One Piece Gunslinger

However, just as all this commotion was about to subside, and with the conclusion of the World Conference, the power struggle between the two sides was about to end with a crushing victory for the World Government.

"And you fucking show me this?!"

This reflects the sentiments of many, especially after the leader who previously boasted in front of everyone about how powerful the World Government was and how inferior the Revolutionary Army was, predicting that the Revolutionary Army would ultimately suffer a thankless and arduous struggle in this battle. Now, however, he has been thoroughly humiliated.

After the answer was revealed, everyone realized that, including themselves, the world's attention had been drawn to the revolutionary army's feint attack, and no one was truly aware of the revolutionary army's real purpose.

Even the World Government, acting like a fool, seriously responded to the Revolutionary Army's feint attack, suffering heavy losses, and still made a big show of it in the newspapers, with more than a hundred member countries also boasting wildly on the side of the World Government.

The revolutionary army's spectacular turn of events instantly changed the previous atmosphere. Those who previously thought the revolutionary army was nothing special now held it in extremely high esteem, and those who had gone home to wash up and go to sleep once again focused their fervent attention on the revolutionary army.

In just one night, the Revolutionary Army not only achieved a great victory in military operations, but also made a strong comeback in the propaganda war against the World Government, and won an overwhelming victory on another battlefield.

This was another major achievement of the Revolutionary Army's operation: winning the hearts of people worldwide, demonstrating that the World Government was not invincible, and further igniting revolutionary fervor among the people under its rule. This sparked another wave of enlistment.

Chapter 270 A Minor Clash

In the eyes of most people, the Revolutionary Army made a huge profit while the World Government suffered a huge loss; this is the outcome of this event.

In the eyes of the revolutionary army, this was a war for the hearts and minds of the people. They not only gained tangible benefits, but also won a great deal of popular support.

However, in the eyes of the World Government, these are minor issues. Although the Revolutionary Army won a remarkable victory, in terms of strength, it would take several Revolutionary Armies to match the World Government. As long as the World Government can launch a successful counterattack, everything will be fine.

As for the so-called popular support, do the Celestial Dragons even have any popular support? Everyone in the world knows what the Celestial Dragons have done; their evil deeds over the past eight hundred years cannot even be covered up by the World Government.

For the first two hundred years, the World Government was able to use various means to glorify the Celestial Dragons and hide the truth. However, as time went on, the Celestial Dragons' actions gradually became known to the public, and the World Government's cover-up was naturally exposed.

Not to mention now, the World Government has simply stopped trying to cover up the Celestial Dragons' actions and is openly telling everyone that's how the Celestial Dragons are.

Well, there's nothing we can do. The Celestial Dragons can do whatever they want because they are the ones who established the World Government and created the laws.

So after eight hundred years, the World Government has lost all popular support. You could even say that the World Government's only remaining face is its navy. It relies on the navy to maintain order.

We also have to thank Roger. If Roger hadn't started the Great Pirate Era, there wouldn't be so many pirates in the world to wipe out. If the Navy didn't spend every day eliminating pirates, big and small, it would naturally lose its standing in everyone's eyes.

Therefore, the only thing that will give the World Government a headache is that, having previously fallen into the Revolutionary Army's trap, they need to establish prestige, elevate their image, and create the illusion of invincibility and awe to keep everyone in line. They also need to win over member states and gain their support in public opinion.

This led to a tight budget that year, which prevented the launch of a war, leaving the country vulnerable to attack and unable to retaliate. This was a chain of events.

Therefore, Doflamingo saw through this before his death, which is why he said that the World Government had already lost when it first accepted the challenge.

What the World Government is most concerned about is how far the Revolutionary Army can develop within this year. They dare not say anything now. What harm is there in giving you a year? What kind of waves can you make in a year?

The Revolutionary Army has already demonstrated to the World Government through its actions how terrifyingly fast its development is. In particular, this latest display of its powerful strategic mind gives it another year to calmly plan. Who knows what major move it might be preparing a year later, another big move brewing within its grasp.

It wasn't that no one had suggested forcibly launching a war even with tight finances; however, after careful consideration, it was deemed that the consequences would be far too severe. There was even a possibility of defeat under such unfavorable combat conditions.

Some people have suggested collecting the celestial gold again, which would solve the funding problem.

