"Keep your curiosity to yourself!"
Aokiji sounded helpless. "It's true. There are only so many top fighters in the world. No matter how you did it, the fact that you defeated Rebrus means your strength has already put you at the pinnacle of the world. In this era, there are no more than ten people, myself included, who could face you in a direct fight. You have every right to be proud.
"Besides, you're not even thirty-six yet. You haven't reached your peak. I have no doubt you'll become the strongest person of this era!"
"I have no doubt of that either," Doug said, instinctively adding a word of encouragement.
Aokiji shot him a look, then faced Figo, who was watching him with "curiosity," and spoke more sternly, with a warning in his voice. "As far as I know, none of the garrisons stationed in the various countries have any top fighters. Their strongest couldn't even beat that old codger Doug. Their advantage is their numbers, which can reach hundreds of thousands or even millions."
"And in the past seven hundred years, there have been plenty of kings of the sea who tried to shake the World Government, or even storm the Holy Land. But... without exception, they all died there!"
"Are the Five Elders powerful too?" Seeing that Aokiji was willing to talk, Figo promptly pressed on with another question.
Aokiji fell silent for a few seconds, then sighed. "The Five Elders are the highest-ranking Celestial Dragons. Saint Mendsbin is mainly responsible for the Navy, Judicial Island, and Impel Down, which was added to the World Government's three directly controlled institutions in recent years.
"The other four each have a different responsibility. One handles the World Government's internal affairs, one oversees its intelligence agencies, one manages foreign relations with