Chapter 141: Awaiting A Miracle
Conversation,
What to talk about?
The curiosity in Ain’s chest was so restless, standing on the roof of the tallest building in the village, taking in all the surrounding scenery at a glance, including the two people sitting in the shade of coconut trees on the beach, three tall coconut trees casting a patch of shade with their not-too-numerous but sufficiently broad leaves.
Two beach chairs were placed here, with a small and exquisite square table between the chairs, on which fruit and drinks were placed, no alcohol.
Since Zephyr had been afflicted with malignancy, he hadn’t drunk alcohol for many years, and besides, Zephyr wasn’t a drunkard to begin with; no one among the Navy’s top brass indulged in alcohol, as strict military regulations left drunkards with no path for promotion in this massive organization, or rather, they couldn’t stay long in such a violent institution.
Navy and pirates, both violent organizations, but they were ultimately different.
“Last time, what deal did you make with Beasts?” Zephyr held freshly squeezed orange juice without ice cubes; although his malignancy was gone, over these years of deliberate cultivation, he had formed habits in his diet, avoiding any stimulating food, not drinking iced beverages, and even quitting tobacco.
The Navy banned alcohol but not tobacco.
As long as it wasn’t places like ammunition depots where open flames were prohibited, and not during duty hours, tobacco was the Marines’ only enjoyment on the ship; the Navy’s annual tobacco consumption was absolutely number one in the world, and those countries growing tobacco got rich just from the Navy’s orders.
“We just did a deal, or more precisely, a business transaction, selling some stuff to Beasts.” Elus found a comfortable position, left leg crossed over the right, hands pillowed behind his head, gaze fixed on the strips of lush green linear lanceolate coconut tree leaves overhead, casually answering Zephyr’s question.
“······You really dare to say it, kid.”
Having personally dealt with Weibul and destroyed the reputation of never killing, Zephyr’s demeanor had subtly changed; his actions were more relaxed than before, not so tense, and his speech was······ more casual.
At least,
Zephyr hadn’t addressed Elus with such disrespect before.
“Since you dare to ask, why wouldn’t I dare to say? Besides, this isn’t some big deal; plenty of countries cozy up to pirates, and as long as there’s no mountain of ironclad evidence······ what can they do? Mister Zephyr, are you planning to arrest me here? Just so you know, I won’t go quietly!”
“You damn kid, you think I wouldn’t dare?”
“Hehe!”
“Talk properly; if you laugh in that sarcastic way again, believe me, I’ll really make a move?”
“Alright! Alright! My laugh wasn’t very polite, but you can’t blame me! Just don’t forget, besides being the prince of Eckmond Kingdom, I also hold the title of Seven Warlords! Without permission from those World Government officials, you can’t make a move.”
The Seven Warlords system was strictly under the World Government’s jurisdiction; Navy Headquarters could to some extent mobilize Seven Warlords members for private jobs or the like, but without the Five Elders’ permission, they couldn’t arbitrarily strip a member of their status.
No matter how great the Navy’s power, it couldn’t surpass the World Government.
The establishment of the Seven Warlords was originally the World Government’s doing; the Navy had resisted many times to no avail and finally had to grudgingly accept this reality, with stubborn opposition still protesting to this day, but Fleet Admiral Sengoku realized that continuing to fight the World Government wouldn’t change anything, and rather than wasting effort, it was better to make use of the Seven Warlords as much as possible.
“If you, Mister Zephyr, not only retained the General Rank but held real power as an Admiral, doing things under pressure from above might not be a big issue, but the problem is you’re······ now just an outdated old man enjoying General Rank treatment in a semi-retired state; Pirate Guerilla Squad might be seen by Fleet Admiral Sengoku as a springboard for the Navy to return to the New World, a beachhead, but the World Government’s big shots have reservations about it.”
Elus’s right hand came out from under his head, reached to the table to grab a glass of cola with ice cubes, enjoyed the pleasant carbonation, and continued:
“An off-the-books unit like the Pirate Guerilla Squad isn’t even on the World Government’s radar; if not for your name, Mister Zephyr, the big shots above might not even know of its existence. Anyway, you’re outdated now; Navy Headquarters is no longer your era, and the World Government won’t allow you to impulsively disrupt the Seven Warlords’ order.”
