"Knock, knock, knock."
"Come in."
Inside the Fleet Admiral's office, Rowan pushed the door open and entered, immediately seeing the two current decision-making giants of Marine Headquarters.
The Three Admirals had not yet risen to their positions. Because of him, Kong had been forced to retire early and be promoted upward. At present, beneath the Fleet Admiral, Garp was unreliable, while Zephyr only handled the training camp.
So the ones truly discussing and making decisions were precisely the two before him, Vice Admiral Tsuru and Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
"The World Government has just issued an order. The Marines are to cooperate in capturing Germa in the North Blue. You are one of the participants."
Rowan nodded.
"Understood. I've always heard about Germa's evil reputation in the North Blue. I just don't know whether that pink poison really exists. She looks pretty beautiful in the comic."
Hearing this, Tsuru frowned slightly.
"According to the intelligence provided by the World Government, the pink poison from the comic does not exist. Germa's armed forces are basically male soldiers who have undergone cloning and modification. Are you interested?"
Uh.
Rowan felt insulted, and was immediately choked into silence.
"Gender: male. Preference: female. Mm, that's all."
At this moment, Sengoku spoke.
"As the supporting combat force, the Marines do not have command authority in this war. But I hope you can communicate with CP so that this operation does not affect too many ordinary civilians."
Affect ordinary civilians?
If a large army pressed in, shouldn't it be settled directly at sea?
No, Germa's country was made up of those giant snails. If their speed was faster than warships...
Tsuru interlocked her fingers and said, "Ever since Roger was executed by you in Loguetown four years ago, the Great Pirate Era has arrived. Among the Four Blues, the number of new pirates in the North Blue and South Blue has far exceeded the East Blue and West Blue."
At this point, Tsuru paused, but Rowan knew the reason.
The East Blue had an old man who often went back to visit his grandson Ace. As for the West Blue, because of Rowan's sweeping purge back then, many gangsters and mountain bandits who wanted to go out to sea had become much more restrained.
As for the South Blue and North Blue, after the South Blue incident was exposed by the Revolutionary Army, many people there had lost their trust in the Marines and the World Government to a freezing point. At present, it was also the main development region of the Revolutionary Army's Southern Army.
The army commander seemed to have been hanging around Vegapunk every day recently, and had already been disciplined several times.
At this moment, Tsuru continued, "If the impact is too great, then in the memories of the North Blue's civilians, the Marines will become unreliable. People with justice in their hearts will also hesitate between joining the Marines or going out to sea."
Sengoku also looked at Rowan.
"No matter what, the Marines' intention is to eliminate Germa while making the Marine image as positive as possible. That comic has a huge influence. Although Germa is the villain in the comic, there are also many people who admire them."
The two spoke one after another, but Rowan's expression clearly showed that he had not taken it to heart.
Sengoku and Tsuru had already expected this.
In fact, this North Blue operation was only a test by the two of them. What they truly cared about was whether Rowan could become a bridge of communication afterward.
The five people atop Mary Geoise were high above everything. The ones who truly acted for the World Government were the CP organizations. And that Spandine, he heard, would soon be transferred to become a CP0 chief.
"The merit from this mission can allow you to be promoted to Vice Admiral."
"Hm?"
Rowan immediately looked over.
"Promotion to Vice Admiral is that simple?"
Sengoku looked at him.
"Vice Admiral is not merely a promotion in military rank. It also comes with the responsibilities and obligations of the Marines."
At this point, Sengoku's gaze gradually carried a trace of sincerity.
"I've read your file many times. The Executioner of the West Blue. You never show mercy to pirates, which means that during your life as an orphan in the West Blue, you must have suffered at the hands of pirates."
"According to the records, your hometown village was also destroyed because of a pirate raid."
"So, Rowan... the Marines' purpose lies in maintaining the stability of the seas. Only stability can make pirates fewer and fewer. Only then can villages like your hometown exist safely."
Rowan frowned, thought for a moment, then nodded.
After he left, the Fleet Admiral's office fell silent for a while.
"After this mission, we can also have him make a trip to Wano. That country is not an ordinary non-affiliated nation."
"The intelligence we just received is truly surprising. But if that is the case, Mary Geoise should also weigh the gains and losses."
"Let's hope so."
At the same time, in Wano Country, the Flower Capital.
