"Let him fight for it. When he wins, pirates will cease to exist in this world," Saint Roselith Seraphina said confidently.
The construction of the Alabasta Naval Academy was almost complete, and recruitment was scheduled to begin in June.
Once the academy officially opened, the Marines would gain an unprecedented source of trained personnel, and if the same model were eventually expanded throughout the world, suppressing piracy would no longer be an impossible dream.
It would only be a matter of time before the seas were brought under greater control.
Bruce looked up as the Spade Pirates' ship gradually disappeared beyond the horizon, its silhouette eventually swallowed by the vast blue sea.
Ace had chosen his path.
He wanted to become the Pirate King.
Seraphina wanted to change the world.
At first glance, those two ambitions appeared destined to collide.
But Seraphina did not see it that way.
"He wants to become the Pirate King, and I want to change the world. Our goals aren't actually conflicting, are they?" Saint Roselith Seraphina chuckled.
There was absolute confidence in her voice.
She had never lacked confidence in her own strength.
Although she had nearly been defeated by Whitebeard the last time they fought, that battle had taken place under extraordinary circumstances.
She had confronted the Whitebeard Pirates almost single-handedly.
Against an entire crew of monsters who had survived countless battles in the New World, she had still managed to hold her ground for an astonishing length of time.
If even one of the Marines' Admirals had been present beside her at that time, the outcome might have been completely different.
The Whitebeard Pirates could have suffered catastrophic losses.
Of course, Seraphina understood that the reality was more complicated than simply adding another powerful fighter to the battlefield.
Whitebeard was one of the most formidable pirates on the sea, and his crew possessed several monsters capable of changing the course of a battle.
Still, the memory only strengthened her confidence.
She wondered what kind of expression Ace would wear when he finally became the Pirate King, only to discover that the world he had conquered was gradually becoming a world in which pirates could no longer freely exist.
The thought was amusing.
"Your Highness," Bruce suddenly said.
"Hmm?"
Saint Roselith Seraphina turned around, her expression changing slightly as she looked at him.
Bruce rarely interrupted her without reason.
"I recently obtained a Devil Fruit from the Devil Fruit storage facility."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"The Nagi Nagi no Mi, the Calm-Calm Fruit."
Seraphina's eyes narrowed slightly.
"The ability allows the user to create an area of silence around themselves, preventing sound from entering or escaping the affected space."
Bruce explained the ability carefully.
"Within that area, sounds can be completely suppressed. People outside cannot hear what is happening inside, and those within the affected area cannot hear sounds from outside."
"It is particularly useful for covert operations, intelligence gathering, infiltration, and preventing information from leaking."
The Devil Fruit itself was certainly valuable, especially for someone serving as a bodyguard and intelligence operative.
However, Bruce clearly had something else on his mind.
"Interesting," Saint Roselith Seraphina said, studying him with a meaningful look.
"However, judging from your tone, that isn't the real reason you brought this up, is it?"
Bruce hesitated.
Seraphina immediately noticed.
"Your Highness, pledging allegiance to you has been the best decision I have ever made."
His expression became solemn.
"Therefore, because I don't want you to become discouraged later, I would rather speak honestly now."
"Your ideals have significant flaws."
Bruce carefully watched Seraphina's expression after saying those words.
She remained calm.
There was no anger.
No displeasure.
No immediate attempt to silence him.
Only a quiet expectation that he continue.
"Go on."
Seraphina sat upright, her expression becoming serious.
As the first person to serve as her personal bodyguard and one of the few people she considered a genuine friend, Bruce's opinions carried considerable weight with her.
"Your Highness possesses extraordinary insight into people," Bruce began.
"You can observe their behavior, sense their intentions, and understand things that ordinary people would never notice."
"But that strength has also caused you to overlook something far more frightening."
"The human heart."
Seraphina's eyes narrowed slightly, but she remained silent.
"Most people in this world are not driven purely by justice," Bruce continued.
"They are driven by desire."
"Greed."
"Fear."
"Ambition."
"Hatred."
"And sometimes, simply the desire to survive."
"These desires shape the decisions people make, and those decisions shape the world."
Bruce took a slow breath.
"Yet, Your Highness, I believe you have overlooked one important fact."
"You care deeply about the lives you want to protect."
"But many of the people you wish to protect may not care about your protection at all."
"They may even reject it."
"You place much of the blame on the world's structure, but people are also part of that world."
"If the world itself is corrupt, how can every person living within it be considered completely blameless?"