“Sounds like you’ve planted quite a few people in the Navy and World Government! Sengoku’s ideas are only circulating among the Navy’s upper echelons.”
“Isn’t that obvious? Aren’t there plenty of countries doing this sort of thing?”
“Not as many as you think; the resources spent inserting spies into the World Government and Navy aren’t something small countries can bear, and besides, don’t take Navy Headquarters’ inspection department for fools.” Zephyr wasn’t angered by Elus’s rude remarks; he just turned his head, staring intently at Elus to his left,
“And one more thing: if not harboring ulterior motives, who would insert spies into the World Government and Navy?”
This was tantamount to an open accusation.
“Ulterior motives?”
Elus tilted his head slightly, meeting Zephyr’s sword-sharp gaze, “That description isn’t wrong, but knowing too much······ isn’t good for longevity.”
“Do I have any choice? From our first meeting, when you invited me to form the Pirate Guerilla Squad to hunt pirates in the New World······ after doing all this, even if I wanted to flip faces and deny it, it’s probably impossible now, right? This remote sea area······ is also a good place for destroying corpses and traces, isn’t it?”
Zephyr’s lip corner curved upward, his smile full of sarcasm.
“Destroying corpses and traces is too exaggerated; for the sake of our friendship, I’ll try to leave you an intact body.”
“That’s really too kind of you!”
Zephyr rolled his eyes, gritted his teeth and said irritably, “Now that it’s come to this, explain: Prince Elus, what······ unspeakable scheme do you have? Don’t tell me you’re something like a Revolutionary Army Officer? Aiming to overthrow the world’s rule?”
“······”
Elus was silent for a few seconds, didn’t make a sound.
“You······ are really with the Revolutionary Army?” Zephyr’s eyebrows shot up.
“Mister Zephyr, do you have any prejudice against the Revolutionary Army?” Elus neither denied nor admitted.
“Prejudice? I don’t hate the Revolutionary Army’s ideals; wanting to spit on those Celestial Dragon trash isn’t just the Revolutionary Army······ but that kid Dragon underestimates the World Government too much; the Holy Land······ Celestial Dragons aren’t something you can just kill by opening your mouth. If it were that easy to take down Celestial Dragons, do you think organizations like the Revolutionary Army have been few in these eight hundred years?”
“Various affiliated nations have erased those histories under World Government pressure, and even libraries in non-affiliated countries often suffer attacks and destruction by unknown persons, but if you look at the confidential records sealed at Navy Headquarters······ organizations and influences resisting Celestial Dragon rule have emerged endlessly, but they all failed, not defeated by the Navy, but by the Holy Land.”
Zephyr sighed leisurely.
His gaze shifted to the distant sky.
“Repeated resistances, none able to destroy the World Government or overthrow those Celestial Dragon scum, in the end, ordinary people bore most of the damage. Kid, if you want to pull me into the Revolutionary Army to resist World Government rule, I won’t agree······”
“I’m not with the Revolutionary Army.”
Elus stopped Zephyr’s next words.
But the following words made Zephyr frown.
“The Revolutionary Army is just my business partner.”
“Business partner?” Zephyr raised an eyebrow.
“And your earlier guess was only half right; I’m not with the Revolutionary Army, but my aspirations do overlap with theirs. The World Government······ eight hundred years of history is long enough; I think it’s time for someone new to take the throne.” Elus said with a smile.
Zephyr suddenly straightened his back and sat up.
He held his orange juice, his pupils under the sunglasses full of shock.
“······You want to replace the Holy Land? Push the Celestial Dragons off the world’s throne and take it yourself?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
Elus countered.
“According to the World Government’s revised history, eight hundred years ago, twenty wise kings established the World Government, saving the world from endless suffering in dire straits; they built the Holy Land Marie Geoise on the Red Line, their descendants are the World Nobles······ blah blah blah a bunch of nonsense.”
