"What do we do?"
An extremely realistic problem now presented itself before the Five Elders.
The appearance of the Mother Flame was originally a good thing for the World Government; if only the Beasts Pirates didn't exist, it would have been even better.
But that's not entirely accurate. Sometimes, competition is beneficial too. Queen becoming scapegoat successfully intensified the arms race across the seas, causing things like the Seraphim and Mother Flame to emerge ahead of schedule.
Originally, weapons of this type weren't supposed to end up in the hands of the World Government, but thanks to York, the ultimate spy, many of Vegapunk's secrets had been leaked to the Five Elders.
The World Government had thought that by controlling this weapon, they would be able to better keep the seas in check, that as long as the world followed their order, it could exist, but if anyone tried to shake their position, they'd wipe out entire islands if necessary.
The Summit War was considered a test firing; without Imu's highest directive, they didn't use its full power.
So, getting it redirected back was ridiculous, but just barely acceptable.
But this time, they had Imu's order, yet the weapon was completely torn apart.
Not only did the enemy finish upgrading the version of their weapon, but they did it at an even faster pace. For the Five Elders, this was a much bigger headache than anything else, as this wasn't a balance of power, but a complete domination.
"Raising a tiger will bring disaster… We have to completely cut off trade with the Beasts Pirates, right? We can't keep supplying them with resources.
Unknowingly, a large portion of the World Government's funds have been obtained via trading with them. Who knows, maybe the guns in their hands were made with our money."
This time, Mars took the lead, believing that the World Government couldn't keep going as before.
This pirate crew, who appeared to play by the rules on the surface, was clearly up to something big behind the scenes. As he spoke, he kept stroking his long beard. Facing the Beasts Pirates, whose strength was off the charts, he felt just as conflicted as the others.
"I agree with you, but actually carrying this out is kind of difficult."
As the Warrior God of Finance, Nasjuro was the first to offer his take on the issue. At the same time, he put down his sword and took out something like a financial report, placing it in front of the Den Den Mushi, projecting it for the other Five Elders to see.
"This is the trading scope of Beasts Fruits over the past few years; both the number of people and the scale are too large, and the vast majority of employees are ordinary citizens of affiliated nations.
This part doesn't really matter, but the issue is, if we cut off business with this company completely, the resulting chain reaction could collapse the entire economy.
Some affiliated nations might even declare 'bankruptcy' overnight. With the Levely approaching, having a crisis like this now would be disastrous."
If this were a company within a country or a single nation, it wouldn't have such a huge impact. But this is a maritime world, and Beasts Fruits had already grown into a towering tree.
Trying to uproot it will inevitably drag out countless patches of soil, and the holes left behind won't be filled anytime soon.
Even if you wanted to chop down such a tree, you'd need to think it over repeatedly to lessen the damage from its collapse.
Not to mention, this tree isn't so easily felled; who knows how many saws might break in the process.
"The Seastone trade is also an issue. Only the Beasts Pirates, who occupy Wano Country, can steadily supply large quantities of Seastone. The number of pirates at sea has been rising steadily these past years.
Sakazuki works diligently enough, but with so many prisoners, demand for Seastone handcuffs keeps going up."
Warcury stroked his handlebar mustache and added a comment. As the one in charge of legal affairs, he also oversaw prison matters and was very familiar with the situation regarding Seastone products.
"There's actually another troublesome matter. Lately, the Revolutionary Army has been constantly taking action. Many of our food transport routes have been sabotaged, and the grain-producing regions have also suffered attacks.
If we really cut off this aspect of relations, then Mariejois will soon face a food crisis as well."
Bad news always seems to come all at once. As the largest landmass in this world, Mariejois atop the Red Line doesn't have its own grain production and relies on external shipments.
The Revolutionary Army had caught on to this recently and has been targeting their food supply routes. If they choose to sever ties with Beasts Fruits completely at this time, the reduction in shipping and shortage of supplies—plus the even deadlier military threat from the Beasts Pirates—could throw Mariejois into chaos.
"In the end, cleaning them out isn't something that can be done in a day or two, nor can we rush it. We'll take things slowly. At least during the Levely, we need to maintain the last bit of stability."
"In the end, whether it's a purge or something else, let's leave it to Lord Imu to decide."
For now, they would maintain the status quo as usual, but adjust their strength to deal with new situations. This was the temporary solution the Five Elders arrived at.
"Doflamingo… that guy was taken away by the Beasts Pirates. That secret will probably be leaked by him too."
