Chapter 9

"Hmph, I don’t need you to ask; I will bring up those matters myself."

The old diplomat sneered, and the other five elders around him sneered similarly.

Amidst the cold laughter, the old diplomat began to speak.

"Regarding the reason for the rampant piracy, heh heh.

Eight hundred years ago, the war ended, and the World Government was officially established.

After that, our ancestors and the countries that had fought for a hundred years together buried most of the bloody history of the century-long war.

Although the hundred-year war tormented us, the common people of many kingdoms suffered even more, and no one desired peace more than they did.

But there were always a few who thought differently.

In the Land of Wano, the Kozuki clan always believed that stopping the war and establishing an alliance was a betrayal by the world's hundred countries.

Thus, the Kozuki clan privately carved the stone slabs that recorded the history!

If it weren’t for everyone’s desire to cover it up, could the history that everyone had personally experienced really vanish into thin air?

Eight hundred years ago, something everyone in the world knew, could it really be easily erased by us, the Celestial Dragons?

That was the hatred of generations and the memory of each and every one of them!

The reason we could hide history is that, compared to the hatred, the countries of the world desired peace even more!

They let go of their obsessions, abandoned their hatred and memories, just to embrace the long-awaited peace.

But as time passed, after the old generation who experienced the war gradually passed away, the selfish actions of the Kozuki clan finally sparked a new wave of resistance.

Around 740 years ago, the world was once again engulfed in flames of war.

In response, we had to take some special measures.

At first, we dispatched soldiers to roam the world in small numbers, active near almost every island.

We didn’t aim to suppress the local kingdoms but to create enough harassment and trouble for each country, thereby restraining their military forces and preventing them from easily raising the banner of rebellion.

However, after a few decades, the soldiers who were sent out had long become accustomed to a life of wandering and plundering. They transformed from soldiers into true pirates.

We did not enforce strict measures against them because our enemies were all the countries in the world!

Whether they were pirates, soldiers, or revolutionaries.

As long as they could cause trouble for the countries of the world, we could let them be!

At the same time, we launched a truly grand project on a global scale.

To thoroughly solve the problem of inconvenient transportation, which made it difficult for central authority to control the regions, we decided to build a great infrastructure project called the Continental Bridge between all the islands in the world!

Starting 700 years ago, the Continental Bridge project has never been interrupted, with countless workers deployed to this project.

For 700 years, up to today, the project has continued without interruption, rain or shine!

It was so in the past, it is so now, and it will be so in the future!

Before the Continental Bridge is fully completed, before we have the conditions to simultaneously attack all the countries of the world and quickly mobilize troops to suppress the rebellions on every island.

The existence of pirates is necessary.

Pirates distributed around the world will bring enough pressure to the nobles of each country, deepening their dependence on the World Government.

That pressure will make the nobles more eager to seek our protection, and this protection will make them more willing to pay the taxes they should, which is the Sky Gold.

For 700 years, this situation has persisted, although there have been occasional bumps, the overall environment has never changed.

Until…."

"Until the appearance of the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, right!"

Gowen’s eyes lit up, and he thought of many things, so he interrupted the old diplomat and asked softly.

Hearing his question, the old diplomat gritted his teeth and said viciously.

"Yes.

In the past 700 years, although pirates have emerged one after another, they were evenly distributed under our guidance.

Apart from some major pirates who dominated the small area of the New World, the Four Seas and the Grand Line had enough pirates to create pressure for each country.

That pressure was not very great, but it was also not so small that they could ignore it. This situation was maintained very stably.

Before Roger, whether it was Rocks or other major pirates.

None of them had shaken this stability.

Until Roger’s appearance!"

The Five Elders must have hated Roger deeply. The old diplomat spoke with intense emotion, his teeth clenched in anger.

"Pirate King, heh heh, after seeing the history of the lost century on that secret island, he probably thought he had made a great decision, didn’t he?

It was his declaration about the Grand Treasure before his death that completely destroyed the order of this sea, which, though not perfect, was stable and had a basic order!

The young people and pirates of the Four Seas responded to his call, rushing to the treasure he spoke of, all converging on the small corner of the New World!

You may not understand this disaster, but I will explain to you how the excessive loss of population has caused trouble for the world and the islands of the Four Seas!

This matter…."

"Unnecessary!"

Gowen suddenly interrupted the old diplomat.

"I can imagine the harm caused by this phenomenon!"

As he spoke, Gowen couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

He certainly understood the trouble because, in some ways, it was similar to the place where he used to live.

Pirates rushed into the New World to seek their fortune, and the dangers of the New World caused most pirates to fall on their way.

On the islands of the Four Seas, most of those who could go to sea were young and able-bodied adults.

Since Roger’s death, too many young people from the Four Seas have become pirates and never returned!

This situation is just like the northerners leaving their homes in large numbers to go south, whether to work or to struggle, all for wealth or survival.

And when the young people leave their homes…

Isn’t it just like the people at home can no longer drink the sweet well water?

Just imagining it, Gowen could see the picture.

