In the vast palace, only one person sat on the throne at the very top. She, too, had grown old, her face covered in wrinkles. She was Gloriosa, the woman who had ruled Amazon Lily thirty years ago.
She held a sheet of paper with a grave expression. A seagull, the Navy's emblem, was printed on its reverse. It was a document the Navy had sent to the ruler of Amazon Lily.
"You left us too soon... and left this whole mess behind. You should have known long ago that you and Roger could never be together. How could you have been so foolish... sigh..."
Gloriosa shut her eyes, constantly rubbing between her brows with her thumb and forefinger.
Amazon Lily was in an awkward position. Its reigning empress had died of the island's legendary incurable disease, leaving the country without a ruler. Someone had to take her place, but the former ruler, Gloriosa, was already elderly, while the next ruler was still only a nine-year-old child. Amazon Lily was caught in an awkward gap between generations.
To secure protection, they had been forced to accept the Navy's invitation to join the Shichibukai. They had hoped to get through this period peacefully, only for World to escape from prison. The Navy demanded that Amazon Lily assist in hunting down the escaped "World Destroyer," Bandy Waldo.
What Gloriosa held in her hands was the Navy's summons to the Shichibukai.
Gloriosa had no intention of sending troops. Against a great pirate like World, no number of soldiers would do any good, and Amazon Lily currently had no supreme fighting force to speak of. As its ruler, she could not send her subjects to their deaths, yet she could not ignore the Navy's orders either.
In moments of helplessness, people often remembered old