What would the future look like?
Ahu froze for a moment.
He was just an ordinary person. No surname, barely literate.
As a child, he had been good at throwing stones. After joining the Revolutionary Army, his accuracy with a gun earned him the position of squad leader.
But the future of his country… a country that had already lost its king…
He had never thought about it.
Even if the king were still alive, when the next Heavenly Tribute came due, neighboring islands would still plunder them.
At that time… would they rely on the Revolutionary Army again?
"Rely on the Revolutionary Army to repel them, right?"
Rowan looked at him and continued, "So tell me, why are you fighting as part of the Revolutionary Army?"
A trace of determination appeared in Ahu's eyes.
"I fight for myself! Only when all the oppressed unite can the world feel the will of ordinary people like us! Only then can we protect our families, our country… and everyone we care about!"
Rowan nodded, then swept his gaze across everyone.
"We fight for ourselves!"
"We revolt so that our descendants will never again die for such absurd reasons!"
"They are strong. We all know that. But if we want a future free from humiliation, then our generation must drag those self-proclaimed 'descendants of gods' down from Mary Geoise!"
"Only then can we end this era filled with pirates and injustice!"
"Think about it!"
"Your mothers, your daughters, your sisters… if those people set their eyes on them, they cannot resist!"
"If you cannot pay the Heavenly Tribute, your nation is invaded, plundered, burned, and slaughtered!"
"If pirates target you, all you can do is tremble and pray not to be found!"
"We all know there is no revolution without bloodshed!"
"But if it is to change all of this… then sacrificing ourselves for the future… is a sacrifice of immeasurable greatness!"
…
Oppression. Revolution. Future. Freedom.
One word after another was written beneath the bonfire.
The flickering flames made those words seem almost alive.
The twenty-plus people present, including Kuma and Dragon, were drawn in by the future Rowan described.
All men are born equal.
So why are some allowed to stand above all others?
Fight for the future.
Fight for yourself.
Fight so that tomorrow is better than today.
Sacrifice is meaningful.
Everyone who walks this path, and those who will one day live freely, will remember that sacrifice.
If they did not resist…
They would only be drained of everything and die in silence.
Since death was inevitable either way…
Why kneel?
Why not stand, grip a weapon, and tear flesh from the enemy?
Rowan's words, filled with emotion, stirred the crowd.
The future he described ignited hope in every pair of eyes.
At that moment, Rowan also let out a quiet sigh of relief.
At least in his previous life, he had learned something after being dragged into it. Half a lecturer, at least.
And in this world, this kind of speech… worked even better than expected.
Soon, the planned three-hour speech came to an end.
At Rowan's request, everyone shouted the revolutionary declaration together.
"All men are born equal, so why do they stand above us?!"
"So that our descendants will never suffer this humiliation again!"
"A single spark can start a prairie fire!"
"Death is not to be feared, if it has meaning!"
The declaration ended in a roar.
Dragon could clearly feel it.
The way these people looked at Rowan had changed.
There was admiration now. Respect.
The fear they once held toward the World Government…
Had vanished.
The first core meeting of the Revolutionary Army concluded.
Rowan sent each squad leader back and instructed them to relay everything discussed to their teams.
Especially the declaration.
It had to be memorized.
Repeated before sleep.
Etched into their hearts.
…
Late into the night, only the core members remained on Blackstone Island.
They all waited for Spark… Rowan.
A streak of black light flashed.
Rowan returned via Flying Thunder God.
Even Kuma's gaze now carried a trace of respect.
Dragon sighed.
"If my Haki didn't tell me there's no Devil Fruit effect in your body, I'd think you had eaten some kind of Motivation Fruit."
"Before coming here, I thought your idea of holding meetings every six months was unnecessary. Now… I think maybe we should meet even more often."
Rowan shook his head with a smile.
'In another world, maybe constant influence would be necessary.'
'But here, it's different.'
'They haven't gone through an information age. Combined with their experiences, what they heard today will become belief.'
'As for those slogans… they may sound cliché to me, but here, they're new. And that's enough to move hearts.'
'No need to increase the frequency.'
'As long as the World Government hasn't noticed us, this will be the golden era of the Revolutionary Army's growth.'
'The number of squad leaders will keep increasing.'
'Plant the spark.'
'When the wind rises… it will become a wildfire.'
After speaking, Rowan looked at Dragon.
"In these six months, you must have gathered a number of truly evil criminals, right?"
Dragon replied, "Eight. Three of them are kings. They're being held at our base on White Soil Island, Baltigo. Very few people know about that place."
Rowan nodded, then turned to Ginny.
"You worked hard today. Since many squad leaders can't read well, you'll need to transcribe the records and distribute them."
For once, Ginny didn't argue.
She stood up immediately.
"For the revolution, it's no hardship!"
…
Rowan blinked.
That was… unusual.
Still, eight criminals, three of them kings.
That might be enough for another Golden Treasure Chest.
"Let's go."
"There should already be a spatial marker at Baltigo. Once I'm done there, I'll need to return to the World Government's ship."
The next moment,
Using Haki as a link, the five of them vanished from Blackstone Island.
They reappeared instantly at the Revolutionary Army base on Baltigo.
Kuma and Ginny would handle communications and documents.
Later, Rowan would send them to the Red Line transfer station in the West Blue.
That place had already become a key logistics hub for the Revolutionary Army after his arrangement with Rem.
Once supplies crossed the Red Line, Kuma's Paw-Paw Fruit would drastically reduce transport costs again.
Ivankov continued building connections with a special group, forming another force.
And Dragon led Rowan toward the prison.
The guards there were trusted.
At the very least, the prisoners wouldn't starve.
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