Chapter 142: Unknown Trump Card
“Is there really hope?”
“It’s not like we’re rising up right now, what are you afraid of? There are still a few years left! If you’re not reassured, you can certainly watch the changing winds during this time, and you’ll discover that the ship of the old era is slowly sinking, and the new era is about to arrive.”
“Kid, stop fooling around, say something substantial.”
Zephyr glared dissatisfiedly at Elus.
Without considering for too long, Zephyr chose to stand on Elus’s side, resisting the World Government’s tyranny together.
No mistake,
What he couldn’t tolerate was the World Government and the Celestial Dragons. As for the Navy······Zephyr held no hostility toward it. In fact, even choosing to resist the World Government was with a mindset of sacrificing his life for righteousness. After all, his students’ vengeance had been avenged, and he had few attachments left in his heart. The old man, facing Elus’s threatening invitation, ultimately accepted it.
However, the old man also raised quite a few conditions.
For example, if they were truly lucky enough to overthrow the World Government and the Celestial Dragons’ rule, a new World Government would surely emerge, but no matter how Elus schemed, the Navy must be maintained, and it absolutely could not disappear on the Sea.
As he said this, Zephyr felt he had truly lost his mind. Such pipe dream words would one day come out of his mouth.
As for this,
Elus could accept it.
Although he wasn’t too satisfied with the qualifying phrases in Zephyr’s words like “dumb luck,” “if,” and “if we really hit the jackpot,” he acknowledged that Zephyr’s emphasis on the Navy was necessary. Without the Navy suppressing the Sea, it was unimaginable what chaos the world would fall into.
Perhaps in the future he would openly go to war with the Navy, but the Navy······was combat power that could be recruited.
Or rather,
All the effort he put into inviting Zephyr was laying the groundwork for recruiting the colossal entity that was the Navy.
The matter on Black Thorn Flower Island had been settled, and the group was on their way back to the country.
With nothing to do, Zephyr and Elus sat in the guest area of the flagship’s bridge, drinking tea, playing chess, and chatting, all three at once.
“Fine, fine, I’ll be direct······Whitebeard is already very old!”
Elus pinched a chess piece, pondering where to place it, while distractedly chatting idly with Zephyr. “I have dealings with the Whitebeard Pirates. Recently, the medicinal herbs procured by the Whitebeard Pirates have increased in variety, though the quantity hasn’t changed much—it’s the types that have increased. That undying bird hasn’t shown his face for a long time; it’s said he’s stayed on the ship developing new medicines and caring for Whitebeard’s body······”
“Whitebeard’s physical condition can hold out for another three to five years without issue, but the longer it drags on and the older Whitebeard gets, the duller his claws and fangs become bit by bit. Sooner or later, those lurking tigers and leopards will jump out and cause chaos.”
Interestingly enough.
Since the Great Pirate Era began, disputes on the Sea have indeed more than doubled compared to before, and the number of pirates has surged tenfold, but the interesting part is that no matter how explosively the number of pirates grows or how exhausted the Navy is suppressing the Four Seas······
The Four Emperors have always stayed obediently in the New World.
Perhaps their subordinates’ influence has never stopped extending outward, but on the surface, after driving most of the Navy’s forces out of the New World, there have been no major conflicts between the Navy and the Four Emperors. Beasts going mad and attacking the Navy alone was his personal matter; he didn’t drag his pirate crew into firing on the Navy.
Even the G1 and G5 branches, the only Navy branches left in the New World, have been safely preserved without being casually wiped out.
It’s understandable that the G1 branch, backed by the Red Line, is hard to attack, but even the G5 branch being left intact can only mean the Four Emperors truly have no intention of charging out of the New World for a decisive showdown with the Navy and World Government. As for why?
It might sound unbelievable to many.
But the fact is, Whitebeard is the reason for the clear divide between the Navy and the Four Emperors, with mutual non-aggression.
