Dragon saw Kong's nervousness and spoke softly.
"Lieutenant Commander Kong, there's no need to be nervous. I only happened to see you in Loguetown and wanted to meet you."
Kong gave up. He was very self-aware; even at his best, he couldn't hurt Dragon a bit. Rather than thinking about how to escape, he might as well consider how to serve this big shot.
"How fortunate I am, to attract the attention of the Revolutionary Army leader."
Dragon laughed.
"A year ago, the Boa Islands in the Grand Line. Do you remember, Lieutenant Commander Kong?"
Kong was still thinking when Paimon reacted.
"Ah, the base of that 22 million Beli bounty pirate. I think his name was Jack the Ripper."
Kong also remembered. Jack the Ripper was a villain in the Grand Line, originally from the West Blue Mafia. He later killed his boss, slept with his sister-in-law, and was hunted by the entire Mafia alliance, with even the Vinsmoke family issuing a bounty on his head.
Eventually, he was forced to go to sea, becoming a pirate.
Knowing his own weakness, he had no ambition after reaching the Grand Line. He simply occupied a remote island and established himself as a tyrannical ruler.
His daily pleasure was capturing the islanders and performing bloody dissections for entertainment.
Because the Boa Islands were so remote and near the Calm Belt, few people ever came there.
Until one time, Kong's patrol fleet was preparing to leave the Calm Belt for the North Blue and happened to pass by the Boa Islands, discovering this hellish place.
That was the first time Kong had killed pirates on the spot. Even now, recalling the bodies disemboweled and hung on the coast to feed vultures, his anger boils up. It was that incident that solidified his resolve to become a Marine.
"Was Jack one of yours?"
Dragon shook his head.
"Impossible. Our Revolutionary Army would never allow such a villain to exist. I wanted to thank you on behalf of the residents of Boa Island for ridding them of this scourge. Our people arrived at the island about a week after you left, and now they worship you as a god."
Kong was embarrassed.
"A god...? That's a bit much."
Dragon said seriously.
"It's not an exaggeration. A statue of you has been erected in Boa Island's harbor. To them, you, the one who killed Jack, are a savior. I heard you gave them all the supplies from your fleet to help them rebuild their homes, right?"
Kong didn't deny it. He had indeed done that. Although the return journey was miserable—the eight ships of his fleet survived on fish—they didn't regret it.
"Anyone with a shred of humanity would have done the same,"
Dragon sighed.
"Yes, anyone with humanity would... Lieutenant Commander Kong, what are your thoughts on the current world situation?"
Kong blinked.
"With my eyes?"
Dragon laughed.
"You don't have to be on guard with me. Even if you say something inappropriate, do you think I'd run to the World Government to report you? I'm just curious how the disciple of Fleet Admiral Sengoku views this world."
Kong's heart sank. It had finally come. His identity as Sengoku's disciple was intimidating to some pirates, but to the Revolutionary Army, it meant nothing.
Even the Yonko would give the Marines some face, but the Revolutionary Army was an existence of utter hostility—they wouldn't give a damn about appearances.
Kong didn't answer directly but asked instead,
"Then, Mr. Dragon, how do you view pirates?"
Dragon pondered for a moment.
"Pirates... should be killed! But that applies to pirates before Roger. Now, it's hard to define pirates. Since Roger, this sea has carried too many dreams. The legendary One Piece, more than wealth, symbolizes the spirit of adventure."
Kong asked,
"Aren't you curious about that One Piece?"
"Curious, but it's not what I seek. I seek a world of peace."
"If so, then your target might be wrong."
"I... wrong?"
Kong threw caution to the wind.
"Your enemy shouldn't be the World Government. No matter how rotten the World Government is, they always have a fig leaf called 'justice.' At least on the surface, they have to set a good example. You can go around and listen to the voices of the people—how they view the World Government, pirates, and the Revolutionary Army."
Dragon's eyes sharpened.
"You mean the Revolutionary Army disrupts peace?"
"No, I mean the Revolutionary Army shouldn't consider the World Government their primary enemy. Everyone says Roger was great, and I used to think so too. But after seeing how despicable those evil pirates were, I changed my mind."
"Indeed, Roger wasn't as vicious as those pirates. More than a pirate, he was a great explorer, spending his life adventuring, and finally discovering the One Piece that drove the world mad. But his biggest mistake was revealing what the One Piece was at the end of his life."
"That one sentence ushered in the Great Age of Piracy; the number of pirates skyrocketed. He's become forever famous, but he didn't consider the immense disaster his words would bring to the world."
"Boa Island is just one example. I believe there are places far worse than Boa Island, and this is still with the World Government's deterrence in place."
"If you overthrow the World Government now, there will only be more tragedies like Boa Island."
Dragon was stunned.
"You mean that before overthrowing the World Government, we should first eliminate the pirate menace?"
"That's one way, but I think the Revolutionary Army can't do that, can they?"
A hint of bitterness touched Dragon's lips.
"We can't... The World Government is right there, a clear target... but there are too many pirates."
Kong held up two fingers.
"So, I have two ideas."
"Let's hear them."
"First, become the Pirate King. As soon as a new Pirate King is born, the number of pirates will be reduced by at least half."
Dragon nodded in agreement.
"True, but that's not easy. So far, no one has found that treasure except Roger."
Kong laughed.
"Of course they can't find it. Roger only said he hid the treasure on Raftel, but he didn't specify which Raftel. People have been to Raftel over the years, but they haven't found anything, right?"
Dragon's eyes showed a hint of admiration.
"At such a young age, you can see through this. You're truly someone Sengoku would choose. What about your second method?"
Kong looked into Dragon's eyes and said word by word,
"Bypass the World Government and overthrow the Celestial Dragons. They are the core of corruption. Then, let the Revolutionary Army take over the World Government. This way, the World Government system won't collapse, and the problem can be solved at the root."
Dragon looked at Kong for a long time.
"I suddenly want to snatch you away from Sengoku... I've investigated you. You grew up on the Red Line, entered Marine Headquarters training at age 10, and are Sengoku's disciple. Yet you can say such things—you're a natural revolutionary."
Kong quickly shook his head.
"No! The old man's been good to me. I don't want to oppose him. Revolution is none of my business. I just want to fight pirates and live a comfortable life."
Paimon chimed in as well.
"Yeah, yeah! Kong shouldn't get involved in dangerous things!"
Dragon said,
"Don't reject so quickly. My judgment of people is usually accurate. You will definitely become an important member in driving world change."
Kong also guaranteed.
"Rest assured, even if I jump off this ship, I will never leave the Marines."
Dragon didn't insist.
"Then let's wait and see."
After saying that, Dragon leaned against the wall and feigned sleep.
"That... Mr. Dragon..."
"Hmm?"
"We still have things to do... Don't you think you should..."
Dragon laughed.
"I want to invite Lieutenant Commander Kong to witness a young man's journey today. Isn't it the same if we do it a day later?"
Kong sighed.
"Understood..."
In the end, he was still being held hostage. Sure enough, Dragon, that guy with the shoehorn face, wasn't a good person either.