"My thoughts are very simple. Use the most forceful methods to kill Saul, to warn everyone in the Navy and make them not dare to have any thoughts of betrayal," Sakazuki said coldly and ruthlessly. After Saul defected, those in the Navy who helped him escape were personally dealt with by him.
'Traitors must die!'
"I think Vice Admiral Sakazuki's idea isn't bad. Vice Admiral Sakazuki can boldly express your thoughts. If Fleet Admiral Kong has any objections, just tell him, I support your thinking," Rosse replied with a smile.
He liked straightforward people like Sakazuki.
With Sakazuki charging in front, he just had to stand behind and wave the flag. It was perfect.
If Sakazuki didn't have such deep obsessions with the Navy and pirates, Rosse would have tried to poach him already.
Just think about how Sakazuki went all out in the Summit War, and compare that to the other loafers. Any superior would sincerely hope to have more subordinates like Sakazuki, who go all out.
"I will express my opinion to Fleet Admiral Kong," Sakazuki nodded seriously. He wasn't unaware of Rosse's thinking, but having a Celestial Dragon backing him was only beneficial.
He only wanted to kill all pirates. As long as Rosse was willing to support him, he was willing to elevate Rosse to become a Five Elder.
'Absolute justice will definitely judge all pirates!'
"Then I'll be watching with anticipation," Rosse nodded with a smile, watching Sakazuki turn and leave.
"He and Kong are using you ,"Zephyr stood beside Rosse, reminding him with a complicated expression.
"If they're using me, that means I still have some value. Isn't that a good thing? I'm not Berries, I can't expect everyone to like me," Rosse smiled. Looks like his efforts over these days weren't wasted. At least Zephyr was willing to consider things from his perspective now.
As for being used, as long as he could gain tangible benefits, things like reputation weren't important at all.
Celestial Dragons, good reputation?
Putting those two words together, any normal person would find it absurd.
"It's good you're aware. Sakazuki's justice is a bit extreme. He only cares about results, and the process might cause quite a bit of trouble," Zephyr reminded.
"If justice isn't extreme, can it still be called justice?", Rosse asked with a laugh, then casually added without any scruples, "Besides, his justice isn't extreme enough. The most extreme are the ones who want to press their fists to my forehead, instead of aiming at those pirates."
"You're talking about Dragon, right? After he defected from the Navy, he did make some inappropriate remarks and even started some so-called 'Freedom Fighters.' His thinking has already gone wrong," Zephyr shook his head.
"What do you think of Dragon?"
Hearing Zephyr's evaluation, Rosse became interested.
This was his first time hearing a Navy person talk about the Revolutionary Army and Dragon. He was curious to hear Zephyr's perspective.
"You should know his background, his old man is Garp. During his years in the Navy, we were grooming him as the next Admiral."
"But after witnessing several cases of conflict between nobles and commoners, he started becoming dissatisfied with the justice upheld by the Navy."
"In his view, the justice currently suppressed under a cruel order isn't true justice. The Navy isn't the embodiment of justice but the helper of the World Government and its allies. So he left the Navy."
"Because of Garp, the Navy didn't announce this publicly. We just quietly kept an eye on him in case of any uncontrollable situations."
"After Roger's death and the Great Pirate Era began, Dragon took the opportunity to establish the Freedom Fighters. When the Freedom Fighters was founded, the Navy held a meeting, I participated at the time."
Zephyr's eyes carried a hint of recollection as he slowly spoke, "The name 'Freedom Fighters' says it all—a free and brave army led by Dragon, aimed at eliminating all injustice and bringing freedom to the world."
"Isn't that a good program? Freedom, what a wonderful word," Rosse sneered.
"Childish thinking," Zephyr shook his head, "Even the darkest order is better than the chaos brought by freedom."
When it came to order, Zephyr had never wavered.
No matter how bad the World Government behaved, it was still ten thousand times better than so-called freedom across the world.
