Shimotsuki Village, East Blue.
Hey!
Ha!
Hey!
Ha!
Inside Isshin Dojo, a group of children swung their bamboo swords under the moonlight.
Their synchronized movements looked especially beautiful in the moonlight.
Under the eaves nearby, Koshiro sat on a cushion in a gray cloak, holding a stack of newspapers.
"What will this world become? I wonder whether being born in such a turbulent age is a blessing or a curse."
He looked up at the new students training in the yard and sighed again. "Zoro, you're right at the center of this maelstrom too. I hope the goddess of fortune keeps shining her light on you."
As the man in charge of Isshin Dojo, he was quite sharp.
He knew this public execution was an overt scheme the World Government had laid against Peach Spring.
But he understood that this was the inevitable course of the world.
Two tigers could not share one mountain.
The world only had so many resources, and the World Government would never allow another power to share it.
Judging by past years, whenever any force in the world approached the World Government's strength, it would be punished and destroyed, allowing the government to maintain its supreme rule.
Peach Spring's strength already surpassed that of many organizations that had tried to challenge the World Government in the past.
Even setting that aside, Lott's rescue of Pirate King Roger's son on the battlefield at Marineford alone was enough for the World Government to sentence him to death.
Not to mention that Lott had publicly stripped away the World Government's facade in a worldwide broadcast and declared war on it.
The World Government could not tolerate any one of those things.
But compared with everyone else, Lott had hidden himself far too well in the early stages.
Only