The Great Voyage Begins with the Celestial Dragons

Whether or not one is moving forward for profit or power, one must occasionally deceive oneself by saying that one is making the world a better place.

"A return gift...?"

Gion held the small flower in her hands and suddenly smiled sweetly.

She could naturally feel Luther's care for her.

However, she's long past the age of fairy tales.

My previous emotional reaction was simply because I was touched by the little girl.

Following Luther, everything—ideals, wealth, power, enjoyment—went from being out of reach to being readily available.

She wasn't a greedy person. From the moment she agreed to accept Kim Bi-ra, she knew the price she would have to pay...

As Tenzuki watched the interaction between the two people in front of her, a gentle smile appeared on her face.

For some reason, she felt safer with Luther than before.

Perhaps it was because Luther cared about the personalities of those around him...

It seems she prioritizes those around her more than the world itself...

Chapter 126 A World Where Everyone's Worst Is Better

As Quinn drove through the town, his cheeky dragon face beamed with satisfaction.

So, the Celestials' mounts are so awesome!

Even though he was once the third-in-command of the Beasts Pirates and a powerful figure in the New World, the spiritual experience here is incomparable.

Walking down the street, I saw a group of people kneeling down beside me, not daring to utter a word, as if they had all encountered a god.

Although they weren't worshipping Quinn, they were all heading in his direction, and the feeling was the same.

As the saying goes, when one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. What's wrong with him, the one who serves as the mount, getting a share of the glory?

Moreover, this is not some remote, undeveloped island; this is the Sabaody Archipelago.

If this were any other time, even if he were to go on a killing spree, the people in the town probably wouldn't bother with him.

"Your Highness, please come to me anytime if you need anything like this in the future!" Quinn said obsequiously.

"What, are you addicted to being a mount?" Luther teased.

"Haha, it's my honor to be Your Highness's mount!"

Quinn patted his chest with his short paws, raised his head, and looked smug.

"Whatever you want, as long as it doesn't affect your work."

Luther's words carried a hint of helplessness; he hadn't expected Quinn to be like this.

"no problem!"

Quinn readily agreed, his face beaming with even greater joy.

Tengetsu, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked after reaching the edge of town:

"Your Highness Luther, what kind of existence are the Celestial Dragons in the eyes of the world?"

"Would you like to hear the popular version or the official version?" Luther asked with a smile.

"What's the official statement?" Tianyue asked cautiously.

"The gods who rule this world, beings that everyone should revere."

What about the folk saying?

The so-called gods were beyond the comprehension of Tianyue, and she didn't know why all those people were kneeling down.

“It’s just a folk saying…” Luther smiled slightly, without any reservations, “A demon that tramples on life at will, and you can lose your life if you’re not careful.”

"this..."

Tianyue was surprised by Luther's candor.

“The two are not actually contradictory. Who says that gods are necessarily benevolent?” Luther’s lips curled up.

"But won't the world get worse and worse?" Amatsuki frowned slightly.

"Whether it's worse or not depends on your perspective when you say it."

Luther pointed to the sky:

"From the Celestial Dragons' perspective, even if the outside world is full of pirates, it doesn't matter. No matter how powerful the pirates are, they can't threaten the World Government's rule."

"On the contrary, royal families and nobles are the most worried if the world is in chaos and pirates run rampant. They are even willing to give all their wealth to the World Government just to protect their position and power."

"For ordinary people, if they can't survive, they either become pirates or beg for charity and help from others. They also don't want the world to get worse."

"Unfortunately, the latter two did not want the world to get worse, but instead became the root cause of the world getting worse and worse," Luther said with a smile.

"The root cause, why do you say that?" Tengetsu asked curiously.

Even though it's the Celestial Dragons who indiscriminately kill innocent people, why are the latter two the root causes of the world's decline?

"The Celestial Dragons have only numbered a thousand to date. Even if each Celestial Dragon kills one person every day, how many people would they kill in a year?" Luther asked.

"At most a few hundred thousand."

After some thought, Tian Yueshi gave a fair answer.

She had witnessed firsthand the density of slaves in the Holy Land, but in reality, there weren't that many.

Besides, although the Celestial Dragons don't care about the lives of slaves, they don't actually consume them that quickly.

