Chapter 49: Please keep reading! What a true treasure!

In Mary Geoise, within the Hall of Power at Pangaea Castle, the Five Elders were gathered as per custom, each holding a thick stack of documents.

"I never imagined that the day would come when I could receive an original manuscript personally written by Lord Im. This is truly a treasure worthy of being passed down through generations!"

As usual, due to his responsibility for the Administration, Saint Topman Warcury, seated in the central position, looked at the exquisitely beautiful characters on the document with excitement. Even the commas and periods appeared perfect in his eyes.

The other four Elders breathed heavily, their gazes filled with a complex mixture of envy and jealousy.

Ultimately, they could only look helplessly at the documents in their own hands. Although the handwriting was identical, these were merely copies. While they considered them equally valuable and worthy of collection, there was still a gap compared to the handwritten originals.

This was the first time in centuries that Lord Im had notified them of upcoming tasks in the form of a document.

From this perspective, the current generation of the Five Elders was truly fortunate.

However, judging by the thickness of the documents, they could understand Lord Im's reasoning. After all, if such a vast amount of content were to be discussed in the Empty Throne room, they would likely spend an entire night kneeling and still not finish.

"By the way, Dragon's fleet has arrived in the South Blue. According to intelligence from CP2, he is doing quite well—especially in terms of intellect. He is nothing like that bastard Garp's son!"

Saint Shepherd Ju Peter changed the subject. His mood was somewhat foul, so he wanted to discuss other matters first before seriously addressing the contents of the documents. He briefly narrated the situation he knew, and the others listened intently.

"Dragon's planning does indeed have a bit of Sengoku's style to it. He considered various issues in the South Blue to ensure he wouldn't prematurely trigger the vigilance or preparations of the 'Slave King'," Saint Marcus Mars remarked with a chuckle.

"Indeed. If it were Sakazuki, Borsalino, or Kuzan, they might not have thought so meticulously," Saint Garling Figarland added in agreement.

At this moment, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, holding the Shodai Kitetsu, showed a hesitant expression.

"If this mission is completed successfully, Dragon's rank as Vice Admiral can be arranged. However, I am wondering about the future."

As the supreme head of the World Government's entire military force—the so-called Fleet Admiral being merely a role to handle the tedious practical work for him—he was more sensitive to this matter.

"You mean the Admiral position. That is indeed a major problem!"

Saint Topman Warcury also turned serious. Since Navy Admirals represented the supreme combat power of the World Government, they had to be taken seriously.

Since the founding of the World Government, the number of Navy Admirals was regulated to a maximum of three. Now that Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan were already confirmed as Admiral candidates, what would happen to Dragon in the future?

Dragon's talent, strength, and Devil Fruit abilities were all sufficient to stand alongside those three. Furthermore, he was the son of the Navy Hero Garp, making his lineage even more prestigious.

Logically, Dragon was fully qualified to become a Navy Admiral, but there were no slots left. They couldn't just give him the title of "Admiral Candidate" and make him sit on the bench for decades, could they?

After all, Dragon had no advantage in age. He was 34 this year, while Sakazuki was 31, Borsalino was 34, and Kuzan was even as young as 25. If nothing unexpected happened, he would simply have to wait.

Unless Dragon was like his father and was willing to remain a Vice Admiral for the rest of his life, but wouldn't that be a waste?

The fact that Garp had always refused promotions to Admiral had already been a source of irritation for the Five Elders.

Of course, the two situations were different. Garp refused despite a lack of Admiral positions, whereas Dragon had too many candidates and no place for him.

"Sigh, promote him to Vice Admiral first. We'll deal with the future later," Topman Warcury said helplessly. Beside him, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro could only nod.

"Once Dragon deals with that Slave King, half of this year's Reverie process will have been advanced ahead of schedule," Saint Garling Figarland said, shifting the topic again.

Regarding the matter of the Admiral positions, they truly did not have the final say and did not dare to change things arbitrarily. After all, these rules were established by Lord Im himself. Therefore, as long as Lord Im did not actively request a reform, they would never bring it up.

Whether it was the current Five Elders or the previous generations, they all knew very well how much Lord Im disliked "chaos" and "change."

This was the primary reason why the World Government's system had not changed for eight hundred years, and because of this, the Five Elders strove to ensure the "stability" of the entire world situation.

Although the World Government was currently attempting to change due to that "Great Prophecy," no one knew to what extent Lord Im would tolerate such "change."

Thus, the five of them had long formed a tacit understanding: whatever Lord Im said, they would do!

"Mhm, Lord Im's requirement to deal with the Slave King before the Reverie is very wise; it resolves many potential unforeseen circumstances."

Saint Marcus Mars asked, "But there is still a major problem before us. Once the agenda is passed, what will be done with the hundreds of thousands of slaves atop Mary Geoise?"

Within this glamorous Holy Land, a vast number of slaves purchased by the Celestial Dragons were held captive—all of them so-called "premium" or "top-tier" specimens. The women were beautiful and lovely, the men were strong and capable, or they possessed special skills or were of certain sub-races. After all, they were slaves whom the Celestial Dragons had taken a liking to and chosen to bring back.

"What else can be done? Kill them!" Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro replied expressionlessly while stroking the sheath of the Shodai Kitetsu, before continuing.

"If we release them, given their hatred for us Celestial Dragons, it will certainly cause a certain negative impact. Most of them would likely turn to piracy. The number of pirates is already constantly increasing!"

His words caused the other four to fall silent. After a moment, Topman Warcury shook his head, feeling that such an action was inappropriate after some thought.

"Killing them all might be easy, but the repercussions are not small. Increasing the people's trust in the World Government, restoring a positive image, and reducing the rise of pirates are among the objectives Lord Im is pushing for with this year's agenda. If this were discovered and publicized, the consequences would be self-evident, wouldn't they?"

"Then what should we do?" Saint Shepherd Ju Peter asked.

"Release a batch, and imprison another batch!"

"Just like when we returned the Merfolk and Fish-men previously. Let Tsuru come to wash away the resentment of a batch of slaves, and then broadcast the process of escorting them back to their homelands to the entire world. We will declare that Mary Geoise has released all its slaves, and the remaining ones are temporarily being held in a location to be processed slowly. The Red Line is vast; there is plenty of space."

Topman Warcury's proposal made the eyes of the other four Elders light up, as they all felt it was indeed a good method.

There are tens of thousands of people; it is boundless. As long as they released over ten thousand people and controlled the footage, the scene would be enough to deceive the people of the world.

At this moment, Saint Shepherd Ju Peter gained inspiration and smiled, "Can we adapt this method to first solve the rumors regarding the Great Treasure?"

"Aren't some people becoming pirates due to the temptation of Roger's treasure? Then we can organize a worldwide live broadcast of escorting that Great Treasure back to Mary Geoise, declaring that we have already found the ONE PIECE. While it might not completely eradicate the emergence of pirates, it will certainly have a significant effect," Saint Garling Figarland laughed.

"Indeed, a great idea. Isn't the Great Treasure just wealth? We will let the people of the world see with their own eyes what a true Great Treasure is. Once they have seen it and are satisfied, they will settle down!"

In terms of the sheer amount of treasure, could anyone on this planet rival the World Government?