In Mary Geoise, with the death of yet another group of people, the war finally came to a complete end.
Erica's antennae on her forehead trembled slightly, and suddenly, from the distant Red Earth Continent, she could see a vast swarm of ants approaching. A black mass filled the air, causing many to look terrified, as if they were out to kill them. As the ants approached, Erica waved her antennae again, and they immediately began carrying the bodies and throwing them into the sea.
Hei'er also ordered the crows to carry the bodies.
Mary Geoise would become the Black Crows' headquarters in the future. These bodies could not be left here to rot and stink; they had to be cleaned up.
Meanwhile—
A buzz.
A shadow loomed before Mio, and then a figure rose from it, appearing before him.
"Sir," it was Renée, a cheerful smile on her face as she addressed Mio respectfully. "Sir, those ants have all been dealt with. Those who surrendered were captured, and those who refused were completely killed. Not a single one escaped."
"Indeed," Mio smiled and nodded, rubbing Renée's head. Then, he spoke slowly. "Then take over everything on Marijoa."
"Yes!"
Renée nodded respectfully. With a thought, her eyes turned pitch black, completely filled with shadow, with no other color.
Immediately, thousands of shadowy soldiers appeared behind her.
The number of these shadowy soldiers was practically unlimited. The stronger Renée's evil thoughts grew, the more she could summon.
"Go!"
With a wave of her right hand, Renée commanded, and the shadowy soldiers dispersed, heading to every corner of Marijoa, ready to take over the World Government.
It was because of Renée's existence that Mio harbored the ambition to abolish the World Government.
Mio harbored the ambition to become the king of the world.
But at the same time, he didn't want the entire pirate world to be plunged into chaos after his defeat of the World Government.
What he desired was eternal rule, encompassing the entire world, bringing it under his rule. Therefore, the existence of the World Government and the Navy was absolutely necessary.
Otherwise, if word of the World Government's collapse got out, it would almost certainly plunge all the seas into chaos.
In that case, whether it was ruling or conquering them, restoring peace would take a very long time.
Therefore, he wouldn't allow this news to spread.
In the eyes of the world, the World Government would remain unchanged, but the Black Crows would gradually fade away, becoming the true force behind the World Government.
And by leveraging the World Government and the Black Crows' power, he could bring the entire world under their control.
This was Mio's ambition.
With Renée and the Black Shadow Soldiers, even if the World Government were defeated, the vast organization could be immediately taken over and continued to operate without shutting down.
After all, if such a massive organization as the World Government ceased to function, many aspects of it, such as its intelligence network, would be disrupted.
With Renée around, these shadow soldiers weren't without intelligence, so they could easily take over.
Watching the shadow soldiers suddenly appear and disappear, Sora's eyes dimmed, a wry smile playing across his face.
"These shadow soldiers, I remember them being from Linglong Newspaper? I didn't expect… they're also Black Crow's men!"
He had completely lost all hope of resistance.
During the previous war, these shadow soldiers hadn't intervened; otherwise, they would have been even more desperate.
After all, the World Government also had intelligence on these shadow soldiers. Three words of intelligence—nothing can kill!
Now that Linglong Newspaper had revealed itself, who knew what other cards Black Crow had up his sleeves?
…
Time slipped by.
Before he knew it, a day had passed.
Everything on Marijoa had been taken over by the shadow soldiers. Whether it was the intelligence network or key positions, they were all reshuffled, with Mio's closest associates taking over, allowing the Black Crows' men to dominate the World Government. Naturally, these people would be utterly loyal to Mio.
Besides that, the Celestial Dragons had been practically wiped out.
Some grassroots members remained, but were unable to leave Marijoa.
The next day.
In the deepest part of Marijoa, in the vast palace, in the luxurious hall, there was a huge conference table.
Mio sat at the head of the table. In front of him sat Dragon, Kaido, Doflamingo, and Judge.
Tap, tap.
Mio tapped his index finger lightly on the table, smiling. "Next, let's discuss the distribution of benefits after everyone participated in this war."
Mio's tone was calm, a hint of a smile on his face, and he seemed quite amiable.
But Doflamingo spoke without hesitation. "Heh, heh, heh, just take care of the distribution. I'm sure you won't let me down."
Did the Heavenly Demon speak out of turn?