"Alabasta, one of the member states of the World Government, has a total population of 10 million and an annual birth rate of 5%, resulting in approximately 1000 newborns per year, with about 50 dying prematurely. In other words, even without considering Alabasta's future, Alabasta alone can sustain the Celestial Dragons' maximum expenditure," Luther said.

Of course, the numbers can't be calculated like that, since each country still needs to develop, but there are more than 300 countries in the world, with a total population of over 3 million.

With such a massive population, the evil deeds and resources consumed by the Celestial Dragons theoretically do not impose any burden on the world.

Unfortunately, this is under the premise of a macro narrative.

In fact, the evil deeds of those royal nobles were also attributed to the Celestial Dragons and the World Government, resulting in a bad reputation for both of them.

The World Government is essentially a federal government; it doesn't concern itself with the operations of other countries, but simply collects membership fees to maintain the overall stability of the ocean.

Luther felt somewhat helpless whenever he thought about this.

He could have enjoyed a comfortable life, but because of Roger and other people with strange ideas, he was forced to embark on the path of power struggle.

The world government's policies are certainly unreasonable, but as long as no one speaks out, everyone will just let things go.

Since someone wants a revolution and wants to make big moves, as one of the beneficiaries, if he wants to avoid being affected, he has no choice but to reluctantly overthrow the old system and replace it with a more efficient method of exploitation.

He was once one of the exploited, and when it comes to exploitation, he's definitely a professional.

What is causing the world to get worse?

Tengetsu asked the question she wanted to ask: the sea voyage these past few days hadn't been particularly pleasant.

Apart from the member states of the World Government, there is hardly a decent place.

"It's due to a combination of factors, just like I said before. The Celestial Dragons don't care about the state of the world, so they naturally do bad things. The nobles of the kingdoms, in their pursuit of pleasure, also exploit the common people. And the common people, because of Roger or other reasons, become pirates, which naturally exacerbates the deterioration of the world."

Luther paused, then continued:

"Roger started the Great Pirate Era perhaps hoping that someone would stand up against the World Government and disrupt the world order, and that he would find that person. But unfortunately, his actions instead made pirates completely universally reviled."

"If no one stands up, the world will revert to its state before the Great Pirate Era decades later, and Roger will just be a pure villain."

"I see..."

Upon hearing this, Tengetsu seemed to be deep in thought:

"Because pirates do so many bad things, the common people distrust them even more. In other words, the worse the world gets, the more people have no choice but to turn to the World Government."

Tian Yue muttered to himself, his expression somewhat complicated.

Luther's words are easy to understand, especially since she personally experienced what happened in Wano Country.

By analogy, the ordinary people on both sides are still ordinary people. Kozuki Oden is equivalent to the World Government, which is the legitimate government. On the other hand, Kurozumi Orochi is equivalent to pirates, which is the source of chaos.

The more pirates wreak havoc on the seas, the more people need a world government and a navy.

This is probably the source of the world government's prestige.

As for the foundation of the World Government's rule over the world, both Tenzuki 800 years ago and Luther, as a Celestial Dragon, understood that it came from the military power that could almost dominate the entire world.

As long as pirates cannot shake the foundation of the World Government, then chaos at sea will only benefit the World Government.

Ultimately, this is a world of infighting; pirates are worse, but the World Government isn't quite as bad.

Living in this world, Luther didn't think about changing it.

At most, it would only change the current inefficient social model, ensuring everyone has enough to eat so they can work better.

"Your Highness, we've arrived!"

Quinn's voice rang out. By this time, they had left the town's residential area and arrived at a commercial street that was many times more prosperous than the town before.

Chapter 127 First Gain - Stella

At this moment, Luther was in the slave trading street of Island 1.

Rows of three-story, pure white buildings stand side by side, with a wide but deserted street in the center.

The people on both sides wished they could bury their heads in the ground, not daring to look Luther and the others in the eye.

As long as the name of Luther the Dragon is mentioned, the effect will remain completely unchanged, whether in a residential area or a commercial street.

"Being stared at like that for too long is also a boring thing."

Tian Yue glanced at the crowd around him, a hint of pity in his eyes.

"It's just a means of maintaining the regime; it's very low-level but very effective."

Luther didn't even look at the crowd below. These were rules set by the Celestial Dragons to maintain their own authority, and since most people agreed with them, he wouldn't make a fool of himself.

Ultimately, it's not like he or anyone around him has to kneel down.

His gaze shifted and settled on the middle-aged man kneeling at the front of the crowd.