Of course, that didn't stop him from continuing to add to the number of expendable pawns. Even if those "monsters" only wasted a little more time dealing with them, it would still be worthwhile.
What's more, among the Celestial Dragons' slaves there was no shortage of powerful individuals. Once armed, they might actually prove stronger than the army or the cannon fodder provided by the allied nations.
"I object! This is far too dangerous. What if those slaves take the opportunity to rebel…?"
Saint Mars frowned. With his knowledge of the Celestial Dragons, he knew all too well how they treated their slaves.
Except for those who had already been tortured to the point of losing all sense of self, the rest were all potential troublemakers. Who could guarantee they wouldn't turn their blades at the most critical moment?
After all, the reason the fish-man adventurer Fisher Tiger was able to wreak havoc in Mary Geoise wasn't just because the World Government let down its guard—the most important factor was the slave uprising that tied down the majority of the guards.
Otherwise, with Fisher Tiger's strength alone, escaping unscathed from a heavily fortified Mary Geoise would have been impossible.
"Put those slaves at the very front line. Let them fight the pirates to the death. Even if some survive, they won't be able to stir up much trouble!"
Saint Nasjuro spoke coldly. Nearly every Celestial Dragon kept a great number of slaves. Altogether, the slaves in Mary Geoise numbered at least several tens of thousands.
Among them were not only former pirate captains, but also powerful races like giants and minks. Especially the ones who had once fought in gladiatorial arenas—their strength might not match that of New World pirates, but it wouldn't fall too far behind either.
With so many slaves, plus the nearly 100,000-strong force they could patch together, defending the Holy Land from desecration by the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates would not be too difficult.
"For those lowly slaves, being granted the honor of defending the Holy Land is already a privilege. And if they distinguish themselves in battle, we can even reward them with freedom."
Saint Peter nodded in agreement and even made a further suggestion.
The promise of regaining freedom in exchange for fighting desperately would surely drive many slaves to stake their very lives against the pirates.
"I have no objections."
Saint Warcury thought for a moment. Since releasing the slaves posed no personal disadvantage to him, he also cast his vote in favor.
"Sounds reasonable…"
Saint Saturn nodded repeatedly as well. The four of them then turned to Saint Mars.
No matter how many advantages there were to using slaves as cannon fodder, they still needed the approval of the Celestial Dragons.
If absolutely necessary, they could of course release the slaves by force—but doing so would undoubtedly offend many Celestial Dragons.
"…I will try my best to persuade the Celestial Dragons to release their slaves!"
The corner of Saint Mars's eye twitched. So that was why these bastards had been waiting for him.
Convincing the Celestial Dragons to release their slaves would not be easy. Worse still, since he also needed to requisition their guards and attendants, it wasn't hard to imagine the curses and fury he would face afterward.
"Then I'll leave it to you. I still need to mobilize the army and the Holy Knights to prepare for battle. This meeting is adjourned."
Saint Nasujuro rose with the support of his sword. The fact that pirates had managed to strike at Mary Geoise was undoubtedly a massive failure for the Five Elders. But if they distinguished themselves enough in the coming battle to defend the Holy Land, perhaps Lord Im might still grant them forgiveness.
"Mm. I need to go and call up personnel as well…"
"I'll contact the allied governments…"
Saint Saturn and Peter Saint also rose and left, leaving only Mars Saint—who still had to negotiate with the Celestial Dragons—and Vochuli Saint, who was urging the navy to set out quickly. The two exchanged glances.
"Is there something else?"
Mars Saint frowned as he spoke. Just thinking about persuading so many Celestial Dragons and requisitioning their guards and slaves was already giving him a headache.
Especially since some Celestial Dragons were already at odds with the Five Elders because of the Pure Gold issue. If the negotiations fell apart, those idiots might leak the information about Pure Gold to other Celestial Dragons—or even to Figarland Garling Saint. That would be a true disaster.
In this situation, Mars Saint had no desire to waste time or energy on anything else, especially matters involving that thorn in their side—Kizaru. Without exception, they were never simple.
"There's something I need your help with…"
Unfortunately, Saint Warcury failed to sense Mars Saint's unwillingness—or perhaps he guessed it and simply chose to play dumb.
Not wanting to tear their relationship apart just yet, Mars Saint was forced to listen. Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult a request: he only wanted the Baszack family to return the naval branch they had seized years ago.
That incident had happened more than a decade ago. The navy had applied for years just to gain approval for a new branch, but before construction was complete, a Celestial Dragon had taken a liking to the site, seized it, and converted it into a luxurious villa.