However, the Five Elders vetoed it without a vote. The funding problem could be solved, but that would mean that the words of the Five Elders and even the World Government would become meaningless, and a government with no credibility would be doomed to fail.

Moreover, even if they renege on their promise, it's uncertain whether they can actually get the money back. Expecting those kings to return the money is impossible without resorting to forceful measures. Otherwise, it would only create a laughing stock without achieving anything.

The people in the World Government were in a real bind, especially the Five Elders. Although they held high positions, they had to take the blame for this incident. The main problem was that they didn't have any good solutions and could only formulate some policies and laws that were unlikely to have any effect in the short term.

Perhaps the only thing that really bothered the Revolutionary Army was the World Government's statement in the newspaper: "Whoever brings back ten members of the Revolutionary Army will become a Shichibukai."

When the revolutionaries saw the contents of the newspaper, they were furious. They hadn't even been happy for a few days before this shameless tactic from the city government forced them to also be wary of pirate attacks.

This was a dirty trick that the Five Elders agonized over for several days before finally deciding on after rejecting countless other plans. Of course, there were many other methods, some of which were far more effective than this dirty trick.

However, this underhanded tactic has one unique advantage compared to other methods of dealing with the revolutionary army, and this one advantage is hard to let go of.

This requires no cost.

The Seven Warlords of the Sea were created to check and balance the Four Emperors. Although they were given many privileges at the beginning, those were just privileges; they didn't actually offer any additional benefits, and the World Government didn't have to contribute anything.

This time, the World Government is once again using this privilege to guide pirates to attack the Revolutionary Army, which is a complete scheme to get something for nothing. While offering bounties on the Revolutionary Army's heads doesn't require manpower, it still costs money. Using the title of Shichibukai, however, means they don't even need to spend any money.

This is a brand new Shichibukai you've never seen before. In short, you can play for years and kill enemies without spending a single penny.

The Seven Warlords of the Sea were originally short one and needed to be filled. Now, not only can a pirate with decent strength be found to fill the position, but there are also additional benefits.

If it weren't for the scarcity of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, which would make the privilege seem worthless, the World Government would practically want to turn it into the Fourteen Warlords of the Sea, doubling the number and sending even more pirates to fight the Revolutionary Army.

Our World Government has been fighting pirates for hundreds of years. It's time for your Revolutionary Army to experience the exhilarating feeling of pirates jumping out and courting death every now and then.

The newspaper said only ten men were needed, but ordinary soldiers didn't count; only officers with military rank were eligible. They had to be at least colonels or higher.

This immediately made the Revolutionary Army a target among some ambitious pirates. If they could kill ten Revolutionary Army generals, they could become Shichibukai. Ten heads are not difficult for some great pirates to gather; they only need to successfully attack a Revolutionary Army fleet once to get enough. Thinking about it this way, it's a huge win.

After becoming a Shichibukai, as long as he avoids the Revolutionary Army, the world is so big, there's always somewhere to live a carefree life. Just thinking about the days ahead makes him feel wonderful.

This also completely bound the new Shichibukai to the World Government's ship. This pirate could become a Shichibukai if he had offended the Revolutionary Army to the death, so he had no choice but to follow the World Government wholeheartedly.

It can only be said that there are too many idiots in this world, or that the pirates came here to live recklessly, without ever considering the possibility of failure. Many pirates, upon seeing the Revolutionary Army's ship, roared and charged forward. Even though the vast majority were just there to be killed, they still inflicted considerable damage on the Revolutionary Army before falling.

This forced the revolutionary army to abandon the idea of ​​sailing with a single ship as before, and instead required the formation of a fleet and the arming of numerous cannons and troops. This severely reduced operational efficiency.

As long as the Seven Warlords of the Sea are not fully replenished, or these idiots at sea are not completely wiped out, the Revolutionary Army will never have a day of peace. It seems they will be held back by these pirates for a long time to come.

This also served as a wake-up call for the Revolutionary Army, bringing to the sobering eyes of many who believed they were invincible and were overconfident. While the Revolutionary Army had won a battle, the World Government remained a colossus, capable of causing them considerable trouble even with just the privileges of a single Shichibukai.

As the old saying goes, the revolution is not yet complete, comrades must continue to strive.

Even so, the World Government was still in a difficult position. Although this move seemed ingenious and could cause the Revolutionary Army a lot of trouble without spending a penny, it was still a dirty trick and couldn't really produce any earth-shattering results. Even the original Shichibukai, Doflamingo, was defeated.

