The Five Elders and the Navy departed.
After a fierce round of negotiations, everyone finally signed an agreement on the distribution of Nightless City's profits.
The agreement stipulated that the World Government would receive thirty percent of Nightless City's profits, the three great pirate crews would receive forty percent, and Rosinante along with Gray Kingdom would exclusively take the remaining forty percent.
It was also clearly stated in the agreement that, of the World Government's thirty percent share, ten percent belonged to the Celestial Dragons.
At the same time, the Celestial Dragons were forbidden from causing trouble for Rosinante for any reason in the future. If they did, Rosinante would have the right to retaliate, and the Celestial Dragon clan would not be allowed to intervene on their behalf because of it.
With this clause in place, Rosinante's status became fundamentally different. Certain Celestial Dragons would no longer dare to provoke him, because Rosinante now possessed the legal right to strike back.
In other words, if a Celestial Dragon sought trouble with Rosinante and he retaliated, injuring or even killing a Celestial Dragon, the Celestial Dragon clan could not use that as a reason to collectively target him.
Of course, even without this clause, Rosinante would still act when necessary. But with it, the Celestial Dragons had a way to save face. Even if Rosinante killed or injured one of them, the Celestial Dragon clan would not rise up as a whole against him.
Rosinante was not afraid of an individual Celestial Dragon, nor even of prominent figures among them. But he still held some wariness toward the overall power of the Celestial Dragon clan, which was why he had deliberately included this condition.
The agreement also specified that the forty percent share given to the three great pirate crews was essentially a protection fee paid by Nightless City to the Sea Emperors.
If another Sea Emperor were to emerge in the future, this forty percent would be redistributed to ensure that Nightless City remained under the protection of all Sea Emperors and that its safety was guaranteed.
With this clause, Rosinante invisibly set a hurdle for Shanks' rise.
Given the sheer scale of Nightless City's profits, even Whitebeard and the other Sea Emperors would be unwilling to give them up.
For Shanks to claim the title of Sea Emperor in the future would therefore not be easy. He would have to gain the recognition of the three great pirate crews.
Whitebeard might not be an issue and could acknowledge Shanks out of respect for Roger. But Charlotte Linlin and Kaido would absolutely not recognize Shanks as a Sea Emperor.
For the sake of Nightless City's profits, they would certainly suppress Shanks with all their might. If Shanks wanted to ascend, he would have to defeat both of them and make them submit, which made his path to the throne far more difficult.
Still, given Shanks' overwhelming presence, even such difficulty would likely not stop him from eventually becoming a New World Emperor.
The agreement also placed restrictions on Rosinante. He had to ensure that Nightless City continued to generate profits satisfactory to all parties. If everyone became dissatisfied, they would have the right to replace the person managing Nightless City.
After returning to Mary Geoise, the Five Elders wore deeply grim expressions.
"Judging by the situation, your trip to Sabaody did not go very smoothly," the blond Five Elder said.
"As expected, we secured thirty percent of the profits. What was unexpected is that ten percent of that thirty percent went to the Celestial Dragon clan," the long-haired, long-bearded Five Elder replied.
"That was unavoidable. With the four great pirate forces joining hands, even we must act cautiously. Especially Whitebeard. Even if we used the World Government's ultimate trump cards, it is not guaranteed we could kill him," said the Five Elder with a hat and white beard.
From the very beginning, the Five Elders had anticipated that with Whitebeard and the others involved, it would be difficult to extract more benefits from Rosinante.
This trip to Sabaody was only meant to secure that thirty percent first, with plans to slowly seek more profits later.
Nightless City was located close to the World Government's sphere of influence. They believed there would be opportunities in the future to wrest more benefits from Rosinante.
In their view, Rosinante was still too young. His strength was impressive, but not yet enough to make them truly wary. They believed they still had many ways to deal with him.
"The problem is that Rosinante's strength exceeded our expectations. Rosinante already possesses peak-level combat power," the sword-wielding Five Elder in kimono said.
The other Five Elders were all startled by these words.
"Are you certain?" the bald Five Elder with a round head and white beard asked in surprise.
Their confidence in extracting more benefits from Rosinante was based on the assumption that his strength had not yet reached the peak.
Originally, they believed that no matter how strong Rosinante was, as long as he had not reached peak combat power, he would still be someone they could manipulate, albeit with some difficulty.
But once Rosinante reached peak strength, controlling him would no longer be so easy.
The gap between top-tier Admiral level and peak level might seem small, but the meanings were entirely different. One meant that there were still others stronger than you. The other meant that you had already joined the ranks of the strongest beings in the world.
Once one reached peak level, it became extremely difficult to find someone stronger who could defeat them. Even the World Government had to be cautious.
"I personally tested him. Not only did he block a slash that was close to my full power, but he has also developed his Silence Fruit into an even more terrifying ability. He can erase my sword energy without a sound. I could feel the danger of that power. It may not be inferior to Whitebeard's Tremor Fruit," the kimono-clad Five Elder said.
"It seems necessary to warn certain people. Rosinante is no longer someone who can be manipulated at will. He may very well become one of the true powers that shape the world," the blond Five Elder said solemnly.