Finn laid out his plan in careful detail.
The more Dragon listened, the more bewildered he became.
"Let me see if I understand this correctly," Dragon said slowly, his voice tinged with disbelief. "You're telling me that an adventurer from Fish-Man Island was captured and enslaved in Mary Geoise during his travels. Now he's escaped and wants revenge on the Holy Land by liberating the slaves. You suspect he'll cause massive unrest in Mary Geoise, and you want to take advantage of the chaos to plunder their wealth. This operation must be handled by my Revolutionary Army. And in the end, you get sixty percent while I get forty percent?"
Dragon paused, his tone turning flat. "Is that what you're saying?"
To be honest, if Dragon hadn't known Finn for so many years, if they hadn't been good friends back when they were both Marines, Dragon would have thought Finn was outright insulting his intelligence.
Mary Geoise held thousands of slaves. Every few years, a handful of powerful ones managed to escape. But did Finn really expect him to believe that this Fisher Tiger character would have the audacity to take revenge on the Holy Land itself?
Even if he had the courage, how could he possibly cause any real damage to Mary Geoise?
Didn't this sound absurdly far-fetched?
In truth, from the perspective of the current world, it was absurd.
Before Fisher Tiger set fire to Mary Geoise, no one had considered the possibility of such a thing happening. No one imagined the Holy Land could be tormented by a single escaped slave.
If Finn hadn't possessed knowledge from another timeline, he wouldn't have believed it either.
But history would prove that the supposedly impregnable Holy Land could indeed be burned by Tiger. Thousands of slaves would be freed, sparking unprecedented chaos. The World Government would suffer immeasurable losses and crushing humiliation.
And that was just what Tiger accomplished alone. If the Revolutionary Army supported him, the results would be exponentially better. With proper preparation, they could take advantage of the chaos to plunder Mary Geoise's wealth. Those Celestial Dragons were obscenely rich, after all.
Beyond wealth, there were treasures: rare Devil Fruits, legendary swords, priceless artifacts. The potential gains were enormous.
In short, it sounded completely ridiculous.
But if arranged properly, both Dragon and Finn would feast.
"I know it sounds incredible," Finn said softly, his tone earnest. "But it's true."
On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Dragon fell silent for a long moment.
Finally, he spoke. "Are you really that confident in this Fisher Tiger?"
"Absolutely," Finn said without hesitation.
Dragon's breathing grew heavier through the receiver.
For a moment, he even suspected Finn had set a trap in Mary Geoise and was planning to catch the entire Revolutionary Army in one fell swoop.
But thinking it through more carefully, if Finn really had such an arrangement, he'd need a more convincing reason to lure Dragon in. There was no reason to make it sound so absurd. What if Dragon thought he was spouting nonsense and refused to participate?
Viewed that way, it seemed... slightly more credible?
Although what Finn described sounded like complete fantasy, Dragon had to admit that the scenario Finn painted was incredibly appealing.
They could inflict devastating damage on the World Government, strike at their so-called Holy Land... No, wait. Strike at what? Plunder what? The Revolutionary Army embraced the noble ideal of saving and liberating oppressed slaves. All that wealth and treasure would merely be incidental...
How could such a righteous act be described as "plundering" like some pirate raid?
This was a just cause!
Liberating the slaves in Mary Geoise would undoubtedly increase the Revolutionary Army's reputation and change how many people viewed them. Simultaneously, conquering the Holy Land would bring enormous prestige to the organization.
As Finn said, this would be something unprecedented in eight hundred years. If it succeeded, it would be a tremendous humiliation for the World Government.
The Revolutionary Army had started from nothing. Dragon had operated on a shoestring budget for years. If this operation succeeded, it would solve their funding problems for the foreseeable future.
At the same time, the liberated slaves would very likely join the Revolutionary Army, strengthening their numbers.
In short, the more Dragon thought about it, the more he realized that if this could be accomplished, the benefits to the Revolutionary Army would be immense.
It was worth taking risks for. From that perspective, there was no reason to reject Finn's proposal.
But...
The premise was that everything Finn described, which sounded utterly ridiculous, would actually come to pass.
Otherwise, it would be extremely embarrassing.
"I have to say, I'm tempted," Dragon admitted. "But... it's really hard to believe such an outrageous prediction."
"You know the Marines have developed a good relationship with Fish-Man Island recently," Finn said smoothly. "We also have intelligence sources on the island. Trust me."
They had no such intelligence sources on Fish-Man Island.
But Dragon didn't know that. Finn's confident assertion did provide some comfort, though the whole thing still seemed outrageous.
"Think about it from another angle, Dragon." Finn's voice took on a different tone. "Even without Tiger, can't your Revolutionary Army accomplish this alone?"
Dragon fell silent.
If this conversation had happened two years ago, the answer would have been absolutely not.
Sneaking into Mary Geoise had been nearly impossible. The Revolutionary Army couldn't simply climb the Red Line together, could they? That would be absurd.
But now... it was actually possible.
Two years ago, a new giant cadre named Morley had joined the Revolutionary Army. His ability allowed members to infiltrate Mary Geoise quietly and cause significant damage.
Dragon had never seriously considered such an operation before. After all, Mary Geoise was the Holy Land. Its reputation had stood for hundreds of years. Normally, no one would contemplate such a thing.