As the temporary administrator before ideological awakening, Kozuki Oden's family had also moved from Kuri to the Shogun's Mansion in the Flower Capital.
After a series of probes, Shimotsuki Yasuie saw that the Revolutionary Army had no objections, so he went along with the flow and held a grand shogun succession ceremony.
Oden was pressed into a palanquin and carried through every street of the Flower Capital, with heavy emphasis placed on promoting how Shogun Oden had endured humiliation for Wano over the past five years.
And after learning that when he made the five-year agreement with Orochi, he had also saved many civilians who were being used as hostages, Shimotsuki Yasuie even found those people and had them serve as witnesses, beginning to recount the situation back then.
Opposite the high platform of the inauguration ceremony, Shimotsuki Yasuie watched all of this in a very good mood and poured a cup of tea for Shimotsuki Ushimaru, who sat across from him.
"Are these people really the hostages Orochi held five years ago?"
Shimotsuki Ushimaru frowned. He felt that the daimyo of the main family before him had become somewhat obsessed. Surely he wouldn't fabricate fake witnesses, right?
Shimotsuki Yasuie glanced at him.
"Do you think I would do something that foolish? If it weren't true, Shogun Oden would have already jumped out himself by now."
Uh, that was true.
They understood this lord of the Kozuki Clan's personality all too well.
His brain worked in a straight line. He absolutely wouldn't agree that this was helping him. He would instead feel that it was an insult.
But... with such an obvious move, why was the Revolutionary Army still silent?
The ideological education classes in the schools had already begun. The Revolutionary Army troops and instructors left behind were still teaching as usual.
"That person should still be in Wano, right? But he hasn't made any moves."
Shimotsuki Yasuie smiled and replied, "Why would they stop something that is true? If they stopped it, it might even backfire. Still, this discovery really was an unexpected joy."
Shimotsuki Ushimaru nodded silently.
On the high platform, meanwhile, Oden was so bored he wanted to pick his feet.
The position of shogun was indeed even more uncomfortable than being a daimyo. Even Kin'emon and Denjiro had started telling him that he couldn't do this and couldn't say that.
Although he was only temporarily holding the position for stability, he was already considering dragging that hidden old man out and making him sit in this seat instead.
As for the people before him recounting the scenes of how he had saved them, he knew whose idea it was.
But he understood even more clearly that all of this was merely futile.
Perhaps he should find an opportunity to have a talk with Daimyo Yasuie. Back then, this man had also provided considerable support to Kuri.
As his thoughts wandered, Oden's mind had already drifted far away. He wondered whether that ambitious future female president of a daughter back home was studying properly right now.
Flower Capital First School.
Robin took a deep breath on the podium.
Before today, she had already reviewed the education methods used during Orochi's rule over the Flower Capital. Today, she was substitute teaching, and she had also prepared for a long time.
Then, imitating the previous teaching method, she wrote name after name on the blackboard.
"Teacher, I know!"
A little brat pointed at one of the names and said, "Father corrected me yesterday. Kurozumi Orochi is a bad person. He colluded with pirates and stole the position of shogun. It was Lord Oden and the Revolutionary Army who defeated them."
Robin smiled and replied, "I've read what you were taught before. At that time, what your teacher taught you was that Orochi was good, and Lord Kozuki Oden was a fool, right?"
The moment those words fell, not a single person spoke. Even the little brat who had just raised his hand fell silent.
After a while.
"Pa."
A little girl with green hair stood up.
"Teacher, you should call him Lord Shogun Oden."
Robin looked at Hiyori and shook her head slightly.
"In this world, there are no so-called great people and lesser people. Life has no noble or lowly rank. This is something Lord Oden also acknowledges."
"Even with Mr. Spark, because we respect him, we call him 'Mister,' not 'Lord.'"
Hiyori froze for a moment, but her father did indeed agree with those words: life has no noble or lowly rank.
And Momonosuke, who was sitting beside her, tugged at her sleeve.
After thinking for a while and failing to come up with a rebuttal, she could only snort and sit back down.
Robin did not mind and continued, "Good person or bad person, in my view, is something you need to understand for yourselves, not something you simply repeat after others. You must think from your own position and judge whether this person is an enemy or a friend."
"So whether Kurozumi Orochi is good or bad also requires us to understand him before we can reach a conclusion. Today, we'll first talk about this former shogun of Wano, and then everyone can think again about whether he was good or bad."