No.
He hadn't considered that at all.
He didn't want to die.
He also knew that Hei Yan knew what he wanted, and that what he wanted wasn't too much for him.
"Of course, I never treat my allies unfairly," Mio said slowly, his lips curled upwards, his index finger still tapping lightly on the table. "Relocate the Donquixote Family to the Holy Land. There aren't many world nobles or Celestial Dragons these days, but we don't mind establishing a new world noble family. I think the Donquixote Family would be perfect."
"Heh, heh, I'm satisfied with that," Doflamingo said with a smile.
That was exactly what he wanted.
As for Judge, he also spoke immediately. "I think you should have an answer to my assignment."
"Of course, we agreed on that before, didn't we?" Mio nodded calmly. "I'll leave the North Sea to Germa, but I need peace. Do you understand me?"
"I know." Judge nodded without hesitation. "As long as Germa exists, there will be no war in the North Sea, and the entire Germa will be at your beck and call."
"Okay, I'll take your word for it for now." Mio nodded gently.
Mio didn't take the arrangements for these two people too seriously.
After all, they were just ordinary people.
Judge and Doflamingo were formidable, but so what?
In the future, Asuka, Erica, Mashi, Noa, and Yasan—all beings personally nurtured by Mio—would undergo forbidden surgeries, granting them the power of immortality.
People like Doflamingo, however, would not.
Since they had helped the Black Crows, Mio would not hesitate to give them what they desired. However, as time passed, what he had given them would eventually return to him.
Now, they simply needed these men to help the World Government, now ruled by the Black Crows, expand its territory.
The four seas—East, South, West, and North.
And the entire Grand Line.
Whether it's the front half or the New World,
Mio would rule it all—even Sky Island!
A gleam of brilliance flashed in Mio's eyes, and then, his gaze fixed on Kaido and Dragon, his lips curled up again. "Kaido."
"Tsk, you know what I'm interested in. Honestly, I'm no match for you, nor do I want to be. And I'm well aware of your ambitions, so I don't expect anything from you. I just want you to keep me busy. After all, I imagine there's going to be plenty of battles coming up," Kaido said with a sneer.
He was no fool.
From the moment Im and Rocks died, he had no intention of opposing Mio.
He even entertained the idea of continuing his cooperation with the Black Crows.
As he'd said, he understood their ambitions.
To rule the world, they inevitably would have to go to war with powerful figures, and he relished battle.
So, he didn't mind fighting for the Black Crows.
After all, he was a pirate.
If he didn't want to be killed by the Black Crows now, he had to find a way out.
His way out was to fight for the Black Crows. If the Black Crows truly took over the world, he'd probably be tired of fighting by then.
Then, he could just find another place to commit suicide. He believed the Black Crows wouldn't attack him then.
But that was only the Black Crows. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't fight for them.
The Black Crows' strength was enough to convince him.
But then, Kaido couldn't help but look at Dragon, curious about his thoughts.
Dragon was a revolutionary, after all, and the Revolutionary Army's purpose was to overthrow the unequal rule of the Celestial Dragons, who controlled the World Government. But now, the Celestial Dragons were gone.
While the World Government would still exist, the Black Crows would be the next to control it.
Would the Revolutionary Army disband?
Or… continue to overthrow the World Government?
If so… well, that would be interesting.
Kaido looked at Dragon with interest.
Mio's gaze now fell on Dragon. He picked up a glass of wine, gently shook it, took a sip, and spoke slowly. "Dragon, it's time for you to make a choice."
"You should have made the choice for me a long time ago, right?" Dragon looked at Mio, his voice hoarse.
Hearing this, Mio couldn't help but shake his head and laugh, but nodded. "You're right, and I think you won't refuse this choice."
"Disrupt and reorganize the Revolutionary Army, making them join the World Government and all its subordinate organizations, including the Army, Navy, and the Allied Armies. Then, help me conquer the chaotic areas and restore peace to the pirate-infested regions."
"If you want an equal world, then you need to make everyone willing to abide by the same laws."
"And to achieve that, we need to bring the entire world under the rule of one kingdom!"
Mio stood up, his voice tinged with coldness. "Of course, you can refuse, but… while I don't like things like burning bridges after crossing them, that doesn't mean I won't do it, you know?"