Chapter 217: The Grandfather And Grandson
“The show has begun!”
Elus peeled an orange, slowly tearing off the white orange fibers on it, while staring intently at the wall in front of him, maintaining the power of Clairvoyance, his gaze piercing through the wall and vast distances, watching the combat taking place in that discarded village.
“Clairvoyance… X-ray Vision… Mind Reading… This fruit power is simply pervert!”
He once again praised the power of the Gaze-Gaze Fruit in his mind.
This Devil Fruit gave Elus a feeling superior to all previous Devil Fruits; whether the Add-Add Fruit or the Door-Door Fruit… they all paled in comparison before the Gaze-Gaze Fruit. Humans are visual animals; even with five senses, vision is actually the most sensitive.
The help brought by a good pair of eyes exceeded Elus’s imagination.
Without needing to be on the front lines or using equipment or tools, just sitting here peeling an orange, he could see every blade of grass and tree on the front lines.
“Your Highness, it’s a call from Lord Sokachio.”
Clarice held the Den Den Mushi and came to Elus’s side.
“Grandfather?”
Elus raised an eyebrow.
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, and he concluded it was most likely the Five Elders making some small moves.
“Hello, this is Elus.”
“Brat, I know who you are, cut the nonsense! Tell me, what mess have you gotten into this time?” On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Sokachio was fuming with anger.
“What’s wrong? Grandfather, has something happened on your end?”
Elus handed the orange still with some orange fibers remaining to Clarice, and the perceptive maid immediately continued stripping the remaining orange fibers off it.
“Has something happened? I’ve been dismissed!”
“Dismissed? Oh! That… Gun Barrel Manufacturing Bureau?”
Elus racked his brain before remembering that his own grandfather was also an official of the World Government! Of course, not some high official, just a minor director of the Gun Barrel Manufacturing Bureau, nothing more than an insignificant cog in the vast machine of the World Government, the kind that could be replaced by a hundred backups immediately if broken.
“Just moments ago, someone from the General Bureau of Firearms Manufacturing came and removed me from my director position… saying something about making me reflect behind closed doors. A bunch of fledgling little roosters daring to crow in front of me—I nearly couldn’t hold back and snapped their necks, which weren’t much thicker than a chick’s!”
The old man sounded truly furious.
It seemed the messenger from that General Bureau of Firearms Manufacturing had come specifically to pick a fight; unable to deal with him directly, they targeted his family instead?
“The Five Elders wanted me to step up and confront Whitebeard, I rejected, and it looks like those old guys have bad tempers and are lashing out indiscriminately.”
“Whitebeard? Good rejection!!”
Sokachio instantly praised Elus.
Even though his eldest grandson already had the record of dealing with Golden Lion, Whitebeard was still the strongest legend in the eyes of these old folks; unless absolutely necessary, they absolutely could not clash with Whitebeard. Moreover, the Eckmond Kingdom had been protected under Whitebeard’s flag for a time; even if they couldn’t offer aid in hard times, they absolutely could not be ungrateful.
“Say… Grandfather, now that you’ve been dismissed, why not take the chance to return to the country!”
“Return to the country?”
Sokachio pondered for a few seconds, then lowered his voice: “El, you brat… don’t tell me? Wait, let me put on the White Den Den Mushi first.”
After waiting about half a minute,
“Alright, you can speak now. El, are you really preparing to do something major?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I… can no longer tolerate those Celestial Dragon fools sitting on the world’s throne shitting and pissing. The emperor’s throne rotates, this year it’s my family’s turn… The Celestial Dragons have sat on that throne for eight hundred years; now it’s time for someone else to try the taste of that chair!”
Elus said unabashedly.
Sokachio scratched his scalp; this matter… Elus wasn’t saying it for the first time. He had previously hinted it to Berville, and then Berville mentioned it to Sokachio, but he didn’t think he’d live to see that day…
“Are you really prepared?”
“Preparation is never fully enough, but… I won’t casually joke with my family’s safety. Grandfather, no matter what, the Holy Land is no longer a safe place. Find a way to return to the country! Our own territory is the safest.”
“…El, you make it sound easy. How can a whole big family return to the country so easily?”
Sokachio was very troubled.
Due to the Eckmond Kingdom’s national policy, the kingdom has only one heir; the rest of the descendants are sent to work within the World Government for positions. It could be said the Sokachio Family is divided into two branches: one is the legitimate heirs of the Eckmond Kingdom passed down from Sokachio-Berville-Elus.
The other branch is the Sokachio Family entrenched within the World Government, composed of descendants of Sokachio, Berville, and other ancestors. Without changes, Elus’s younger brother and younger sister would also become members in the future…
But that future probably wouldn’t happen now.
“Those who want to return for a vacation can go back; those used to staying in the World Government can stay…”
Elus opened his mouth to eat the orange segment fed to him by Clarice.
As the saying goes, a big tree must have dead branches, and among many people there must be idiots. The Sokachio Family members entrenched in the World Government number nearly a hundred; with so many, they surely each have their own thoughts, including elders with seniority higher than Sokachio. Without revealing Elus’s true intentions, it would be hard to get these people to return to the country.
After all, as World Government bureaucrats, they might not have the tyrannical good days of the Celestial Dragons, but with a bit of small power in hand, plus the annual funds subsidies from the Eckmond Kingdom to these clansmen, their lives are quite comfortable.
“El! Don’t say that. No matter what, they are our clansmen, and they haven’t done anything to wrong you. Just pushing them into the abyss like this… I absolutely won’t allow it.”
“…Alright, Grandfather, I misspoke.”
Elus admitted his mistake.
Indeed!
If he really raised the flag of rebellion against the World Government, the clansmen remaining on the Red Line would absolutely be in big trouble, and these clansmen hadn’t provoked him either… Pitting them like this, and they being clansmen, it really wasn’t good!
After carefully reflecting, Elus had to admit he had been somewhat distracted by Clarice earlier.
But this was unavoidable!
Who wouldn’t like a cute little maid?
“How about this! Grandfather, first find a way to trick people into going back, whether for vacation or visiting graves… anyway, trick away as many as you can. For the rest… I’ll find a way to get them out.” Elus wasn’t too troubled.
The Door-Door Fruit’s power was enough to help him do things he couldn’t before.
Moreover,
Zephyr should also have ways to smuggle some people down from the Red Line, right?
“That’s more like it!”
The old man was pleased.
“Anything else? If not, I’m hanging up! I still have things to do here!” Elus hung up the microphone neatly without waiting for Sokachio’s reply.