After losing a large number of young and able-bodied men, the Four Seas saw an increase in the elderly population, a decrease in newborns, and a decline in productivity.

But while productivity declined, the pressure of Sky Gold, the tax, did not decrease.

As a result, the common people of the Four Seas faced increasing pressure.

In addition to this pressure, based on what the Five Elders said earlier, Gowen could also imagine other impacts of the Age of Great Pirates.

In the past, most pirates in the Four Seas were from the local islands. With them as a restraining force, the nobles responsible for each island did not oppress the common people too harshly.

After all, with local pirates around, if they bullied the wrong people, they could be beaten to death.

But with the large-scale departure of local pirates, the ordinary islanders lost an invisible but absolute protective force!

For years, the Celestial Dragons have collected the same amount of Sky Gold from each island and country.

So why do the lives of the common people become harder, while the nobles of the affiliated countries spend more money on Sabaody Island every year?

Moreover, the number of Marines established in the Four Seas by the Navy, when they set up their organization, was supposed to correspond to the number of pirates in the local waters.

But with the Age of Great Pirates, the pirates in the Four Seas, who used to operate within a certain range, became completely mobile.

All pirates rushed to Reverse Mountain, the Grand Line, and the New World!

Who would bother with the Marines in the Four Seas?

Thus, the Marine branches in the Four Seas became increasingly weak. The pirates who ran away no longer provided a steady source of achievements for the branch Marines, and the branch commanders had no merit to speak of, making it difficult for them to be promoted.

It created a ridiculous situation where a branch and its commander could remain in the same position for decades without any promotion.

Gowen knew what this would cause, the rapid decline of the Marine branches in the Four Seas.

Just like when Luffy and his crew were in the East Sea, there were corrupt Marine officers everywhere, like Monk and the rat.

But when Luffy and his crew reached the Grand Line, such phenomena were much less common, except for those with connections, spies, and psychopaths.

The quality of the Marines in the Grand Line branches was much higher than in the Four Seas.

Thinking about this, Gowen looked up and signaled to the Five Elders.

"Whether you believe it or not, I can roughly understand what you haven’t said yet.

For those things, I don’t think a solution can be found in a short time.

Compared to problems that can’t be solved immediately but whose answers are already known, I prefer to explore new unknowns.

So, can you tell… tell… me, the Will of D… what… is it?"

"Hmph, heh heh, ahahahaha!!!"

Hearing Gowen’s question, the Five Elders burst into laughter.

"Gowen, you still can’t shake off the nature of a young person!

You just can’t help but chase after those so-called secrets!"

This time, it was the old military man who spoke, holding his long sword and teasing.

"If the Will of D were some terrifying secret, could we allow a descendant of D, like Garp, to become the greatest hero of the entire Navy?

Are we really fools, to the point of not dealing with a bomb right in front of our eyes?"

"Uh…."

Hearing the old military man’s words, Gowen felt something was off.

He was indeed too eager!

Normally, he wouldn’t act like this. No matter how curious he was, he should maintain enough calm based on the situation.

But now…

Gowen recalled his recent feelings and soon realized the reason.

His internal organs were increasingly painful, but the pain was suppressed by the previous tension and wasn’t noticed.

Once he was no longer tense and started to satisfy his curiosity about the secrets of the Pirate King’s world,

The injury came, and he became increasingly dizzy, more and more dizzy.

For a moment, his vision became blurry.

Fortunately, the old military man, whose image was becoming increasingly blurry in his eyes, smiled and spoke.

"Regarding the Will of D, do you think it is freedom, dreams, or death?

No, no, not every descendant of D pursues those things!

Look at every descendant of D you’ve met, and look at their cheerful, optimistic smiles.

Their grins, those radiant smiles that seem to know no sorrow, aren’t they a big D?

They once established a country called D, drew a huge smiley face on its flag, and named the country the Land of Joy.

Although they caused us some trouble, they are not our most feared enemies.

We are the Celestial Dragons, and we fear no single country, no matter how powerful it is!

Our only concern is the possibility of all the affiliated countries uniting again and opposing us comprehensively!

As for the current descendants of D, yes, some of them are not weak, but it’s not because of any talent. It’s just because they love to laugh.

People who love to laugh are cheerful and optimistic, resilient and tenacious. Failure and setbacks are hard to completely defeat them.

Should such people be weaker than others?"

...

On the soft sofa, listening to the old military man’s explanation, Gowen’s vision went dark, and he felt a sense of joy.

Finally, he heard the secret he was most concerned about before his穿越!

Beside him, the old military man wanted to say more.

But before he could speak, the old diplomat sitting on the same sofa pushed him away.

"Damn! I got too carried away and forgot about little Gowen’s injuries!"

Beside him, the old cultural man exclaimed in shock.

"Quickly urge Yellow猿 to bring Bear here!

If something happens to little Gowen, we might have to kneel before Lord Im for a whole year!"

...

If Gowen could hear the last words, who knows what he would think.

But unfortunately, he couldn’t hear anything at that moment.