After that, Robin began explaining the information she had collected.
Kurozumi Orochi's life began with fleeing from birth. His parents and relatives were purged because of rebellion, and he himself was hunted down because of it.
After becoming a servant of the Daimyo of Hakumai, how he endured humiliation and waited for an opportunity.
More than ten minutes passed, and Kurozumi Orochi's life came to an end through Robin's narration.
Like a story, told from Kurozumi Orochi's perspective, it allowed the children below to immerse themselves as if they were listening to a tale.
"Then, can anyone tell me now? Was Kurozumi Orochi a good person or a bad person?"
The students below were all children, not much younger than Robin herself. At this moment, because they had immersed themselves in the story, they all seemed somewhat confused.
Momonosuke even nudged Hiyori and asked, "If your whole family was killed, then wanting revenge isn't exactly wrong..."
Hiyori punched Momonosuke on the head.
"You are Kozuki Momonosuke, not Kurozumi Momonosuke, you idiot!"
Momonosuke clutched his head and nearly burst into tears.
But Robin also heard those words, so she looked at Hiyori approvingly.
"Student Hiyori is right. To judge good and bad, you must first confirm your own position."
"As the Kozuki Clan, rebels naturally had to pay the price. To stabilize their own rule and prevent descendants from taking revenge, a purge was unavoidable."
"And if one were a survivor of the Kurozumi Clan, with their family killed and themselves constantly suffering hardship, it would also be normal for thoughts like 'why' and revenge to arise in their heart."
"Finally... there are the ordinary civilians, who make up the majority."
"Who can tell me, from the perspective of ordinary people, was Kurozumi Orochi a good person? Or a bad person?"
The story and questions began guiding the children below the podium into thought.
The ideological education classes in the school were different from the speeches held in various regions. If the Revolutionary Army's core ideology was directly presented, these children would not understand it.
During her childhood in Ohara, Robin had known that not everyone was like her, fond of knowledge and fond of thinking.
For these children, the first thing to teach them was independent thought, not blindly echoing others.
At the same time, through subtle influence, they also had to clearly understand their own position and class. This was the foundation of ideological education.
Below the podium, Hiyori frowned as she thought about Robin's question.
The position of ordinary civilians?
The Kozuki Clan represented all the people of Wano.
Were those things Masked Uncle had said back then, the things she couldn't understand, what this older sister on the podium was teaching now?
"I..."
A little boy stood up, seeming somewhat timid.
But in the end, he still said, "I only know that my family used to be able to eat meat once every three days. I was still little back then. Later, after Father went to the mine, our family hasn't eaten meat for years."
"Just now, Big Sister said Kurozumi Orochi built many, many weapons factories and used force to make the people of Wano work, only giving them very, very little pay. So I think Kurozumi Orochi is a bad person!"
With the first one speaking, a second child soon stood up.
It was no longer because they had heard someone say something and believed it. Instead, it was because their lives had become worse, so they judged who was good and who was bad.
Only after all the children had finished speaking did Robin continue, "Then now, let us talk about the second figure: Kozuki Oden."
The moment those words fell, Hiyori and Momonosuke's eyes widened at once.
She was going to talk about Father?
One had to know that today was the day Father officially became shogun. Under such circumstances, how could the people of Wano casually comment on the shogun?
This was against the rules!
"You can't talk about Lord Shogun..."
Momonosuke was just about to stand up, but this time, Hiyori pulled him back down.
She felt that they should listen to this older sister's evaluation of Father. Besides, when they watched the second speech that day, Father's attitude seemed to show that he knew about all of this.
"Kozuki Oden did many incomprehensible things from the moment he was born."
"When he was only a few months old, he violently threw his wet nurse away. At four, he threw a boulder and killed a giant bear. At six, he began entering the pleasure quarters. At eight, he drank alcohol and fought gamblers. At nine, he was placed on a blacklist by the yakuza, and in anger, he burned down a yakuza casino. He was arrested for violently injuring people..."
"At fifteen, he triggered the Harem War and failed to go out to sea thirty-eight times. In Wano, going out to sea is illegal."
O_O O_O
Below the podium, Hiyori and Momonosuke were dumbfounded.
They had never heard that Father actually had such a glorious history. The so-called Harem War filled Momonosuke with envy.
As for Hiyori, she was considering whether she should go back and tell Mother.
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