He understood the energy behind these things better than anyone.
Even the Five Elders would, at times, naturally be ordered around by these guys. This wasn't something one or two people could pull off—it was masses of people gathering together, and because their interests aligned, they didn't feel like they were being ordered, but believed they were acting spontaneously in pursuit of profit.
They might not be merchants, but they absolutely represented interests.
Take the founding of the Navy, for example.
Was its original purpose to protect the Heavenly Celestial Dragons?
No, it was to give the World Government's member nations an explanation.
And do the World Government's member nations not do business?
This was a kind of general trend, and what Sage needed to do was to stamp out this potential rising trend before it could grow.
Over there it was a messy mix of fish and dragons, power unclear. They called themselves the supreme rulers, could wipe out a few nations with just a stroke of a pen and a word from their mouths, but in reality? Layer upon layer—Heavenly Celestial Dragons, member nations, then the nobles those member nations themselves represented, and the interests those nobles represented.
If you trace it back, the root is all this.
Sage didn't want that, so he wouldn't allow even the slightest sprout of it.
Policy must come from one person alone—that way this landlord could forever maintain absolute rule.
"Lily, you stay and see if there's anything that needs handling. Marika, go bring Renedia over."
Saying that, Sage walked straight toward the Royal Palace, and soon reached the Royal City's main gate.
Moriah still had bandages wrapped around his chest, and at this moment he was staring blankly at the Royal Palace, now more than half collapsed.
"What are you looking at?"
Sage walked up beside him, likewise facing the Royal Palace, and said with a grin, "Admiring ruins? Looking at the state of it, the fight must've been pretty intense."
"That was your bedchamber, and also the symbol of O'hara. Having it topple like this hits your prestige too hard."
Moriah cast Sage a glance, his sharp voice carrying a bit of apology. "My support work was somewhat of a failure."
Letting Sage come back by ship already meant there'd been a problem.
They hadn't been able to hold out against a Four Emperors until Sage arrived. As this "Deputy Emperor," strategist and adviser, he looked nothing like the part.
"O'hara isn't some spiritual symbol. Don't you remember this place? We conquered it and just kept it because it looked nice… Moriah, I'm the symbol!"
Sage hooked his thumb at himself, grinning wide. "No need to care about this kind of destruction. When something's wrecked, you rebuild it. When people die, you recruit more. As long as I'm still here, no matter how big the problem is, it's not a problem—it just has to be solved. After all, aside from problems, there are still people, aren't there!"
Problems are hard to solve—are people somehow harder?
"Get some good rest. I'll let you get your face back. Soldier against soldier, general against general, that's all. Since Red Hair didn't wipe you out, then I won't wipe them out either—but that sword stroke, I'll pay it back!"
What Red Hair thought didn't matter. Maybe he was that kind of laid‑back charlatan who believed killing people couldn't solve problems and that just defeating them was enough.
In that case, Sage wouldn't make himself look small either. He'd return the favor once—but as for revenge, that would be constant and relentless!
"I've always believed that about you. It's just, doing this—won't it mess up the plan?" Moriah also started laughing.
He wasn't like Hawkins. As an old‑school Pirate, he knew victory and defeat were fickle. As long as your will remained, there would always be a day you succeeded.
Sage wasn't him. Back then, after his partners died, he'd been unable to recover. But Sage… even if everyone under him died, he had the ability to start over from zero and then take revenge even more viciously.
But starting a war like this would throw off Sage's original plan to expand toward Paradise.
"It just slows things down a bit. Right now everything's chaotic. The Revolutionary Army's movements have those guys too busy looking after themselves. No one's going to seize the initiative, and no one dares copy my model—they can only watch your Grandpa Sage do it."
Sage waved his hand. "We'll hammer out the specific plan in a meeting later."
As he finished speaking, he saw Marika approaching, bringing along Renedia, who was fuming, lips pursed and head lowered.
"Sage! I want revenge!"
That was the first thing she shouted when she saw him.
