At this point, the World Government's machine began to turn in earnest, and the Revolutionary Army suffered an unprecedented blow.
In just a few short days, a large number of its members were arrested, and some were even killed.
For example, Belo Betty, commander of the East Army, was ambushed by both agents and Marines while inciting civilians to rise up against oppression.
Even Admiral Kizaru arrived in time and launched an attack on her.
If Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army, hadn't happened to be nearby and stepped in to block Kizaru, Belo Betty might have been captured on the spot.
And Belo Betty wasn't the only one. Revolutionary forces in other regions were hit as well.
For a time, several uprisings collapsed before they could succeed, and the Revolutionary Army suffered heavy losses.
At Revolutionary Army headquarters, the top brass had gathered.
Sabo, second-in-command of the Revolutionary Army, said grimly, "Chief, the World Government's gone crazy lately. They're hounding us like mad. What the hell happened?"
It wasn't as if the Revolutionary Army had never been targeted before.
But this time was unusually intense.
It was as if the World Government had dropped everything else just to go after them.
That was unbelievable.
Even Dragon found it strange. He considered the Revolutionary Army fairly capable, but surely they still hadn't reached the point where the World Government would throw its full weight behind crushing them.
Something had happened behind the scenes.
Something he didn't know about.
But no matter how he thought about it, Dragon couldn't figure out what it was.
In the end, he decided to call Nico Robin and see whether she knew anything.
Not long before that, in a casino somewhere in the West Blue, Rowan, Nico Robin, and Hashirama Senju strolled in at an easy pace. After scanning the room, they spotted a blind man with an X-shaped scar on his face, and the three of them exchanged a knowing look.
Rowan and Robin walked over and sat down on either side of him.
This was the future Marine Admiral, Fujitora Issho.
Of course, at this point in time, he wasn't Fujitora yet. He was just Issho.
At the moment, Issho acted as though he hadn't noticed Rowan and Robin sitting beside him. Like the other gamblers around him, he held a handful of berries and frowned as he struggled over whether to bet big or small.
He could have used Observation Haki to cheat.
He simply didn't care to.
His luck might have been bad, but his gambling ethics were excellent.
Just then, Hashirama came over after exchanging some chips. Without even looking, he slapped them down on "small."
In Hashirama's mind, if you came to a casino and didn't place a few bets, then what was the point?
At that exact moment, Rowan said lazily, "If I were you, I'd bet big."
Issho knew Rowan was talking to him, and asked curiously, "And why's that?"
Rowan replied, "Because my companion just bet on small."
"Huh?"
Issho didn't understand, but he was deeply shaken all the same.
Even Hashirama looked like he was about to crack. What did that have to do with him betting on small?
Rowan continued unhurriedly, "My companion here is just like you—a complete gambling addict. The problem is, his luck's terrible. He loses no matter what he bets on. So if you want to win, bet big. If you want to lose, bet small."
Before Issho could say anything, Hashirama had already exploded. "Impossible. Absolutely impossible. My nickname is the Gambling God of Konoha. How could I possibly lose every bet? That's slander. Pure slander."
Robin couldn't help rolling her eyes. Slander? Please. He and Tsunade both had terrible luck. One lost more than the other, but both were hopeless. Did he really have no self-awareness at all?
Talk about the pot not knowing how black it is.
Still, better to leave him a little dignity.
Issho, half doubtful and half amused, put his chips on "big."
Sure enough, he won.
Over the next dozen rounds, whenever he bet the same way Hashirama did, he lost. Every single time he bet opposite him, he won.
Ah…
Ah, wow.
Issho had seen unlucky gamblers before, but someone with luck this catastrophically bad? This was the first time.
And this guy dared call himself the Gambling God of Konoha?
What kind of place was Konoha, exactly, if someone like this counted as a gambling god?
After losing for more than ten rounds, Hashirama had clearly gone from overconfident to utterly dead inside. Issho couldn't help saying, "Old man, just stop. Seriously. Quit while you can."
With luck like that, even mountains of gold and silver wouldn't be enough to keep him afloat.
Issho truly couldn't understand it. If this guy's luck was really that awful, where had all that confidence at the beginning even come from?
It wasn't as if he looked like a rookie.
Hashirama ignored him completely. He was currently busy being depressed.
Issho shook his head. He knew Hashirama hadn't listened. Which, honestly, made sense. When did gamblers ever listen to reason?
