The so-called New World Alliance was mostly composed of Allen's territories in the New World, with a small portion belonging to the Red Hair's sphere of influence.
There were also a few World Government affiliated nations that had joined in secret.
The Alliance's rules were simple: a treaty to promote trade between nations, with the Demon Lion Pirates enforcing strict compliance.
They maintained internal peace within the Alliance but did not interfere with the internal politics of the member nations—unless a ruler broke the rules. In that case, they would be kicked out of the Alliance and held accountable for any losses their rule-breaking caused others.
Joining the Alliance came with many benefits, ranging from open trade routes, tax reduction policies, and transportation support, to the establishment of the Sea Train and subsidies for the service industry.
The price to pay was a proportional tribute of their earnings. This could be paid in money, equivalent local specialty products, or even by supplying talent to the Demon Lion Pirates.
In short, as long as a country had value—even just a little—it could serve as an admission ticket to join the New World Alliance and enjoy various developmental benefits.
To a certain extent, the Demon Lion Pirates were almost equivalent to a brand-new World Government for the New World Alliance.
By maintaining the Alliance's stability through absolute power, they allowed the various islands to develop better, while continuously drawing resources from the Alliance to strengthen themselves.
Fundamentally, the New World Alliance and the World Government operated on the same model. Neither directly engaged in production, nor did they provide the means of production.
They only provided conditions conducive to production, absorbed production organizations into their ranks, and then took a cut of the resources produced.
To achieve this, they relied on one core element: absolute strength!
Inside the empty hall, a stone table sat in the middle. King Riku sat at one end, looking thoughtful.
Rebecca and Kyros stood on either side of him.
One looked bewildered, completely lost in the conversation, while the other frowned deeply, clearly understanding the underlying mechanics but showing obvious dissatisfaction.
"Isn't this just a World Government disguised as pirates? Why should we trust pirates over the real World Government?"
Kyros questioned with a tone of dissatisfaction.
It was not hard to see that he had absolutely no goodwill toward pirates.
"Trust the World Government? Trust what? What use are they? What did they do for you while Doffy ruled this place for so many years?"
Nami raised an eyebrow, firing off a series of questions before adding, "You'd be better off asking the member nations of the New World Alliance how many benefits they've received over the past year."
Robin took over the conversation, "The World Government is just a pirate crew wearing the shell of justice. They've done their fair share of burning, killing, and looting."
"Both are organizations that rely on military force to maintain stability. If the World Government is worthy of your approval, then you have even less reason to question us."
"We will even give you more autonomy, do more for you, and collect less money. Don't forget the Heavenly Tribute you have to pay every year—that's no small sum."
As her words fell, the hall fell silent once more.
Rebecca and Kyros couldn't help but fall into deep thought. Obviously, between pirates and the World Government, anyone would know which sounded more reliable.
However, the reality of Dressrosa's experience proved that neither was reliable. As a Warlord of the Sea, Doffy's underlying businesses were even backed by the World Government.
Even more ironically, based on the information King Riku had gathered from foreign travelers, this group of pirates standing before them actually did a better job than the World Government.
King Riku, however, furrowed his brows. It wasn't that he thought joining the New World Alliance was a bad idea—quite the opposite.
The benefits brought to Dressrosa by the Sea Train built here a year ago were obvious to all. For a country about to break free from Doffy's dark rule and rebuild, joining the Alliance would be immensely helpful.
But...
King Riku looked up at Allen, who stood behind Nami and the others. This man clearly had far-reaching ambitions.
No matter how one looked at it, the New World Alliance gave off the distinct impression of establishing a new government. This realization sent a chill down King Riku's spine the more he thought about it.
"It's understandable that you distrust pirates. After all, it's not a group with a good reputation. In fact, we weren't the ones who founded this Alliance."
Robin suddenly spoke up, "The New World Alliance was initially proposed by Iceburg, the president of the Galley-La Company, to draw other nations into developing the Sea Train strategy."
"He has a brilliant enough mind to maintain the stable operation of the Alliance, but he lacked the military force to prevent that peace from being destroyed. So, he sought us out for support."
"In truth, you can view us as collaborators of this Alliance. We merely stand behind the scenes, acting as the enforcement agency to ensure no one breaks the rules."
"The Alliance and our pirate crew are not one and the same. Joining the Alliance doesn't mean you have to fly our flag, nor will you have to deal with us. You only need to fly the Alliance's flag and abide by its rules."
As Robin finished speaking, King Riku's furrowed brows relaxed slightly.
"No wonder I haven't heard of your involvement before. I'm afraid many civilians don't even know you exist behind the Alliance."
"Exactly. The same goes for you. You only need to announce to your citizens that you are joining the New World Alliance. As for our involvement, there's no need to deliberately hide it, but don't actively mention it either."
Nami chuckled lightly, "Think it over carefully. The World Government lost its trustworthiness a long time ago. You know what this country needs, and having an extra option is never a bad thing."
"Besides, joining the Alliance doesn't require you to leave the World Government. As long as you can afford to pay both the expensive Heavenly Tribute and the cheap Alliance fee, I'm sure you already have an answer in your heart."
Robin added with a smile.
King Riku nodded and said in a deep voice, "I understand. Allow us to discuss this further. I will give you an answer before tomorrow."
Nami glanced back at Allen, her eyes gleaming with pride as if she were showing off.
Allen shrugged nonchalantly, paying no mind to his own past experience of inviting three nations and ending in failure.
To think they actually said only someone sick in the head would cooperate with pirates. He had almost ripped those bastards' stupid brains right out of their skulls.
Later, it was Iceburg who personally stepped in again to convince those three nations to join the Alliance. Thinking about it now, Iceburg's move to nominally separate the Alliance from the pirate crew was indeed quite clever.
After Allen and his group left, only King Riku, Kyros, and Rebecca remained in the hall.
"The New World Alliance... I thought it referred to an alliance of nations in the second half of the Grand Line. I didn't expect it to mean *this* kind of new world..."
King Riku sighed emotionally, looking up at the ceiling.
"To overthrow the World Government and establish an entirely new regime... I'm afraid that is the ultimate goal of the New World Alliance..."