Renedia flailed her little hands, yelling in anger, "I'm going to develop a super destructive weapon no weaker than Pluton! I'll blast Red Hair and that little bastard Teach's territories to bits! Grind their bones to dust!"
"Good! I'll run support for you when the time comes!"
Sage rubbed Renedia's little head. "But before we start the war, we need to get the groundwork done. The factories are gone—go rebuild a few first, let those people still living in tents have something to do."
"Mm… I'll get on it right away!" Renedia nodded hard and ran off at a trot.
Marika watched gently as Renedia ran off, smiling. "She was in the lab working on weapons. When I went to get her, she was cursing while hammering away with powered tools. I haven't seen Reni personally forging in a long time."
Being able to build Mechanical Hammers, and back then even create controllable Iron Persons—how could Renedia not know how to forge? She'd just been focused on shipbuilding. But as for her weapons craftsmanship, as long as she still had that power ability, no matter how outrageous the weapon, given time she could make it.
As for its power…
It might not stack up to a casual strike from Sage.
"It's been too long…"
Sage sighed. "The sea's just like that—always pissy. Past glory doesn't mean anything. There'll always be some blind idiots who have to come test you. Fine, then let them test… Marika, from now on, go calculate war logistics based on a全民皆兵—everyone a soldier—setup. For this you can coordinate with Lily. Before everyone's injuries are healed, I want a scheme on my desk."
"Moriah, go study strategy and see how we're going to fight. Same deal—give it to me before your injuries heal. Also, go tell Lily…"
He turned to look at the ruined city. "Let's use this chance to halt external trade for now and focus on infrastructure first. Once O'hara is set, have Hawkins survey all the key points and set up defensive Cannon Platforms everywhere. Get Vegapunk to cooperate and use Peacekeeper tech to automatically distinguish friend from foe."
"The remaining islands will also be converted into war infrastructure, using these things as a temporary replacement for trade. Everything else stops—including deals with the World Government. Trade with the Revolutionary Army gets cut in half. Everything serves the war."
Sage's voice was light, but to the two of them, it carried a chill that made their hair stand on end.
War—every major Kingdom had gone through it. Even just armies fighting armies was already miserable enough.
But Sage's words carried an even more intense, bloody feel, as if they went beyond any scene they had ever known.
They didn't fully understand, but they instinctively felt that this line—"everything serves the war"… was terrifying.
"Understood!"
The two answered in unison, then withdrew to make preparations.
Sage stood alone before the collapsed Royal Palace, scarlet flashing in his eyes, his smile growing more and more sinister. "Unless you wipe out all my people, otherwise… once war is unleashed, it'll be the most terrifying thing of all!"
Kingdom versus Kingdom?
Navy versus Pirates?
Too childish!
Resisting to avoid paying taxes?
Rebelling to depose a King?
Those are not全民参与—not everyone taking part. That's just a partial expansion. Once they get what they wanted, they scatter like birds and beasts.
Rule isn't as simple as sitting in the Royal Palace enjoying luxury, then owning some money and some land.
You want to know what a全民参与的工业战争—an industrial war with everyone involved—is? What a general mobilization is?
"Let me give you a proper lesson!"
Under the sunlight, Sage's shadow stretched endlessly, spreading wider and wider, as if it would engulf all of O'hara…
...
Half a month later.
Still in front of the collapsed Royal Palace, in a temporary meeting hall, a dense crowd had gathered.
At the lowest level were the various captains of the Disaster Pirates, including the officers stationed on different islands, as well as "Real Fight"‑class figures from the Beast Pirates, and non‑minister family members of the Big Mom Pirates.
Further forward stood the High-Ranking Officers, the Imperial Court Guards, the entire Demon Race, and the minister‑class members of the Big Mom Pirates.
Inside the stone structure that had been built up front were members of Seven Stars and above. King stood with the other Disasters and the Flying Six, while Katakuri had brought the Commanders and the leading ministers.
Sitting at the very top, Sage's first words were…
"Full‑scale war!!"