But now that Finn had mentioned it, new possibilities were opening in Dragon's mind...
If it was true, as Finn suggested, that Mary Geoise only appeared invulnerable but was actually riddled with weaknesses, and if a single escaped slave could wreak havoc on the Holy Land, then there was no reason the Revolutionary Army couldn't succeed.
In fact, Mary Geoise truly had minimal defensive capabilities at this point. Such a major incident hadn't occurred there in hundreds of years. The defense forces that had been established long ago had degraded beyond recognition. The so-called "garrison" stationed there was entirely for show, a place for noble children to pad their resumes and gain credentials. If something actually happened, could you count on them?
Absolutely not. They'd probably run faster than anyone.
Only after Fisher Tiger dealt a devastating blow to Mary Geoise would the Five Elders and other high-ranking World Government officials suddenly realize how vulnerable they were, how thoroughly rotten the Holy Land's defenses and systems had become.
After that incident, the reconstruction of Mary Geoise and the reorganization of various defense forces would reverse this absurd situation, gradually making the Holy Land's defenses more robust. After that, no one would be able to cause trouble like Tiger again.
Several years later, at the World Conference, the Revolutionary Army would launch another surprise attack on Mary Geoise, but they wouldn't achieve nearly as much success. That would be the contrast.
In other words, if Dragon didn't follow Tiger's lead this time to strike Mary Geoise, he'd never have such a golden opportunity again.
Dragon was beginning to understand these underlying dynamics.
He thought silently, weighing the feasibility and success rate of the operation.
At that moment, Finn spoke again. "I'll disperse Marine forces across the seas in the near future, as far from Mary Geoise as possible. That'll help buy you time if things go sideways."
After a brief pause, Finn pressed harder. "This is a golden opportunity, Dragon. Whether your Revolutionary Army can demonstrate its might and gain a huge advantage depends on this. It might even save you years of development time. Why are you still hesitating? Are you afraid of retaliation from the World Government?"
Hearing this, Dragon laughed. "Retaliation? It's nothing more than the World Government frantically trying to hunt down and annihilate the Revolutionary Army. But honestly, even if I didn't do anything to Mary Geoise, wouldn't they still try to do the same to us? Why would I care about that?"
It was true. The World Government had always regarded the Revolutionary Army as a mortal enemy.
Whether Dragon attacked Mary Geoise or not, the World Government would do everything in its power to destroy the Revolutionary Army. The so-called consequences were meaningless.
Those who have nothing aren't afraid of those who have everything. I'm already at rock bottom. What more can you do to me?
"Then why are you still hesitating?" Finn laughed.
"I'm afraid you're trying to screw me over, you bastard!" Dragon said bluntly.
"Damn, that's not very nice to say. How many times have I helped you? I turned a blind eye when Moria joined your Revolutionary Army. If Bartholomew Kuma didn't have me, could he have become one of the Seven Warlords? If your son Luffy didn't have me, he might be some wild mountain child right now. How could he aspire to become an excellent Marine? Your father is old and alone. Isn't it me, the Admiral, who takes care of him at Headquarters? And you're doubting me now? Isn't that a bit much?" Finn's voice was genuinely offended.
Dragon had to admit Finn had a point, though the last example was a bit strange. Did his father need Finn's care? He was probably having the time of his life at Headquarters!
"You really won't screw me over?" Dragon asked again.
"Do it or don't, damn it. I'll go find Doflamingo instead. He'd be very interested in this..." Finn said irritably.
Doflamingo would definitely be interested. If he knew about this opportunity, he'd participate eagerly.
But Finn truly didn't dare use Doflamingo, because while the pirate might be rational and clever about other matters, when it came to Mary Geoise, he'd most likely lose his mind completely.
What if that guy went on a killing spree in the Holy Land and refused to evacuate in time, getting himself captured?
It wouldn't matter if Doflamingo went down, but if Finn got dragged into it, that would be a disaster.
Therefore, in Finn's mind, the most suitable person to take the blame was still Dragon. This man was far more capable than Doflamingo, and it was virtually impossible for him to lose his composure during the operation. With Dragon taking the initiative, the possibility of the World Government catching him was almost zero.
Therefore, there was no real risk for Finn.
As for whether this would give Dragon leverage to threaten him in the future?
That was laughable. This whole thing was so absurd that Dragon still thought Finn might be joking with him. If he went out and told people that Finn had predicted someone named Fisher Tiger would attack Mary Geoise and tricked him into joining the operation, no one in their right mind would believe it!
Furthermore, there was no need for Dragon to threaten Finn. He knew perfectly well that Finn didn't respond to threats. If you dared threaten him, he'd fight you to the death.
There was no point in creating such an enemy.
"Alright, alright, alright. I'll trust you this time, Finn." Dragon finally made his decision, gritting his teeth. "I'm taking a huge gamble. I'll go to Mary Geoise and handle this myself. I hope after all these years of friendship, you won't let me down!"
"Don't worry, just go ahead and do it!" Finn's voice rang out solemnly. "If anything goes wrong, it'll be... ahem, it'll be entirely your responsibility. I'll take good care of your father and your son, so you don't need to worry about anything. The Monkey family definitely won't die out. In short, go ahead with confidence!"
If Dragon's wife hadn't already passed away, Finn would have wanted to shout: "I'll take care of your wife too!"
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