On the day the First Sea Gate opened to shipping, another issue surfaced amid the ruins of Mary Geoise-one everyone had been thinking about, but no one wanted to raise first.
Who would govern the world?
No one convened a formal meeting. Pangaea Castle had collapsed.
Representatives from the various nations, senior Marine officers, members of the Adventure Guild, and Vegapunk's team all crowded into the square beside the First Sea Gate, which had only just been cleared enough to use.
The Revolutionary Army joined through a Den Den Mushi as well.
After a long silence, someone finally voiced the thought everyone dreaded.
"The World Government is gone."
"But a world this big still needs someone to make the decisions, doesn't it?"
The crowd fell silent.
Then, as naturally as anything, every gaze turned to Rock.
He was the strongest, he had the Marines in his hands, and he had led the effort to break open the First Sea Gate.
He had even personally killed Imu, who had occupied the Empty Throne for eight hundred years.
No matter how they looked at it, there was only one candidate left.
Rock swept his gaze over everyone looking at him, then turned toward the distance.
At the highest point of the ruins, the Empty Throne stood alone, half blasted away in battle, looking especially conspicuous in the wind.
He fell silent for two seconds, then looked utterly baffled. "I just killed the one who sat there for eight hundred years, and now you want me to sit on it?"
"Are you people out of your minds?"
Someone opened their mouth. "But..."
"No buts."
Rock raised a hand to cut them off, then suddenly called out, "Buggy."
In the distance, Buggy was haggling with Tesoro, trying to figure out how to swindle a