The World's Reaction

"Captain, what are the Shichibukai?" Fujitora asked in confusion.

Every time Sabo had tried to explain earlier, Ryan had ruthlessly cut him off, so they had only understood bits and pieces.

"A system meant to maintain balance and resist the Great Age of Pirates!" Ryan then briefly explained its advantages and disadvantages to them.

"Isn't the Navy just fooling around?" Fujitora's first reaction after hearing it was disgust toward the system.

Although he was a pirate and stood opposed to the Navy, Fujitora did not particularly dislike them. On the contrary, he greatly admired those Marines who could uphold the justice in their hearts.

"They really are fooling around." Ryan nodded in agreement.

In the short term, the Shichibukai system was an excellent balancing measure. While it could effectively strengthen oneself and weaken others, in the long run, it was raising tigers only to invite disaster.

One must not forget that pirates would always be pirates. Especially powerful pirates—using their status as Shichibukai, they could develop without restraint and expand their own strength.

The most typical examples were Doflamingo and Hancock. Using his status as a Shichibukai and the connections he had accumulated over the years, Doflamingo had become Joker of the underworld, controlling the vast majority of arms deals and becoming the biggest arms dealer in the pirate world.

The more unsuccessful examples were Crocodile and Gecko Moria. Crocodile had remained obsessed with the Ancient Weapon Pluton, neglecting to improve his own strength and develop his forces.

Given Alabasta's location, he could have recruited many talented people who had just entered the Grand Line. Yet after more than a decade, his Baroque Works was only so-so. It was decent in the first half of the Grand Line, but compared with those in the New World, it fell far short.