"Because I'm not one of those idiot rulers who drain everything dry just to indulge themselves."
Rosse looked at Shanks. His gaze was like that of a farmer looking at the sheep in his pen.
"Everyone in this world is my wealth. As someone at the top with an endless lifespan, what I should do is maximize my wealth, not let it lose value meaninglessly in chaos."
"I enact laws. I provide food and medical care. I grow the population. In such a short time, the population of this world has tripled."
A smile appeared on Rosse's face.
"The more people there are, the more people there are to farm for me and mine resources for me, isn't that right? The more people there are to provide me with technology and entertainment, isn't that right? And aren't the women who grow up in peace and prosperity more beautiful?"
Rosse's logic was simple and direct.
He was like a cold-hearted player managing a simulation game.
The better and more prosperous he built this world, the more comfortably he himself could live in it.
The more people there were, the cheaper labor became, and the richer the top-tier services they could provide him.
"That's so naked it's disgusting!"
Shanks felt his stomach churn.
He had thought Rosse had some twisted grand ambition. But after all that, this god looking down from above had only one reason for turning the world into a utopia: to turn all humanity into his own high-end livestock farm, all so he alone could enjoy life more.
"Shouldn't a cruel ruler be like the Celestial Dragons of the past, living for today and doing whatever they pleased?", Shanks gritted his teeth as he demanded.
He didn't accept Rosse's ideals. After hearing them, he only felt even more unwilling.
'Someone who can so easily make the world better... why would he hold such evil thoughts?'
'Why?'
'Why is this world so unfair?'
'Why are people like us, who want to make the world better, the ones without that ability?'
As if seeing through Shanks's thoughts, Rosse let out a soft laugh.
"It is precisely because I have no taboos that I possess this kind of power."
"What people call human nature has always been the shackles we use to bind you."
"The more you care, the more tightly you're bound, and the less likely you are to have power."
"You want too much to do everything well. But perfect goodness exists only in fantasy."
"As for those cruel rulers you mentioned, the reason they act that way is even simpler."
"The reason they live for today is because they have no tomorrow."
Rosse shook his head with contempt, "Those mortal rulers live in constant fear. Fear that tomorrow a bullet will pierce their heads. Fear that tomorrow the Revolutionary Army will drag them down from their pedestal."
"Because they fear losing power, they desperately exploit everything and indulge themselves during their limited lives."
"But I don't need to."
Rosse raised a long finger and lightly tapped his chest. The gesture carried both composure and arrogance.
"I have power. My lifespan may even outlast the existence of this world. I have endless years to slowly savor the sweetness of power. Why would I, like some nouveau riche fool, rush for temporary pleasure and smash my own rice bowl?"
"So many races, a population exploding in number, development no longer limited by war... I'm looking forward to seeing what miracles these ordinary people I've raised in captivity will eventually create for me under absolute order."
Hearing this, Shanks's grip on his sword loosened for a brief instant before tightening again with even greater resolve.
"Tch!"
Shanks suddenly raised his head. A cold laugh filled with defiance and fury burst from deep in his throat.
Dark crimson Conqueror's Haki, visible to the naked eye, crackled around him as it forced itself against Rosse's godlike pressure.
"Your arrogance has reached the extreme, Rosse!"
He admitted that, for a few moments just now, Rosse really had given off a kind of divine radiance that instinctively made people want to kneel and believe.
It was the terrifying pressure born from reason and power woven together.
But he did not believe true eternity existed in this world.
Time could wear down flesh. It could build iron cages. It could make people willingly become livestock.
But only the flame of the spirit that longed for freedom, even if only a single spark remained, would surely be passed down through generation after generation.
That was his belief. It was the new era he had bet his arm on.
He would never let this shepherd high above break his spine with a few simple words.
"Your Majesty Rosse!"
Just as the Conqueror's Haki around Shanks was about to erupt completely, a slightly hoarse yet exceptionally steady voice suddenly rang out.
Bonk Punch stepped forward.