"Indeed," Rosse agreed with that view.
People are fundamentally different. Don't assume that if the whole world becomes free, everyone will behave themselves.
If the whole world is free, it's bound to fall into a dark era. In the end, ambitious people will rise up and establish a new oppressive class and system.
All that 'universal awakening' and 'world peace' stuff, so long as humans still have desires, it's impossible. History over thousands of years in the old world had already proven this.
Even if a saint with absolute power appeared, once the saint dies, the future will still revert.
Rather than say it's equality under the rule of a saint, it's more like humanitarian rule under the saint's dictatorship.
Still, Rosse was more curious to hear Zephyr's thoughts on this.
Zephyr's views could represent a portion of the Navy. He could use that as reference.
"Saint Rosse, are you familiar with the situation in non-affiliated nations?", Zephyr asked in return.
"Not really. I only know that non-affiliated nations aren't under the jurisdiction of the World Government, don't have to pay Celestial Tribute, but the Navy won't protect them either," Rosse shook his head.
He truly didn't know much about non-affiliated nations. Just that every few years, the World Government would use one as an example to assert dominance.
But even so, non-affiliated nations still sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain.
Some were too remote and chaotic, and some were just outright lawless zones.
"I've been to some non-affiliated nations before. You could say there's basically no order at all. In those places, strength is everything."
Zephyr fell into reminiscence and slowly said, "After 800 years of development under the World Government, most nations with even a little order have been brought into the affiliated nations. What's left are small chaotic countries, or disorderly islands, or places with special geographic conditions that belong to the non-affiliated nations."
"I once went to a non-affiliated region called 'Rata Town.' It's a small town located on Rata Island in the South Sea. On the edge of the South Sea, with about 10,000 locals, the area is mostly controlled by pirates or warlords."
"The local residents there. Well, they're not exactly miserable. In fact, life's pretty good. On average, every resident earns 1 million Berries a year."
At this point, Zephyr had a sarcastic smile at the corner of his mouth.
1 million Berries, a figure that would be considered high-income even in the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Illegal trade, right?", Rosse said with certainty.
Ordinary people making that much could only mean illegal trade. That's the norm for non-affiliated nations.
Not to mention the non-affiliated nations, even affiliated ones had those trades. Everyone's the same.
"Exactly. Rata Town promotes itself as a tourist paradise and city of freedom, attracting many affiliated nation tourists every year. But internally, it actually runs a slave trade," Zephyr snorted lightly.
"Slave trade? Is that illegal?", Gion at the side was confused. It was her first time hearing that slave trading was illegal, 'But aren't there many slave shops in the Sabaody Archipelago?
"Slave trading isn't illegal, but kidnapping citizens from affiliated nations is," Rosse said calmly.
The laws of the World Government are pretty bizarre.
Robbery, murder, kidnapping, all are illegal and have corresponding consequences. But the law doesn't apply to nobles, and each affiliated nation also has its own local laws.
However, one rule is almost universal: kidnapping is illegal, but slave trading is not.
So the question is: where do the slaves come from?
Don't ask. Just say they're from non-affiliated nations. None of the affiliated nations have missing persons.
As long as they stick to that point, there's always a way to explain the source of the slaves.
"It works like that, huh."
Gion was in disbelief. She felt the World Government's laws were a bit of a joke, 'Isn't this giving slave traders an exploitable loophole?'
"That's how places like Rata Town developed. They're lawless zones. Every year, they use various schemes or force to kidnap people and take them to Rata Town. Once people take on the identity of Rata Town residents, they're sold all over the world."
"The slave trade in Sabaody Archipelago is already the filtered premium selection. Rata Town and other non-affiliated zones, along with the widespread slaver ships, are the true frontline of the slave trade."
"As long as you strike a deal with them, even if you were once a noble, they can fabricate a story about you giving up your noble status and settling in Rata Town."
Zephyr snorted coldly, clearly disapproving of such behavior.
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