Boer turned his head.
His gaze passed over the strand of blue hair still trembling faintly on Princess Vivi's shoulder, past Cobra's fingers frozen on the chair back, past the delicacies on the long table, and settled on Sakazuki.
Sakazuki was setting his coffee cup back on its tray. Their gazes confronted each other silently for a moment.
"Uncle Sakazuki." Boer's voice was quiet. "You know, I once thought-if I blockaded Reverse Mountain, changed the magnetic field of that chokepoint, trapped every pirate passing through and executed them, would this world be a little better?"
The sound of breathing in the banquet hall grew half as loud at once.
Aramaki watched Boer's profile. The amused curve of his lips had vanished at some point.
Cobra tightened his fingers around the stem of his wineglass. He stared at Boer, at the man who had just been tasting dates and praising the desserts, trying to find any trace of a joke on his face.
There was none.
Inside the black glove on Crocodile's right hand, the sand stopped moving.
Sakazuki's brow twitched. He leaned an inch forward from the back of his chair, the corners of his mouth rising a fraction.
"Sounds crazy. Why didn't you do it?" He paused, Boer's outline reflected in his pupils. "Afraid the Four Emperors in the New World would come after you? You'd be cutting them off at the roots, after all."
"I just realized I was overthinking it." A trace of weariness entered his voice. "This world doesn't have enough resources, and they're distributed unfairly. Pirates are the World Government's excuse for maintaining its rule. But without the World Government, there would only be more pirates."
"So, everyone." He raised his head. "Tell me, how many continents would I need to fill in before I