The world had a strange way of working.
So far, besides Imu, who stood above all others in the Flower Chamber, and Dragon, whose Revolutionary Army watched hungrily from the sidelines, one other person knew what Ron intended to do.
That person was Fleet Admiral Akainu.
He had pieced together the truth through deduction and investigation, aided by information Ron had let slip, deliberately or otherwise.
At first, Akainu had been furious. He had wanted to kill Ron on the spot, even without evidence.
But he soon calmed down and thought it through, only to realize he had long since set foot on a path with no return.
At this turning point in history, no one could remain untouched.
What did justice mean to him?
He had once been loyal to the World Government and shown its enemies no mercy because they had broken its laws first. Their crimes were beyond dispute.
But...
That rested on one crucial assumption.
The government's laws must not conflict with the justice in his heart.
The extermination of the Celestial Dragons had caused far more upheaval than the calm surface suggested. Even though the public had not been told, the feelings brewing beneath that surface were changing everyone's minds with every passing moment.
"In the name of Absolute Justice, this world has no place for anything that lets evil take root!"
Justice stood above orders.
Conviction stood above rank.
That was the change Ron had seen in Akainu.
Ron slipped the two documents into the ring on his left thumb. Standing on the deck of the Kirin, he looked across the distance toward Akainu at the harbor.
"Everything's changed."
Once people's hearts drifted apart, they became hard to lead.
No words described the government better now.
But can I really trust you, Fleet Admiral?