On What Grounds Does He...?

"What does that have to do with order? Rata Town is more like a product of insufficient order, isn't it?"

Gion raised her own question. After getting familiar with Ross over the past few days, she knew he didn't need a yes-man—she could ask anytime she had doubts.

"That's not wrong to say. Rata Town is a dark zone born from imperfect order, but such a dark zone can only survive in lawless areas. That's the meaning of order."

"What you see now is already the result of restraint. If everything were left to run wild, the even worse chaos of the New World would be the most likely outcome."

Zephyr nodded and explained patiently.

Among his students, Gion was definitely one of the standout ones.

Before, he'd taught them how to improve their Strength. Now that they were serving under Ross, it was time to teach them some ideological concepts.

"Because order is incomplete, Rata Town came to be. But precisely because order still exists, the whole world hasn't turned into Rata Town."

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

The consequence of freedom was turning the entire world into Rata Town, no excuse needed—pure survival of the fittest.

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

"But why not perfect the order..."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Gion realized she'd asked a very stupid question.

This was the Great Pirate Era now, with pirates running rampant everywhere. Even if order were perfected, people would have to follow it first.

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

"I was thinking too shallowly. To enforce a more complete order, we'd have to solve the pirate and trafficker problem first." Gion shook her head.

"Why do you think the current order is imperfect?"

Ross suddenly asked, looking at Gion with a faint smile.

Gion, still so naive.

"Huh? Shouldn't things like slave trading be eradicated? At least the Commoners of the Allied Nations shouldn't be affected." Gion looked confused.

She knew her thinking was off, but she couldn't pinpoint where.

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

Some things were fine to think about in one's head, but given his position, even a single word would bring nothing but harm.

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

Ross shook his head. "The order we're talking about mostly refers to the world order of the nations and peoples under the World Government—the foundation of the World Government's stability."

"That's right." Gion nodded.

"Then since we're talking about the World Government, we have to address two issues. First, how does the World Government maintain stability? Second, what kind of order does the World Government need?"

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

"No. The former is the price the World Government pays to maintain stability, while the latter is the power it gains after stabilizing." Ross chuckled.

"Price and power..."

Zephyr pondered, understanding what Ross was getting at.

For the World Government to keep the Allied Nations stable, slave trading among them was illegal. But both the World Government and the nobles of the Allied Nations needed slaves, so a loophole—slave trading in non-Allied Nations—was inevitable.

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

Whether pirates and traffickers existed or not didn't change that at all.

Even if the rulers changed, at most they'd just rename things—calling slaves retainers or employees, while they still did the work of slaves.

Gion was half-understanding, but she could roughly grasp that the current order was actually complete—a steady state achieved under the World Government's 800-year rule.

"If Dragon weren't fighting for freedom but instead creating a new order, what would happen?" Zephyr suddenly asked.

His Observation Haki was stretched to its limit, ensuring no one nearby could hear this.

This question wasn't just about Dragon—it was also about himself, and about Ross.

He was sure that all his current thoughts were within Ross's expectations.

Ross's intent was probably for him to think it through himself.

Too bad he'd have to disappoint Ross's hopes.

Already lost in his own mind, he just wanted an answer now.

"Establishing a new order?"

Ross laughed softly. He wasn't overthinking like Zephyr. Whether he answered or Zephyr figured it out himself, as long as the words were spoken, it would benefit him.

"Zephyr, if someone told you that Dragon wanted to defeat you to become a Marine Admiral, what would your first reaction be?"

"What right does he have?"

Zephyr blurted it out. Dragon had talent and Strength, sure, but at this stage, he was no match for him.

"Exactly. What right does he have?" Ross asked with a smile.

"Yeah, what right..."

Zephyr fell silent.

Even with Dragon's strength, at his peak it would be a struggle to get past him, let alone crush the Marines and the World Government.

The foundation for establishing a new order was to overthrow the old one.

Even if the Marines stood by because of the new order Dragon preached, the World Government's own power alone was enough to crush the entire world.

He had spent some time in Mary Geoise now, and thanks to Saint Ross and Saturn's tacit approval, he had come into contact with many of the World Government's secrets.

Just the Vice Admiral-level fighters in Mary Geoise numbered over a hundred—enough force to sweep the entire world.

As for those above Vice Admiral in strength, the World Government didn't have many, but Zephyr believed that even matching them one-on-one against the strong on the seas, they would still have numbers to spare.

This was the World Government's foundation, and also the reason the great pirates could only eke out an existence in the New World.

But thinking of the World Government's strength, Zephyr naturally turned to another matter:

"Saint Ross, is the existence of the great pirates in the New World also part of the order?"

"The New World is just the second half of the Grand Line, with a total area smaller than half the Red Line. Add in the harsh weather, and its overall value is very low. It's also where most of the Non-aligned Nations are, isn't that right?" Ross said calmly.

He had actually done his homework on this; he'd been curious about it before.

Given the World Government's strength, it could sweep the entire world. So why tolerate the existence of the great pirates?

But after looking into it a bit, Ross understood.

"That's right, the New World is barren." Zephyr nodded.

"Since the New World is such barren land, isn't it only natural to drive the strong who want to carve out their own territories there, and let the world see what they're capable of?" Ross said with a faint smile.

The World Government knew its own rule was rotten. Just the Celestial Dragons' privileges alone made it impossible for the World Government to be any good.

But the thing was, the New World under the great pirates was even worse.

Compared to the World Government, the strong in the New World—called great pirates but actually Warlords—had even less ability to govern. The territories under them often fared far worse than the member nations.

With that contrast, the World Government actually came off looking decent.

Compared to the cost of killing Admiral-level fighters, penning them up in the New World was a more cost-effective choice.

Unless they ran into a hothead like Rocks, the World Government simply couldn't be bothered with what happened in the New World.

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