His words were blunt.
Perhaps even cruel.
But Bruce had spent a long time studying Seraphina's ideals and the path she intended to take.
The more he studied them, the more obstacles he discovered.
In his opinion, Seraphina had made two fundamental mistakes.
The first was that her vision was too close to a perfect world.
She wanted a world in which people could live freely, where nations were governed fairly, where corruption was suppressed, where the Marines protected civilians rather than exploiting their authority, and where no person could simply use their birth or status as an excuse to trample others.
It was an admirable dream.
But the more perfect the goal became, the more difficult it would be to achieve.
Human beings were not perfect.
The world itself was not perfect.
Trying to force reality into an ideal shape could easily produce the opposite result.
The second problem was Seraphina's approach.
She wanted to reform the world while minimizing bloodshed.
She wanted to change the World Government from within, weaken the authority of corrupt Celestial Dragons, reform the Marines, eliminate corruption, and gradually introduce greater freedom and equality.
She wanted to accomplish all of this without turning the entire world into a battlefield.
Bruce believed that was the most difficult part.
If the privileges of a small and powerful minority were redistributed among the majority, would that minority willingly surrender them?
The answer was obvious.
No.
The people benefiting from an unjust system rarely surrendered those benefits simply because someone explained that the system was unfair.
And Seraphina had no intention of simply exterminating every Celestial Dragon.
She herself had been born into that world.
She was a member of the Saint family and possessed the status of a World Noble.
She knew better than most that simply declaring an entire group evil would accomplish nothing.
But that created another problem.
Those whose wealth, influence, and authority were threatened would inevitably resist.
Taking away someone's wealth could make them regard the person responsible as an enemy for life.
When power and privilege were involved, compromise could quickly disappear.
Eventually, the conflict could become a simple question of survival.
Either you win, or I do.
"The success rate of your plan is truly slim," Bruce said frankly.
"I don't want to watch everything you have spent years building collapse because the people standing against you refuse to cooperate."
Seraphina remained silent.
Bruce continued.
"Your original plan was to rely on political reform within the World Government."
"First, you intended to gradually reduce the political influence of the Celestial Dragons without triggering a global war."
"Then you planned to reform the Marines from within and from without, strengthen their legitimate military capabilities, eliminate corruption among their ranks, and ensure that Marines who abused their authority were punished."
"You also wanted to spread the principles of freedom and equality throughout the world so that future generations would not simply reproduce the same unequal system."
Seraphina listened quietly.
"After that, you intended to push the World Government toward reforming its relationship with individual nations."
"Nations ruled by kings would gradually move toward constitutional monarchies."
"Countries without hereditary monarchies could eventually adopt representative or electoral systems."
"And once the political foundation had been strengthened, you would expand the Marines' ability to protect civilians and suppress threats at sea."
"Pirates who committed crimes would be hunted down and imprisoned according to their offenses."
Bruce's eyes became serious.
"It is an enormous plan."
"Far larger than anything a single person should reasonably attempt."
Saint Roselith Seraphina smiled faintly.
"I know."
"The chances of success are very small."
"But I will still do it."
Her voice was quiet, yet there was an unmistakable firmness behind it.
"This world has always valued strength above almost everything else."
"So perhaps I should use the strength I possess to accomplish what ordinary people cannot."
Seraphina slowly closed her hand around the hilt of her sword.
She could not change the entire world with words alone.
She knew that.
The sea was too vast.
The World Government was too powerful.
The Four Emperors dominated territories across the New World.
Pirates continued to emerge from every corner of the ocean.
Revolutionaries challenged the existing order.
Nations fought wars against one another.
Corruption existed within governments, the Marines, and countless organizations.
Even among ordinary civilians, greed and hatred could not simply be erased.
Yet none of that changed what she wanted.
She wanted to change the world.
Not because she believed herself to be a saint.
Not because she thought she could create paradise.
But because she could no longer accept a world where human lives could be treated as worthless simply because someone possessed greater authority.
"I understand your will, Your Highness," Bruce said.
Seeing the determination in Seraphina's eyes, he decided not to continue arguing.
There was little point.
Once she had decided upon a path, attempting to turn her away from it was almost impossible.
Still, Bruce had already considered what might happen if diplomacy failed.
If the Celestial Dragons refused to surrender their privileges, they would resist.
If corrupt officials refused reform, they would resist.
If powerful kingdoms refused to accept political change, they would resist.
If pirates threatened the new order, they would resist.
