"According to standard procedure, once Flevance is restored to peace and stability, those nobles and kings will legally retain their right to rule the country whenever they return. This is stipulated in the laws of the World Government."
At this, a hint of coldness seeped into Jake's voice.
"Fleet Admiral, is there any way to circumvent this law? To be honest, I don't want Flevance to fall back into the hands of those scums. This country has already suffered far too much. Those who were the first to abandon and flee when the nation was in crisis—what right do they have to return and steal the fruits of others' labor once the country prospers again?"
Hearing this, Sengoku understood Jake's intent.
He looked at the Den Den Mushi, observing the expression it mimicked from Jake, then nodded slightly before sighing.
"There is indeed a way. But if you go through with it, it might come at a considerable personal cost to you."
"What way?"
Jake paid no mind to the idea of personal losses.
He simply asked Sengoku his question directly.
Hearing this, Sengoku already knew Jake's stance.
In a tone that suggested he had expected as much, he said.
"I knew you'd answer me like this, kid. Fine, you're just like Zephyr—same stubborn personality. The method is actually quite simple. You can choose to abandon the name of the country Flevance and give it a new one. That way, everything tied to the name Flevance will become invalid, and those so-called nobles won't be able to return and rule over it anymore."
"After all, they are nobles of the defunct nation of Flevance, not of your newly established country. Even if you only change the name and keep everything else—laws, systems—exactly the same as before, it won't matter."
A faint smile appeared on Jake's face, but he continued questioning Sengoku.
"But what about the next steps, Sengoku-san? For example, rejoining the World Government as an affiliate nation?"
"Becoming an affiliate nation only requires you to pay the Celestial Tribute. It doesn't matter if you were previously a country or not—even if you're just the size of a small village, as long as you can afford the tribute, you can join the World Government immediately."
"And if you can pay more tribute than other nations, your status will rise accordingly. You might even become one of the core affiliate nations."
Hearing this, Jake remarked sarcastically.
"The affiliate system really is no different from those things, huh? But Sengoku-san, if Flevance wants to change its name, can it really be done just by a vote among the common people?"
"Common people alone would never be enough. You'd need the approval of more than half the country's nobles to successfully abolish the old name and adopt a new one."
"But those bastards fled on the very first day of the Amber Lead Syndrome outbreak! There's no way we can find enough Flevance nobles to meet that requirement now!"
Sengoku chuckled in response.
He fed a small stack of documents to the goat beside him before continuing.
"I wasn't finished, kid. You're getting impatient—that's not like you."
"My apologies, Fleet Admiral. I let my temper get the better of me."
"Don't worry, no one blames you. From start to finish, you've only wanted to give the ordinary people of Flevance a better life. With justice as pure as yours, who am I to criticize you?"
After reassuring Jake, Sengoku went on.
"Normally, renaming a country would require renegotiating countless treaties, and many international agreements would become void. This would leave a new nation completely isolated diplomatically at first, requiring tremendous effort to rebuild those connections later."
"But you shouldn't have to worry about that. Your reputation is strong enough—if you personally guarantee things, other nations will likely resume trade relations with Flevance without much delay."
"The main issue is actually how to get that majority of nobles to come and vote for you. But I can help you with that, because Flevance is not in ordinary times—it's in wartime. During wartime, you don't need a vote to decide whether the country has perished. Instead, it's up to us to assess whether the nation still has a reason to exist."
"And the meeting to evaluate whether Flevance can still function as a country has, quite conveniently, been scheduled by me for the morning of the day after tomorrow. So what you should be thinking about now is what Flevance's new name will be."
Hearing this, Jake said gratefully to Sengoku.
"Thank you, Sengoku-san. Did you already anticipate that I might ask you these questions?"
Sengoku didn't deny Jake's question.
He simply replied calmly.
"I didn't do anything like that. I just put my younger self in this situation and asked what I would have wanted to do back then. It's a kind of test for myself, and perhaps a sign that I'm growing younger again, haha. Anyway, you brat better work hard. Flevance is in your hands now."
"As for those bastards who chose to abandon their country and people at the first opportunity, they have no right to return and reclaim power. Besides, they knew from the very beginning—they knew what Amber Lead would bring. Yet they still went ahead with it, leaving ordinary people not even a sliver of a chance to survive."
"And precisely because they knew all along, haven't you noticed? Very few of those nobles suffer from Amber Lead Syndrome. And just before the disease was about to break out, they received word and contacted the World Government and the Marines, asking us to send ships to escort them away."
Sengoku sighed and continued.
"At the time, due to orders from the World Government, we had no choice but to comply. You wouldn't believe how much wealth those people carried with them. Let me put it this way—half the ship was filled with their treasures!"
"They took away wealth and health, leaving their own people with nothing but poverty and disease."
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