One Piece Gunslinger

"But Whitebeard was a great pirate. He even fought Roger back then. Even if the Revolutionary Army is powerful now, they can't possibly persuade Whitebeard."

However, this matter was not over until another one arose. Just when everyone thought that Dragon's trip had been in vain, another day later, Whitebeard announced that he would not overly restrict the people in his territory. As long as they did not harm the interests of the Whitebeard Pirates, they could do whatever they wanted.

Wow, this isn't open support, but it's not disagreement either. I wonder what kind of spell the Revolutionary Army cast on Whitebeard that made the usually stubborn and irritable old man give in.

However, this was Whitebeard's biggest concession; any further progress was impossible. If Leon hadn't won over Crocodile this time, and if Dragon hadn't taken a letter from Crocodile with him, he might not have even gotten to see Whitebeard.

Sigh, the Revolutionary Army has actually done some mediation work, even turning Li Ang into a confidant. It was only after all that that they managed to get Whitebeard to make this tiny concession. And with this move, they've also used up the goodwill they had in their hands.

Li Ang worked himself to the bone, went to Alabasta to outwit Crocodile, and went through all sorts of hardships to get a favor, only to be met with the question, "Isn't this a loss?"

It's not a loss! If Li Ang felt it was a loss, he wouldn't have done this; he would have saved the favor for other things. The statement itself has no value; what's valuable is the person who said it. This single sentence undoubtedly greatly increases the success rate of Li Ang's "Plague Plan," which he has been planning for years.

With just one sentence from Whitebeard, everything changed instantly. Two countries belonging to Whitebeard's territory immediately expressed their desire to participate in the World Conference hosted by the Revolutionary Army.

Understanding the thoughts of those in power is an essential skill for every politician. Unless you've reached the very top. While Whitebeard didn't explicitly support him, he clearly stated he didn't oppose him. Figure out the meaning yourself; only a foolish king like Wapol could not. Generally, those who reach that position, even if they lack ability, are not stupid.

So, after two people took the lead, several more announced they would participate. Heh heh, actually, for these people, attending the World Parliament even once was an extremely rare opportunity—no, let alone rare, it was practically an unattainable opportunity.

The World Government is already being lenient by not sending its navy and army to beat them up, let alone want to attend a meeting. Dream on.

The benefits of attending the conference are numerous. For one thing, the sheer number of kings gathered there is enough to make everyone flock to it. If one could make a few connections and establish trade or military cooperation, wouldn't the nation's standing skyrocket? And going to the Revolutionary Army's parliament means no need to bribe the Celestial Dragons—entrance is free.

Unfortunately, Fishman Island, which Li Ang most wanted to improve relations with, remained silent. Fishman Island, located underwater, is also Whitebeard's protected territory, but this time it didn't get involved in this mess.

Thinking about it, I definitely wouldn't dare to get involved in this mess; if I did, it would be tantamount to courting death.

Fishman Island is located directly beneath Mary Geoise in the ocean. If King Neptune of the Ryugu Kingdom were to also express his intention to participate, the World Government would wipe it out in no time.

Just kidding. During the World Congress, the military strength of Mary Geoise was unprecedented, with countless warships practically riding on the backs of the Ryugu Kingdom. If Neptune were to make any move, the World Government would have to make an example of him, no matter the cost, to deter the Revolutionary Army from becoming too arrogant, especially since a rebellion was taking place right under their noses.

After the Revolutionary Army's antics, coupled with Whitebeard's instigation, the world's attention is now focused on the Revolutionary Army's World Conference, while the World Government's World Conference has been largely ignored. Newspapers are filled with news about this every day, without a single day's break, all making headlines.

Wow, for the entire world, no World Parliament has ever been so dramatic and unpredictable. This revolutionary army has brought so many variables to this World Parliament. This is something I've never seen before in my entire life.

Suddenly, the demand for newspapers surged around the world. People in the news industry were all smiles. They had never seen such a scene in all their years in the industry. It was like a carnival.

While ordinary people and journalists were celebrating, the World Government was in a state of utter despair. Despite their best efforts to include a large amount of negative content about the Revolutionary Army in their news reports, the general public didn't care. Although the newspapers were relentlessly smearing the Revolutionary Army, the people didn't have a good impression of the Celestial Dragons or the World Government either; all those exorbitant taxes were simply a result of paying "Celestial Gold" to the Celestial Dragons.

