Chapter 236: Master Actors
The World Government's rulers, the world's supreme power on the surface—five old men appeared before Brett.
Setting aside their appearances, they indeed each had quite an imposing air. Two sat on sofas, one stood behind a sofa with hands on its backrest, one stood with his back turned before massive floor-to-ceiling windows, and the last was leisurely making tea.
Brett's gaze swept across the five old things, then focused on a certain person in the room's corner.
Wearing white robes with a mask concealing their face, based on the voice, they seemed to have tensed their nerves, ready to act at any moment.
Oh, to appear here at such a time, this person was probably CP0's commander or a high-ranking leader of the God's Knights or something.
One of the two sitting on the sofa—Saint Warcury —frowned. "Brett, you brat, don't you know what politeness means? Don't you know to knock before entering?"
Brett's mouth twitched. "Should I leave then?"
Did they really want to give him a show of authority?
"Alright, this is our first meeting. No need to be so confrontational." Saint Ju Peter making tea wore a wine-red suit different from his colleagues and looked considerably younger, with his golden hair and beard. He smiled and mediated. "These past years could at least be called pleasant cooperation, right?"
He picked up a teacup. "Brett, tea?"
"Thank you. Not everyone has the honor of drinking tea personally prepared by one of the Five Elders." Brett smiled and walked over to accept the cup.
Don't hit a smiling face, right? Brett didn't particularly want to experience what strength CP0's supreme leader possessed.
However, compared to his build, this teacup in his hand seemed excessively small.
"Brett, do you know why we called you here?" Saint Mars behind the sofa wore a neat black suit. His long white beard hung down. His face was gaunt, his frame also appearing thin. His voice was very low, revealing no emotional fluctuation.
"Why would that be?" Brett asked with interest.
"Because we want to ask what you want to do." Saint Mars' voice turned cold. "No need for excess nonsense. Contacting the giants and those minority races without authorization—what does Fish-Man Island want to do?"
Quite frank.
Was it because there were no outsiders here, so no need to pretend?
"Isn't this good for the government?" Brett chuckled lightly. "Ryugu Kingdom is a government member nation. Now the giants and others have allied with us, so don't they also count as half a government member nation?"
"I think you should be thanking me instead."
"Stop talking nonsense, Brett." Saint Saturn on the sofa snorted coldly. "Gathering so much power—how can we be sure you're not opposing the government?"
"So you deliberately called me here to condemn me?" Brett put his teacup back on the table and smiled. "How scary. Don't tell me Marine Headquarters' three Admirals are hiding in the next room right now, just waiting for your order to burst through the wall and arrest me."
"You should understand us, Brett." Saint Ju Peter had a much gentler tone than his colleagues. He spoke:
"Perhaps from beginning to end you only thought about self-preservation, but for the government, the appearance of an organization like the Heptagonal Alliance might be the beginning of disrupting the seas' situation."
"Is that so?" Brett smiled.
Good cop, bad cop, huh?
"Before this, wasn't our cooperation very pleasant?" Saint Ju Peter continued . "We just hope you won't do anything foolish. As long as you and Fish-Man Island are still willing to stand with the government, we're naturally willing to continue supporting you as always."
"Whether you or Fish-Man Island, you can obtain everything you want."
Is that so?
I want the World Government to disappear from this world—can you make that happen?
"To make us trust you, show your sincerity, Brett." Saint Nusjuro —wearing white robes quite incompatible with his colleagues and holding a sword—turned around.
Brett could hear very clearly that this guy's attitude was the most unfriendly even among all the unfriendly Five Elders.
He said, "As you said, go make your allies also become the government's allies."
This was completely unsurprising.
But no, something was wrong.
What these five old things were thinking seemed to be more than just this.
Brett heard very clearly—the Five Elders' current emotions were suspicion, determination to push forward some matter.
What were they planning?
Or rather, had they already decided to do something?
Too bad he could only read their emotions. If only he could accurately read others' thoughts like the Red Count.
"This isn't an easy matter. It will probably take a lot of time. As you know, they're all non-member nations with no good feelings toward the government." While speculating about what the government wanted to do, Brett casually placated them.
The places the government might cause trouble were nothing more than three.
One was here—directly targeting himself or Neptune.
Another was Fish-Man Island—pulling some trick while he wasn't there.
The last was Dressrosa—Queen Otohime was still participating in post-debut training there.
So which side was it?
Or multiple fronts at once?
"Time doesn't matter. As long as you can demonstrate your attitude, we'll already be satisfied." Saint Ju Peter smiled.
"You'll see it." Brett seemed quite serious.
But actually, this matter just required having allies put on a performance.
Stalling for several years wouldn't be a problem.
"Having such awareness from you is enough!"
Next, the Five Elders' attitudes greatly changed. They could be called enthusiastic in conversing with Brett, making many promises before letting Brett return.
Really.
Brett sighed inwardly on his way back—his mind-reading Observation Haki really didn't do justice to the Five Elders' amazing acting skills.
After Brett left, the Five Elders in the Room of Authority became somewhat silent.
"He's completely just placating us."
"Then even if we confirm Fish-Man Island has no problems, we must put a collar on this guy."
"First confirm Fish-Man Island really has no problems! Have your people prepare to act, Zero. The timing will be during tomorrow's opening ceremony."
"Yes."
The next day was the day the Reverie officially opened.
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