Not like Issho himself was any different.
After adjusting his mindset, Issho asked curiously, "So what do you people want with me?"
The moment they came in, they sat down right beside him. No matter how he looked at it, they weren't just passing by.
The only reason he hadn't driven them off was because he hadn't sensed any malice from them.
Robin asked, "Could we talk somewhere else?"
Issho nodded. He was confident in his own strength. If these people really had bad intentions and meant to attack him, he didn't mind teaching them a lesson.
"Where to?"
"A restaurant nearby," Rowan said. "I saw a barbecue place earlier that was packed. Looks promising."
When he arrived, he had spotted a pretty lively barbecue restaurant and wanted to try it out.
Issho didn't refuse. He was interested in the grilled meat too.
So the group left the casino and headed to the barbecue restaurant, where they booked a private room.
Once seated, Rowan ordered a mountain of meat—beef, lamb, pork, dog meat, even sea beast meat.
Robin used the power of the Flower-Flower Fruit, and several arms sprouted from the table, taking up the tongs and getting to work grilling.
And honestly, that ability was perfect for barbecue.
Flip, season, wrap in lettuce—full service from start to finish.
Rowan just had to sit there and enjoy himself.
As Robin worked the grill with her extra hands, she asked, "What do you think of the World Government, Mr. Issho?"
Issho: "...Well."
Starting with something that big, huh?
That only made him more curious about who these people really were.
Were they enemies of the World Government? Revolutionaries, maybe?
That was what he thought, but what he said was, "The World Government certainly has plenty wrong with it. But in the end, it does preserve order in this world and gives ordinary people a way to survive."
Rowan nodded. "Fair enough. There's a saying—however rotten an order may be, it's still better than no order at all."
"However rotten an order may be, it's still better than no order at all?"
Issho repeated the words softly.
They had struck a chord.
Robin wasn't surprised. If Issho had been some radical who utterly hated the World Government, then two years later he never would have become a Marine Admiral through the world draft.
"Then what do you think of the Celestial Dragons?" she asked.
This time, Issho's expression darkened.
He might accept the existence of the World Government, but he also couldn't stand the behavior of the Celestial Dragons.
"Cruel."
After a long pause, he finally gave his honest opinion.
If the World Government's agents heard that, he'd be lucky not to end up in prison.
But he didn't care.
Neither Rowan nor Robin cared either.
Robin said, "Mr. Issho, if one day the Celestial Dragons decided to destroy this world, and the World Government acted as their accomplice, what would you do?"
You're kidding, right? The Celestial Dragons want to destroy the world? How would that even make sense?
"That can't be right," Issho said instinctively. The Celestial Dragons weren't complete idiots. If the world were destroyed, who would they rule over? Who would they stand above?
Even if the Celestial Dragons really were brain-dead enough not to understand that, what about the World Government?
Robin said, "Unfortunately, that's exactly the truth. In a few years, sea levels will rise, and most of the world's islands will sink beneath the ocean."
"Only a handful of places will survive."
"For example, Mary Geoise."
"The World Government has known this for eight hundred years."
"But they kept it secret and have simply watched it all unfold."
Issho didn't believe her. Instead, he asked, "Who are you? And how do you know this?"
Robin dispelled her disguise and revealed her true face.
"I am Nico Robin, the last survivor of Ohara. I believe you've heard my name."
Issho fell silent. He had indeed heard of Nico Robin.
"Can you tell me how you know any of this?"
"Vegapunk told us."
"Vegapunk? The world's greatest scientist?" Issho was genuinely surprised. How had that scientist become involved in this?
Robin said, "Dr. Vegapunk may work for the World Government, but he has secretly been researching the Void Century. I—"
Gururururu…
At that exact moment, Robin's Den Den Mushi started ringing.
Issho made a small gesture, giving her permission to answer.
Robin apologized, picked up the call, and Dragon's voice came through.
"Miss Nico Robin, I wanted to ask you something. The World Government has been going after the Revolutionary Army with unusual intensity lately. Do you know what's going on?"
Robin paused. "Hasn't the World Government always been targeting the Revolutionary Army?"
Dragon replied, "That's true. But recently they've been especially aggressive. It's like they want to uproot us entirely. Quite a few of our comrades have already been persecuted. So I wanted to ask—what exactly is the World Government up to?"