"The Emperor hasn't shown himself for three whole years. Even during the last tributary offering from the affiliated nations, Your Majesty didn't appear. It's inevitable that the Navy would start suspecting something might have happened to you. This invitation is probably the Navy testing the waters," Laki said from the side.
"The vice-captain thinks the same. Recently the Navy has been getting restless. Not only are they starting to deploy plans to push back into the New World, they've also been constantly probing Nightless City. The vice-captain hopes the captain can show himself, just once, to ease the pressure on Nightless City," Enel said with a grin.
It was Enel who had delivered this invitation. The Navy had sent it to Nightless City, then Katakuri had Enel bring it here.
"Looks like Nightless City has been under quite a bit of pressure lately. Otherwise, with Katakuri's pride, he wouldn't have said something like that," Rosinante said calmly.
"That's true. The vice-captain's pressure lately hasn't been small," Enel laughed.
What Rosinante did not know was that because he had not appeared for three years, not only the Navy and World Government were suspecting that something might have happened to him, even the other three Emperors of the Sea were harboring similar doubts.
After all, the sea was vast, and there were countless secrets hidden within it, secrets not even the World Government that had ruled for eight hundred years could fully control. No matter how strong someone was, there was always the possibility of capsizing in a ditch.
And Rosinante was a Devil Fruit user, which added even more uncertainty. Devil Fruit users were restrained by the sea itself and by Seastone. If one grew careless, it was still very possible for Rosinante to suffer a fatal setback.
For now, it was only probing. But once they confirmed that something might truly have gone wrong with Rosinante, they would bare their fangs at Nightless City without hesitation.
"Heh, Enel, don't you think this world is strange? If you just stay put and behave yourself, people start overthinking things. But once you go out and stir up trouble, they suddenly feel at ease," Rosinante said with a chuckle.
"Well, that's because Your Majesty isn't an ordinary person. If you stay idle for too long, people are bound to start thinking about you," Enel replied.
"Maybe someone really is thinking about me. But the Navy will soon realize that inviting me to attend their investiture ceremony might be a disastrously bad decision. I can already imagine what's going to happen then," Rosinante said with a smile.
The World Government had waited a full three years before allowing Sakazuki and the others to be formally invested as Admirals, precisely so they could accumulate enough strength to intimidate the seas.
The World Government understood very well that in such a turbulent era, only overwhelming strength could suppress those lawless elements on the sea.
Otherwise, even if Sakazuki and the others were promoted to Admirals, they still wouldn't be able to control the Great Pirate Era. Worse, it would cause the prestige of the title "Navy Admiral" to collapse, which would only harm the Navy further.
In the original timeline, it was only after several more years, when Sakazuki and the others had truly matured in strength, that they were promoted to Admirals.
They would rather endure a more rampant pirate era than allow the authority of the Admirals to be diminished.
Now that the World Government had approved the promotion of Sakazuki and the others to the rank of Admiral, it clearly meant they were confident in their strength.
Over these three years, their power must have increased dramatically.
And when strength rose rapidly, arrogance tended to swell just as quickly.
Rosinante didn't dare speak for others, but once Sakazuki saw him again after gaining so much power, he would absolutely charge out at the first opportunity to challenge Rosinante, to wash away the humiliation of his past defeat.
And the Navy would definitely support Sakazuki in testing Rosinante.
But while Sakazuki and the others had been growing rapidly over the past three years, had Rosinante not been growing just as fast?
If Sakazuki thought that three years were enough for him to defeat Rosinante, then he was being far too naive.
Rosinante was extremely confident in his own growth over these three years.
In terms of physical attributes alone, he was still at the level of a high-tier Admiral.
After all, once strength reached his level, further improvement became extremely difficult.
But in actual combat, the current Rosinante could easily defeat the Rosinante of three years ago.
Setting aside the three types of Haki, over these three years, by continuously using the shadows provided by Moria and the others, Rosinante had greatly refined all of his techniques, whether it was hand-to-hand combat, boxing, or swordsmanship.
In swordsmanship alone, Rosinante had already reached the pinnacle of high-level sword masters, just one step away from becoming a true great swordsman.
His fist techniques and body combat had also been refined, and he had developed many new techniques.
But what Rosinante had improved the most over these three years was his mastery of his Devil Fruit ability.
In fact, a large part of these three years of seclusion had been devoted precisely to the deep development of his fruit.
Three years ago, when Rosinante clashed with Whitebeard, under the crushing pressure of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, he had accidentally compressed and refined the Eternal Silence will, creating the power of annihilation that could erase everything.
Back then, Rosinante had only used this power in a very crude way, yet it had already displayed terrifying might.
It was precisely because he had seen how powerful the annihilation force was that Rosinante had been able to endure loneliness and remain in seclusion for a full three years.
Over these three years, his overall battle strength might not have seen an explosive increase, but his proficiency in using annihilation force had multiplied his offensive power several times over.
"Very well. Let me see just how much confidence the World Government and the Navy really have. If they're too weak, then the Navy might as well pick a few new Admirals," Rosinante said with a smile.
As he spoke, an overwhelmingly domineering aura erupted from his body. The clouds in the sky were forcibly dispersed, and the very heavens and earth seemed to tremble.
Watching Rosinante, overflowing with tyrannical presence, Enel and the others all broke into excited smiles.