Among the four Pirate Emperors, leaving aside Red-Haired, who has the smallest influence and is always secretive in his movements, Beasts and BIG·MOM are both wildly ambitious maniacs with vast aspirations—one wants to start “the world’s topmost war,” the other wants to build an ideal paradise where all races can live together······
Their ambitions are undoubtedly world-class.
Beasts occupied Wano Country, collecting Zoan Devil Fruits, striving to build an army entirely composed of ability users, and continuously trying to recruit Wano Country’s samurai under his command; BIG·MOM keeps bearing children, raising one monstrous-blooded child after another inheriting her traits, while also pulling in usable combat power through marriages.
Just looking at these actions is enough to see they are not content with domination in the New World; they want more.
The reason there have been no moves all these years is entirely due to fear of Whitebeard’s existence. Although Whitebeard is also a Pirate Emperor, and in a one-on-one, Kaido now even has confidence to defeat Whitebeard, Whitebeard possesses destructive power surpassing them.
As former members of the Rocks Pirates, they clearly know how terrifying the Tremor-Tremor Fruit is when developed to its peak by Whitebeard—that’s truly power enough to destroy the world. At his peak, he threatened the World Government to destroy the Red Line, forcing the Navy to slow its encirclement of the Whitebeard Pirates.
In other words, Whitebeard has the ability to ‘flip the table.’ No matter how skilled everyone is at the card table, facing Whitebeard who holds the trump card of flipping the table, no one dares truly anger this old man.
Otherwise, once the table is flipped, no one gets to play!
As for bypassing the Whitebeard Pirates to go to war with the World Government······Not reliable! Whitebeard is a pirate no matter what; if he stabs them in the back, no one could withstand it.
Fortunately, Whitebeard, who holds the table-flipping ability, has little ambition. His wish is just to stay with his family; otherwise, the World Government would absolutely destroy him at all costs. But after discovering Whitebeard has no great ambition, the World Government also gave up the idea of destroying him at any cost.
Even if the World Government had the ability to take down Whitebeard at his peak, the price would be one the World Government unwilling to bear. The Tremor-Tremor Fruit’s ability ensures Whitebeard’s destructive power is unmatched in the world; other top experts, no matter how strong, can at most destroy one or two islands.
While Whitebeard boasted of shattering the Red Line.
And no one dared disbelieve it.
So unless absolutely necessary, or without absolute certainty to restrict Whitebeard’s destructive power, neither the World Government nor the Navy would provoke Whitebeard. Small skirmishes below are inevitable, but higher-level conflicts absolutely won’t happen.
Nowadays, everyone is waiting for Whitebeard to die.
Only when Whitebeard truly dies will it be time for the New World to change heavens and earth.
After all, Whitebeard is very advanced in age. Though of the same generation, Whitebeard is five or six years older than Kaido and BIG·MOM. At this age, even a one- or two-year gap creates a cliff-like difference; five or six years······Whitebeard five or six years ago could absolutely press down and beat Whitebeard five or six years later.
Plus, BIG·MOM and Beasts each have their own health-preserving tricks; they are confident that after outlasting Whitebeard, they can still maintain their peak combat power. It wouldn’t be too late to implement their plans then.
“······Mister Zephyr, whether you admit it or not, Whitebeard is the safety valve between the Navy and the Four Emperors. As long as he lives another day, the current order won’t face major upheaval. But when Whitebeard falls and the safety valve fails, the accumulated pressure erupts······You can imagine what the world will become without me saying it, right?”
Elus finally placed the chess piece he had pinched for so long.
“Whitebeard······”
Zephyr moved his lips, but the words of rebuttal ultimately didn’t come out.
Because Elus was right. As a former Navy Admiral, with his insight, he could naturally see through the layers of surface to the deepest essence. Whitebeard’s power was indeed a restraining force on the World Government and the other Pirate Emperors, preventing either side from acting rashly and maintaining this delicate balance.
He gripped a chess piece; if not for still paying some attention to the chessboard, he might have crushed the magnet-polished piece in his hand to powder. “You’re not wrong, but······the World Government isn’t so easy to overthrow. Remember that well; don’t ever forget it.”