Moreover, the Revolutionary Army isn't stupid; they can't just stand by and watch you use the Seven Warlords of the Sea to punish him. Since the World Government has made its move, Li Ang, as the Chief of Staff, has to respond.

So a few days later, several well-preserved heads of revolutionary soldiers appeared in the underground market, complete with name tags, which was enough to prove the identities of the people who had lived there.

These heads immediately caused a sensation. Upon closer inspection, it really made sense. It takes ten heads to be useful, but what if there's only one? You can sell it, or buy someone else's and hand it over to the World Government. Who would know where it came from? This one head is equivalent to one-tenth of a Shichibukai, so it's obviously very valuable.

In reality, these were just some small-time pirates. Taking advantage of the World Government's policies, Li Ang forged the heads of these suspected Revolutionary Army generals. Although they were forged, they were officially forged by the Revolutionary Army, so of course no one could tell the difference. The name tags looked completely genuine.

The purpose of releasing these deceptively realistic fakes into the market is to disrupt the World Government's plans. If things proceed according to the World Government's script, by the time someone collects all ten heads and delivers them to the World Government, probably twenty or thirty Revolutionary Army generals will already be dead. The others will have died in vain because they couldn't collect all ten heads.

However, if they could use the underground black market to divert attention, the losses could be minimized. With careful planning, gradually introducing the counterfeit heads could, in the best-case scenario, could even be done without harming a single person. Let those people fight over the counterfeits; Li Ang doesn't care whether they use money or force.

Anyway, his job was just to figure out how to get these counterfeit products onto the market.

Chapter 271 Busy as a Dog

So when the World Government discovered the head in the underground black market through CP's intelligence agents, they were unhappy again. While my tactic wasn't particularly clever, your response was far too swift.

Even if the CP doesn't find any evidence that these heads are forgeries or that they were made by the Revolutionary Army, there's no need for any evidence. It's obvious that the Revolutionary Army made them.

Before anyone else could even realize they could make a fortune from Revolutionary Army heads, these things had already appeared on the black market. And they were fetching tens of millions of Berries each! The shrewd guy who first sold the heads was not only clever, but he also had them on hand—he could only be a member of the Revolutionary Army.

According to the common saying in the market, ten of these items can be exchanged for the privileges of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Isn't the privilege of the Seven Warlords of the Sea worth 100 million Berries?

This is definitely worth it. A single Devil Fruit costs more than that, and the price is still rising, having doubled or tripled in just a few days.

There were even scenes of "head-stealing," where some people had just bought heads and hadn't even had time to warm them up before they were immediately robbed by others at the port.

This has made a head more valuable than treasure. Keep in mind, this item has a time limit; once that period is over and the World Government recruits a new Shichibukai, it will be worthless. Not only will it be worthless, but possessing it might also attract the hatred of the Revolutionary Army.

However, this is enough to show how coveted the position of Shichibukai under the World Government is.

However, the Revolutionary Army easily neutralized this move, much to the displeasure of the World Government, which was practically visibly aroused.

This "Shichibukai bait" tactic wasn't particularly fierce, and the Revolutionary Army's "feigned sincerity" was relatively easy to counter. The two sides only exchanged a few blows during this ceasefire.

However, Li Ang understood that for the next year, the World Government could only resort to these small, underhanded tactics; they couldn't pull off any major moves. And with this tactic broken, new situations might arise in the future. The World Government would likely employ other underhanded methods, and Li Ang was confident in handling their upcoming maneuvers.

It's a pity that the World Government, despite possessing formidable martial arts skills, is unable to use its full strength and can only engage in a battle of wits with Leon over such trivial matters, which is incredibly frustrating.

However, compared to the World Government's predicament, the Revolutionary Army is not much better off. In addition to the World Government's announcement regarding the Seven Warlords of the Sea, there are many other problems plaguing the Revolutionary Army.

Li Ang also felt as if he had suffered an inexplicable mental breakdown, leaving him completely bewildered. Even the strategy of forging the heads of revolutionary army generals was hastily devised after this period of confusion.

With the addition of thirteen countries and Dressrosa, a host of problems arose. When Leon returned to his office in Baltimore, he was immediately overwhelmed by a mountain of documents.