And if those in power refused to cooperate, Seraphina might eventually have no choice but to use force.
That was what worried him.
A great number of people could die.
Bruce believed Seraphina would hesitate before taking lives.
She disliked unnecessary killing.
She especially hated the thought of innocent civilians becoming casualties of political conflict.
But hesitation did not mean weakness.
If someone deliberately stood in her way after every peaceful avenue had been exhausted, she would eventually have to decide how far she was willing to go.
And if that day came, Bruce intended to shoulder the burden alongside her.
He was her subordinate.
Her bodyguard.
Her friend.
If there were dirty, dangerous, and difficult tasks that had to be completed in the shadows, then he would handle them.
If someone had to walk into darkness so that Seraphina could continue pursuing her ideals in the light, Bruce was prepared to be that person.
"Bruce."
Seraphina suddenly spoke.
"Yes, Your Highness?"
She lowered her gaze for a moment.
Then she looked toward the vast ocean stretching endlessly before them.
"I often think about this."
"What is the meaning of my existence in this world?"
Her voice became quieter.
"I… I can't find the meaning of my existence."
Bruce's expression changed.
Seraphina tightened her grip around the hilt of her sword.
"The only thing I know for certain is that I cannot accept this world."
"A world where human life can be treated like dirt simply because someone was born into the wrong place."
"A world where power determines whether someone deserves to live with dignity."
"A world where people can be enslaved, abused, or discarded while those responsible hide behind authority."
Her eyes gradually became sharper.
"So I want to be selfish."
"I want to use the advantages I was born with."
"I want to use my strength, my position, my knowledge, and everything else I possess to change this world."
Her words were not filled with arrogance.
They were filled with determination.
She knew she had been given advantages that most people could never dream of possessing.
She had power.
She had status.
She had resources.
She had access to the highest levels of the World Government.
And she possessed a strength that could allow her to stand against monsters who ruled the seas.
If she possessed all of those advantages and still chose to do nothing, then what meaning would those advantages have?
Bruce suddenly stepped forward.
Then he dropped to one knee.
He placed one hand against his chest.
"Your Highness."
His voice was solemn.
"Bruce is willing to serve you until his final breath."
He lowered his head.
"From the first moment I decided to follow you, I swore that I would protect you with my life."
"Whether the road ahead leads to glory or destruction, I will walk it with you."
Seraphina stared at him for several seconds.
Then a faint smile appeared on her lips.
Bruce respected her ideals.
He genuinely believed that the world needed to change.
He also believed that Seraphina possessed the ability to accomplish what most people could not.
Her greatest problem was not her strength.
It was her unwillingness to accept how much blood might be spilled during the process of reform.
Every major change created enemies.
Every system protected those who benefited from it.
And every powerful group that believed its privileges were threatened would eventually fight back.
Bruce understood this better than anyone.
But he also understood something else.
Seraphina's approach, although inefficient and dangerously optimistic, came from a genuine desire to prevent innocent people from suffering.
She did not seek power simply for the sake of ruling others.
She wanted to break the cycle that had allowed the strong to oppress the weak for generations.
And perhaps that was precisely why she was qualified to attempt it.
Seraphina possessed the strength of a world-class combatant.
Her mastery of Haki continued to grow.
Her Observation Haki gave her extraordinary awareness of her surroundings and allowed her to perceive subtle changes in people's intentions and movements.
Her swordsmanship had reached a level that few could challenge.
Her status as a member of the Saint family granted her influence that ordinary Marines could never possess.
And behind all of that was her determination.
Bruce knew that combination was terrifying.
Perhaps Seraphina's plan would fail.
Perhaps the World Government would crush her ambitions.
Perhaps the Celestial Dragons would never surrender their privileges willingly.
Perhaps the pirates of the world would continue to multiply no matter how powerful the Marines became.
Perhaps changing the world would require far more blood than Seraphina was willing to spill.
But even if all of those possibilities became reality, Bruce still believed one thing.
If there was anyone capable of challenging the existing order without immediately turning the entire world into a graveyard, it was Saint Roselith Seraphina.
And if the day eventually came when the world stood against her, Bruce had already made his choice.
He would stand beside her.
WE ARE CURRENTLY ON CHAPTER 247 ON PATREON.
JOIN MY PATREON TO READ ADVANCED CHAPTERS BEFORE PUBLIC RELEASE OR PURCHASE THE BOOK FOR LIFETIME ACCESS!
Patreon.com/HACKDWORLD