Now that someone has stepped forward to challenge the World Government, people are naturally happy to watch the two sides fight each other. This mentality is what is known as "watching the show and not caring about the trouble."

Hey, and as expected, the Revolutionary Army didn't disappoint. It seemed that as long as the World Parliament remained in existence, the Revolutionary Army would never stop making headlines. The Revolutionary Army had made a new move.

Li Ang felt that the press should award him a small red flower, since there was no one else who could stir up trouble all the time except him.

This time, the Revolutionary Army once again imitated the World Government's actions, deploying a large army for security during the conference, just like the World Government, to ensure that no one could break in at this time.

Moreover, just like the navy, they dispatched warships to pick up the kings attending the conference, and began to provide meticulous protection on the way.

Wow, this is really mischievous. The Revolutionary Army is copying everything the World Government does, completely treating the World Government as their master. The only difference is that the disciple's heart is set on killing the master.

Moreover, the revolutionary army could also euphemistically call it: "Learning from the barbarians' superior techniques to subdue them."

Hehe, anyway, everyone in the Revolutionary Army knows that in this world, the number one fan of the Navy and the World Government must be the Revolutionary Army. The Revolutionary Army's spies are even more capable than paparazzi.

Whenever the World Government makes a move, the Revolutionary Army is always the most concerned. They try to study whatever equipment the Navy has acquired or what new ships it has built.

"This time, the Revolutionary Army is serious." "The World Government might be in trouble this time." "Is the World Conference going to be canceled because of the Revolutionary Army's actions?"

Such arguments have become increasingly prevalent over time. Faced with the overwhelming revolutionary army, the World Government has even developed the illusion that it is at a disadvantage and unable to compete.

However, this is just an illusion. The World Government still has 170 member states, which means that 170 countries will participate in the World Conference.

And the Revolutionary Army? Even including those they brought in from Whitebeard, they only numbered a little over thirty. The difference is self-evident.

So despite the Revolutionary Army's fierce offensive, they actually lacked follow-up strength and were still far inferior to a behemoth like the World Government.

Regardless, this is undoubtedly a major provocation against the authority of the World Government, and even the five leaders who possess the highest power in the World Government—the Five Elders—are deeply troubled by it.

In a house in Mary Geoise, the Five Elders sat together, but unlike in previous years, they were not discussing work related to the World Conference, but rather the Revolutionary Army's World Conference across the ocean.

Chapter 232 The Five Old Men

The so-called "Five Elders" are actually five old men, five top-level politicians. And these five are also the five opponents that Li Ang fears most.

One of the old men, dressed in a black suit, with white curly hair, a thick white beard, and a flat cap, said: "The current situation is very serious. We have never encountered such a difficult situation since we took control of the World Government. A new World Parliament? No, this means that a new regime is gradually being established."

Even if we estimate that a maximum of thirty countries will participate, which is incomparable to our 170 member states, it is still a huge provocation against us.

It seems the rebels have been preparing for this for a long time, and they don't even know how they persuaded Whitebeard, while we were completely unprepared and never expected them to pull this stunt.

At the last World Government meeting, Dragon of the rebels was designated as the world's most heinous criminal. But now it seems he's more than that. After four years of development, Dragon and his rebel army have grown to a point where they can threaten the World Government. I think it's time to treat them as evenly matched adversaries, not just as one of the Four Emperors.

As one of the Five Elders, one of the highest-ranking figures in the World Government, he was certainly no ordinary person. This curly-haired Five Elder had a very clear understanding of the world. Neither the Four Emperors, nor any emerging forces, nor even the former Pirate King Roger, had ever considered him a worthy opponent, let alone an evenly matched one.

The Revolutionary Army is different. They are not pirates, and their goal is not to pursue freedom, yearn for adventure, or search for treasure. Instead, they aim to overthrow the World Government and establish a new order.

This action by the Revolutionary Army served as a wake-up call for the Five Elders. The Revolutionary Army is not one of those petty pirates who, no matter what, will never shake the foundation of the World Government.

No matter how dangerous the Four Emperors are, they are still pirates and wouldn't be so foolish as to challenge the World Government. No matter how powerful the Pirate King is, he is still a pirate and cannot shake the foundation of the World Government.

The revolutionary army, however, must be viewed as a formidable adversary.

Another old man with long, straight white hair and a long beard continued, "Moreover, their actions have clearly been planned step by step. They never do two major things in one day. But each thing is connected, and there is never a day when we don't hear about them. It's as if they are deliberately trying to keep the topic hot."

