The royalty of the affiliated kingdoms were a mixed bag. Some seemed to be coasting on the merits of their bloodlines, having inherited their status without understanding a thing. They were just as clueless as the Celestial Dragons.
But then there were some kings who were rational and outstanding, with a powerful presence in their words, like King Nefertari Cobra and King Riku Doldo III, who was supporting his proposal.
Even though the young Cobra had put forward a very sound motion to abolish the Warlord of the Sea system, the World Government seemed to have been prepared. They responded without a hint of panic.
After a fierce debate, the balding Gorosei member smiled and tapped the table, bringing the conference room to silence once more.
"We have to admit, His Majesty Cobra's proposal has some very constructive points. Perhaps the enactment of the Warlord of the Sea Act was indeed legally improper. Therefore, based on the debate just now, we, the Gorosei, unanimously agree that the Reverie has the highest legal authority within the World Government. We should have a vote here to definitively settle the dispute over the act's legal standing," the balding Gorosei said with a smile.
Cobra's eyes lit up, and he felt a glimmer of hope.
"Then, let's vote by a show of hands. Those who agree with His Majesty Cobra's proposal and support the abolition of the Warlord of the Sea Act, please raise your hands," the blonde-haired Gorosei said softly.
Cobra didn't hesitate for a second and raised his hand. At the same time, King Riku Doldo III, King Elizabello II, and several other exceptional kings also raised their hands.
Diarmuid didn't hesitate either. As a Marine Admiral, he naturally had voting rights at this kind of meeting; otherwise, what would be the point of him being there? So, Diarmuid also raised his hand.
Sengoku, Zephyr, and Kong followed suit, openly showing their stance against the World Government.
The kings, however, weren't too surprised by the Marines' attitude. The Warlord of the Sea Act was something that first and foremost affected the Marines' interests, so it would have been strange if they had supported it. Besides, as an institution of violent justice, how could the Marines possibly agree to something as evil as the Warlord of the Sea system?
But a look of excitement never appeared on King Cobra's face. Instead, his expression grew increasingly somber. He could see clearly now that even with the top Marine brass supporting his proposal, they were still in the minority in the conference room.
This frustrated him. Do all these affiliated kings have no brains?
Just then, he saw the subtle, knowing smiles on the faces of the Gorosei. His heart sank. It seemed the Gorosei, or rather, the World Government, had anticipated this situation. They had prepared for this behind the scenes, perhaps even buying off many of the affiliated kings.
"Those who abstain, please raise your hands," the blonde-haired Gorosei said softly after glancing at Cobra.
Then, five more kings raised their hands. At that moment, it was confirmed that Cobra's proposal had been rejected.
What disappointed Cobra even more was that his proposal had not only failed to abolish the Warlords of the Sea but had, to a certain extent, helped solidify their legal standing.
Just as he was trying to process his thoughts, he heard the blonde-haired Gorosei say, "Now, please raise your hands if you support the Warlord of the Sea Act."
As soon as he spoke, a huge number of kings raised their hands, completely overwhelming Cobra's minority.
Diarmuid stretched luxuriously and muttered, "Ah, what a damn pain."
Now that the matter was settled, these were their own choices. If they were to suffer any losses because of the Warlords of the Sea in the future, the World Government would have no reason to feel guilty; they had voted for it themselves.
"We were already mentally prepared for this outcome, weren't we?" Sengoku said, sounding completely unconcerned. Although he was frustrated to see these ignorant kings formally pass the act, Marine Headquarters already had a mature strategy in place to deal with the Warlords of the Sea, and Smoker was already taking full action. So Sengoku couldn't care less.
Do whatever you want. The Marines have plenty of ways to deal with it anyway. He just felt a little bad for men of vision like Cobra, who were stuck playing with a bunch of idiots. It would be a miracle if they won.
Seeing this, the blonde-haired Gorosei gave the dejected Cobra a sarcastic look, then smiled. "The Warlord of the Sea Act has now been officially approved by the Reverie. Effective immediately, the Warlord of the Sea Act will have the legal authority of the Reverie..."
As he said this, the Gorosei looked at the top Marines with a playful glint in his eyes. Diarmuid and the others showed no change in expression.
The Gorosei's words were clear. Before this, the Warlord of the Sea Act was only a World Government initiative, but now, it was a law passed by the affiliated kingdoms at the Reverie.
The two carried completely different levels of authority.
Now, no one would be able to unilaterally abolish the Warlord of the Sea Act. To abolish a law passed at the Reverie, it would have to be done at the Reverie. In other words, to get rid of the Warlords of the Sea in the future, it would only be possible to take action through legal means at the quadrennial Reverie.
