"The North Blue is just the beginning. As he said, after all these years of establishing his hold there, he's already brought many nations and powers under his control... He doesn't even need to intimidate the North Blue with military force."
Topman Warcury spoke thoughtfully.
The blond Saint Peter looked grim.
"So, Warcury, what you're saying is... his display of military might before the world wasn't aimed at the North Blue, but at the other seas?"
Warcury sighed, pinching his temples as he nodded.
"That's likely his intention."
"On one hand, he's promoting the North Blue's low 'taxes.' On the other, he's using that display to pressure the Member Nations in the other seas... If we so much as touch the North Blue, if government warships enter that region, no one knows when or where the North Blue Fleet might strike."
"In that scenario, the brat won't even need to fight us himself. All the Member Nations—out of fear—will start turning on us, politically pressuring the government to back down."
At this, a heavy gloom descended over the eyes of the other four Five Elders.
Saint Jaygarcia Saturn picked up a Den Den Mushi and dialed a signal.
"Kong. Give me a report on the situation in the Member Nations following the world broadcast."
Two minutes later, Kong's deep voice came through.
"Reporting to the Elders—almost every Member Nation has experienced unrest of varying degrees."
"Nobles and royals have been flooding the government with letters. Their demands are nearly identical... They want the government to abandon sovereignty over the North Blue to avoid provoking Rogers Daren."
'The North Blue is chaotic and barren—there's no need to rule it.'
'If he wants it, give it to him.'
'The Five Elders surely understand the Member Nations' concerns.'
"These are their exact words."
"While none of the representatives stated it openly, all of them are applying political pressure."
By the time he reached the last line, Kong's tone had clearly grown more cautious.
The Five Elders sat in silence, a deathly stillness settling over the assembly hall.
The air grew heavier.
The blood from the headless CP0 corpse had long dried into a dark, reddish stain on the marble floor.
"We understand."
Saturn said flatly.
"Kong, handle their demands."
"Understood, Saturn-sama."
The call ended.
Kong stood in silence for a moment before turning to stare at the frozen image on the screen.
That unruly young man, captured mid-speech, seemed to shine.
"You really did it, Daren..."
Kong murmured, lighting a cigar from the desk and taking a deep drag.
Only after that did his aged eyes reflect a rare and complicated emotion.
He had served the World Government for decades. But never had he witnessed anything like this.
In this earth-shaking political game, a young Marine Vice Admiral had, through sheer strength and strategy, forced the world's supreme authority into retreat.
Maybe those Member Nations had a point.
So what if he claimed the North Blue?
The region was chaotic. Among the Four Seas, the North Blue had the fewest countries even capable of paying Heavenly Tribute.
It was poor, underdeveloped—hardly fertile ground for building a lasting military power.
Starting a global war over such a patch of ocean? Not worth it.
That was how the Member Nations saw it.
But Kong knew better.
There's a difference between backdoor negotiations and public concessions.
With this live broadcast, Daren had dragged the World Government's dirty politics into the light, forcing their hand.
This wasn't just about the North Blue anymore.
He had torn apart the political foundation the World Government spent 800 years building—
And in front of the entire world, he had ripped a bleeding wound in the image of their untouchable supremacy.
When a god starts to bleed...
Can the people still revere him as one?
If this had been the old, unshakable World Government, those Member Nations wouldn't have dared utter a word.
"But still..."
Looking at the mountain of letters and the blinking Den Den Mushi on his desk, Kong gave a helpless smile.
"You got your message across loud and clear... but now I'm the one stuck cleaning up the mess."
...
Inside Pangaea Castle.
At some point, the Five Elders had already passed through a long corridor and left the council chamber behind.
Dim light filtered in through the ornate Baroque-style stained glass windows, casting a faint glow on the stone. Their shadows stretched and shifted along the walls—swaying, elongating, contracting—as if demons were clawing at the mortal world.
Their footsteps echoed through the dark passageway.
"It's time. We've never been driven to this point before."
"We have to admit it—Rogers Daren, that little brat, truly possesses a talent beyond anything anyone else in this sea can match."
"In the past eight hundred years, there's been no one like him."
"And yet, he's clearly not one of the D clan. We completely underestimated him."
"That's the terrifying part. He's not even a 'D,' yet he's stirred up more chaos than they ever have..."
"Maybe he's been planning to go against the World Government from the very beginning."
"Yes... otherwise, it just doesn't make sense. Before the incident at Philseque Island, we hadn't done anything to him. If anything, we rewarded him."
"There were no signs he'd go on to create the North Blue Fleet."
"What could have pushed him to start thinking of defying us while still stationed in the North Blue?"
"It doesn't matter."
"We can't allow this to continue. If we do, the political order we've upheld for eight centuries will collapse completely—and we... will go down in history as its destroyers."
Behind them, their shadows stretched longer still, and in the darkness, their eyes glinted with a haunting red light.
They pressed onward until they finally emerged into a vast, dim hall.
At the center of the chamber stood a long staircase.
Both sides of the stairway were lined with countless weapons—blades and spears like a graveyard of war.
At the top of the stairs loomed a massive throne, sharp and towering like a blade piercing the heavens.
The throne, which should have remained empty, was now occupied.
A tall, slender figure sat upon it, cloaked in luxurious silks and crowned with a regal headdress. His slightly pale right hand rested against his cheek in quiet contemplation.
At the sight of this figure, the Five Elders—the highest authorities of the World Government—dropped to one knee in reverence.
"Five Elders, humbly greet Imu-sama!"
Their voices echoed through the dusty, ancient chamber.
Slowly, the figure upon the throne opened his eyes, as if waking from a deep slumber.
Eyes the color of blood, ringed with pitch-black circles.
"I... see it... a figure that should not exist... in this world..."
His voice was fragmented, strained—like someone who had gone so long without speaking, he had forgotten how.
"The world... order... is unraveling."
As those words fell, a vast shadow began to rise behind him.
It swelled like a curtain of darkness, blanketing the heavens, radiating an aura so terrifying that even the Five Elders began to tremble.