Hearing Crocodile's description of mild Diplomacy, Gawain narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded.
"You're right, Crocodile. In some ways, the East Blue has unique advantages that the other Four Blues don't possess!"
Gawain raised his right hand, and lightning continuously gathered in his hand, eventually evolving into the general shape of the planet we see today.
In other words, the New World and the Grand Line split this planet in two, and then ocean currents cut it into Four Blues.
At the same time, Gawain's Armament Haki quietly crept onto the Raiden planet, turning the Alabasta Route on the Grand Line into a deep black.
Gawain then continued speaking at the opportune moment.
"What we are going to do is something new that has never appeared on the sea before."
Although both you and I firmly believe that it is right.
But for ordinary people around the world, this new lifestyle, which they have never experienced before, may not be something they look forward to.
Many people in the world hold a pessimistic attitude towards the unknown.
In particular, no matter what kind of predicament we are in, a comfort zone will always emerge around us...
Even if we were thrown into concentration camps, when we endured unbearable torture, when we faced a life of starvation...
Perhaps even at night, the slivers of moonlight streaming through the tiny window of a prison cell can bring us fleeting sweetness, becoming a comfort zone in our hellish existence.
In such a situation, if we were about to be transferred to a luxurious solitary confinement camp, no matter how beautifully others described our destination, we would tremble uncontrollably on the way there.
At that time, we will both fear the unknown future and painfully yearn for that sliver of moonlight in hell.
That's human nature; we always find our own comfort zone in different environments!
"Hiss...!"
"Whoa!"
"Hmm..."
Gawain's words sent a shiver down Crocodile's spine.
After a brief moment of distraction, the Kuma and Robin behind him quickly took out paper and pen to write it down!
While Kuma two were rapidly taking notes, Gawain continued speaking softly to Crocodile, his eyes crinkling like the moon.
"Now, we are bringing an unknown way of life to the world."
No matter what kind of life we claim to create for people, we are actually forcibly disrupting their existing rhythm of life and forcing them out of their current comfort zone!
If we are to face resistance and opposition from the whole world in the future, we must not complain or even hate those who regard us as enemies.
We can pity their ignorance, but we cannot laugh at their shortsightedness, because our vision and theirs have never been on the same level from the beginning.
We should not harbor ill will towards others just because they do not understand us.
What we need to do is find ways to make them understand!
Gawain Teuchi his fingers crisply, with a sound like thunder.
"Remember, when people don't accept our vision of the future, it's the fault of those in positions of power like you and me. The fault lies in our failure to make them understand in a better way!"
And if people don't accept the changes we've made for them, then it's still the fault of those in positions of power like you and me, and that fault is even more serious than the last one.
Because if we have changed their lives, and they still don't accept us, then it's not that they don't understand us, but that we don't understand them.
At this point, Gawain gently patted Crocodile on the shoulder.
"We cannot be ignorant of people; at least at certain times, we must try to think from their perspective."
For example, we've been planting our flags on those islands along the shipping lanes.
Looking at the Dark Bird Flag flying high, if we were islanders who hadn't yet arrived, we might not be so eager for the Dark Bird's arrival.
Those of us who have walked this path, and those influenced by us, are truly experiencing and about to embrace the changes we bring.
Only those who have experienced it firsthand understand that our actions were not simply oppression and aggression.
So, what should we do to get more countries to accept our presence?
The solution to this problem is definitely not to expand blindly and send more unknowns to others.
What we need to do is, before they even realize the unknowns we bring, Teuchi a future that is already decided, a future that is no longer unknown!
To put it simply, if we go to the North Blue or the West Blue, we are essentially throwing the unknown to countries like the Flower Country, which possess extremely powerful military forces.
But when we move towards the East Blue, we can leverage the weakness of this sea area to prevent other countries from being overly resistant to our efforts to create a new order in the East Blue, and thus forge a future that has truly been changed by us!
At that time, the East Blue, as the most eye-catching star sea, will see the future we create spread to Four Blues and into the view of other countries along the Grand Line and in the New World at the fastest speed.
There's only one outcome: success or failure.
The process can vary greatly, but it is precisely the process that determines success or failure.
So, Crocodile, do you understand my purpose now?
After speaking, Gawain looked at Crocodile gently.
Crocodile, with his mouth slightly open, kept nodding his head up and down.
"I understand, sir!"
Crocodile's tone became much warmer, with a hint of anxiety and excitement mixed in.