This move completely gave the World Government an advantage over the Marines on this issue.
No matter how much the Marines complained, they could only abolish the Warlord of the Sea system if they could win the approval of the majority of the affiliated kings and pass a motion at the Reverie.
If they brought up this issue with the World Government again, the Marines would be in the wrong, and the World Government would have the moral high ground!
However, the Gorosei were a little surprised that the Marines showed no change in expression. But they quickly understood. Given their mutual familiarity, it was normal for the Marines to have anticipated that the World Government would fix this last weakness in the Warlord of the Sea plan.
"Now, let's continue to discuss the issue of the Revolutionary Army," the blonde-haired Gorosei said softly.
After that, King Cobra sat back in his chair, looking somewhat crestfallen, his expression incredibly grim.
Diarmuid smiled and said to Sengoku, "You can see that King Cobra has vision and foresight, but his political skills, or his political mind, are too simple. You could even say he's a little reckless and not decisive enough."
Sengoku nodded. "That's true. But no one is perfect."
Cobra was indeed a good king. He likely had vision and a broad perspective, but his political mind was too simple, and he wasn't decisive enough. Otherwise, he would have started campaigning and gathering allies long before the meeting began, rather than making a rushed proposal here, which only ended up helping the World Government.
His style of doing things could also be seen in his dealings with that devious old man Crocodile more than ten or twenty years later. He was too set in his ways. He didn't understand what it meant to take extraordinary measures in extraordinary times. He was played by Crocodile from beginning to end.
Honestly, if the Straw Hat Pirates hadn't meddled in Alabasta at the time and if that Luffy hadn't gotten a power-up and miraculously knocked out the crocodile in the desert, Alabasta would have undoubtedly fallen into Crocodile's hands, and the Nefertari royal family would have probably been wiped out.
Thinking of this, Diarmuid paused. The Nefertari royal family wiped out? He then looked at Cobra, then at the Gorosei.
The Nefertari family was one of the descendants of the Twenty Kings. Their lineage was so noble that the World Government couldn't ignore them, as they were, in a sense, Celestial Dragons living among commoners.
Because of this, they held significant influence in Mariejois. The World Government couldn't deal with them the same way they dealt with a normal affiliated kingdom, like using some underhanded trick to neutralize former king Bartholomew Kuma of the Sorbet Kingdom.
And as it turned out, the Nefertari family was far from being a bunch of scum like the Celestial Dragons. They had been committed to changing the world's power structure for the better. Or, to be more precise, since they refused to join Mariejois eight hundred years ago, they had a deepseated conflict with the Celestial Dragons.
Therefore, it was only normal for the World Government to want to get rid of them. It was impossible for the World Government to have been unaware of Crocodile's long-running reign of terror in Alabasta. What would the CP agency be doing then?
By allowing the situation to escalate to that point even with prior knowledge, a lot of things were revealed. The World Government might have even been secretly supporting Crocodile...
"Tsk, tsk, a top-ranking military power. We might be able to pull them over to the Marines' side," Diarmuid muttered to himself.
After that, Diarmuid lost interest in the rest of the meeting, the discussion about the
Revolutionary Army and so on. He turned his attention back to chatting with the manga artist Zephyr. Most of the topics were meaningless debates, and he guessed it would take three or five days for them to discuss anything of value.
After several more hours, the day's meeting finally ended. Diarmuid felt completely relieved as he walked out of the conference room.
Sengoku seemed to have other things to do and left in a hurry. Kong left with the Gorosei.
Zephyr said he was having a flash of inspiration for his manga and was going back to draw.
So, Diarmuid was left to leave all alone. As for Hina, she no longer had the right to attend the meeting after it began and had returned to the base in Mariejois.
He stepped out of Pangea Castle and looked at the sky, which was starting to darken. Diarmuid rubbed his stomach; he was a little hungry.
Just then, a graceful figure emerged from behind a stone pillar and asked with a smile, "Are you hungry?"
Diarmuid turned to see none other than Queen Stussy.
"A little," Diarmuid nodded.
"Would you like to... come to my place for a meal? My cooking is really great, you know," Stussy said with a playful eyebrow raise and an alluring look in her eyes.
Diarmuid smirked and feigned a serious tone, asking, "Is that okay? This is Mariejois, and with you as a high-ranking member of CP and me as a Marine Admiral... won't that cause trouble and misunderstandings?"
Stussy laughed. "It's after work hours now."
Diarmuid nodded in earnest. "You have a point. It's after work. Come to think of it, we've known each other for so many years as close friends, and I've never been to your place. That's my fault. Let's go, let's go. I'd love to try your... cooking."