Setting Sail for Ohara

Seeing the grim expressions on Gion and Zephyr's faces, Ross said nothing more and simply turned to walk toward the ship's cabin.

He had already said everything that needed to be said.

To win the loyalty of one's subordinates, relying solely on benefits and emotions was not enough.

The most important thing was to align the goals of those under you, to make them feel that you were all striving for the same objective.

As the saying went, faith was the ultimate essence of loyalty.

If he had the ability to spread faith, Ross would have considered establishing a religious rule. Unfortunately, he lacked that capability, so it remained just a thought.

Since faith wasn't an option, the next best thing was a shared goal.

For now, Zephyr and Gion had no real aspirations—they simply adhered to a mindset of order.

What Ross needed to do was equate their vision of the future with the order he wanted to create.

In simpler terms, he had to keep painting a rosy picture and continuously indoctrinate Zephyr and Gion.

Though Ross had never practiced this before, he had seen and heard plenty. No matter how flawed another world might be, its society was still more advanced than the slave system of the Pirate World.

After gradual, subtle guidance, even if the Revolutionary Army's ideology spread, Gion and Zephyr would never waver. They would only stand firmly by his side.

A day passed quickly.

During that time, Borsalino and Akainu came to Ross's warship to meet him, just to put a face to the name.

Borsalino's rating was S-, while Akainu's was only B.

So far, the only one he hadn't met was Kuzan.

These past few days, Kuzan had stayed on his own ship, perfectly pretending Ross didn't exist.

Unless Ross summoned him, he wouldn't take the initiative to visit.

From Kuzan's behavior, Ross could see the current mindset of the Navy's dove faction.

Don't provoke, don't approach.

The doves believed they were upholding justice, not working for the World Government.

Naively pure thoughts—they were all good people.

But no matter what world it was, good people were always the ones who suffered the most.

The sea breeze blew gently as Ross stood at the bow of the warship, gazing into the distance.

In the distance, an island was gradually growing larger, and the towering tree on it slowly became faintly visible.

Behind him, Gion and Zephyr stood straight, dressed in the white CP0 uniforms.

"Ohara, the holy land of historians. The Tree of Knowledge, which has survived for 5,000 years, is truly magnificent."

Ross looked up at the sky-scraping tree that nearly covered the entire island, a hint of awe in his eyes.

Ohara wasn't small—it could comfortably hold a hundred thousand people if packed tightly.

But the Tree of Knowledge alone took up nearly half of Ohara's area.

Especially its incredibly lush canopy, like a canopy that blotted out the sky, casting most of the island in its shade.

"Too bad it's going to become history today."

Sakazuki walked to the bow, his tone laced with cold indifference.

He didn't care about a 5,000-year-old relic. As long as he believed something was right, he would see it through to the end.

"What's the plan according to the schedule? I recall we're supposed to evacuate the civilians?"

Ross looked at Sakazuki. With his backing, Sakazuki was the true commander of this Buster Call.

"Hmph, Headquarters wants the civilians evacuated, only the historians killed, and once everyone's gone, the Tree of Knowledge destroyed."

Sakazuki crossed his arms, his face showing dissatisfaction with Headquarters' orders.

In his view, those people at Headquarters were too merciful.

If they dared to research forbidden knowledge, they should be prepared to die.

The fact that civilians lived near the Tree of Knowledge meant they were likely connected to the historians, probably helped them, and some of them might even be hidden historians themselves.

Justice that isn't absolute is absolute injustice.

"Since that's Headquarters' idea, let's do it that way. I'll go ashore with you."

"But to be honest, I'd still prefer to see Vice Admiral Sakazuki become Fleet Admiral. If you were Fleet Admiral, these historians wouldn't dare to do their reckless research. Maybe this Buster Call wouldn't even have happened."

Ross's seemingly casual remark made Sakazuki's eyes flicker.

Becoming Fleet Admiral—wasn't that something he wanted too?

But in the Navy, promotion required more than just strength.

"Alright, let's head ashore. Vice Admiral Sakazuki, keep me updated if anything comes up. CP9 reported some interesting people on the island, so I won't be joining you."

Ross waved at Sakazuki. His main reason for coming to Ohara was to satisfy his collector's itch. As for Ohara and its historians, they weren't his concern.

"Understood!"

Sakazuki bowed to Ross with unusual deference—on the surface, a proper farewell to a superior, but in truth, it signaled a shift in his attitude toward Ross.

The corner of Ross's mouth lifted slightly. He stepped forward two paces, and Zany instinctively lowered herself, letting Ross plant his foot on her back.

Ohara had ports, but since a Buster Call was about to be executed, the warships wouldn't dock. Instead, they'd remain in the shallows, ready to blanket the island with cannon fire at any moment.

To reach the island, they first had to cross about a kilometer of open sea.

He'd only just started learning Geppo, and no relevant skill words had dropped recently, so he couldn't easily cover that kilometer yet.

Swimming there would be far too damaging to his image.

But then again, he was a Celestial Dragon.

Once Ross was steady, Zany's back sprouted a pair of Devil Wings, and a heart-tipped Succubus Tail extended from her lower back.

The slender tail quickly coiled around Ross's waist, securing his body for stability in the air.

With that done, Zany flapped her demonic wings and lifted off, carrying Ross into the sky.

Seeing this, Gion and Zephyr activated Geppo on either side, flanking Zany as they followed.

Even the entirety of Ohara wasn't worth more than Ross's life. If anything happened to him here, every Marine involved in the Buster Call would be implicated.

Standing on Zany's back, Ross soon reached the shallows of Ohara.

"Your Highness, allow me to serve as your mount for the rest of the journey," Zany said respectfully.

"No need for that. I'm not slow, and the situation over there isn't urgent."

Ross shook his head and stepped off Zany's back.

Though riding on Zany was quite comfortable, he wasn't about to treat her like a beast of burden.

After spending these days together, Ross had come to understand Zany's personality fairly well.

Given an order, she would do her utmost to execute it perfectly.

At the same time, her greatest wish was to receive fewer orders each day.

Ross couldn't stop giving her orders entirely—that would go against his original intent.

But granting her some leeway now and then was no problem.

"Yes!"

Zany silently retreated behind Ross, her Observation Haki spreading outward, ever vigilant of their surroundings.

Her mission was to protect Ross, and even though she wished for an easier life, she would still complete every task flawlessly.

"Gion, where are they?"

At Ross's question, Gion immediately reported:

"According to Spandine's intel, Nicole Olvia is at the Tree of Knowledge, while Nico Robin is at Sauron's hiding spot."

"Let's check Sauron's hiding spot first."

"Saint Ross, given Sauron's strength, he might pose a threat to you..." Gion frowned slightly.

"With me here, what can a mere Sauron do?"

Zephyr snorted, dismissing Sauron entirely.

So what if he was a Giant Vice Admiral? He wasn't even on the same level of strength.

Every time he thought of the former Marine families in Ross's palace, Zephyr itched to beat Sauron to a pulp.

If he disagreed with the Buster Call, fine. If he wanted to betray the Marines, so be it. But why drag a bunch of colleagues down with him?

After dragging them all down, if he'd at least done something meaningful, that would be one thing. But he hadn't accomplished anything—just ran off to Ohara to die. He might as well have turned coat during the Buster Call.

After all that, what did the Marines who helped Sauron become?

It's not fear of ambition that gets you—it's fear of stupidity. Zephyr truly understood the weight of that saying now.

Today, he would personally clean house for the Marines.