Seeing the somber expressions on Gion and Zephyr's faces, Ross didn't say anything more, but simply turned and walked towards the ship's interior.
He had said everything he needed to say.
To win over subordinates, incentives and emotions alone were not enough.
Most importantly, you needed to ensure that your subordinates were aligned with your goals, and that they felt that you were working towards the same objective.
That's why they say faith is the ultimate meaning of loyalty.
If Ross had the ability to spread his faith, he would have wanted to establish religious rule. Unfortunately, he lacked the capability, so he could only dream about it.
Since they couldn't rely on faith, they would rely on a secondary shared goal.
Zephyr and Gion currently had no personal ideals; they simply adhered to the principle of order.
What Ross wanted to do was to equate their vision for the future with the order he wanted to create.
To put it simply, he kept making promises and constantly guiding Zephyr and Gion.
Although Ross had never practiced it, he had seen and experienced a lot. No matter how bad the other world was, its society was still more advanced than the slave system in the pirate world.
With subtle guidance, even if the Revolutionary Army's ideology spread, Gion and Zephyr would not be confused; they would only stand firmly on his side.
...
A day passed quickly.
During this time, Borsalino and Sakazuki came to Ross's warship and met him, thus becoming acquainted with him.
Borsalino was rated S-, while Sakazuki was only rated B.
So far, only Kuzan remained unseen.
Kuzan had been on his warship these days, completely ignoring Ross.
He wouldn't visit unless Ross summoned him.
Ross also discerned the current dovish sentiments within the Marines from Kuzan's actions.
Don't provoke them, don't get close.
The doves believed they were upholding justice, not serving the World Government.
They had very naive and simple ideas; they were all good people.
But no matter what world you're in, good people are always among the ones who suffer the most.
A gentle sea breeze blew as Ross stood at the bow of the warship, gazing into the distance.
An island in the distance gradually grew larger, and the towering trees on the island slowly became faintly visible.
Behind him, Gion and Zephyr stood ramrod straight, dressed in CP0 white suits.
"Ohara, a holy land for historians. The Tree of Knowledge, which has survived for 5,000 years, is truly magnificent."
Ross looked up at the towering tree that covered almost the entire island, a hint of amazement in his eyes.
Ohara was not small; if you squeezed it in a little, it could house 100,000 people.
However, the Tree of Knowledge alone occupied nearly half of Ohara's area.
Its extremely lush canopy, like a sky-covering canopy, bathed most of the island in its shade.
"Unfortunately, it would become history today."
Sakazuki walked to the bow of the ship, his tone cold.
He didn't care about 5,000-year-old historical sites; as long as he believed something was right, he would see it through to the end.
"What's the plan? I think it includes evacuating civilians?"
Ross looked at Sakazuki; with his support behind the scenes, Sakazuki was the true commander of this Buster Call.
"Hmph, headquarters ordered the evacuation of civilians, only killing all the historians, and then destroying the Tree of Knowledge after everyone had been evacuated."
Sakazuki crossed his arms, his face showing dissatisfaction with the orders from headquarters.
In his view, the people at headquarters were too kind.
If you dared to study taboos that were explicitly forbidden, you had to be prepared to die.
The fact that those commoners could live near the Tree of Knowledge suggested that they had connections with that group of historians, and most likely provided them with assistance. It was also highly probable that some of these historians were lurking among them.
If justice was not absolute, then it was absolute injustice.
"Since this is the headquarters' idea, let's do it this way. I will go to the island with you."
"But to be honest, I still think Vice Admiral Sakazuki is more likely to become Fleet Admiral. If you become Fleet Admiral, these historians won't dare to do any more research. This Buster Call might not even happen."
Ross's seemingly unintentional remark made Sakazuki's eyes flicker.
He certainly wanted to be a Marine admiral, didn't he?
But in the Marines, promotion required more than just strength.
"Alright, let's go to the island. Lieutenant General Sakazuki, contact me anytime if there are any developments. CP9 reported to me that they found some interesting people on the island, so I won't be going with you."
Ross waved to Sakazuki. His main purpose in coming to Ohara was to satisfy his collecting obsession; what happened in Ohara and to that group of historians was not his concern.
"Yes, sir!"
Sakazuki bowed to Ross, a rare occurrence for him. It seemed like a normal farewell to a superior, but it actually expressed a change in his attitude towards Ross.
Ross's lips curled up slightly as he took two steps forward. Zane instinctively lowered herself, allowing Ross to step on her back.
Ohara had a port, but with the Buster Call about to be carried out, the warships would not dock at the port, but would be ready to bombard the shallow waters at any time.
To reach the island, they would first have to cross a sea area of about 1 kilometer.
He had only just started learning Geppo and hadn't had any related terms trending lately, so he couldn't easily cross that 1 kilometer yet.
Swimming across would be too embarrassing.
But what could you do when he was a Celestial Dragon?
Once Ross had a firm footing, a pair of demonic wings extended from Zane's back, and a heart-shaped succubus tail also emerged from her rear.
The slender succubus tail quickly wrapped around Ross's waist, ensuring his body remained stable in the air.
Having done all this, Zane flapped her demonic wings, lifting Ross into the air.
Seeing this, Gion and Zephyr used Geppo to walk to the left and right of Zane.
Even the entire Ohara was not as important as Ross's life.
If something had happened to Ross in Ohara, all the Marines carrying out the Buster Call would have been implicated.
Ross stood on Zane's back and soon reached the shallows of Ohara.
"Your Highness, I will carry you the rest of the way," Zane said respectfully.
"I don't need a mode of transportation. I'm not slow, and the situation over there isn't urgent."
Ross shook his head and got off Zane.
Although Zane's riding experience had been quite good, he wouldn't treat her like a mount.
After spending these days together, Ross had a general understanding of Zane's personality.
Zane would do her best to fulfill any order she received.
But at the same time, Zane's biggest wish was to have fewer orders every day.
Ross couldn't possibly not order Zane around; that would go against his original intentions.
However, giving them some relaxation was still fine.
"Yes!"
Zane silently retreated behind Ross, spreading her Observation Haki outwards, constantly alerting her surroundings.
Her mission was to protect Ross, and even though she wished her daily life could be easier, she still strove to do every task perfectly.
"Gion, where are they?"
Upon hearing Ross's question, Gion immediately reported:
"According to the message from Spandine, Nico Robin is at the Tree of Knowledge, while Nico Olvia is in Saul's hideout."
"Let's go check out Saul's hiding place first."
"Saint Ross, with Saul's strength, he might be able to…" Gion frowned slightly.
"With me here, what can a mere Saul do?"
Zephyr snorted lightly, completely disregarding Saul.
So what if he was a giant Vice Admiral? He wasn't even in the same league as him.
Whenever Zephyr thought of the former Marine family members in Ross Palace, he felt an urge to beat Saul to a pulp.
It was fine to be dissatisfied with the Buster Call, but betraying the Marines was one thing—why drag a bunch of colleagues into it?
After dragging down a group of colleagues, it would have been better if he had done something meaningful. But he didn't do anything and instead came to Ohara to die. He should have betrayed them when the Buster Call was being carried out.
After all this, what became of the Marines that helped Saul?
It wasn't that people had ulterior motives that was scary; it was that they were foolish. Zephyr truly understood the meaning of this saying.
Today, he would personally clean house for the Marines.