Blood seeped from his left arm, which had not yet been bandaged, swaying slightly in the sea breeze, but he seemed not to notice. His eyes looked straight at Rosse.
"I've heard that ever since you came to power, the World Government has been carrying out a policy of completely free medical treatment for all ordinary people."
"If that's the case, then how are the status and interests of doctors protected?"
"There are countless sick people. Ordinary people can't tell the difference between serious and minor illnesses. Some will delay treating a minor illness until it becomes serious, while others will go to the doctor over the slightest problem. How do you prevent that?"
"Or rather, where do you find enough doctors to serve a population of billions?"
The sudden question brought a strange pause to the atmosphere.
He was a pirate, yes.
But before that, he was a doctor.
Unlike the rough men of the Red Hair Pirates who only knew how to eat meat in huge bites, drink wine by the bowl, and roam the seas on passion alone, Bonk Punch had received an extremely high level of education.
He had traveled across the four seas and personally seen countless civilians rot away in filthy alleys because of poverty. He also understood better than most how corrupt and incompetent the World Government once had been.
Precisely because he had seen so clearly, he had always viewed the old World Government's rule with helpless resignation. Rotten to the core, yet there seemed to be no other way.
The reason he followed Shanks was simply because he wanted to taste a strong drink called freedom in this filthy world.
But after drinking it for so many years, it only left bitterness in his throat.
'Is the freedom we have now really freedom?'
It was nothing more than false freedom built on disorder, chaos, and the blood and tears of ordinary people, a freedom where only the strong celebrated.
Especially today, when Yasopp's freedom as a pirate had destroyed Usopp's family, that fabricated freedom had become nauseating to him.
"Bonk Punch! What the hell are you saying to this devil?"
Veins bulged on Yasopp's forehead as he raised his long rifle and roared.
Shanks also clenched his teeth. Griffin's blade had already left its sheath by half an inch, and Conqueror's Haki danced wildly around him.
"A very good question," Rosse merely laughed softly.
He casually waved his sleeve.
Buzz!
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
No dazzling light.
In a single instant, the air across the entire deserted island seemed to freeze.
"Urgh!"
Shanks's eyes widened, filled with overwhelming shock.
His Conqueror's Haki, powerful enough to shake the seas, was forcibly suppressed back into his body by Rosse.
His sword, drawn only half an inch, became stuck in its sheath. His fingers remained in the motion of exerting force, yet could no longer move even a single millimeter.
Yasopp's mouth hung open. The curses lodged in his throat turned his face purple-red. He could not even force out the faintest whimper.
Benn Beckman, Snake... every surviving member of the Red Hair Pirates was nailed to the spot like insects pinned into specimens. Only their eyeballs could tremble wildly inside their sockets, revealing deep despair.
With a single wave of his hand, none of them could move.
They had experienced this gap in power once before.
But no matter how many times they experienced it, the terror brought by such overwhelming strength still instinctively filled them with fear.
Rosse did not even spare them a glance.
His interested gaze rested on the only person still able to move freely, Bonk Punch, and he spoke gently.
"First, let me answer your first question."
"Providing free medical care for everyone doesn't mean doctors' status will decline."
"On the contrary, in my new order, because their hands hold the lives of billions, they will be placed on a pedestal by society and earn the sincere respect of the overwhelming majority of people."
Rosse lightly tapped out a rhythm with his slender fingers, "Furthermore, under the current World Government system, doctors are government employees."
"Once they pass the examinations and become doctors at government hospitals, they become employees of the World Government. They enjoy the best resources, social privileges, and generous treatment without needing to worry about making a living."
"I see."
Listening to this, Bonk Punch nodded slightly, a trace of understanding appearing in his eyes.
"So the government guarantees their status to preserve the profession's dignity?"
He did not judge whether the system was good or bad.
After all, he had never lived in that new world and had no right to speak carelessly.
But Rosse's seemingly casual explanation quietly surprised him.
It meant Rosse was not painting an unrealistic picture. The World Government had already established an efficient system that had been operating successfully for a long time.
