[Holy Land, Five Elders' Office]
"According to his explanation, it indeed can strengthen the rule of the World Government, and there isn't much necessity to object."
Saint Nusjuro held a long blade in his arms, looking at Rosse in the live broadcast with a calm assessment.
"Agreed. The life and death of the people below have nothing to do with us."
Saint Warcury's expression was cold, speaking bluntly.
Both of them were typical Celestial Dragons, used to sitting in the clouds and looking down on the world below.
In their view, let alone those who were already slaves, even the kings and nobles of the allied nations were no different from slaves.
No matter how proactive they were, they were still nothing more than ants.
"When the seas descend into chaos, do you really think we'll all be able to stay high and above?", Saint Saturn swept his gaze over Nusjuro and Warcury, his tone calm as he said, "The New World is already completely out of control. The first half of the Grand Line is full of pirates, and the Four Seas aren't peaceful either. Do you really hope that ten years from now, our descendants won't even be able to walk through the Sabaody Archipelago?"
"They're nothing more than unruly rabble. Whoever dares rebel, we'll kill them. Kill enough, and no one will dare to move," Saint Nusjuro said with killing intent surging.
"Pfft!", Saint Mars sneered.
"You can kill 1,000, or 10,000, but can you kill all the pirates? Or slaughter all the people of the allied nations?"
"Killing more to silence others is laughable."
"When the Rocks Incident happened recently, why didn't you say this kind of thing then?"
Saint Mars gave Saint Nusjuro a mocking glance.
The Five Elders were never a unified front, each having their own positions.
But there weren't fixed factions either. Today Saint Mars might ally with Saint Saturn, and tomorrow he might stand with Saint Nusjuro to criticize Saturn's policies.
In the end, it all came down to interests.
And in this matter, Rosse could bring him greater benefits.
"If that bunch of lowly people dares defy us, kill them all!", Saint Nusjuro's killing intent was overflowing, without the slightest effort to conceal it.
"All right, let's all say a few less words. You're all talk anyway. Back during the God Valley incident, I didn't see you teleport over," Saint Peter stepped forward to smooth things over.
But clearly, his words earned him glaring stares from both sides.
He didn't mind, and said slowly, "I don't think there's a need to argue. No matter how you see these people down below, the World Government still needs the allied nations. Strengthening rule over the seas is an undeniable necessity."
With these words, Saint Nusjuro fell silent.
It was clear that he actually understood this.
The reason he stood up in opposition wasn't because of Rosse's ideals or actions, it was something much simpler.
Rosse wanted to abolish slavery and strengthen control over the world below. But this brought no benefit to him.
Saint Nusjuro was in charge of finances. Abolishing slavery and giving them wages might increase efficiency, but it would inevitably cost more money, something he didn't view favorably.
And now, with the era of great pirates upon them and pirates causing chaos everywhere...
Many allied nations were already complaining, and even this year's Heavenly Tribute had several nations delaying payment by a month.
This already showed that the global situation had reached a critical point, requiring change.
According to Rosse's ideas, even if it didn't reduce piracy, at least it would shift the contradictions and encourage allied nations to pay the Heavenly Tribute with peace of mind.
When Saint Saturn submitted the report, Rosse's actual plan was very different from what he publicly broadcast.
What was said on the surface and what was done in the background were completely different, sometimes the surface narrative was to serve the hidden agenda. That was the norm.
"I have a question," Saint Peter looked toward Saint Saturn and asked in a serious tone:
"Previously, it was said that Saint Rosse's plan was essentially to transfer the value of slaves and expand the actual number of people enslaved by the World Government to indirectly weaken the World Government's influence. That wasn't incorrect, was it?"
"That's right," Saint Saturn nodded slightly. When Rosse first proposed the plan, even he had needed a full hour to figure out the key point.
"The essence of this plan is to remove the label of slavery on the surface, but in reality bind more people deeply, make them work for the World Government and become our community of interest."
"Then how do we resolve the contradiction with the allied nations? And what about the Heavenly Tribute?", Saint Peter inquired.
He didn't care about the process, he cared about whether the outcome would deliver.
The World Government didn't actually care about pirates. What it cared about was the influence pirates brought.
To the World Government, the annual Heavenly Tribute paid by the allied nations, and all kinds of luxury goods, were their true desires.
At present, aside from the Celestial Dragons in the Holy Land, the ones with the most slaves were the allied nation nobles.
If the World Government took the lead in abolishing slavery, it would definitely cause turmoil among the allied nations.
"Saint Rosse promotes the abolition of slavery, what does that have to do with the World Government? What does that have to do with the allied nations?", Saint Saturn smiled and countered.
"In Saint Rosse's name?", Peter gently nodded, instantly understanding.
Outwardly, it wasn't a complete ban on slavery.
That way, even if Celestial Dragons still had many slaves in hand, no one would say anything.
But in practice, the World Government would cooperate with Rosse's plan and increase its enforcement.
The benefits of abolishing slavery were clear to see.
First of all, the policy would significantly boost public support for the World Government across the seas.
Even if it couldn't completely offset the pirates' influence, politically it was a net gain.
But some underlying problems still couldn't be resolved yet.
"How will it be implemented specifically? What benefits do we get?", Saint Warcury directly voiced the key question.
"The core of the employment system is to have the World Government as the central coordinator. Let the allied nations employ their citizens to produce their country's unique goods. Then, using the World Government's channels, sell them around the world for profit."
"In this cycle, those citizens become bound to the World Government and remember our benevolence. Meanwhile, the allied nations become the ones taking away the employment fees, eventually perceived as exploiters."
"Later on, the World Government can use these civilians to influence the allied nations. If any nation disobeys, we stir up unrest in the name of helping the people and actually take control of those nations," Saint Saturn spoke coldly. This was also part of Rosse's plan.
But this part of the plan was told only to the other Five Elders.
To maintain the World Government's rule, the rest of the Five Elders, whether they cared about what happened on the sea or not, wouldn't reject this plan.
After all, this plan didn't require them to do anything, just a nod of approval.
And what Saint Saturn had to ensure was that each of the Five Elders' families would not suffer any losses from this plan.
Short-term benefits weren't what he and Rosse were after.
The long-term gains that this plan would bring were what their families truly desired.
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