It all began exactly half a year ago. In September of Marineford Era 1514, pirates ran rampant, and General Jade, Queen Rosa's trusted confidant, set sail to suppress them. But unexpectedly, General Fred, commander of the Flower Capital's forces, took the opportunity to rebel. He dispatched heavy troops to seize every crucial stronghold on West Island and forced the Queen to abdicate.
By the time the Marines received the plea for help that the Queen's guards had risked their lives to deliver, General Jade had already been ambushed at sea by an unknown force. His fate was unknown. The Queen had been completely cut off, and the situation was hanging by a thread!
After angering Sengoku by returning to East Blue during the last strike, Garp had been pressured into accepting the mission concerning West Island's civil unrest. At the same time, they uncovered that the force which had ambushed General Jade was none other than the infamous Baroque Works of the first half of the Grand Line!
Ordinarily, the Marines could not intervene in internal unrest within an Affiliated Nation.
But this was not merely internal unrest. Baroque Works was also fanning the flames behind the scenes, giving the Marines half a justification to act. Yet although they knew Baroque Works was involved, they had no concrete evidence of Fred's contact with them. There was simply no case to be made.
Sengoku had been furious about this... Baroque Works was extending its hand into a World Government Affiliated Nation, yet the Marines could do nothing because they lacked evidence.
What could they do?
So Garp went!
A classic case of having someone else take the blame and go die.
Naturally, Garp had left in utmost secrecy. He had not even returned to Marine Headquarters, instead changing course midway with an Eternal Pose and heading west.
Yet even so, his whereabouts had been exposed, and someone had intercepted him halfway there...
"Even the World Government does not interfere in an Affiliated Nation's internal affairs. The Marines would do well not to meddle..."
This General Fred was no ordinary man.
In terms of status, he was not only the Flower Capital's supreme military commander, but had also bribed certain World Government officials to arrange for himself a nominal post within the World Government, one without real authority!
In terms of strength, he was a powerhouse no weaker than a Marine vice admiral. Although he had not mastered Haki, pirates with bounties exceeding fifty million had died beneath his hands in droves! The Flower Capital's peace and stability were not merely a matter of reputation; he had carved them out with bloodshed!
In terms of prestige, he was a national hero revered by everyone in the Flower Capital, loved by the people even more than Crocodile. He had an enormous number of supporters, and he was also Queen Rosa's eldest nephew, with a legitimate claim to the throne!
If he wanted to rebel, not just anyone could stop him.
Unless the Queen could suppress him completely...
But with Jade gone, the Queen of the Flower Capital, powerless as a chicken, was trying to contend with her nephew who commanded the military. The result spoke for itself...
Hearing this, Ron finally understood just how troublesome that handsome middle-aged man Fred was. Even his rebellion had been perfectly justified!
Yet despite the grim atmosphere, he still asked rather speechlessly, "Does Queen Rosa not have any children who could inherit the throne?"
Leaving aside the issue of the Queen being advanced in years without the joys of family, raising children was also a safeguard for old age!
One more child meant one more hope. As long as another heir to the throne still existed, Fred's difficulty in inheriting the throne without ruining his reputation would rise by several levels! Judging by how he had even needed Baroque Works to dispose of Jade so he would not dirty his own hands, the threat posed by one heir would be more effective than two Garps!
At that question, Garp suddenly stiffened.
Traine coughed beside him and explained, "The Queen was diagnosed with an illness when she was young. She could never bear children, so she has no descendants."
"Uh..."
It seemed he had asked about something rather serious!
"I see. Since there was no opponent, he could not wait any longer... was that it?"
Ron changed the subject, putting on an enlightened expression.
Simply put, it was the story of the Queen having reigned too long without sons or daughters, while her eldest nephew, the heir who had spent decades as crown prince, grew dissatisfied, joined forces with outside enemies, and sought to overthrow the Queen's rule by force.
