether this was the result of deliberate control or if Uranus could only produce attacks of this yield. After all, chain reaction was just a slow process of energy release…
Ian assessed the explosion Uranus had used against the Beast Pirates. He estimated it might be around ten thousand tons. Based on the blast radius, it would be more than enough to destroy a large city or island.
Although such a yield was still terrifying, it wasn’t completely unstoppable. If it were an attack on the level of the Tsar Bomba’s fifty-megaton yield, then whether it was Ian and the other Emperors or the Revolutionary Army, everyone might as well raise their hands in surrender, obediently become docile citizens, and go home to get married…
So, Ian guessed that the reason ancient people could resist Uranus’s threat for so long might lie in this.
Beyond that, Uranus probably had other weaknesses, such as the guide who controlled it. However, in the earlier live broadcast, Uranus’s body was so enormous that Ian couldn’t spot the Celestial Dragon controlling it, nor did he know where that Celestial Dragon was hiding on Uranus’s body…
The power of the explosion might be defendable, but the radiation was a bigger problem. The real reason the Moon People and many Blue Sea races had their civilization and history lost during that great war was likely radiation. For a civilization to be lost, it would require a massive death toll in a short time. Since the ancient people still had time to carve the Poneglyphs, they probably didn’t die from the explosions. The more likely cause was death from subsequent radiation sickness…
After hearing Ian’s explanation, everyone understood a bit more. However, Shanks found it strange and asked Ian, “How do you know all this?”
Ian couldn’t explain this. The technological development of this world was very peculiar. Many people, including some scholars, might not know about nuclear reactions. The only one who might understand was the world’s smartest person, the Marine’s chief scientist, Vegapunk, who had studied Uranus.
Come to think of it, what Garp had said earlier was right: Vegapunk was probably this world’s Einstein…
Since he couldn’t explain, he had to bluff his way through. So Ian changed the subject: “Whitebeard Old Man, Shanks Big Brother, it looks like the island isn’t safe anymore. If the Celestial Dragons really bring Uranus here, staying on the ground is just waiting to die. We need to start evacuating people immediately. Take your men to my Skypiea base and have the civilians on Whole Cake Island set sail to evacuate!”
“What about you?” Shanks asked.
“I have to go check out the explosion site,” Ian said. “If I fly at full supersonic speed, I can get there quickly. The Beast Pirates definitely have survivors. I’m going to look for them! And if possible, I even want to encounter Uranus. I need to find that hidden Celestial Dragon controlling it…”
There were definitely survivors. Don’t forget, some Devil Fruit users or people skilled in using Haki could potentially survive such an explosion…