—Commander of the Revolutionary Army Leo.
Regarding pirates, I had actually mentioned this before. The conflict was not between pirates and the people, nor was it between pirates and merchants. It was between pirates—and even the people—and the local wealthy landowners.
The people could not survive. At its source, this came from the Celestial Dragons' exorbitant taxes and ruthless exploitation. But if we set aside the Celestial Dragons' influence, now that they had lost control of the world and their military power, had everyone's lives truly improved?
You did not need to answer me. You only needed to look at yourselves and your surroundings to understand one thing: although the Celestial Dragons had fallen, everyone's taxes and lives had not changed at all.
Why?
Naturally, it was because someone had taken the Celestial Dragons' place. Your taxes would not stop. Since everyone had been able to bear the Celestial Dragons' levies before, yet lacked the ability to resist these wealthy landlords and gentry, then once the Celestial Dragons were no longer above them, they would naturally pocket that money themselves.
The situation across the world, as well as the number of pirates, would not change in the slightest. Over the past half year, everyone seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief, yet failed to see this. This was the Revolutionary Army's dereliction of duty and a grave mistake.
But it must be pointed out that, in the face of evil, merely executing its leaders would not work.
When faced with evil, people believed that its leaders were guilty, while the countless kings, nobles, gentry, and wealthy landowners beneath them were innocent people coerced into serving them. But clearly, within this world, within this evil system created by the Celestial Dragons, they were all links in that evil system.
After