"Does the Navy want to return to the New World? I see."
Sokachio Bovell, the Sixth King of Ekmondo Kingdom, puffed on a cigar in his study, filling the closed little room with clouds of smoke until it looked like a fairyland. Well, though this particular fairyland wasn't doing anyone's health any good.
"Cooperate with the Navy? Aleus, that's a bit risky, isn't it?"
"Is that really something a king of a World Government Member State should say?" Aleus rolled his eyes.
"I'm just being honest."
Bovell waved a hand, unconcerned. "The New World belongs to the Four Emperors now. Even though the four Pirate Emperors are hardly on friendly terms and their territories are constantly at war along their borders, there's no doubt that if the Navy dares to reach into the New World, the Four Emperors will strike back hard."
"The Navy... isn't exactly missed by many people in the New World."
That was a harsh thing to say.
But it was also an indisputable fact.
The Navy's control over the New World had always been weak, nowhere near the influence it wielded in the Four Seas and Paradise. No matter how pirates swarmed the Four Seas and Paradise these days, the Navy still held the upper hand there. The New World was the exact opposite: the Navy had never managed to establish a strong presence.
The New World's rulers had come and gone, yet the Navy had never managed to put down roots there.
The people here had never enjoyed the peace and stability the Navy brought, so naturally they had nothing to miss. Many World Government Member States, including Ekmondo Kingdom, were used to fending for themselves and weren't particularly fond of the Navy.
"But if you think it's doable, I have no objections."
Bovell looked