At the time, the furious navy had lodged repeated appeals and protests with the World Government, but all of them were crushed by the Five Elders. Now, years later, even the navy had stopped mentioning it, yet Vochuli Saint suddenly intended to return the branch to them.
Mars Saint had no time to gloat before realizing this wasn't necessarily good news for him either.
If Vochuli Saint had been forced to the point of conceding even on such a trivial matter, then he must truly be in a desperate bind.
Realizing this, Mars Saint felt very displeased, but he didn't dare obstruct matters here.
If Saint Warcury failed to pressure the navy into deploying in time, it would be Mary Geoise and the Five Elders themselves who suffered.
After hammering out the conditions, Saint Warcury finally breathed a sigh of relief. He hurriedly redialed Marineford's Den Den Mushi.
But this time, no one picked up for a very long while.
A sudden sense of foreboding struck Saint Warcury. He quickly dialed Sengoku's private Den Den Mushi—but again, there was no response.
"Damn it! The navy are all damn useless!"
Finally realizing something was wrong, Saint Warcury cursed in a mix of anger and panic. Luckily, Mars Saint had already gone to negotiate with the Celestial Dragons, so for the moment no one else knew that something had gone terribly wrong on the navy's side. There was still a chance to remedy the situation.
Unfortunately for Saint Warcury, he was unaware that… while he was urgently dispatching several CP0 agents to Marineford to find and negotiate directly with Kizaru—someone in Mary Geoise had already learned of Marineford's upheaval earlier than him.
What's more, that person was a direct participant in the upheaval.
Mary Geoise, World Government Headquarters, the office of the Commander-in-Chief of the three armies.
Although he had deliberately dyed his hair a little gray, anyone truly familiar with Kong, the "Steel Bone," could tell at a glance that the Commander-in-Chief seemed somewhat younger.
This unbelievable phenomenon was, of course, because of the Pure Gold in his hands. Even though it was only the fake Pure Gold Kizaru had acquired from the dimensional chat group, it was still effective until the time limit was reached.
Fortunately, the power of Pure Gold granted eternal youth rather than reversing age. While Kong looked much healthier than usual, it wasn't enough to make others suspect he possessed Pure Gold.
For a former top-tier powerhouse like Kong, his current condition couldn't be better. As long as his body no longer deteriorated, he could retrain himself to return to his peak.
But precisely because of this, Kong found it impossible to give up Pure Gold. If, at first, he compromised with Kizaru only for the sake of extending his lifespan, now he had become utterly enslaved by it.
Thus, the once-loyal servant of the Five Elders and the World Government was gone, replaced by a traitor concerned only with preserving Pure Gold.
"…And that's the situation. The Five Elders are preparing to conscript forces to defend the Holy Land. The specific draft plan is still being organized. Although the reinforcements who can reach Mary Geoise in the short term are limited, as long as we can hold off those pirates for more than seven days, the arriving backup forces are no joke…"
Sitting in the vast office, Steel Bone Kong spoke in a low voice. In front of him was a secure, anti-eavesdropping line Den Den Mushi, and on the other end was none other than Kizaru, who was making Saint Worcury anxious and uneasy.
As the Commander-in-Chief of the three forces, Steel Bone Kong was one of the people closest to the Five Elders, and conscripting troops was part of his main duties.
While he was speaking with Kizaru, another fax Den Den Mushi on the desk began spitting out the finalized draft of the conscription plan.
One glance at it was enough to make Steel Bone Kong's face pale!
Clearly, he had underestimated the determination of the Five Elders. But as he continued to read, his expression grew darker.
In order to resist the incoming pirate army, the Five Elders were mobilizing with the mentality of digging three feet into the ground. Even the bodyguards of the Celestial Dragons and staff of the World Government were being forcibly drafted into the Holy Land Guard Corps.
What Steel Bone Kong hadn't expected was that the Five Elders even intended to release and arm the slaves to fight. If the plan proceeded smoothly, the number of armed slaves might even surpass that of the Holy Land Guard Corps!
Such a "special army" already exceeded Steel Bone Kong's limits of tolerance. Even if the slaves' combat power was questionable, tens of thousands—or even hundreds of thousands—of slave troops could at least delay the enemy for several days.
Originally, Steel Bone Kong worried whether the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates could actually break into Mary Geoise. But with this massive slave army added to the defense, it might not be him and Kizaru overthrowing the World Government—it might instead be the Five Elders crushing them as "rebellious traitors."
°°°
If you want to read ahead and access 20 advanced chapters, check the patreon
Link: Patreon/Moziel
Subscription should be made thru the web and never the ios app, it helps you and me.