Most terrifying of all, despite being the supreme ruler who was practically a god, Rosse actually understood the operational details of ordinary people's daily lives so well.
He had already surpassed one hundred percent of the rulers on this sea.
Yes. One hundred percent.
Bonk Punch was certain that no other ruler standing in Rosse's position would know such details.
"Professions like doctors, scholars, and teachers..."
Rosse leaned forward slightly, a smile at the corner of his mouth.
"While the World Government won't guarantee they'll never lose their jobs, and there is a strict elimination system to keep things dynamic, as long as they remain in those positions, I will give them enough dignity and respect."
"Now for your second question, how to ensure there are enough doctors."
The smile on Rosse's lips deepened.
Like a patient creator showing his masterpiece to a mortal, he continued, "There are indeed many people in this world. And under my protection, they'll continue multiplying like weeds."
"The logic behind handling medical overcrowding is simple. Constantly train new doctors while classifying hospitals and doctors by different levels."
"On every island and in every remote village, the government has established basic clinics staffed only by primary-care doctors. They serve as the first line of defense, responsible only for basic diagnoses and treating common illnesses."
Rosse described the existing medical system.
"When a case cannot be diagnosed or treated at a local clinic, the clinic immediately reports the medical records to a higher-level hospital through Den Den Mushi."
"If further treatment is confirmed to be necessary, the higher-level hospital immediately dispatches government medical ships or even airships to transport the patient to a major hospital for surgery."
"All of this... is completely free?", Bonk Punch's brows drew tightly together.
Just imagining such an enormous medical network covering billions of people made his scalp tingle.
The amount of berries needed to maintain such a system every day could probably buy dozens of Yonko pirate crews.
"Of course it's free," Rosse spread his hands with a smile, "It's only a trivial medical expense. The current World Government can easily afford it."
"But... that doesn't make sense!"
Unable to help himself, Bonk Punch stepped forward. His instincts as a doctor drove him to raise his sharpest question.
"Take an ordinary laborer at the very bottom of society. Judging by the value of his labor, even if he works hard his entire life, he might only create a few hundred thousand berries in value for the government."
"But if the finest medical technology is needed to treat his rare illness, the cost of a single operation could exceed the total value he creates in his entire lifetime."
"Why would you willingly make such a losing deal?"
He was a doctor.
He understood this world's cruelty too well.
On these seas, special medicines for terminal illnesses and famous doctors' treatment fees were astronomical.
Some nobles spent tens of millions of berries and still couldn't buy back their lives.
Of course, there were also saintly doctors who charged nothing and traveled everywhere treating people for free out of conviction.
But there were too few of them. Not only could they not save everyone, they often ended up bankrupt from paying for medicine themselves and died young from overwork.
Bonk Punch had never agreed with that kind of self-sacrificing martyrdom.
"You're still measuring cost with money."
The smile on Rosse's face gradually faded as he gently shook his head, "But I value only people."
"As long as people are alive, they will reproduce, their ideas will collide, and there will always be a one in ten thousand chance that they create a miracle."
"Only billions of living civilians, woven together, can create surprises that satisfy me as their ruler."
"Heh!"
Bonk Punch stood frozen for a long while before suddenly laughing at himself and slowly shaking his head.
"Your head is filled with the scum's way of seeing people as ornamental fish, yet everything you do is the work of a saint who saves the world. I truly can't understand you."
If he hadn't long known that Rosse had been born a Celestial Dragon and had been a lawless villain ten years earlier, Bonk Punch might really have believed the man before him was a living saint sent down to save the world.
"There has never been a perfect saint in this world, has there?"
Rosse lightly stroked his chin, his tone calm.
"It is precisely because I possess endless selfish desires that I still have expectations for the human race. I will carefully raise them in captivity and let them move safely and prosperously forward along the path I have laid out."
At this point, Rosse's eyes suddenly turned playful, "If one day I lose all interest in pleasure and control. If one day I become a perfect god without selfish desires, with nothing left in my mind except the cold pursuit of civilization's progress..."
"When that day comes, Bonk Punch, that's when you mortals should truly despair."