After hearing Gawain's assessment of the future and the actions he took based on it, Crocodile felt that Gawain's chances of success were increasing infinitely!
From this day forward, Gawain's success will be the success of Sand Crocodile!
And so, Crocodile's torn face revealed an even more excited smile!
Crocodile gave a knowing, cold smile...
Gawain couldn't help but purse his lips.
Here we go again, isn't that right?
After Shiryu, another guy kept giving him that menacing, cold smirk!!!
Why...
As an excellent captain, what could Gawain do but accept his crew?
Why? Because his crew members were all so outstanding that he couldn't bear to let them go.
Even Crocodile!
Looking at Crocodile, Gawain took a deep breath, countless data points swirling in his mind.
Although in the original storyline, Crocodile was mercilessly defeated by Luffy, who had a Luffy of 30 million...
That's right, when Luffy defeated Crocodile, his bounty was only 30 million!
What's even more outrageous is that Luffy, who defeated Crocodile, only has a bounty of 100 million!
Because of this, Crocodile was almost a disgrace to the Shichibukai!
Everyone thought Crocodile was far too weak; he was so weak that he tarnished the title of Shichibukai!
Because of Crocodile's bounty, Whitebeard's strength has been underestimated by countless people.
After all, in the original One Piece storyline, even someone as weak as Crocodile was able to exchange blows with Whitebeard a few times during the Pirate King Summit War!
Luffy defeated Crocodile, and Crocodile and Whitebeard are now evenly matched.
Based on this comparison, Whitebeard probably wasn't much stronger than Luffy at that time, right?
But as it turns out, many people were wrong.
Because it takes place two years after the Summit War, which is four and a half years after Gawain's current timeline.
When the World Government abolished the Shichibukai system and reinstated the Shichibukai as wanted criminals...
Crocodile's bounty skyrocketed to 1.99 billion!
With a bounty approaching two billion, this amount almost surpasses that of every vice-president of the Four Emperors' crews!
While this bounty doesn't prove Crocodile is stronger than Marco and Katakuri, from another perspective, Crocodile is at least on par with Marco and Katakuri!
At the same time, within the Shichibukai system, Crocodile's strength barely ranks in the top three.
As the second-in-command of the Revolutionary Army, if the Revolutionary Army were a pirate crew, Kuma's status would be equivalent to that of Kuma's right-hand man.
He's at least no worse than Sand Crocodile.
Furthermore, Doflamingo, this guy has always been a sworn enemy of Crocodile.
Whether at the top or later, whenever the two of them are in the same frame, he and Crocodile are always at loggerheads.
Therefore, if Doflamingo weren't Shichibukai, his bounty wouldn't be much lower than Crocodile's!
Next, let's talk about Mihawk, the world's number one swordsman. After losing his status as Shichibukai, his bounty reached a staggering 3.59 billion!
It's very close to 3.6 billion!
This bounty is almost 1.4 billion higher than Blackbeard's...
It's easy to imagine that Hawkeye, the Shichibukai and the legendary strongest swordsman, Mihawk strength that is at least monstrous, at the Emperor level!
Considering that Mihawk doesn't even have a power base or team, his personal bounty of 3.6 billion is even more valuable than the bounties of the Four Emperors!
So we see, Crocodile's bounty of 1.99 billion might not even rank him in the top three among the mere seven members of the first batch of Shichibukai...
There were only seven people in total, and even pirates with bounties of around two billion might not rank in the top three.
It's easy to imagine just how powerful the Shichibukai truly are!
Besides the four people mentioned above...
Although Gecko Moria may seem to have fallen from grace, his background is no different from that of Sand Crocodile!
Sand Crocodile challenged Whitebeard back then, but after his defeat, he went into seclusion and was eventually recruited by the World Government.
Moria challenged Kaido, but after failing, he went into seclusion and was later recruited by the World Government.
Even if Moria has fallen to a terrible state, he shouldn't be so easily defeated by Crocodile, right?
Crocodile has a bounty of 1.9 billion; will Moria have a bounty of 1.4 to 1.5 billion?
Then comes Empress Hancock!
It's important to know that Empress Hancock is the same age as Gawain; she is a completely young person.
In addition, the Empress possesses the unique Conqueror's Haki, which further enhances her combat prowess!
Even if Hancock younger and might not be a match for Crocodile, it's really hard to say who's stronger between Hancock and Moria; we'll have to fight them to find out!
Judging from this, the Empress's bounty should be in the range of several billion.
As for the last one, Jinbe...
