"Your Highness."
When Sin got up after finishing his meal, a butler quickly approached him and bowed.
He then offered him the Golden Kingpin, which meant that he had been asked to chair the meetings in the Council Room this year.
"Thank you," he nodded and accepted the Kingpin, putting it on the right side of his chest, and then walked out of the dining hall, followed by Gion, Simca, and Kalifa.
Since he was not supposed to carry the weapon with him, Gion carried his Nidai Kitetsu along with her own sword and escorted him to the Council Room.
He took the seat at the farthest end of the room, adjacent to the door, and for several minutes, he was the only one sitting there, leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed and eyes closed.
There was a frown on his face as he scanned the entire palace with his Observation Haki, and there were a lot of things that disturbed him.
When the Kings and Queens started entering the room, he opened his eyes and waited for everyone to take their seats before he stood up.
At his signal, the doors were closed from the outside, and he glanced around at the table.
"Welcome to the 1516 Reverie. We will start with discussing things from East Blue, but if the discussion relates to others as well, they are welcome to add to it, counter it, and say anything as long as you are mindful of not being disrespectful. I don't care about your petty feuds, you are welcome to discuss them, but if you resort to threats and make things difficult for me for the next seven days..." He smiled coldly, "you will be at war with the Winterheim as soon as we leave Mary Geoise, and I promise you that I will give you a very gruesome death."
His words made a lot of people tense up.
All of them had information about his involvement in the death of Ragnus The Warmonger, and from the reports in the newspapers, his strength and powers were being hailed as godly.
He was considered the Hero of the Iron Paradise War.
Also, with what happened in the Dining Hall, it was clear that the World Government favoured him a little more than the rest of them. Then again, he was also a Warlord, and without him, the World Government would have suffered a devastating loss at the Iron Paradise.
"Frauce Kingdom. Do you have anything to share with us?" He asked and looked at Queen Ban Dedessinée, who was not just the ruler of her country but also the finest painter in the world.
Seeing her nod her head and stand up, Sin sat down, and everyone looked her way.
"The number of Pirates in the East Blue keep rising, and there have been more and more raids on Frauce Kingdom in the last four years. The Marine presence in the Sea is not enough to provide us more protection....."
She went on to request more Marine Resources for not just her Kingdom but for the entire East Blue and the rest of the Royalty from her sea agreed with her and added to what she had shared.
It was not long before arguments started coming, and the other Royals mentioned that the Marine's budgets were limited and if they contributed any more resources to East Blue, the other three Seas would suffer as a result. They were all dealing with the same issues and felt that the Marine presence was not enough in their Kingdoms either.
"Quiet." When the arguments grew more intense, Sin coldly spoke, and everyone turned very quiet. "Those who are against East Blue getting more Marine Resources, raise your hands."
Instantly, thirty-three hands were raised. Five who stayed down belonged to the people from East Blue, and the rest of the twelve abstained from voting.
Cobra was one of those who abstained from voting.
Seeing the result, Dedessinée sighed and sat down.
Sin quickly penned down the names and the results, and then glanced around the table again.
"Those not in favour of North Blue getting more Marine Resources, raise your hands."
Again, over thirty hands were raised, exactly thirty-five, and surprisingly, Judge raised his hand as well.
"Judge! You don't want more Marine presence because you want to conquer the sea! We are not blind to your ambitions!"
"You are the one to talk, Chap?" The King of Germa Kingdom laughed but did not say anything more.
Sin quickly penned down all their names and some notes.
"Those not in favour of South Blue getting more Marine Resources, raise your hands."
Again, more than half of the hands. It was the same for West Blue.
No one wanted the other sea or even another Nation to get more Marine Resources if they were not getting any.
"Looks like your Kingdoms will have to pay for more security from your own pockets," he commented and then asked the rest of the Royalty from East Blue if they had something to share.
The meeting continued for well over four hours before King Thalassa Lucus of Ilisia Kingdom stood up when Sin gestured him to. He had requested to address a key issue on the first day.
"I would like to address the danger a certain organisation poses to all of us and the World Government." He heavily said. "The Revolutionary Army."
At his words, everyone turned quiet, but then some started laughing.
"Revolutionary Army? They are nothing." One of the royals dismissively said, but quite a few people at the table were furrowing their brows.
"The Government and all our Nations need to take this threat more seriously. Their influence is growing, and so is their strength and power. They are focused on turning the population of the countries against their rulers, and I hope I don't need to remind you what kind of dangers it poses to not just you and your families but also to your countries."
Listening to his words, a few more laughed.
