"Kuzan used the Celestial Dragon's story in Ohara for publicity, won over a group of Marines, and also made some contact with the Revolutionary Army."
Borsalino said with a laugh, showing absolutely no awareness of betraying his colleagues.
Saint Ross was their superior, so this was at most a case of reporting someone who went over his head.
"You still have connections with Dragon? I heard Dragon turned his Self-Defense Force into a revolutionary army?" Ross asked with a smile.
Due to the properties of the Glint-Glint Fruit, Borsalino was currently in charge of intelligence within the Marines.
Originally, Saint Saturn's plan was that, because Vegapunk was somewhat unruly, he would wait for Borsalino to be promoted to Admiral and then take charge of the Science Department, while also keeping an eye on Vegapunk.
Now that Vegapunk was gone, there was no longer a need for Admiral-level fighters to be stationed at the Science Department.
"How terrifying! I never imagined that adults would know about such trivial matters."
Borsalino wore an exaggerated expression of terror, but his eyes gleamed with a thoughtful light.
The transformation of the Freedom Fighters Force into the Revolutionary Army was only known to these geniuses in the Marines, who simply reported it to the Five Elders and then nothing more was done.
The fact that even Ross knew about this spoke volumes.
This meant that Dragon, who had previously been ignored, had come to the attention of the World Government because of the name "Revolutionary Army," which was not a good thing...
Upon realizing this, Borsalino immediately abandoned his idea of contacting Dragon.
He and Dragon were old acquaintances, and he originally thought quite highly of Dragon, believing that he might actually be able to accomplish something.
But now that he had been targeted by the World Government, all Borsalino could do was silently mourn for him.
"That's just how the world is; there are always people who think they can change it. Kuzan is like that, and so is Dragon." Ross shook his head.
"Does Your Excellency believe these people are like moths drawn to a flame?"
Borsalino smiled and continued, following Ross's lead; he always hid his true feelings behind a joking and exaggerated expression.
"You think 'moths to a flame' is a derogatory term?" Ross laughed.
Isn't that so?
Borsalino, with a mocking expression, made an exaggerated look of confusion.
"Of course not." Ross shook his head. "If the world were without these people, wouldn't it be much less interesting? The world is never afraid of change; what it fears is becoming stagnant."
"Your level of understanding is too high; I simply cannot comprehend it."
Borsalino smiled, his eyes narrowed, though he was quite surprised.
This wasn't his first encounter with Celestial Dragons. Whether they were elite or ordinary Celestial Dragons, their views were very similar, only their ways of expressing them differed.
In the eyes of the Celestial Dragons, they were the masters of the world, while the Marines and pirates were just a bunch of lowly peasants.
The fact that the Celestial Dragons referred to the Red Line as the Holy Land and the ocean as the Lower Realm gave a general idea of their thinking.
Those people didn't care at all what was happening at sea. How could a god, high above, understand the suffering of mortals?
Borsalino never expected that Ross would have such a peculiar idea.
Although there was still that sense of superiority, he only saw himself as an observer, not as a god who ignored everything.
"Borsalino, after the Celestial Hunt is over, you wouldn't mind doing me a favor, would you?" Ross asked with a smile.
"Of course I don't mind. Your orders are my direction."
Borsalino readily agreed, as he always did—he'd agree quickly, but the quality of his execution depended entirely on his mood.
If Ross was talking about something that absolutely must be done, then he would take it very seriously.
Nothing could stop him from slacking off in the Marines.
"Keep an eye on Kuzan and Dragon's communications. If necessary, make things easier for them," Ross said.
"My lord, you really are..."
Borsalino winked, but was too embarrassed to say anything negative.
But after just one encounter with Ross, he knew that Ross was a rotten, rotten person.
If hell really existed, Ross would definitely have a seat of his own on the eighteenth level.
"I'm just showing them the way. If you, Borsalino, also want to, I'll grant your wish." Ross smiled reservedly.
"Hey, I don't want to leave the Marines. I have deep feelings for this place. Of course, a black sheep like Kuzan should be removed from the team as soon as possible."
Borsalino chuckled and agreed, since it was just a verbal promise anyway. Since Ross had been vague, it was still up to Borsalino to decide how to proceed.
A monopoly was not a good thing.
Whether the Kuzan faction or the Sakazuki faction was in power, his workload would double.
Since that was the case, then of course they should deal with this first, and then go deal with that.
After exchanging a few more words, Borsalino made an excuse and left.
Ross watched his retreating figure and simply smiled meaningfully.
He never expected to get Borsalino on his side with just a few words.
Sometimes, if you wanted someone to become deeply involved, you had to keep adding more and more pressure.
To get Borsalino to completely side with him, Ross had to keep creating problems for him.
Gion.
"What are your orders..."
"Contact Sakazuki and tell him that Borsalino promised to monitor Kuzan, and that he would be in charge of monitoring the progress."
What did you do when you encountered a subordinate who slacked off? Of course, you found him a supervisor who couldn't tolerate any wrongdoing.
Once Borsalino and Kuzan met, Borsalino would have no say in what happened next.
After what happened in Ohara, Kuzan was now much more tolerant of injustices. If Borsalino ran into trouble, things would get interesting.
Ross actually quite liked Borsalino for this reason: as lazy as he was, he absolutely didn't want to lose his stable job. If you gave him a little push and pressure to get rid of him, he'd be a top-notch ox or horse.
At normal ship speeds, it would take two full days to travel from the Holy Land to Baterilla Island.
With so much time, Ross certainly wouldn't waste it.
There were many Marine personnel on board, and he was interested in exchanging ideas with quite a few of them.
Not long after Borsalino left, Ross met the first person he had been waiting for.
"Admiral Sengoku, did you also think the weather was quite nice today?"
Sengoku raised his head, glanced at the dark clouds, and nodded solemnly, saying:
"The weather is really nice today."
"Alright, the Sengoku admiral was looking for me, surely not to talk about the weather?" Ross said with a smile.
The current Fleet Admiral, Kong, was about to be promoted, and among the current Marines, the one most qualified to succeed him was Sengoku.
In other words, the day that Kong was promoted to the World Government was the same day that Sengoku became the Fleet Admiral of the Marines.
Whether or not he could truly become the Fleet Admiral depended on Sengoku's sincerity.
Sengoku was the most qualified candidate, but not the only one.
...
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