“But even the history books edited by the World Government admit that twenty kings established it; if predecessors could do it, why can’t later generations follow suit? Isn’t the current world precisely in dire straits?”
“Kid······ no, Prince Elus, you’re serious?”
“I’m not good at joking.”
“······Then, did I not explain clearly enough before? The World Government has ruled the world for eight hundred years for a reason; even I don’t like the World Government’s bureaucracy or the trash Celestial Dragons in Marie Geoise, but the Celestial Dragons claiming to be descendants of the creators has basis; this isn’t a fact that can be twisted by liking or not, and struggling against the World Government will only bring more fresh blood, nothing else······”
“Don’t people need some dreams to live?”
Elus interrupted Zephyr’s lengthy admonition.
“The World Government has the capital to rule the world; I understand that without you saying. If the World Government were so easy to overthrow, I think······ what we’d have toppled by now wouldn’t be Celestial Dragons; who knows what Celestial Tiger People, Celestial Dog People······ or even, the world with no other rulers, a chaotic Warring States era, wouldn’t be some strange possibility.”
“But even if the World Government holds mysterious power, so what? I’m persisting in the aspiration to overthrow World Government rule precisely under the premise of understanding all this.”
The voice was carried away by the gentle sea breeze.
Silence fell under the coconut tree shade.
After a good while, the sound of ice cubes melting and clinking against the glass cup rang out, breaking this somewhat uncomfortable silence—well, the parties involved felt nothing, but Ain, watching the exchange from afar, was extremely nervous.
That silent, stiff atmosphere couldn’t escape her keen perception even from hundreds of meters away.
Her Observation Haki was activated.
In an instant,
Like a dragon returning to the sea, Ain, who had awakened Observation Haki, could ‘see’ the distant scenery even more clearly and detect atmosphere changes that were previously hard to notice.
“Looks like I’m not the only one who’s resolved their mental block.” Elus teased.
Ain’s change naturally couldn’t escape the two on the beach chairs.
“Unfortunately, her talent limits her achievements.”
Zephyr shook his head with considerable regret.
Diligence can make up for lack of talent is indeed good advice to encourage positivity under certain conditions, but many things can’t be changed by effort alone, such as talent, which lacks physical form—it’s an abstract concept, but that doesn’t hinder people’s cognition of talent.
In short, Ain’s talent wasn’t bad, even excellent, but the problem was that mere excellence wasn’t enough for her to achieve feats like Zephyr’s; Navy Admiral······ isn’t a height reachable by effort alone.
“It’s still early! Isn’t it? Where Miss Ain’s future will lead······ time will give us the answer; perhaps one day a miracle will happen. The World Government has trump cards, but I’m not without preparation; we must believe in miracles.”
Elus did a carp flip and jumped straight down from the lying chair.
He tilted his head back and downed the remaining carbonated drink in the cup in one go, placed the glass cup with only ice cubes left on the square table, “This······ major life event!” Here, he paused for two seconds and continued: “I understand not everyone can judge their future in an instant; I have enough time and patience to wait for your reply. Give me an answer before we set sail and leave this island.”
“As for now, you······ can relax properly and think slowly.”
After saying that,
Without giving Zephyr a chance to speak, he stepped with Sound Step and left the beach directly, his figure flickering like a ghost on the sand a few times before completely vanishing from Zephyr’s sight.
“Think slowly? What a bastard.”
Zephyr cursed, took a sip of orange juice, using the sweetness to dilute the indignation and helplessness in his heart.
No choice but to be indignant; Elus seemed to give him time to think, but actually left him no room for choice: either join Elus’s camp alive, or sink into the sea with a whole corpse—not a joke.
As for verbally agreeing but actually contacting the World Government······ such double-agent behavior was something Zephyr couldn’t do.
Moreover, he wasn’t alone; his students, whom he treated like children, were here too—hostages Elus could deal with anytime.
And,
He hadn’t forgotten Elus’s repeated mentions of ‘miracles’; his incurable disease, as declared by famed doctors from the Holy Land, had been easily resolved in Elus’s hands······ this should be the so-called miracle?
