"I did think that the Revolutionary Army would eventually fall into decline," Dragon said, his expression momentarily darkening as he pondered aloud, "People's hearts need direction. If everyone could…"
"Can you survive for a hundred generations, guiding wave after wave of new people?" Shirogai interrupted with a sneer.
"Even if you could live forever, why would anyone listen to an old fossil like you and act according to your commands?"
Dragon fell silent, taken aback by the bluntness in Shirogai's voice.
"Just because you believe you are right? Who proves you are right — you? Or the common people?"
Shirogai shook his head dismissively.
"Have you seen the schools the Sky Island Alliance has opened across the world? From your perspective, entrusting ordinary people with knowledge to manufacture explosives and other dangerous goods might seem irresponsible and reckless."
Dragon frowned and nodded slightly.
"Indeed. Teaching such knowledge to ordinary people won't automatically improve their situation. On the contrary, it may fragment their lives instead of reconstructing them."
Shirogai's gaze stayed sharp, unflinching.
"Wake up, Commander of the Revolutionary Army. The revolution you lead has always been an incomplete revolution."
"Hah! The revolution carried out by the Revolutionary Army is incomplete?" Ivankov protested, irritation flashing in their Gothic eyes as they sat on the sofa.
"All the countries liberated by us, the Revolutionary Army, have undergone great changes! People who once could not survive under the tyranny of the World Nobles are now living better lives!"
"Hegemony still exists. It has never truly disappeared," Shirogai said calmly.
He shook his head, exhaling deeply.
"If you don't realize that the nations you have changed have only adapted to Revolutionary Army rule, slightly altered in appearance but still vulnerable to reverting to their former state at any moment, then I must express both regret and sincere ridicule for your self‑satisfaction."
"You mean…" Dragon's eyes narrowed as he grasped the meaning behind Shirogai's words.
"The World Nobles cannot simply be eradicated. Even if you eliminate one generation, the next will rise — another soul‑twisted set of tyrants springing up among you, in the Sky Island Alliance, in other rulers."
Shirogai's voice remained calm, yet firm.
"If ordinary people do not control their own means of resistance, if they do not develop the idea of 'Are kings and generals inherently superior?' then they have never truly stood up. Even if you wrench this generation up by force and embed them with iron resolve, the next generation will still kneel before new forms of hegemony, becoming lackeys again. All because the strong are admired, and that admiration has always been a survival instinct."
Shirogai's expression hardened.
"What you are doing is merely lending your power to ordinary people for a moment. But do you not see that these people, rescued by your Revolutionary Army, are forced to rely on your strength just to stand against the World Nobles and the World Government? No, you are well aware of this. You know that the Revolutionary Army is the weapon ordinary people use to fight. They need you, so they will continue to rely on you. That is why you believe the Revolutionary Army's existence is meaningful and indispensable."
Shirogai paused, eyes steady.
"Your existence indeed has value. You support people intimidated by the World Nobles' hegemony. But if you do not transfer the power to resist into the hands of the people themselves, how will they ever develop the sustained strength to stand alone? If one day you become like the World Nobles, and you take away the very power that supports them, wouldn't that simply be a new cycle of tyranny?"
Ivankov, Commander of the Revolutionary Army's Grand Line forces, frowned sharply, their voice rising:
"Hah! Although God‑King, what you say sounds logical, the power the Revolutionary Army relies on to resist the World Government — whether Devil Fruit powers or Haki — cannot be shared with ordinary people!"
Dragon pondered this, nodding slowly.
"So you chose to spread the knowledge of how to resist to ordinary people."
"Exactly," Shirogai replied. "From your perspective as Commander of the Revolutionary Army, this seems dangerous — but isn't that also a form of deterrence?"
Shirogai exhaled, his voice steady and contemplative.
"If it comes to a critical moment where survival is at stake, people will inevitably take up arms to fight for themselves. Yes, the outcome may be tragic. But at least the tyrants will learn that the rights of ordinary people cannot be taken for granted. At least they will hesitate before taking the most extreme measures."
Shirogai's gaze became intense as he stared at the two Revolutionary Army leaders.
"If the Marines issue a Buster Call against a nation, against an island, their warships will be destroyed — one, two…"
His words carried an unspoken edge.
"Even if the entire nation or island still faces annihilation, the Marines, haunted by fear, will not issue a Buster Call so easily again. Having a weapon and not using it, and having no weapon at all, are two entirely different realities. If you are meat on a chopping block with no power to fight back, don't expect the opponent's blade not to fall. It's better to think how to turn yourself into rotten flesh so that when the blade falls, it splatters blood everywhere."
Silence followed. Ivankov fell deep in thought.
After all, Ivankov had always known that resisting the World Nobles' game would require that ordinary people do not play by someone else's rules. However, once Ivankov himself became a rule‑maker, he instinctively hoped others would voluntarily follow Revolutionary Army principles. In truth, that is the same human tendency — people resist following rules that are not their own. Whether a rule is good or bad, people will still resist it. That is why there are so many pirates in this world, and why the world's rules are chaotic.
"Let us see the truth of this world clearly," Shirogai said gently, his voice calm. "The law of the jungle remains unchanged. There are always those who seek to overpower others through plunder. Ordinary people who are targeted must protect themselves by gaining claws and teeth of their own. Only then will would‑be plunderers hesitate to act."
Shirogai's expression stayed composed, thoughtful.
"So I gave ordinary people claws and teeth. I entrusted them with weapons of self‑defense. If those weapons become instruments that end their own lives, that is their choice. The survival of the fittest has nothing to do with me."
Dragon's brow softened as he questioned seriously,
"So your goal is to give everyone in this world a gun so that everyone can be safe?"
Shirogai's lips curved slightly, not in humor but in contemplation.
"Everyone having a gun is only the first step. It's a strong medicine to revive a nation, not a long‑term solution."
He looked at Dragon with an almost distant expression.
"Everyone having a gun is for self‑defense. If this world can become larger, allowing most people to survive without resorting to violence, then the situation can shift from everyone with guns and everyone firing them, to everyone with food and no one stealing. But even then, another form of plunder will emerge — one that is invisible, odorless, yet even more detestable."
Shirogai shook his head slowly, a weary tone in his voice.
"This world has always been this way. Shrimp eat microorganisms, fish eat shrimp, sea beasts eat fish, Sea Kings eat sea beasts, and powerful humans eat Sea Kings. Does anyone find that strange? The law of the jungle is truth. If an era of plunder without bloodshed truly arises, let the wisdom of future generations address it. I am too indifferent to concern myself further."
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