“Yeah······By the way, what kind of trump card does the World Government exactly hold? Making you so······fearful?” Elus couldn’t hold back his curiosity.
You see, the Navy has never lacked people bursting with a sense of justice. The Navy Admirals uphold justice that may differ in stance and interpretation, but without doubt, they firmly hold an unshakable justice in their hearts. Yet for eight hundred years, the Navy has obediently been controlled by the World Government, watching as the Celestial Dragons—those garbage rotten to the core—sit as the world’s royal family······
Bringing this up.
Zephyr instantly fell silent.
Seeing Zephyr not speaking, Elus didn’t press closely, patiently toying with the smooth chess piece in his hand.
After a good while, about six or seven minutes.
Zephyr placed the chess piece he had nearly crushed on the chessboard. He looked across, meeting Elus’s gaze squarely. “I knew you’d ask this sooner or later······But whether you believe it or not, as for the World Government’s trump card, or rather what those Celestial Dragons truly rely on, I don’t know.”
“Could it be······you know nothing?”
“A Navy Admiral is the Navy Headquarters’ highest combat power, but only for the Navy Headquarters. The World Government’s trump cards and secrets aren’t for Navy Admirals to know. However······it’s not that the Navy knows nothing. Six years ago, Fleet Admiral Kong was promoted to World Government Supreme Commander of All Forces, and Sengoku succeeded as Fleet Admiral.”
“At that time, Sengoku went to the Holy Land with Fleet Admiral Kong, staying there for three days before returning to Marineford. In just three days, Sengoku······Sengoku suddenly changed. When he was still an admiral, he discussed with me and Tsuru how to reform within the Navy, how to resist the World Government’s absurd orders······”
Zephyr spoke slowly, his gaze distant, his thoughts immersed in past memories.
“We thought of so many things back then, just waiting for Sengoku to become Fleet Admiral and work together to make this world as good as possible······In the end, after returning from the Holy Land, Sengoku never mentioned any of the initiatives we had discussed. I sought him out several times, questioning what exactly happened······”
At this point, Zephyr shook his head, his brows unknowingly furrowed tight.
“Sengoku didn’t tell me too much detail, just that those Celestial Dragon garbage couldn’t be touched. Compared to blind reform, maintaining the existing order is the way to sustain peace—even the current flawed, fragmented, scarred peace······”
“Later we argued many times. Sengoku got angry at me again one time, cursing that it wasn’t that he didn’t want to do it, but that he couldn’t······I truly don’t know what terrifying trump card the Celestial Dragons hold, but from Sengoku’s reaction, their trump card is absolutely very frightening.”
Elus listened quietly.
After Zephyr stopped speaking, another three or four minutes passed before he slowly spoke: “Very interesting! A secret trump card even Navy Admirals aren’t qualified to know······But that’s not bad! An unknown secret gives people a sense of anticipation, doesn’t it? I’m very much looking forward to what kind of surprise the Celestial Dragons will give me in the future.”
“······I hope your miracle can withstand the Celestial Dragons’ trump card.”
Zephyr had already witnessed the miracle twice.
And unlike the last time when it cured his malignancy, this time the miracle descended on Farrug. Farrug, who had only been a Rear Admiral in the Navy, broke through to Vice Admiral level in that instant—and even among Navy Vice Admirals, he was in the upper tier.
In a short instant,
From pheasant to phoenix.
Don’t think Vice Admiral and Rear Admiral are just one step apart—the gap of that step has blocked countless people. The ratio of Navy Headquarters Vice Admirals to Rear Admirals is about one to twenty. Many old Rear Admirals toil their whole lives, earning countless merits, but if their strength doesn’t reach that level, they can only sigh in vain, only getting an honorary promotion to Vice Admiral upon retirement.
It was precisely seeing this miraculous scene, and thinking of Elus’s subordinates who were young yet unreasonably strong, that gave Zephyr some confidence. Standing against the World Government with Elus wasn’t purely suicidal.
Miracle,
Perhaps it would happen?