In my opinion, this situation will most likely continue until the World Conference ends. Their goal is to dominate the headlines, thereby demonstrating their power and even creating the illusion that the rebels are actually gaining the upper hand over the World Government. After all, most people can't see things clearly; they can only see that we seem to have suffered a defeat in the news.

If that's truly the case, then we can't just sit idly by; we must take some action. Although the rebels' actions seem to have had no real impact on me, they have left the world with the impression that the World Government is not invincible. This is detrimental to long-term rule.

In reality, if their World Congress makes significant progress this time, and the king who attended the meeting benefits, then I bet they will continue to oppose us at the next World Congress, and their meeting will have even more attendees.

It's hard to say whether member states that were originally on our side will switch to other payment methods after discovering that they don't need to pay the "celestial gold" (or "celestial gold"). After all, many people have called for the abolition of the "celestial gold" before, and this isn't a new issue.

In conclusion, this situation has had a very negative impact on us and must be taken seriously. We must curb the rebels' momentum, even if it costs a lot of resources.

"If we don't solve the problem now, even if we wipe out the rebels later, it will be useless. This message has already been planted in people's minds. Not to mention, after this, the rebels will definitely experience rapid growth. If we don't stop them, we might find it too late when we send troops over."

Another old man, dressed in a white Taoist robe, bald, wearing glasses, and carrying a samurai sword, looked even angrier: "Oh? This situation must be curbed? The rise of the rebels needs to be stopped, do we even need to say that?"

But the question now is, what do we have to contain him? The navy? Or other military forces?

We must now protect Mary Geoise. I can accept a repeat of what happened to Fisher Tiger back then. If the rebels manage to launch a diversionary attack, slip through our defenses, and launch a surprise attack on Mary Geoise while our defenses are weak, then the Celestial Dragons and the kings of all the member states will be wiped out.

This is far more serious than releasing a thousand Fisher Tigers. We can't afford to be careless now; even if we manage to wipe them out in the end, our losses will be far greater.

If we don't use the Mary Geoise army and instead draw troops from elsewhere, even if we temporarily set aside the pirates around the world and let them run rampant for a while while focusing on dealing with the rebels, I dare say that this force will be a one-way trip, with absolutely no chance of victory.

Just two days ago, Whitebeard publicly supported the rebels. Although we don't know how they did it, going now would be tantamount to slapping Whitebeard in the face. Do you think he would stand idly by and offend him? He's the strongest man in the world; he'd definitely support the rebels to uphold his authority.

So even if we brought Mary Geoise's elite forces and committed all our navy, fighting both sides simultaneously wouldn't guarantee victory, let alone the other non-elite troops—they would practically be sent to their deaths. In short, forget about using the military; that's a dead end.

The rebels' decision to challenge us at this juncture clearly indicates they've found our Achilles' heel. Would they dare confront us head-on if they weren't confident of victory? This time, the rebels' actions are meticulously planned, almost flawless, making it even more difficult for them to escape their current predicament.

"If we can't use the military or take any military measures, and we absolutely have to contain them now, it will be too late to attack later. So, the only option I can think of now is to counter them in the news and make some big moves."

The old man who spoke was bald except for a tuft of hair at the back of his head, which had a mustache shaped like the number eight, and a birthmark on his forehead. Seeing the other four people staring at him, he continued, “We are holding a world conference now, the situation is very tense, and it’s impossible to use the military. But if we terminate the world conference, that’s also not feasible; what would become of the World Government’s prestige?”

The timing of the World Parliament has never changed. In the past eight hundred years, the World Government has faced crises, but it has never terminated the World Parliament. We, naturally, cannot.

They're copying us; we organize world conferences this way, and they're doing it too. So why don't we do the same? We'll do exactly what they do.

They try every means to dominate the front page of newspapers, pulling stunts every day to maintain their dominance in public opinion. Therefore, we can absolutely compete with them for the headlines, and with the news media on our side, we have an even greater advantage.

They called on all countries to attend the conference, bringing them benefits. We can do the same, and give those countries more benefits as well.

So, taking all of this into account, there's only one thing I can think of..."

"and many more!"

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the old man who had been holding the katana: "Your idea is dangerous. Do you really think such a thing is possible?"

Everyone fell silent. Indeed, if they continued to think about it this way, it seemed like an excellent solution, but...

