What Gave Him the Right?

"What did this have to do with order? Rata Town should have been the product of an incomplete order."

Gion voiced her question. After getting familiar with Ross over the past few days, she had learned that he did not need a yes-man. She could raise questions whenever she had them.

"That was indeed true. Rata Town was a place of darkness formed by an incomplete order, but such places of darkness could only exist in areas without order. That was the significance of order."

"What we could see now was already the result of restraint. If everything were left completely free, the far more brutal chaos of the New World would be the most likely outcome."

Zephyr nodded and patiently explained.

Among his students, Gion was undoubtedly one of the outstanding ones.

Before, he had taught them how to improve their strength. Now that they were all serving under Ross, it was time to teach them some conceptual matters as well.

"It was because the order was incomplete that Rata Town came into being. But it was also because order still existed that the entire world had not become Rata Town."

Gion nodded lightly. She could still understand what Zephyr meant.

The consequence of freedom was turning the entire world into Rata Town. There was no need for any excuse; it was simply the strong preying on the weak.

So no matter how flawed order was, it was still better than pure freedom.

"But why not make the order complete..."

The moment the words left Gion's mouth, she realized she had asked a very foolish question.

This was already the Great Pirate Era. Pirates ran rampant everywhere, and no matter how complete the order was, people still had to abide by it.

Even if slave trading were banned, pirates and traffickers would still exist as long as there was demand.

"I was thinking too shallowly. To enforce a more complete order, we still had to deal with pirates and traffickers first." Gion shook her head.

"Why did you think the current order was incomplete?"

Ross suddenly asked, looking at Gion with a faintly amused smile.

Gion was still as naïve as ever.

"Huh? Shouldn't slave trading at sea be eradicated? At the very least, civilians of the Allied Nations shouldn't be affected, right?" Gion asked in confusion.

She knew her thinking was wrong, but she did not know where the problem lay.

Zephyr's eyes flickered beside them, but he chose not to interrupt.

Some things were fine to think about privately. Given his status, even a casual remark would bring only harm and no benefit.

"Gion, first you need to understand the meaning of order."

Ross shook his head. "When we speak of order, we generally mean the world order of the nations and citizens under the World Government—the foundation of the World Government's stability."

"That's right." Gion nodded.

"Since we were talking about the World Government, then we had to address two questions. First, how could the World Government maintain stability? Second, what kind of order did the World Government need?"

"Aren't those the same thing?" Gion was confused.

"They were different. The former was the price the World Government had to pay to maintain stability, while the latter was the power it could obtain once it was stable." Ross chuckled.

"The price and the power..."

Zephyr fell into thought. He understood what Ross was trying to say.

The World Government wanted the Allied Nations to remain stable, so slave trading within the Allied Nations was illegal. But both the World Government and the nobles of the Allied Nations needed slaves to exist, so the loophole of slave trading in the Non-aligned Nations was bound to exist.

In other words, as long as those in power needed slaves, slaves would continue to exist in this world.

Whether pirates and traffickers existed or not did not affect that in the slightest.

Even if the ruler were replaced, at most the name would change. Slaves would become retainers, or simply employees, while still doing the work of slaves.

Gion seemed to understand, though not entirely. But she could roughly grasp that the current order was actually complete—a stable state achieved under the World Government's eight hundred years of rule.

"What would happen if Dragon did not fight for freedom, but instead sought to establish a new order?" Zephyr suddenly asked.

At that moment, he expanded his Observation Haki to its limit, ensuring that no one nearby could hear them.

That question was not only about Dragon. It was also a question for himself, and for Ross.

He was certain that all the thoughts in his mind right now were absolutely within Ross's expectations.

Ross's intention was probably to make him think for himself.

Unfortunately, he would have to disappoint Ross's expectations.

Already lost in confusion, he now only wanted an answer.

"Establish a new order?"

Ross laughed. Unlike Zephyr, he had not thought so deeply about it. Whether he explained it or Zephyr figured it out himself, as long as the matter was laid bare, it would benefit him.

"Zephyr, if someone told you that Dragon wanted to become an Admiral by defeating you, what would your first reaction be?"

"What gave him the right?"

Zephyr blurted it out. Dragon did have talent and strength, but at this stage, he was not Zephyr's opponent.

"Exactly. What gave him the right?" Ross asked with a smile.

"Yes... what gave him the right..."

Zephyr fell silent.

With Dragon's strength, even if he reached his peak, it would be difficult for him to surpass Zephyr, much less defeat the Marines and the World Government.

The foundation of establishing a new order was overthrowing the old one.

Even if the Marines stood aside because of the new order Dragon preached, the World Government's own strength alone would be enough to crush the entire world.

He had spent some time in Mary Geoise. Because of Ross, combined with Saturn's tacit approval, he had come into contact with quite a few secrets of the World Government.

Mary Geoise alone had more than a hundred Vice Admiral-level powerhouses. That force was already enough to sweep across the entire world.

As for those stronger than Vice Admirals, the World Government did not have many of them either. But Zephyr believed that even if they were matched one by one against the powerhouses at sea, there would still be some left over.

That was the World Government's foundation, and why the Great Pirates could only eke out an existence in the New World.

But upon thinking of the World Government's strength, Zephyr naturally thought of something else.

"Saint Ross, was the reason the Great Pirates could exist in the New World also part of the order?"

"The New World was only the latter half of the Grand Line. Its total area was not even half that of the Red Line. Combined with its terrible weather and environment, its overall value was very low. It was also where the most Non-aligned Nations were located, correct?" Ross said calmly.

He had actually looked into this. He had been very curious about it before.

With the World Government's strength, it was enough to sweep across the entire world. So why did it tolerate the existence of the Great Pirates?

But after looking into it a little, Ross understood.

"That's right. The New World was very barren." Zephyr nodded.

"Since the New World was such barren land, wouldn't it be only natural to drive powerful people who wanted to carve out their own territories there and let the world see what they were capable of?" Ross said with a smile.

The World Government also knew that its rule was terrible. The privileges of the Celestial Dragons alone ensured it could not be much better.

But the New World ruled by the Great Pirates was even worse.

Compared to the World Government, those powerful figures in the New World—Great Pirates in name, warlords in reality—were even less capable of governing. The territories under their control often suffered far more than the Allied Nations.

With that comparison, the World Government ended up looking rather decent.

Compared with the price of killing Admiral-level powerhouses, keeping them penned within the New World was a far more cost-effective choice.

Unless they encountered a fool like Rocks, the World Government simply could not be bothered with what happened in the New World.