“The Kingdom of Croyashi.” Karp fell silent.
To say that he, as a high-ranking member of the Navy, was unaware of the tragedy of the Kingdom of Croyashi was simply impossible. After all, the Kingdom of Croyashi was destroyed by the Navy's extermination order.
Although he opposed this action and did not participate at all, it was the Navy that did it, a fact he couldn't erase.
The Navy, which claimed to protect the people and uphold justice, committed an act of national extermination that even pirates rarely dared to do.
“The Kingdom of Croyashi.” Karp sighed heavily and repeated the name.
Roya's previous questions echoed in Karp's mind, making him question the Navy's justice even more.
“I can't give you answers to these questions, or rather, you and I both have our own answers,” Karp said after a long silence.
“Perhaps you are right, but in this matter, until the end, no one knows what is truly right and what is wrong.”
“We are all trying to make the world a better place, just in different ways. From your perspective, you might see me and the Navy as too weak, but from our perspective, you might seem too radical.”
“You can't completely convince me, and I can't completely convince you,” Karp said.
“But, I see some hope in you. I won't report this matter to the higher-ups, and I will even help you, providing some cover.” Karp's eyes sharpened as he spoke.
“Just, if one day I discover that you have become like those idiotic nobles in the Kingdom of Goa, I will not hesitate to take action against you.”
“If any of us truly fall into that state you described, I’d be happy to see someone overthrow them,” Roya said with a smile.
Seeing Roya's genuine smile, Karp was taken aback: “You are truly different from those ambitious schemers.”
As they talked, they had unknowingly reached the peak of the Colber Mountains. From here, they could easily see the capital city.
“Your next step is to overthrow the royal family of the Kingdom of Goa, right? Though it's not appropriate to say this, you should still consider the incident with the Kingdom of Croyashi,” Karp reminded him.
“The World Government will not let you go easily. With your current strength, you will be easily destroyed.”
“What if we continue paying the Heavenly Tribute?” Roya asked, looking at the capital city in the distance.
“Huh? Pay the Heavenly Tribute?” Karp scratched his ear, thinking he had misheard. “Aren't you a rebel force against the World Government?”
“Yes,” Roya nodded. “Our goal is to overthrow the World Government.”
“Then why are you paying the Heavenly Tribute?” Karp was even more puzzled.
“If we don't pay the Heavenly Tribute and withdraw from being a member state, wouldn't we be destroyed by the extermination order just like the Kingdom of Croyashi?”
“You make a good point, but, but,” Karp scratched his head, unable to find an argument.
“Do you feel that my actions are too realistic, as if they clash with our idealistic beliefs?” Roya asked with a smile.
“Yes, that's the feeling. When you said you wanted to overthrow the World Government, I was impressed, but paying the Heavenly Tribute feels like bowing your head.”
“There's no other way. The enemy is strong, and we are weak. We can only pretend to go along with them. The revolution itself is a process of moving forward through twists and turns. Ruthless fighting, apart from causing unnecessary sacrifices, has no meaning,” Roya said.
“Only by accumulating strength can we overthrow the World Government one day.”
“But if that's the case, what's the difference between your compromises and ours?” Karp tried to save face for the Navy.
“Difference?” Roya looked at Karp seriously. “We have a unified ideology, a clear and definite goal, and we constantly remember the exploitation and oppression we have suffered. This ensures that we won't be corrupted or eroded during our pretended obedience.”
“What about the Navy? Do you have these things? Vague justice? You don't need to pay the Heavenly Tribute either, just receive the military funds that the World Government annually allocates from the Heavenly Tribute, so you are increasingly being eroded and corrupted by the World Government.”
“Without ideology, you will become a real gun, skilled at chasing pirates, but equally adept at massacring cities and destroying nations.”
“Honestly, this is largely not your fault. The World Government above you has rotted, so you are gradually rotting along with it.”
“The Kingdom of Croyashi wasn't the first nation to die under the Navy's guns, and it certainly won't be the last.”
Roya's words not only silenced Karp completely, but also the Navy members in the chatroom.
They were angry, a strange anger, but they couldn't refute it.
Roya's questions not only stumped Karp, but also every member of the Navy who still held onto justice and kindness.
The citizens of member states and non-member states.
The rationality of the World Government's laws.
They couldn't provide answers.
Especially the question, "Would the royal guard of the Kingdom of Goa say that they are just?"
It directly exposed the Navy's shameful secret.
Are they the same as the royal guard?
Many wanted to say no, but the Celestial Dragons were a point they couldn't avoid.
“He really knows how to kill with words.”
鶴 couldn't help but sigh.
The chatroom wasn't accessible to everyone in the world, but the viewing was.
The Navy's justice had attracted countless young people from various countries who longed for justice.
Now, this veil of justice had been torn apart.
Most importantly, the words were irrefutable. Even鶴, a high-ranking member of the Navy, couldn't refute them.
In fact, the closer one was to the Navy's upper echelons, the more they understood the truth of Roya's words.
Why did Aokiji resign? Why did Zephyr leave? Why didn't Karp get promoted to Admiral?
How many high-ranking members could truly say that they still held onto the same sense of justice they had when they first joined the Navy?
The Navy was like this, the closer to the upper echelons, the closer to darkness, the more aware of their powerlessness, the more their sense of justice became blurred.
It became a justice with extreme selectivity, and then it was corrupted into a mere weapon.
Roya's final words, "The Kingdom of Croyashi wasn't the first, and it won't be the last," directly silenced all the high-ranking members.
The footage was from twenty-eight years ago. In these twenty-eight years, the situation has indeed been as Roya said.
More and more nations and territories have been swallowed by darkness.