Finally, the only one who hadn't spoken said, "Do we have any other choice? I must say, if this can be implemented, it will definitely solve all the problems, and the rebels' carefully planned operation will collapse."

We can do the same as the rebels, make a big move, and then dominate the news and newspapers while also giving benefits to other member states. Then all that's left is to exempt ourselves from collecting the money from the sky!

We only need to do this one thing to achieve multiple goals at once.

"But without the Celestial Gold, how will the military be maintained? And how will we explain this to the Celestial Dragons?"

"It's not that we're short of money. The World Government has considered what to do if there's a sudden shortage of funds over the years, and has prepared a large sum of money that can easily cover this year. I didn't say we wouldn't accept Heavenly Gold at all, it's just that we won't accept it this year."

As for the Celestial Dragons, it's easy to deal with them. As long as we give them some money and do a little bit of fooling, they won't notice the problem.

All that's left is for us to get through this year. Although not collecting celestial gold this year might be a bit tight, we can continue afterward. And we only need to refrain from collecting celestial gold for one year; that's a significant action, and member states will be extremely grateful.

The curly-haired old man said, "Hmph, doesn't that mean that the World Conference, which is held every four years, is also held every four years by the rebels? So every four years, we have to waive the Heavenly Gold?"

"No!" said the old man with long, straight hair and a thick beard. "I don't think the rebels will have another four years!"

“That’s right, once these two years are over, it will be their death day,” the bearded old man said.

However, after pondering for a moment, the blond old man spoke up: "Don't you think this is the rebels' real objective?"

Chapter 233 The First Step Achieved

Upon hearing the blond old man's words, the other four old men were greatly surprised, and beads of sweat appeared on his own forehead.

“Wait, if that’s the case, then it means the rebels also anticipated that we would break their plan, and that we wouldn’t stand idly by. Given that we had to curb their development, they deliberately stopped receiving the Heavenly Gold for a year? In that case, what did they gain?” The old man holding the samurai sword frowned.

The curly-haired old man chimed in, "Yes, even if the rebels are incredibly ruthless and have anticipated our reaction, then losing a year's worth of Heavenly Gold will only mean we have to tighten our belts for that year. The question is, what benefit will they gain from this?"

The old man with long, straight hair and a big beard said, "No, if we really reduce our income from the Celestials by one year, especially if we have to give an extra sum of money to the Celestial Dragons, we can only protect our existing territory, maintain order and control pirates, and we won't be able to launch a major war."

If they've already anticipated that this action will escalate our perception of the rebel threat, and they won't let things continue unchecked, but will instead take drastic measures against them regardless of the losses, then if we waive the Heavenly Gold for a year, they'll gain a year of respite and time to develop.

As the saying goes, "When the cannons roar, gold pours in." War is all about money. If they truly want to wage a full-scale war against the Revolutionary Army, then this trip to the Heavenly Gold is extremely important. If they don't collect this year's Heavenly Gold, the World Government really can't go to war with the Champion; otherwise, even if they win, their foundation will be shaken.

The old man with the mustache disagreed: "You're overthinking it. I don't believe the rebels could come up with something like that. Such a scheme would be too terrifying."

Even assuming the rebels truly intend to act this way, what harm is there in launching a war next year? Our forceful actions this year thwarted their plans, significantly diminishing the effectiveness of their planned world conference. Even if given a year, they wouldn't be able to cause any real disruption.

The blond old man sighed, "Alright, I hope I'm overthinking it and nothing goes wrong this year. If that's alright, then we can discuss the specific details."

If Li Ang were in this room, he would be utterly awestruck by the wisdom of the Five Elders. None of these five were inferior to Li Ang; in fact, their intelligence was on par with, or even surpassed, Li Ang's.

These five people gathered together and, through their conversation, clearly understood the ins and outs of the matter, and Li Ang's first step of the plan was almost completely seen through.

It's easy to devise a scheme, but much harder to see through it. The Five Elders truly live up to their reputation as the ultimate bosses of the World Government.

However, Li Ang's advantage lies in his modern mindset and knowledge, which far surpass those of this era. Furthermore, he possesses the accumulated wisdom of thousands of years of Earth's civilization. These cannot be compensated for by intelligence alone, and this is Li Ang's strongest weapon in his confrontation with the World Government.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Li Ang regarded the five elders as the strongest bosses, and never considered them fools. On the contrary, Li Ang even anticipated that they would see through his plan and realize his purpose of requesting a year of development time.