By rights, Queen Rosa would turn seventy in three days. In a few more years, when her energy waned, yielding the throne would be both inevitable and only natural. For the throne, what was a mere few years? Why could he not wait?
But that was the terrifying thing about power!
Especially when one knew there were no rivals!
That unrestrained ambition could turn even the most rational person incomparably extreme and irritable!
Decades of torment had drained away the eldest nephew's last shred of patience. He decided to wait no longer and follow the example of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, rising in rebellion!
Fred had used the World Government's name as leverage. Of course, Garp could have ignored everything and killed him, eliminating future trouble forever. But the consequence of breaking the rules was that everyone aboard his ship would be unable to escape the World Government's accountability.
Although Garp had repeatedly voiced his dissatisfaction with the World Government in public and bluntly called them trash, he did not dare gamble an entire ship's lives and futures against the Five Elders' patience. Thus, he had no choice but to turn back, picking up Ron, who had fallen from the sky, along the way.
At first, Ron had been pitifully weak. No one had any reason to link him with the Flower Capital's civil unrest. That was until Ron displayed his terrifying talent and perseverance, prompting Sengoku to take an interest.
As a Logia Devil Fruit User who wanted to join the Marines, Ron had strength and was willing to obey orders. At the same time, because he had no file and did not count as an official Marine, he was the ideal candidate for the Flower Capital mission! So long as the Queen of the Flower Capital stepped forward to protect him after the job was done, even the Five Elders would have nothing to criticize.
At most...
They would give the Marines the cold shoulder for a while... a very long while!
When the boss gave the underlings the cold shoulder, the consequences were quite serious!
But the later developments had been unexpected. Just as Sengoku had resigned himself to sacrificing an arm to save the body, Ron's terrifying growth speed had prompted countless people to study its secret, and he received the material Zephyr submitted on the Lightning Stimulation Method.
That material was quickly placed before the Five Elders. If it could be deployed on a large scale, the results were self-evident. Thus, they attached great importance to it and even tacitly allowed the Pacifista development schedule to be delayed.
Later, once the machines were confirmed complete, the Marines sent good news that greatly pleased the Five Elders.
Of the first batch of three hundred prototype machines, the Marines retained only the one hundred stationed at headquarters. The remaining two hundred machines were sent to various branches of the CP Organization!
In the Five Elders' eyes, the Marines were indeed a pack of watchdogs. But when hunting dogs caught prey, they deserved credit. Even the Celestial Dragons, the World Nobles, would not begrudge them a reward.
Thus, regarding the Flower Capital, the Five Elders simply turned a blind eye. So long as it did not cause panic among the Affiliated Nations, they let the Marines do as they pleased.
Likewise, since both sides submitted to their rule, they would rather trust Queen Rosa, who had governed the Flower Capital steadily for decades, than let the Flower Capital be ruled by Fred, who had dared collude with Baroque Works and rebel.
In the end, the Five Elders' attitude determined everything!
They were like the emperors of ancient China, standing above the law! This showed just how semi-feudal the social system of the One Piece World was.
"This time, when we arrive at the Flower Capital, we Marines will not provide you with any assistance. Everything depends on you, Ron."
"We Marines" indicated that Ron was not one of them.
Upon hearing those words, Ron finally understood why Garp had brought him out to sea.
After all, Ron clearly remembered what Zephyr had told him in the Marine Headquarters prison more than four months ago.
"By the rules, that is indeed the case! But you were never registered in the headquarters recruit roster, so you count as an outsider. The Marines have no authority to punish you..."
Four months later, Ron, immersed in training, still had not been "registered in the headquarters recruit roster" and still "counted as an outsider." Even learning the Marine Six Powers had been in exchange for providing Vegapunk with experimental data to improve the machines, with a contract signed in black and white.
As long as he, someone who was "not a Marine," took action, neither the Affiliated Nations nor the World Government officials Fred had bribed would dare challenge the Five Elders, who had subtly shown their dissatisfaction!
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