"We can't deal with him for now. Wano Country is too dangerous. Before full preparations are made, this operation is unrealistic. We'll have to endure a bit longer, Lord Imu's time is coming soon.
As for Doflamingo, whether or not the Beasts Pirates help him reclaim that position, there will be a vacancy in the Underworld. Contact Stussy and have her try to see if she can gain some benefit from this upheaval."
After several rounds of discussion, they more or less had a plan for the future, only to be met with a new problem.
Saturn took the Den Den Mushi and switched the projected image to Reshiram and Zekrom.
"This is the last image captured before the Mother Flame was destroyed. Along with the report from CP0, these are the creatures that destroyed the Mother Flame.
After repeated confirmation with the intelligence from Dressrosa, these two creatures emerged from that Oni Princess's body."
"Queen?"
Looking at the rather fierce faces of Zekrom and Reshiram, Warcury hesitantly spoke Queen's name.
"Whether it's Queen or not is no longer important. If it is, it means this ability can be mass-produced. There are two now; in the future there could be twenty.
If it isn't, then it means they possess an even more terrifying power, and we know nothing about it."
Saturn understood technology a bit better than the other Five Elders. York's breakdown in worldview didn't seem fake at all. York was still over there furiously crunching data.
This time, they didn't blindly pin the blame on Queen, but rather took every situation into account. In short, Queen might be innocent, or he might be guilty, but based on the principle of "groundless accusations," dealing with him along with the rest was the right call.
"The two dragons are still fighting above Dressrosa. For some reason, after destroying the Mother Flame, they haven't left."
"Isn't CP0 still nearby? Have them take a look. As long as they can report back, their lives don't matter."
"Indeed, it's much more important to learn more about those two dragons. We might even uncover some unexpected surprises."
With just a few words from the top, CP0 was handed a mission tantamount to suicide.
Mariejois was particularly busy today. The Five Elders had only just issued this order when Akainu's call came through.
"Why? Why did you suddenly use that attack to disrupt the Marines' battle plan! The pirates in Dressrosa were in the middle of a battle. We had a chance to capture them all!"
"Sakazuki, watch your tone. We don't need to explain ourselves to you."
"All you need to do is carry out the orders of the World Government. Instead of questioning us, you should consider what impact it will have when Kuzan appears openly in public as a member of the Beasts Pirates."
With that, the call was unilaterally cut off, leaving Akainu no chance to argue.
The information about Kuzan had also come from CP0 earlier, and unlike before, Kuzan was now acting out in the open before the public eye.
The people of Dressrosa had mostly witnessed this, and the Revolutionary Army was no exception. A former Marine Admiral had now become a pirate; this news couldn't be hidden any longer.
"How about launching a Buster Call? After all, Lord Imu's order allows us to wipe out that place. We could just annihilate them all."
"The news has already spread, so there's no point in doing that. Besides, Dressrosa, Prodence Kingdom, and three nearby affiliated nations have all sent inquiries to the World Government; we can't just silence or ignore all of them."
"Then let's just find a reason. I remember that back on Punk Hazard, Caesar Clown set off some kind of weapon of mass destruction, didn't he?
So this time, let's say Doflamingo tried to seize control of a weapon of mass destruction and failed, which ultimately led to chaos."
In just a few words, the events in Dressrosa were characterized by the Five Elders, and new bounty orders were drawn up and ready for release.
Meanwhile, at the new Marine Headquarters and in Dressrosa, the atmosphere was completely different.
After burning the last table from the logistics department, Akainu was left in a state of powerless rage, while on Dressrosa, Fujitora was personally leading a group of Marines to apologize in person.
Violet, however, kept using her ability to watch the situation in the sky, and many citizens were doing the same as Violet.
They didn't have the Glare-Glare Fruit, but they could still see the clash of fire and lightning.
The battle between Zekrom and Reshiram still hadn't stopped. If circumstances allowed, the battle between the twin dragons could last until the entire continent was reduced to scorched earth.
There were no lengthy speeches, no debates about ideals versus truth; only the clash of sheer power.
Even the Marines didn't interfere with them, merely maintaining vigilance, but the fearless CP0 faithfully carried out their mission.
Click, click.
Trembling fingers kept pressing the shutter, and the images captured were transmitted to others via Den Den Mushi. Before long, he had completed his mission, but in the last photo he sent back, all that could be seen was a blinding flash of light.
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