All the kings present turned their gazes sharply toward the Drum Kingdom's King, Wapol.
"Your Highness! Please, I beg you to stand up for the Drum Kingdom!", Wapol's face was filled with grief, yet there was also a trace of surprise in his expression.
The incident had happened just last night. He had thought he alone had received the news, he never expected Rosse to have gotten word so quickly, and even to personally bring it up at the World Conference.
To say he wasn't moved would be a lie.
A calamity had fallen from the heavens, and Wapol hadn't slept all night, pacing in a daze, wondering what to do.
He hadn't even figured out how to bring it up yet, when Rosse had already taken the initiative to speak, and in a tone that sounded like he was willing to help.
"Don't get agitated. I've only heard general information. The specific details should still be explained by King Wapol," Rosse said calmly.
"Yes, sir!"
Wapol quickly nodded. Though his head was still a mess, he began to explain the situation in full.
In short, last night the Drum Kingdom had been attacked by the Revolutionary Army, led by Dragon. The nobles and royals were all slaughtered, only the delegation attending the World Government survived.
Their factories and pharmaceutical plants were condemned as enslaving the common people, and everything was destroyed. The civilians were all dispersed and driven out.
As for the most important doctors of Drum Kingdom, they were accused of siding with the aristocracy. Most were taken away, leaving only a few who had been hiding among the civilians.
"Your Highness, those people aren't revolutionaries at all, they're just a bunch of pirates waving the flag of revolution! Please, I beg you to stand up for the Drum Kingdom, and for its people!"
Wapol's voice trembled, tears streaming down his face as he denounced the Revolutionary Army's actions.
Rosse's expression didn't change much, but behind him, Moa looked rather uneasy.
For this World Conference, Rosse had brought both Moa and Stella along.
In truth, he had already known about the tragedy in Drum Kingdom since that morning.
The reason he brought Moa here was to see what kind of reaction she would have after hearing it.
At the very least, Rosse was quite satisfied.
"You're an allied nation, and you've helped the Jaygarcia family before. You also stand on the side of justice. Naturally, I'll see that justice is done for you."
Rosse nodded lightly, making his position clear.
Honestly, he rather appreciated Figarland.
He had just finished establishing his authority, and now they'd handed him a perfect opportunity to display benevolence. Truly, what thoughtful people.
Did they really think that doing this would hurt his prestige and make the allied nations afraid to side with him?
Handled properly, this would have the exact opposite effect, it would only make more allied nations rally to his side.
The Revolutionary Army under Dragon was a group of unreasonable madmen who only killed the aristocracy. The cost of crossing them was obvious.
But by staying close to Rosse, even if they risked being "carefully managed", they'd gain his protection in return.
The more crazed Dragon became, the more likely it was that other allied nations would turn to Rosse unconditionally.
And Dragon's existence was, in fact, beneficial to Rosse.
With Dragon swinging the blade, Rosse didn't even need to dirty his own hands eliminating old-world nobility.
"King Wapol, aside from Dragon, who else was involved in this operation? Dragon's Devil Fruit ability makes him ideal for escape, if he was acting alone, almost no one could catch him. But even if Dragon himself can't be caught, I'll still make sure to deal with those doctors and accomplices for you," Rosse looked at Wapol, giving his assurance while pressing for more details.
"Your Highness, thank you for your help! Aside from Dragon, there were three squad leaders."
Wapol couldn't hide his relief and hurried to report, "One had purple hair, was big and fat, neither male nor female. Another was very tall, with a square face, looking rather simple and honest. The last was a tall woman with pink hair."
He didn't know exactly who they were, but he remembered their appearances.
When they attacked Drum Kingdom, it had been those three leading the charge.
"Who are they?"
Rosse didn't answer himself. Instead, he turned to look at Moa.
He already had a good idea, but of course, this sort of thing had to come from the current leader of the Revolutionary Army, Moa.
Moa felt despair rising in her chest, along with anger toward Dragon's actions.
Right now was supposed to be a time for rest and recovery, why did he have to stir up trouble? Did he think the World Government wouldn't find out?
The World Government might not be able to catch Dragon, but did he think they couldn't catch anyone else?
Under Rosse's gaze, Moa had no room to refuse.
Previously, Rosse had assigned her the task of gathering and organizing data on the Revolutionary Army.
It was tragic, really, she was the leader of the Revolutionaries, yet she had to help the enemy compile intelligence on her own organization.
The worst part was, the information Rosse gave her was more detailed than what she herself knew.
He had every detail, no matter whether it was her faction of the Revolutionary Army or Dragon's faction, marked down clearly and precisely.
Sometimes, she even had to rely on the intelligence Rosse gave her to make adjustments within the Revolutionary Army.
Even the undercover agents from the World Government, Rosse had openly told her who they were. And yet, she couldn't do anything about it, not even act like she knew.
If she dared to say anything, her own identity would be exposed immediately.
The feeling was unbearable.
But she had no choice. Her current public identity was Rosse's "toy." If she ever wanted to escape him in the future, she had to play along for now.
And to be honest, without Rosse's intelligence, she wouldn't have been able to compete with Dragon's faction without showing her face.
At least most of the old members who had been tricked or abandoned by Dragon still supported her. People like Ivankov, who were loyal to death, didn't count.
"If I'm not mistaken, it should be these three."
Moa sighed inwardly, but on the surface, she stayed perfectly composed as she operated the projection screen, bringing up the images of Ivankov and the others on the big display.
"The androgynous officer is named Emporio Ivankov. Once a slave of the Celestial Dragons, he escaped from the Valley of the Gods eighteen years ago. Later, he followed Dragon to found the Freedom Army and became one of the founding members of the Revolutionary Army. He possesses the Horm-Horm Fruit, with a strength ranking of B-class... height...", Moa publicly detailed Ivankov's full profile in front of all the allied nations.
With each sentence she spoke, her heart twisted a little tighter.
Though he wasn't part of her faction, he was still a comrade from the past. Selling out a teammate in the enemy's headquarters, it made her feel utterly ashamed.
"So you're saying this Ivankov is Dragon's right-hand man, essentially the second-in-command of the Revolutionary Army?", King Sterri of the Goa Kingdom asked, frowning.
"King Sterri, your information is outdated."
Moa wanted to cover her face in frustration, but under Rosse's watchful gaze, she forced herself to continue explaining, "The Revolutionary Army suffered a defeat at the hands of Saint Arlin in the Sorbet Kingdom, after which they were relentlessly hunted. During that period, Dragon abandoned the Revolutionary Army and went into hiding to seek Vegapunk's legacy in the Giant Kingdom."
"After that, Dragon was stripped of his position as leader. The Revolutionary Army has since been led by a mysterious commander operating from the shadows, one who was among the masterminds behind the Holy Land incident," As Moa said those words, her scalp tingled with dread.
How did the World Government know that much? They even knew that she was one of the masterminds behind that event.
What did that have to do with her?
She had only leaked information about Rosse, she hadn't taken part in any of the actual events.
And besides, who could've predicted it would turn into such a huge mess? Not only had one of the Five Elders died, but Mary Geoise itself had to be rebuilt afterward.
If the Celestial Dragons ever learned that she was supposedly one of the "culprits," not even hundreds of lives would be enough to save her.