Suddenly, someone smashed their palms on the table, and then they watched Nefertari Cobra stand up.
"This is indeed a very serious matter, and we need to take Dragon and his Revolutionary Army more seriously now. Their influence in Paradise is growing, and they have even tried to infiltrate my nation, but thanks to Sir Crocodile, they were expelled. I am pretty sure there are people of the Revolutionary Army in your Kingdoms, but you lot don't even care, do you?"
Cobra's words ended up getting him attacked, especially with other Royals pointing out that he was lucky to have a Warlord watching over his country. They did not have the same privilege.
The meeting was not going anywhere now, and so Sin slowly stood up. His movement put all their talk to rest, and everyone looked his way, waiting to hear what he had to say.
"The meeting is adjourned for the day. We will sit down tomorrow to discuss this matter again when your heads are clearer." He closed the golden file after writing down a few things, and when he glanced around the table, the Royals silently stood up and started leaving.
"Sin. What do you think about the Revolutionary Army?" Cobra asked him when only Doflamingo, Judge, Thalassa, Dedessinée, and Tea IV remained in the room.
"They are a threat. Far more than the others realise. And a nation where people are dissatisfied with the Crown is prone to their manipulations. Their goal seems focused on overthrowing the World Government, and they aim to do it by bringing revolution to one nation after another." He smiled. "They probably don't realise or maybe don't even care about the chaos it would create, and how many civilians would lose their lives."
Cobra, Dedessinée, and Tea IV furrowed their brows.
"What happens when a King or a Queen loves their crown more than their nation? What happens if they would rather see the nation gone than give up their power?" He playfully asked, and Doflamingo started laughing evilly before he stood up and walked out of the room.
Sin stared at the Warlord's leaving back and then frowned in his heart.
When he came out, he glanced at Doflamingo, who had his arm around a young lady, whom he knew was the daughter of the former King of Dressrosa. Her name was Riku Viola.
Their eyes met, and when he sensed her emotions, he frowned some more.
She was led away, and the rest left as well.
"Gion."
"Yeah?" She asked as she walked over to him with Simca and Kalifa.
"I want to see if you have gotten any better with your blade or not." He smiled, and she grinned at him as he took off his crown and coat and handed them to Simca.
He also took off his shoes and shocks, and handed them to Kalifa, who was already holding his overcoat.
"We are forbidden from sparring in the Castle or Mary Geoise for the matter."
"Let's go somewhere else then." He shrugged as he grabbed her, and then teleported away through the open window.
A minute later, they landed on an uninhabited barren island, which was small and entirely covered in rocky land, and where the temperature was quite harsh.
Gion felt a little dizzy but soon shook her head into sobriety, especially when Sin grabbed Nidai Kitetsu that was in her hand and snatched it away.
"Why?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
"I can't stand that filthy place." He lightly said, and her eyes dimmed a little at his words.
Several seconds later, she took a deep breath and sighed.
"Do you know what will happen to the world if the World Government falls?"
"Chaos, anarchy, bloodshed..." He smiled.
"Is that what you desire?"
"Maybe." He shrugged, looking right into her eyes, and saw her slowly pull out her sword, whose balde was black as night.
"I hate the Celestial Dragons, I hate them more than you can imagine." She lightly said. "If I could purge them from the world without plunging it into chaos, I would happily do it." Her voice turned cold, and then black streaks of lighting surrounded her. "However, it is not possible, and so, I would rather not see the world fall into chaos. Not even if it's you who spearheading it all."
Sin smiled at her resolve, and instantly, the ground under her feet was diced.
"Hey, hey, Gion, you don't want to kill me, do you?" He asked, and grinned when she charged at him at a speed that would put a lot of monstrous people of this world to shame.
He, however, was special, and he managed to pull out his sword in time to block her blade.
Thankfully, there were no people or even animals on their isle, otherwise, the berserk clash of their Haki would have harmed them.
As they stepped back, the ground under their feet was diced again, sinking, but they both charged forward again for another clash.
Within moments, it was no longer fun and games between them, and they were both very solemn.
However, both had discernable smiles on their faces through the rest of the day, until midnight, when they finally stopped.
Under the bright moon, they both panted as they stared into each other's eyes, now standing on the ground that was perfectly flat, making it appear like a floating disc on the sea with rivers of lava flowing through it.
Without a word, both returned their swords to their scabbards, and then Sin rushed at her and sealed her mouth before she could react.
Gion did not pull back as he wrapped his arms around her waist and took her to the skies, rushing to the closest island.