Discussing Heroes over Boiled Wine

Discussing Heroes over Boiled Wine

"Usurping a country?" The mockery on his face deepened. "Do you think becoming a member nation of the World Government is such a wonderful thing? If so, why hasn't the Amazon Lily Kingdom joined them?"

"When all was said and done, the Heavenly Gold paid to the Celestial Dragons was merely protection money for the Marines. How was that any different from the countries protected by the Four Emperors? What was the difference between the Marines and the Four Emperors?"

He was viewing this world from an unprecedented angle. Both the Empress and Gloriosa were startled, but after thinking it over carefully, they realized he seemed to be right. In the New World, every nation had to pay protection money to the Four Emperors. There, the Marines' influence had been severely compressed by the Four Emperors. The protection money was not much, nowhere near as much as the Heavenly Gold, but from his perspective, what difference was there between protection money and Heavenly Gold?

In the end, they were merely different names for the same thing.

The Empress's eyes gleamed as she suddenly asked, "Then by your logic, one can also change this world by becoming one of the Four Emperors. As one of the Four Emperors, they could make the people in their territory live in peace and prosperity." That was exactly what she had been doing. Though she plundered outside her territory, the people under her rule lived peacefully and prosperously, their lives orderly and secure. Compared to the outside world, her Amazon Lily Kingdom was like paradise.

In fact, that was precisely why the Empress's pirate crew was so united. This was the home of every Amazon woman pirate, the place where they would ultimately return.

It was also the thing she had always taken pride in.

"They do possess vast territories, and they can interfere in the governance of their own domains. But they have not fundamentally changed anything. Their systems depend on their own existence, much like an imperial system. There is no continuity in their policies. Once they die, their policies die with them. All brutality and kindness rest in one person. A country like that has no future." Leo shook his head. He had no regard for the Four Emperors at all.

The Empress gave a soft snort and said nothing, but she was deeply dissatisfied with Leo's words.

Even so, she had to admit that he had a point.

"What lofty words." Gloriosa stared at him uncertainly, as if she had misjudged him. Could this fellow really be more than a helpless weakling? Was he actually a hidden master?

"By your reasoning, most pirates in this world are beneath your notice?" Gloriosa asked indignantly. She confirmed it again: this fellow had neither a Devil Fruit nor any Haki, yet he showed no respect at all when facing the heroes of the world—especially the Pirate King.

He did not even seem to hold any respect for the great pirates of the world. He had nothing but contempt for them.

"Of course. Is there anything about the pirates of this world worthy of my respect?" Leo tilted his head.

"Boy, you are truly a frog at the bottom of a well. Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors, was a great pirate who remained from the era of Pirate King Roger. He shelters countless islands and nations, and after Roger, he is the man most likely to claim the title of One Piece. Is he not worthy of respect?"

Though Gloriosa had stayed secluded in the Amazon Lily Kingdom for so many years, her understanding of the world was no weaker than that of pirates who sailed the seas. She even knew better than most pirates who the world's top combatants were and what its greatest powers were.

"Haha, Whitebeard has no ambition to become the One Piece. He is simply an old man who yearns for a family from the bottom of his heart. That is why all his crew members call him Pops." He dismissed Whitebeard entirely, exposing the core of the Whitebeard Pirates in a single sentence.

Gloriosa was startled. Although the Whitebeard Pirates were indeed like that, there were still few people in this world who dared to say it so bluntly—and with such disdain.

The Whitebeard Pirates were exceptionally united, like a family. Anyone who dared insult Whitebeard would certainly be hunted down by the Whitebeard Pirates. Anyone who dared kill a member of the Whitebeard Pirates would be relentlessly pursued until they died, and might even draw Whitebeard himself into action.

If there was one of the Four Emperors in the New World whom one absolutely could not afford to offend, it was the Whitebeard Pirates.

Gloriosa fell silent for a moment, then said stubbornly, "Big Mom! The officers of the Big Mom Pirates are all Big Mom's children. They are a pirate crew united around bloodline, and their unity, cohesion, and combat strength may even surpass the Whitebeard Pirates. Do you look down on them too?"

"Big Mom, controlled by her appetite. Big Mom's children, bound by blood. Children who long for a stable home rather than dominion over the world. Their strength is nothing but an illusion. They plunder ruthlessly outside, yet fear Big Mom's brutality within. They will never obtain what they desire. They are actually very weak; their weakness of spirit is merely concealed by powerful strength. They are no good." Leo was not merely scorning the Four Emperors; he was also sorting through his own memories and thoughts.

Before he had transmigrated, the plot of One Piece had become increasingly awful. Apparently, changing writers had made Oda completely let himself go, which was why Leo remembered those trashy plotlines so clearly instead.

Although One Piece was, overall, a comedy-focused manga, its battles often took unexpected turns. There were many ability users whom Luffy and the others had no way to defeat, such as Sugar with the Hobby-Hobby Fruit and Perona with the Hollow-Hollow Fruit. Yet Usopp had broken their abilities through absurd and baffling methods. If it had been anyone else, they probably would not have had that kind of luck.

That boost of luck gave him the feeling that things had been predetermined, which was extremely unpleasant.

In other words, if he encountered those people, the same thing might happen to him.

That made him even more uneasy.

Before gaining greater strength, he had to cling tightly to the Empress's thigh.

Everything he had done before this had been laying the groundwork to persuade the Empress.

And his ultimate goal was only one.

That was—

To persuade the Empress to abandon the Amazon Lily Kingdom and join him in overthrowing the World Government.

From the very beginning until now, everything he had done served that single purpose.

The first and most important step was making the Empress agree with his words. Changing the mind of the proudest woman pirate in the One Piece World was not something that could be accomplished so easily.

PS: Please recommend it~