The situation was so bizarre that Borsalino didn't even know how to react properly.
Not to mention… That golden fruit.
He might not be the smartest, but he had a clear understanding of his own body. He could feel a subtle improvement in his body with just a single bite of that golden fruit.
On the other hand, something so incredible was being eaten as if it were an ordinary fruit. He was even given one—him, who could be seen as an enemy, after all, he belonged to the Marines, and the Marines were supported and commanded by the World Government… Although, the World Government practically didn't even exist anymore with the Five Elders dead.
Of course, none of them knew that besides the Five Elders, there was also Imu, who sat on the throne and was the true person who ruled the entire world. However, her departure was just like her presence—without anyone knowing about it.
She wanted to remain unknown and died without going down in history. A very ironic end for someone who ruled the World Government from the shadows.
Whether she was immortal or not didn't matter. The moment she was struck by the Power of Destruction, even immortality wouldn't survive.
Only if immortality could surpass Zaydas's very destruction would she have had a chance of surviving, but if she were that powerful, she wouldn't have needed to live in hiding, with no one but the Five Elders knowing of her existence.
(AN: I believe there are more people who might know about Imu's existence, but besides the one who was going to become one of the Five Elders in the near future, and the Divine Knights—though I don't think the World Nobles know about her. But since that's not very relevant, at least in my opinion, I won't go deeper into it.)
Suddenly, the Den Den Mushi turned toward them.
Borsalino almost choked on the golden fruit.
He knew who was watching them, so seeing him sitting beside the 'enemy' and eating while watching the current World Government being destroyed… It wouldn't leave a good impression of him.
But what could he do?
Not even they dared to approach this man with scarlet red hair and had sent him to observe from afar through a Den Den Mushi…
But he was curious… Why did Zaydas turn the Den Den Mushi toward them?
He soon had his answer.
"I presume you're curious about me and my intentions," Zaydas said slowly. "This is your golden opportunity. You can ask anything—I'll answer if I feel like it. I bet the people watching also want to know more about me and my people, right?"
Borsalino didn't deny it and even looked a bit more pleased. With that, they couldn't blame him for relaxing even in this moment.
Clearing his throat after swallowing the piece of golden fruit in his mouth, Borsalino asked: "So, Zaydas. You said earlier that the current World Government was something that no longer needed to exist, just like the World Nobles. I ask you, do you wish to replace them?"
When that question was asked, in the meeting room, several gave Borsalino a thumbs-up. That was their biggest question.
"Take over power? Of course not," Zaydas replied. "I did what I did because there was no need for them to continue existing. Without them, it would be much easier for the world to move in a better direction. Just like this ridiculous era of pirates would be easier to end, as long as the Marines stop babysitting those vermin who called themselves Gods."
Zaydas's answer was so concise and uncensored that many of those watching gasped.
However, one thing was certain: many felt that this might not necessarily be a bad thing.
Which one of them had never thought that the World Nobles were a bunch of useless people not worth protecting?
They only kept doing it because it was their duty, not out of free will.
Garp was one of them.
For that and other reasons, he didn't accept being promoted to Admiral, even though he was stronger than them.
Now, with the end of the World Government, they could actually worry more about dealing with pirates than about parasites who were better off dead.
Of course, some disagreed, but they were the minority.
There was a purpose to the existence of the World Nobles, but it wasn't in a good sense.
Because of that, their ugly side would be easier to see—after all, even within the Marines, there was corruption.
Now, would this guy Zaydas also go after some of them?
If he discovered a corrupt Marine base, would he go after them?
If that's the case, it might not be a good thing—after all, if public morale dropped and people stopped trusting them, it was possible that they'd start refusing to pay taxes, and they wouldn't have the means to keep buying weapons, etc.
Before, it was the World Government that supported them financially, but with its end, who could they turn to?
In the end, would they still need to establish a form of government for this to work?
"With the end of the World Government, you must be worried about the funding support you used to receive, right?" Zaydas seemed to read the thoughts of many and said: "It's not complicated. Just receive a direct fee from the kingdoms that want the protection of the Marines. As long as it's fair, I believe many kingdoms would be willing to do that."
"But wouldn't that make us similar to the World Government once that happens?" Borsalino asked.
"No." Zaydas denied it: "As long as you agree to serve the people, not them. If they don't want it, it's their problem. In more extreme cases, you can hold an election on a given island and decide on a new king to govern. Why worry about whether they agree or not? If it's for the better, why worry about a king who isn't willing to pay to protect his people? Wouldn't it be better if he disappeared too?"
"If we do that, how different would it be from before?" Borsalino asked.
"Of course it's different," Zaydas replied. "That way, there will no longer be 'Untouchable Nobles,' but rather leaders who must care for their people. Otherwise, they could be dethroned."
"Dethroned?"
"Yes, you can do something like an election every 4 years," Zaydas said. "Every 4 years, there are elections, and a new 'King' is chosen to rule a given kingdom. If the King is good, he'll stay in power, chosen by the people. If not, in 4 years a new one can rise to the throne."
Disbelief was written all over Borsalino's face.
In part, he seemed to accept it as something good. On the other hand, it was a completely new way of doing things, and he didn't have enough knowledge to know whether it would work or not.
However, if it's a "King" chosen by the people, and a new one could be chosen every 4 years of term, it might not be a bad thing.
In the meeting room, Akainu slammed his fist on the table.
"What nonsense is this guy talking about!"
"Not necessarily nonsense," Sengoku said. "What he said could indeed be a good solution for us. It might even create a monarchy system better than the previous ones. If a King is chosen by the people and after 4 years a new one can be reelected, it means it'll be harder to abuse power. After all, once he becomes a King chosen by the people, he must understand the importance of maintaining good public opinion, otherwise, after 4 years, he'll have to give up the throne to someone else."
"I agree with Sengoku," Garp said.
"Me too," Tsuru said.
Several others began to agree.
The truth was that there really was a good perspective, but...
"The nobles won't accept this quietly," someone said.
"Of course not, but they have no choice," Sengoku said. "If they don't accept it, they'll still have to accept it."
His words came with a threatening tone.
Now that they had reached this point, although they didn't dare to challenge Zaydas and his group, at least they saw a light at the end of the tunnel.
If they did things this way, even the justice they had always fought for could finally be done more cleanly—and not be mere dogs who had to run wagging their tails whenever the World Government wanted.
However, for all of this to work, they would have to resort to force several times...
Honestly, it was a difficult situation.
But, as Zaydas had said, not all needed to be dethroned—only those who refused to cooperate and didn't care about their people.
They had already done far worse things—what's dethroning a few useless kings, after all?
The issue was… Zaydas had created a massive and unreachable psychological barrier. Reaching him was out of the question, and with the end of the World Government, if they wished to continue existing, they needed support—and the idea Zaydas had imposed was something that could actually work with a good margin for success.
However, they couldn't act greedily. The fear that, if they started extorting kingdoms, Zaydas would come after them was no joke.
They had just seen a little girl simply punch one of the CP0, and he was shattered to pieces.
Each of them had monstrous strength and strange powers.
Not to mention that all of them seemed able to fly, which made them even harder to deal with.
And, the most frightening thing of all—so far, none of them had suffered a single scratch.
Besides that, each of them had powers, so assuming they were Devil Fruit users, some tried using seastone handcuffs. However, they were met with strange looks before those handcuffs were broken as if they were nothing.
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