Hearing Katakuri's words, Rosinante also became serious.
Katakuri possessed Observation Haki capable of glimpsing the future, though it usually only allowed him to see a very short span ahead.
However, through years of continuous training in Observation Haki, he had gradually begun to sense fragments of the more distant future as well. These perceptions were often vague and blurry, sometimes accurate, sometimes not.
So when Katakuri spoke like this, it meant he had felt something.
Rosinante's expression could not help but grow solemn.
"No. The Marines and the World Government are being extremely discreet," Katakuri said gravely. "I've already sent people to investigate, but nothing concrete has been found. Still, I have a strong feeling that the Marines and the World Government will soon make a major move. This incident will affect the Gray Kingdom's future development… and may even concern your life or death."
"Concern Your Majesty's life or death?"
Hearing Katakuri's words, Shaxia and the others all cried out in alarm, their faces paling as they looked at Rosinante with concern.
"Heh, don't worry. It's not that serious," Rosinante said, giving Katakuri a look before smiling. "Katakuri only has a vague sense right now. Who knows how things will actually turn out? After all, his foresight isn't always accurate. Besides, who do you think I am? You all know my current strength. With my present power, even if the Marines make some big move, do you really think they could stop me?"
Hearing this, and thinking of Rosinante's terrifying progress over the past three years, everyone finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Alright, don't worry too much. I'm Rosinante. In this world, there's still no one who can harm me," Rosinante said calmly with a smile.
And he truly had that confidence.
After three years of cultivation, even if he were to face Whitebeard, Rosinante was confident he would not lose.
With his current strength, there was truly no one in this world who could threaten him, unless the World Government mobilized its national treasure. But that was impossible. The national treasure was not something that could be used lightly, let alone used against someone who carried the bloodline of the Celestial Dragons.
Hearing Rosinante's words, everyone relaxed and smiled, all except Katakuri, whose brows furrowed slightly.
Still, seeing Rosinante's look, he did not say anything further.
After that, Rosinante dismissed everyone, leaving only Katakuri and Laki behind.
"Although I don't think the Marines or the World Government can do anything to me, there are still things that require preparation for the worst," Rosinante said seriously. "Katakuri has already sensed that something bad may happen. Laki, I want you to secretly draft several emergency contingency plans. If something happens, even if the worst case scenario occurs, how should the Gray Kingdom respond?"
Hearing this, Laki's face turned pale. She understood exactly what "the worst case scenario" implied.
"Your Majesty… will things really deteriorate to that extent?" Laki asked nervously.
"Katakuri's foresight does have a certain degree of accuracy," Rosinante said calmly. "But even if we know the future, it's still full of uncertainties. How things ultimately turn out depends entirely on how we respond. In that situation, it will all depend on you. If the plans you draft are detailed enough, they might even help us reverse the situation. So I'll be counting on you."
"Understood. I will definitely produce the most rigorous and meticulous plans," Laki said with a firm expression.
"Then let me make a mess of things," Rosinante said coldly. "If they want to deal with me, they'd better be prepared to be overturned by me."
In truth, he also understood this very well.
The Gray Kingdom's development over these past few years had been far too fast. So fast that many already felt it was threatening the World Government's position.
Pirates like Whitebeard, no matter how powerful, could never truly shake the foundations of the World Government.
Even Charlotte Linlin, who had established Totto Land, could at most dominate the New World.
But Rosinante and the Gray Kingdom were different.
At present, the Gray Kingdom already had more than sixty vassal states across the Four Seas. Adding Skypiea, the number of vassal states had reached eighty or ninety.
Although most of these vassal states were smaller than the World Government's member nations, they were still far from insignificant.
If the Gray Kingdom were to advance into the Grand Line, its number of vassal states would only continue to grow, perhaps even surpassing the number of countries allied with the World Government.
The World Government was the most powerful alliance in the world, a massive collective formed by 170 nations. Those 170 countries were the very foundation of the World Government.
But as the Gray Kingdom rose and its vassal states increased, people gradually realized that the Gray Kingdom was beginning to rival the World Government's standing among the nations of the world.
Some even believed that if the Gray Kingdom were allowed to continue developing like this, it would eventually replace the World Government's position in the world.
The World Government had sensed a tremendous threat.
So Rosinante knew very well that this battle was unavoidable. It would come sooner or later.
Even without Katakuri's premonition, he could already feel that the day of the great war was not far off.
This was also one of the main reasons why he had chosen to enter closed-door cultivation and urgently raise his strength.
If it were merely about improving his power, there would have been no need for such extreme, secluded training.
He was preparing for the war that was about to arrive.
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