These are all the things that have piled up during the few days he was away; they're like a small mountain, with a lot of things waiting for him to handle when he returns.

When he left, the revolutionary army had only conquered three or four countries, so he didn't feel any pressure before he left. He confidently handed over the work to Kerla and Luo Bing to lead, along with many talented people from the staff.

As it turned out, Li Ang completely underestimated the pressure of conquering thirteen countries and Dressrosa in a short period of time. It was like a skinny person forcing himself to eat a whole roasted lamb; if he didn't die from overeating, the doctor was really skilled.

This resulted in a massive accumulation of documents in the General Staff after Li Ang left, overwhelming everyone. Just as one issue was resolved, two more would immediately appear, creating a sense of utter despair. It had become a veritable ocean of files. Even if Li Ang were there, he couldn't handle the sheer volume of paperwork.

"Well, it looks like we'll need a few months to digest this harvest," Li Ang sighed. "Comrades, follow me, let's fight them!"

Then the staff officers all looked solemn and tragic.

For the next two weeks, others in the Revolutionary Army only saw that the General Staff Headquarters was still brightly lit late at night. And when they occasionally encountered people from the General Staff Headquarters, they thought they looked like ghosts and were completely afraid to approach them.

Even Koala and Robin looked terrible. Sabo was even inexplicably beaten up by Koala one day. Of course, he had no idea what he had done to offend Koala again, so he could only stay away from her during this time, just like everyone else.

Of course I'd look haggard, of course I'd be irritable. Working more than 16 hours a day, even dreaming of sailing through a sea of ​​documents. If it weren't for the fact that everyone in this world is physically strong, someone might have died from overwork during this period.

As for Li Ang himself, he felt like his head was about to explode. In addition to dealing with these piles of affairs, he also had to deal with some sudden and urgent important events, such as the bad move made by the World Government's Seven Warlords.

In the end, Li Ang even thought that he would rather fight a naval admiral one-on-one than have that experience again.

The crisis at the General Staff was ultimately temporary. Once the period of rebuilding was over, the pressure eased. Moreover, the backlog of work was just a matter of time; there weren't many truly difficult or thorny issues, and those that were could be delegated to Li Ang. So, these problems were gradually resolved.

"Oh my god, I'm exhausted. I don't want to go through this again, or commit suicide again." On the day the problem was solved, a chubby staff officer said this.

Compared to the soldiers' heroic feats of fighting bloody battles on the front lines and conquering three countries overnight, the staff officers at headquarters were no less impressive. They, too, sometimes fought through the night.

However, this experience, combined with the mournful looks in everyone's eyes, gave Li Ang the idea of ​​establishing a local administrative body.

Although many countries still retain a king, such countries are still in the minority. King Riku, who is experienced and kind to his people, is extremely rare. In many places, the revolutionary army has to take charge of the administration.

Even in countries with kings, the revolutionary army actually controls a lot of power, especially in the two most important areas: the military and the economy.

As the revolutionary army grew stronger, the workload of the General Staff also became increasingly heavy.

When the revolutionary army was still weak, it was under the unified management of the central government, and its resources were also allocated in a unified manner, which brought a lot of convenience to the rapid development of the revolutionary army.

However, this model is no longer suitable for the Revolutionary Army. In Li Ang's vision, the General Staff Headquarters, located at headquarters, would only be responsible for major matters, overseeing the overall development and direction of the Revolutionary Army. Local administrative bodies would handle the specific tasks in different areas, and he would only need to ensure the army wasn't going astray.

So, the day after the General Staff was relieved from their hellish overtime work, Li Ang made the decision to send all the talented people who had followed him for some time to various localities, where they would each establish their own administrative bodies.

Although the group was somewhat reluctant to part, they didn't understand that the current situation needed to change. They each boarded the ship and bid farewell to Li Ang and the Revolutionary Army headquarters where they had worked for several years.

"What a load of rubbish! We couldn't wait to escape this sea of ​​suffering. You finally had a change of heart and let us go. We never want to come back. If I ever return to this wretched place, I'm a dog!" These were the words the group uttered as they left.

However, Li Ang took it as them being arrogant.

Anyway, we've all been dogs for a while now, and everyone knows how to bark properly, so we've all learned to bark quite well.

Moreover, these people are destined to stay in their localities for life. Once the administrative institutions on each island are established and the affairs there are brought back on track, they may be recalled by Li Ang in the future.