This incident immediately alarmed the highest authorities of the World Government—the Five Elders.
Their Den Den Mushi nearly rang itself hoarse with the sheer number of calls pouring in.
Many Celestial Dragons were furiously calling to protest, demanding that the Five Elders resolve this matter at once. Some went even further, insisting that the ones who dared offend them—especially their leader, Rosinante—must be executed without delay.
Left with no choice, the Five Elders finally contacted Marine Headquarters.
"Rosinante, what exactly are you trying to do?" one of the Five Elders growled.
"Come now, don't be so harsh. I'm here to extend a hand of goodwill," Rosinante replied calmly, sitting back with a pleasant smile on his face.
"Goodwill?" the Five Elders snapped. "You attacked Marine Headquarters, destroyed their ammunition depots, and assassinated the guards and servants of the Celestial Dragons. And this is your idea of goodwill? You're far too arrogant, Rosinante!"
Of course, the Five Elders already knew all about the battle at Marineford. From the very moment the fighting began, intelligence had reached their ears, and through Tsuru, they'd learned all the details.
"That's right. This is my goodwill," Rosinante said nonchalantly.
"You dared to smear my name with such blatant disregard. And why? Because we don't understand each other. Because there's no communication between us. You still think I'm the same insignificant man you can toy with at will. So you planted lies and slander in the newspapers, expecting I would stay silent."
"To help improve communication," he continued, "I brought my people and attacked Marine Headquarters. You saw for yourself—I destroyed three of your ammunition depots head-on, suppressed your elite forces, and forced even Admiral Sengoku and Fleet Admiral Kong to intervene. And yet, here I am, sitting calmly and talking with you."
"Isn't this my greatest show of sincerity?"
"So this is what it's about," Tsuru said coolly. "You attacked Marineford just to demonstrate your strength—to show the World Government your power and gain the leverage to negotiate."
"You're using a full-blown assault on Marine Headquarters as a calling card?" Kong muttered with a frown.
Sengoku's eyes flashed with realization.
He and Tsuru had long been speculating about Rosinante's true objective in attacking Marineford head-on.
And now it all made sense.
Just as he had claimed from the start—Rosinante came with enormous goodwill.
Those devastating attacks? Those were merely gifts. A show of power to prove his worth. Because if Rosinante had truly harbored hostility, he wouldn't have gone about it so openly. He would've quietly assassinated Celestial Dragons and high-ranking officials of the World Government, throwing their regime into chaos. He could have targeted the senior officers of Marine Headquarters, spreading fear and panic throughout the ranks.
But he hadn't done that.
Not yet.
Until the threat of Bins, the Ghost of the Gray Kingdom, was truly dealt with, if Rosinante were to make any demands, the World Government would be forced to consider them seriously.
Sure, he could have simply launched a stealth attack—used his Devil Fruit powers to secretly destroy the ammunition depots or eliminate key individuals. That might have made the government fearful enough to compromise. But once they recovered, they would've thrown everything they had into eliminating him.
And no matter how powerful you are—no matter how vast your forces—once the World Government decides to destroy you at all costs, very few can survive.
But a bold, honorable battle?
One where he demonstrated strange and fearsome powers, revealed the size and loyalty of his forces, showcased his territory, and held his ground even against the strongest of the Marines?
That changed everything.
Now, the World Government and the Marines would have to ask themselves: is eradicating Rosinante even possible? And more importantly—is the cost worth it?
When it's just a lone pirate crew or a handful of rogues, they can be wiped out without much thought.
But if it's an entire faction, an empire of its own—like the Whitebeard Pirates or Big Mom's forces—then the government has to consider the bigger picture.
If your power hasn't yet endangered their control, and if you haven't crossed their ultimate lines, the World Government just might be willing to talk.
And that was Rosinante's true goal all along—to force the World Government to the negotiating table.
A goal he had now achieved.
"That's right. I have my own territory now. I'm sure you've heard—on Skypiea, I now rule over twenty-four islands, with more than a million people. I command tens of thousands of elite warriors, and if I wanted to expand, I could raise my forces to over a hundred thousand at any time. You've seen what my Skypiean soldiers can do. Equipped with Sky Shells, even your elite Marines are no match for them. My power isn't overwhelming, but it's certainly not weak. If the World Government wants to eliminate us, you'll need an army of at least a million troops," Rosinante said with a calm smile.
"You think the World Government can't muster a million troops?" the Five Elders said coldly.
"You can. In fact, forget a million—with your vast foundations, even ten million wouldn't be a problem. There's no shortage of manpower in this world. But my territory is in the sky. You'd have to deploy a million soldiers to Skypiea to engage us there," Rosinante replied.
Silence fell. Even the Five Elders furrowed their brows.
A million soldiers... fighting a war on an island ten thousand meters above sea level?
How many resources would that require? How much logistical support?
Just the thought of supplying those men with food, water, weapons, and ammunition—transporting all of it into the sky—was enough to give even the Five Elders a headache.
And let's say they did win in the end—what would they gain?
A ruined sky-island? A depopulated land floating above the clouds?
Think about it: they would have to send a million soldiers and their supplies up to the sky. Yes, the World Government had ways of reaching Skypiea—more than one, in fact—but moving a million people and their entire support infrastructure?
Even for the World Government, that would be a staggering cost.
And what would they get in return?
Killing Rosinante?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
With the wormholes and mobility of the Gray Kingdom, if the war reached a tipping point, they could vanish without a trace. The World Government wouldn't even know where to pursue them.
As for taking Skypiea?
What was the real value of that? A sky island with a million people?
To the World Government—overseeing more than 170 member nations—that population was barely a drop in the bucket. The cost of conquering it, however, would be as great as waging war on dozens of those member nations combined.