This animal, easily startled and with an extremely long reaction time, possesses all its skills in the water.
On land, he might not be a match for any of the other former Shichibukai.
But in the sea, let's be honest.
Jinbe can take on six opponents at once.
Because of the other six Shichibukai, five of them would be rendered useless if they entered the sea...
In short, this is the value of the older generation of Shichibukai. The first batch of Shichibukai chosen by the Five Elders on the high seas were all highly elite members!
And this has now become Gawain's foundation!
Thinking of this, Gawain's gaze deepened. After he met Luffy, he should also deal with the issues of the other three Shichibukai!
Once I return, I'll head to the Florian Triangle first, to meet Laboon with Brook while also dealing with Gecko Moria.
Then he went to attend the Reverie.
After the Reverie of 1520 concluded, he went to the New World to see the bewildered boy from the Donquixote Family.
Then, after he meets with Kaido and Big Mom separately, the real war will begin!
At that time, he will blockade the Grand Line.
Oh, right, Mihawk...
Gawain's eyebrows twitched slightly at the thought of Mihawk.
If we were to say which type of person the world's best orators are most helpless against...
That kind of person is definitely not someone who can be swayed by a speaker!
Mihawk's lifelong pursuit is the ultimate swordsmanship!
But he's already the World's Strongest...
Could he possibly conjure up an even stronger swordsman from somewhere and deliver him to him?
He simply couldn't achieve Mihawk's goals, and Mihawk was almost impossible to persuade!
If Gawain wants to persuade Mihawk with words alone, he would have to open a portal to another world and find someone from another world who can provide Mihawk with excitement.
But the gate to another world...
Gawain couldn't help but think of the palace that slept in his heart. On his first day in the Pirate World, he saw that palace that belonged to the Great Qin!
Although the palace disappeared after that, Gawain has been looking forward to it ever since.
If that thing wasn't just a dream, wouldn't he want to be the "emperor" who only conquers one planet?
That was the palace of the Great Qin!!!
But that palace was too far removed from his current reality, Gawain shook his head and banished it from his mind.
He wasn't expecting to recruit Mihawk with something from his dreams.
He gently clenched his fist.
Instead of hoping for something in his dreams, he should continue to improve his strength and swordsmanship.
He's one of the fastest men on this high seas. With such an advantage, even if his swordsmanship isn't as good as Mihawk's, he could still become the opponent Mihawk is looking forward to, right?
Is that possible?
Suddenly, Gawain smiled with relief, realizing what he had been thinking.
His plan doesn't necessarily require Mihawk!
The Dark Bird Ship was not short of monsters, although young monsters were few, but even the aging ones were still red.
Besides, his crew members are among the most promising in the world!
Let alone a young man like Ace.
Even Robin had a bounty of 960 million after five years.
Nearly a billion! That's a higher figure than Smoothie from the Sweet Commanders Big Mom Pirates!
Some might say that Robin's bounty is due to the knowledge he possesses.
She is so highly ranked because she can decipher the Poneglyph and find Laugh Tale.
But upon closer examination, even as a child, Robin could still decipher the Poneglyph and find Laugh Tale, yet she only had a bounty of 89 million.
Even if the ability to decipher the Poneglyph is worth 100 million, Robin's own strength is already close to 900 million.
This can only mean that five years from now, Robin will probably have Awakening her Flower-Flower Fruit.
Otherwise, how could she have a bounty equivalent to that of Sweet Commanders or All-Stars?
With this in mind, Gawain's pressure immediately eased a lot.
Mihawk is nothing to me; if I have him, I'm lucky; if I lose him, it's fate. I'll just deal with him according to the original plan.
And myself...
Gazing at the vast ocean in the distance, and the constantly flashing ball of lightning in his hand.
Gawain sighed softly.
He has managed a group of quite excellent subordinates.
If he possessed such power and still couldn't utterly crush all ignorance and primitiveness, and paint the world with a unified color, then he would be truly incompetent!
Just as Gawain was thinking this, the sound of Den Den Mushi suddenly rang out from the Kuma behind him.
Kuma nodded to Gawain, then picked up the Den Den Mushi and left.
Gawain's Mantra noticed that the Kuma, who was walking into the distance, was trembling slightly in the fingers!
Soon after, Kuma returned to Gawain's side.
He stopped in front of Gawain, hesitated for a long time, and then spoke softly.
"My lord, the phone call just now was... it was from Long."
He wants to see me.
Right here at Reverse Mountain!!!
Tickets, please!!!