Chapter 166: Destruction Is Also Salvation
"Zephyr, there are indeed some things that certain Marines are unaware of; after all, those are the World Government's covert operations. But what is Mary Geoise like? Do the Marines not know about that either?
"This place is only a microcosm, and the real Mary Geoise is even worse than here.
"Citizens of non-member nations have no human rights. Can all Marines accept this kind of thing with a clear conscience?"
"Compared to a turbulent, chaotic sea, the World Government represents its own brand of order," Zephyr replied. "Under this order, member nations, despite having to pay exorbitant Heavenly Tributes, can guarantee basic living conditions.
"You are now a King of a nation as well. You should know exactly what kind of scum the pirates crossing your borders are. If we lose order, will things really get better?
"But now... the branches and leaves of the tree have grown so dense, and the blood it sucks... has become innumerable..."
The Zephyr of the past firmly believed that the Marines represented justice. The God Valley incident had made him doubt the Marines, but he still believed that the vast majority of people within the organization were fighting for the justice in their hearts.
However, the actions of the Celestial Dragons made them the biggest pests on the sea, and the Marines had inevitably become their accomplices.
"A tree whose roots have rotted, even if the surface looks glamorous, has long decayed on the inside," Nereus said. "You want to maintain it, but uprooting it might actually be the correct decision.
"As for what comes after... no one ever said that after digging up a bad tree, you have to leave the empty pit there forever. Planting a healthy sapling and letting it grow into a towering tree that can provide shelter from the wind and rain is what should be done."
"I am a Marine. You telling me this... do you think it's appropriate?"
Nereus's metaphor was obvious enough. Zephyr had already guessed most of what he was getting at.
Dragon was plotting things in the Four Blues, and Dragon was connected to Nereus...
This wasn't a casual chat; this was clearly an attempt to drag him down with them!
"You can go and report me to the World Government and see if they believe your words," Nereus chuckled. "Right now, I haven't done anything, and according to the terms of our agreement, I'm getting along quite well with the World Government.
"Believe it or not, if you actually do that, you'll be the one treated as someone trying to sow discord?"
The reason the World Government agreed to Nereus's terms—aside from Imu issuing the supreme directive—was due to a massive objective factor: they couldn't handle Nereus.
And according to the World Government's consistent policy, if compromise could solve a problem, then anything was negotiable before a crisis truly erupted.
Moreover, based on Nereus's psychological analysis of Zephyr, after witnessing more and more of the dark side and having his bottom line gradually broken, Zephyr wouldn't remain full of faith in the Marines forever.
Otherwise, in the original timeline, after becoming completely disappointed in the World Government and the Marines, he wouldn't have established the NEO Marines and attempted to destroy the entire New World by blowing up the three End Points with Dyna Stones.
"I shouldn't have landed on this island in the first place..." Zephyr muttered.
"Trying to bury your head in the sand? Actually, at this scale, you're burying your whole body."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's nothing. Regretting it now is too late anyway. And did you think what you're seeing right now is the true Doel Kingdom? This is still only the most superficial layer."
Although Zephyr and Nereus had already entered the Doel Kingdom, if the two of them didn't want to be noticed, the people of the Doel Kingdom absolutely lacked the strength to spot them.
At this very moment, deep within the Doel Kingdom's resplendent Slave Colosseum, the smell of rust and blood always reached the nose long before the sunlight did.
It was different from the Colosseum in Dressrosa. Dressrosa's Colosseum was a tradition; before Doflamingo ruled the country, it was more like a dangerous sporting event.
Many gladiators made a living off it, and a few challenged it to hone their skills. It also served as a form of punishment, where achieving a certain number of consecutive victories could earn someone a pardon.
But in the Doel Kingdom's Colosseum, no slave had ever walked out alive.
Right now, a boy was huddled in the corner of a cage. He had no name; from the day he was born, he was defined by this kingdom as a slave.
At this moment, he was tightly grasping a small stone he had dug out from a crack in the wall.
The slightly flat stone looked somewhat like a seashell, and in his imagination, this stone was a seashell. At the same time, "Shell" was the name he had given himself.
This cage was located near the coast, and he could often hear the sound of waves crashing against the walls. Above the sea lay legendary freedom, so Shell always harbored his own expectations of the outside world.
Sometimes, Shell would press the stone against his ear. Whenever he did so, he felt as though he could hear the faint, blurred melody his mother used to hum.
Even though by now, he had long forgotten what his mother looked like.
In the grand hall outside the cages, a very muscular slave was currently suspended by iron chains on a punishment rack. His back had long been whipped into a bloody, mangled mess.
He originally belonged to the "high-class slaves" in the Doel Kingdom—private slaves who lived in the households of certain nobles and were enslaved by only a few.
The reason he was sent here was that he had attempted to break out and escape while the King was away. Ultimately, he was sent here to become a consumable item meant for life-and-death deathmatches.
The guards here were currently taking a break. Taking advantage of their inattention, Shell splashed some clean water onto the man's face.
It wasn't to bully him; the man hadn't drank a drop of water in a long time, and his lips were severely cracked. Doing this could at least help him absorb a little bit of moisture.
"Thanks..."
The corners of the man's mouth pulled up into a smile, showing absolutely no submission to the pain.
"Mister, you should talk less. Those guys will be back soon."
"Don't be so pessimistic, kid. You're still young, and you have plenty of time ahead of you. Who knows, perhaps soon, freedom will descend upon this land."
As soon as these words were spoken, not only Shell, but several slaves in the surrounding cages also looked over. They seemed to not understand how the man could utter the word "freedom" under these circumstances.
"You guys can't receive news from the outside here. I used to be an adventurer. The King of this country provoked an existence he absolutely shouldn't have provoked...
"War is going to descend on this land! And the initiator of this war is the savior of slaves worldwide!"
Crack!
"Too noisy!"
The surrounding slaves wanted to ask more, but the sharp crack of a whip suddenly interrupted the man's words.
"This is a sacred Colosseum! When there is no audience, slaves have no right to speak loudly, let alone spout the taboo topics forbidden by King Chaplin.
"Those who violate the rules must all be executed..."
As he spoke, the guard raised his whip to strike again. But this time, no matter how hard he pulled, the whip refused to swing.
A pitch-black arm had, at this moment, firmly caught the other end of the whip in a death grip.
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