Chapter 231: The Ship-Boarding King and the Noise
"With a shining precedent before them," whether it was the current state of Fish-Man Island or the recent development of Elbaf, the World Government felt that these situations aligned perfectly with their needs.
When facing an individual with overwhelming power, as long as the other party showed a willingness to cooperate, offering them amnesty was an entirely viable option. This was the logic the current World Government firmly endorsed.
This was the very essence of the Seven Warlords of the Sea system. Whether these individuals harbored grand ambitions or ulterior motives, the World Government didn't care.
As long as those ambitions remained hidden, their existence was acceptable.
Whatever happened in the future would be dealt with in the future. At the very least, they were satisfied with the current results.
The Marines' intense dissatisfaction was entirely outside the World Government's scope of concern. Regardless, there would always be a faction of Marine higher-ups willing to accept it. As long as those figures helped persuade the rest, the matter would be settled.
When the intelligence regarding the Seven Warlords of the Sea was first proposed, Fleet Admiral Kong had attempted to voice his opposition, but the Five Elders hadn't even bothered wasting their breath arguing with him.
"When Nereus's matter was settled years ago, the Marines' voices of opposition were just as loud. Yet, haven't you all accepted it now?"
This room is too dark. If you suggest opening a skylight, everyone will undoubtedly refuse. But if you advocate for tearing off the entire roof, they will step in to mediate, and gladly allow you to open the skylight.
While countless fabricated quotes have been falsely attributed to Lu Xun over the years, he genuinely did write those words.
This was the "Roof-Removing Effect," also known as the "Door-in-the-Face Technique" or the "Skylight Effect."
When making a demand of someone, you can first make an enormous, highly unreasonable request. Once they inevitably reject it, you follow up with a much smaller, easier request. The guilt or relief generated by rejecting the first request makes them far more likely to agree to the second.
For the Marines, the current situation was even more extreme.
The policy of appeasement regarding Nereus was the equivalent of tearing down the entire building. Since they had already accepted the destruction of a building, what was the harm in taking down a single door panel?
The Marines lacked the power to prevent this system's implementation. Even if they deeply resented a specific individual joining the Seven Warlords, all they could do was desperately search for a more suitable candidate to fill the quota ahead of time, rather than outright vetoing the system.
Fully implementing this system would require a considerable amount of time. Even in the original timeline, assembling a complete roster for the Seven Warlords took years.
And eventually, with the emergence of a new generation of monstrous rookies setting sail, the Warlord system would gradually be dismantled.
Inside the Ryugu Palace, Nereus was reviewing a roster in his hands. While the outside world was developing, Fish-Man Island was experiencing its own rapid evolution. On this list, Nereus spotted several familiar names.
"Sasaki, Namur... The new generation is beginning to mature."
Kawamatsu and Jinbe were considered the outstanding talents of the previous generation, while Sasaki and Namur represented the new blood. In the original timeline, one became a Tobi Roppo under Kaido, and the other became a Division Commander under Whitebeard. Both were absolute powerhouses capable of holding their own in the New World.
In the original timeline, certain Fish-Men and Merfolk were born in the outer seas; Sasaki represented exactly that demographic.
There were also those who were born on Fish-Man Island, but because that version of the island only maintained its fragile peace through Whitebeard's protection, many youths set out to sea to join other powerful factions. Namur was a prime example of this.
But the situation was completely different now. Although the stories Wobbegong excitedly recounted to Yamato contained massive dramatic exaggerations, those kinds of legends were practically common knowledge on Fish-Man Island.
Although Fish-Man Island officially recorded its recent history with strict objectivity, the civilian folklore regarding Nereus was often outrageously embellished.
As tales passed from mouth to mouth, they steadily evolved into borderline mythological epics. Raised in this environment, the children born on Fish-Man Island naturally grew up with a towering idol to look up to.
Even the Fish-Men living in the outer seas were gradually migrating back to Fish-Man Island, finding a new purpose. Some had encountered trouble abroad and were brought back by human merchants seeking to safely transit through Fish-Man Island.
Since these merchants frequently relied on this underwater route, grinding some favor with Fish-Man Island was never a bad investment.
Even Rayleigh, when he suffered a shipwreck years ago, had his life saved by a young Hatchan. Underwater, Fish-Men and Merfolk possessed an absolute, natural advantage—an innate biological supremacy unique to their race.
The ability to genuinely breathe underwater was something no other demi-human race possessed. Even an impossibly resilient Lunarian only survived underwater by relying on their monstrous vitality to store vast amounts of oxygen; if submerged for too long, they still had to surface for air.
But compared to Sasaki and Namur, there was an even more exceptional talent—Jack.
That wasn't his true name. As an orphan, nobody knew what his real name was. However, his physical features and sheer size perfectly aligned with his future identity.
In the original timeline, he was one of the Three Disasters under Kaido—Jack the Drought.
Although his battle record was full of defeats, he exclusively fought in top-tier, endgame matchups. Driven by an absolutely reckless, unhinged ferocity, he dared to pull his ship up against any enemy fleet, relying entirely on his monstrous vitality and inexhaustible stamina.
Though his massive, hulking frame made him look incredibly old, he was actually only 28 years old. To become an All-Star at such a young age—whether compared to the Beast Pirates' own ranks, or the commanders of Whitebeard and Big Mom—proved his combat talent was genuinely extraordinary.
Aside from Nereus's two daughters and the outside talents they had recruited, barring any unforeseen accidents, Jack was destined to become one of the kingdom's leading military figures. It was just that, given his hopelessly belligerent personality, he probably needed to be paired with an "external brain" to function properly.
The surrounding staff didn't pay much mind to Nereus scrutinizing the citizen registry. After all, Nereus's eye for talent had been flawlessly accurate over the years. Everyone he personally promoted possessed exceptional potential and grew remarkably fast during training.
"You guys are so loud! Can you stop nagging already?!"
While Nereus was studying the roster, Chloe, who was attending class a short distance away, suddenly yelled out in extreme annoyance.
The instructor teaching the cultural studies class froze, completely startled. The lesson plan slipped from his hands and hit the floor; he had clearly never expected such an outburst.
"Chloe!"
"Mommy... I don't mean the teacher," Chloe rubbed her ears in frustration. "But it's just so loud..."
"You may all leave for now. Class is dismissed for today. Have the guards outside clear the area as well," Amphelite commanded gently but firmly.
"Yes, Your Highness..."
Hearing Chloe's words, Amphelite immediately realized what was happening and waved the others away.
It was glaringly obvious that Chloe was hearing voices that Amphelite couldn't. Although Merfolk could communicate with ordinary fish, unless they actively engaged in conversation, their hearing possessed a natural "mute" function for aquatic chatter.
The only creatures capable of forcing their voices through like this were the Sea Kings.
Previously, on their way back to Fish-Man Island, Chloe's latent ability had begun to subtly awaken. Compared to the ordinary Sea Kings in the outer seas, the colossal, ancient Sea Kings dwelling in the deep sea were infinitely more sensitive to this power.
This commotion naturally didn't escape Nereus's notice. As the unrelated personnel evacuated the room, he walked over to Chloe's side.
"Daddy..."
"It's alright," Nereus said, gently patting her head. "I know what you're experiencing. But that isn't noise. It is simply your subjects, coming to offer their greetings to their Sovereign."
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