"Ha ha! That wraps up the usual recruitment attempt. Now let's talk business!" Sabo said with a cheeky grin, as if he had known Ronglin would refuse. His completely unfazed expression after being rejected made Burgess, standing nearby, wonder whether that conversation had even happened.
"My forces have suffered another devastating blow, and this time it was the work of a Four Emperor." Ronglin spoke leisurely. "A war between me and the Four Emperors is inevitable. Whether the outside world thinks highly of me or not, I'll make those who dare touch my reverse scale understand that they will pay the price. Don't even think about trying to persuade me to stop. That's impossible!"
"A war between two major powers will affect countless innocent civilians." A rare trace of compassion appeared in Sabo's eyes. "When Ace fought Blackbeard last time, the war stretched across a thousand miles. Countless corpses floated at sea, man-eating sea beasts ran rampant, and who knew how many innocent people were caught in the flames of war? Dozens of small islands became islands of death, and the casualty figures remain horrifying even now!"
When Ronglin went to the Frozen Continent, he had avoided the war between Fire Fist Ace and Blackbeard. After returning, he heard how far the war had spread. Even the Navy's surveillance forces had defied orders and mobilized, forcibly ending the conflict between the two major powers.
It was said that both sides had suffered grievous casualties, and the Navy had been heavily hit as well. But the ones who died in even greater numbers were the innocent civilians.
In war, they did not even have the ability to protect themselves. After the first clash between the two sides, tens of thousands of innocent civilians had already perished in the flames, turning to