This novel is finished, and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
Knock, knock, knock!
Fingers rapped on the door of the office in Pangu City. Akainu paused for a brief moment, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face, then he called out: "Reporting!"
"..."
There was a short, charged silence from within before Rowen's calm voice gave permission: "Come in."
So… the status really is different now, huh. Akainu thought, a quiet sigh escaping him. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, immediately freezing in surprise.
"You all… are here?!"
Rowen's office, as the sole head of the world government, should have been a place of quiet, almost deserted restriction. Instead, the room was crowded, filled with people standing in neat, opposing formations.
On Rowen's left side, starting from the back row forward, stood:
The nominally defunct Warlord, the "Surgeon of Death," Trafalgar Law.
A heavily bandaged and splinted Koby, leaning on crutches and looking for all the world like a mummy.
The famous "Sea Hero" Jinbe, and the "Benevolent Hero," Admiral Fujitora.
And finally, at the very front, Rowen's most trusted shadow, known throughout the world as the "Marine Ghost Sword," Admiral Quinn Dante.
Wait a second, Dante?!
Akainu's eyes widened in genuine surprise. "When did you get back?!" Was he not supposed to be on a critical mission in the New World? How had he returned faster than Akainu's own fleet?
"It's been a while, Fleet Admiral," Dante greeted with a calm nod, then offered a casual explanation: "The Pluton and Qilin-class vessels are fast, but not as fast as a lightweight combat aircraft."
Normally, their speeds were about equal, but the ships carried heavy loads, slowing them slightly. Yet, even factoring that in, the timing made no sense.
Akainu's eyes narrowed. There was only one explanation: Rowen had secretly recalled Dante long before anyone else had even received a report. As the commander of the Assassination Force and Rowen's sharpest blade, it was well known that Rowen trusted Dante implicitly.
After a moment's hesitation, Akainu said nothing more. This entire side of the room was clearly Rowen's camp, a collection of loyalists bound by personal ties, despite their varied statuses.
Akainu took several large strides forward to stand on the opposite side, shoulder to shoulder with Bald Zero. The latter gave him a brief, measuring glance but remained silent. No need to rush; he wasn't the one positioned in the front.
Before them both stood the broad, commanding back of Steel Bone Kong, the Supreme Commander of the entire military, his imposing presence alone seemed to block the sunlight. Neither CP0 nor the Marine Fleet Admiral could rival his absolute authority.
Behind them stood Rob Lucci, Masked Zero, and Kalifa, who seemed to be here mostly as silent observers.
And there was… one more.
Akainu's eyes narrowed slightly. At the very back of the line stood a figure completely shrouded in a black cloak. From the build, he was clearly a man, but his aura was entirely suppressed, utterly still, almost lifeless.
But that height, that unique build, Akainu would never forget it as long as he lived.
Dragon!
Thud, thud!
Rowen tapped his desk, the small sound cutting through the heavy tension like a knife. "Gentlemen!"
Akainu turned forward, keeping his expression blank, refusing to look back at the revolutionary. With Dragon appearing here of all places, Akainu himself couldn't even begin to describe the sheer complexity of what he was feeling.
"Let's continue where we left off," Rowen said calmly. "The Holy Land now faces two immense challenges. First, the pirates!"
"This topic has been discussed endlessly. Fleet Admiral Akainu, what's your opinion?"
Rowen threw the pirate issue directly to Akainu, acknowledging his authority and smoothly integrating him into the discussion.
Upon hearing the question, Akainu stepped forward. "In my opinion… we need to strike from two directions."
"Oh?" Rowen asked, a slight smile touching his lips. "And what two directions would those be?"
Akainu's lips curved slightly upward, meeting Rowen's gaze with a shared understanding.
"Increase the cost of setting out to sea, and reduce the motivation to do so!"
"I understand the part about increasing the cost," Bald Zero interjected, his voice sharp. "Stricter punishment, perhaps similar to what we do with Impel Down."
"But reducing the motivation to go to sea… how exactly do you propose we do that?"
After all, people like Luffy sailed purely for their dreams, not for lack of a job. Even some nobles in the past had toyed with the idea of piracy. The World Government knew that not all pirates were bloodthirsty criminals.
"It's simple," Akainu said, his grin confident and cold.
"Kill the Four Emperors, and abolish the Heavenly Tribute!"
Bang! The words hit the room like a thunderclap, shocking everyone present.
Fame, that was the eternal pursuit of every pirate. The Four Emperors were the mighty, renowned spine of the pirate world. If they were eliminated, the entire "shoot the first bird that rises" culture, the rebellion and pride that drove countless people to sea, would lose more than half its momentum overnight.
The Pirate Era had only truly begun to decline when Whitebeard and Big Mom died, creating a vacuum that the Marines could exploit.
And then, the second point: The Heavenly Tribute.
That system existed solely for the sake of the Celestial Dragons, acting as an annual "membership fee" paid by every Allied Kingdom. In Rowen's view, the system was a method of economic control disguised as loyalty.
The sheer amount of tribute demanded was enormous. More than sixty percent of the Allied Kingdoms had to pour their entire national effort into paying it every single year. The poor simply couldn't survive under that burden.
Yet, when you added up all of the World Government's annual expenses, even including the extravagant costs of the now-extinct Celestial Dragons, it amounted to barely half of the total tribute collected.
In other words, half of all that money was just sitting idle, hoarded right here, in the Holy Land.
Rowen, with his background, understood the historical importance of stimulating the economy. Saving wealth instead of circulating it, hoarding gold and silver under the illusion of national wealth, had been proven time and again to do the opposite. It only made the people poorer, until they were eventually forced into rebellion.
Therefore, if they truly wanted to reduce the motivation to become pirates, especially among the desperate poor, the Heavenly Tribute system had to be reformed. The money needed to flow, to circulate among the people, so that ordinary citizens would no longer be forced to go to sea just to survive.
"This…" Bald Zero was momentarily at a loss. He wanted to snap back, but remembering Rowen's clear alignment with Akainu, he realized these were likely Rowen's own views being voiced.
After hesitating, he merely muttered: "This goes against the rules."
"Rules?" Akainu snorted coldly, fire practically visible in his eyes. "Rules are made by people! Some folks have just gotten used to eating from both sides, and now they're afraid their precious profits will disappear, am I right?"
He leaned forward, his glare sharp. "Believe it or not, I could send the Independent Commission Against Corruption to pay the Holy Land a little visit, strip away all their little fig leaves and show the world what's underneath!"
After all, with so few officials left alive in the Holy Land these days, it would be the perfect excuse to seize those hoarded treasures.
Bald Zero's face was dark with rage, but he couldn't refute it. As CP0, he knew better than anyone just how terrifyingly corrupt the Holy Land's officials had become.
Once the initial outrage passed, however, a strange, unspoken feeling began to spread among everyone present.
It seemed that…
Maybe this idea wasn't so impossible after all.
(End of Chapter)