Garp gestured for his lieutenant to continue.
"What made them turn to piracy?" Garp asked.
"They were samurai from Wano Country, a closed-off land. When they left, they flew a symbol of two crossed swords on their flag, marking them as pirates," the lieutenant explained.
"Just like that? That's all it took to make them pirates?" Luffy said, astonished.
"You might not understand yet, Luffy," the lieutenant began, before giving a short lesson on the world's structure.
Eight hundred years ago, twenty kings from twenty kingdoms united to form the World Government. These "creators" and their families moved to the Holy Land of Mariejois. Only the royal family of Alabasta, the Nefertari family, declined the invitation, remaining in their homeland. The descendants of the nineteen others became the Celestial Dragons—rulers who claim divine lineage and absolute privilege over the world.
The World Government became an unparalleled empire ruling over the seas, creating the Navy to police a world filled with pirates. As the Government controlled the lands and the Red Line, countless small kingdoms also chose to submit, paying a heavenly tribute to gain legal recognition and the "right to exist" through the issuance of "human rights certificates."
Nations that refuse to pay tribute have no such rights, branded as outlaws or rebel states. The Government even orders the Navy to destroy such nations when deemed necessary, turning the tribute into a customary tax and their protection into a form of dominance.
There are many reasons why pirates exist, but merely venturing into the sea without royal permission is enough to earn a "pirate" label. Explorers or adventurers must obtain permits from their kings to avoid being targeted.
For example, Mont Blanc Noland was a state-sanctioned explorer in the North Blue, a fleet admiral and botanist who ventured legally under his king's decree. However, he ultimately met his end when he failed to bring back the mythical Golden City, facing public execution and earning the title "The Liar."
"Wano Country, though," the lieutenant continued, "is different. It's an isolated land, and they don't pay tribute, making it a nation without rights. It also holds valuable resources—sea prism stone—that the World Government has long coveted."
"Since they have no legal status outside, any Wano samurai who leaves becomes a 'pirate.' Their strength and skills only reinforce that label. Forty-three years ago, twenty-five samurai escaped Wano, drifting across the sea. Three years later, their crew disappeared without a trace."
"Maybe they intended to go into hiding," the lieutenant said, gazing at the marked village of Shimotsuki on the map.
"That makes sense…" Garp said, looking at the moonlight over the sea. He then asked Luffy, "Do you really think that samurai is good?"
"Yes," Luffy replied without hesitation.
"Remember, Luffy," Garp warned, "most pirates are criminals. Even if that samurai seems good now, we don't know his past."
"He created a peaceful village and has a lovely granddaughter. I don't know his past or what he might do in the future, but in the present—what I see now—he's good. I think he deserves a happy ending," Luffy said firmly. "If there's any burden from his past, let me bear it for him!"
"I have Conqueror's Haki, destined to be a king. I have the right to shoulder his past and future, don't I, Grandpa?"
"Don't kid yourself, Luffy," Garp retorted. "The world is filled with those with kingly potential, but they're nothing to the world itself."
"Then it's because I'm still too weak, isn't it? Haha! Grandpa, in the end, who even decides what's good and evil? Does it matter?"
"I've seen Shanks, and he's a good pirate, full of laughter and joy on his ship. The samurai of Shimotsuki are good people, yet they were once pirates. Maybe most pirates are bad, but surely, some are good. Isn't the system that defines them as criminals flawed?"
"So, Grandpa, just because the Marines wear the banner of justice, does that mean everything they do is just? And the ones leading the world—the Celestial Dragons—are they truly good?"
Garp fell silent, an unusual response for the battle-hardened admiral. As a man who'd seen the world's dark truths, he was too old to have the youthful zeal to change things, too weary to do anything but maintain a fragile peace.
He didn't want to say it aloud, but the answer was clear.
The Celestial Dragons, the World Government, and even the Marines—all were flawed. They served a form of justice, but it wasn't true justice.
Garp despised the title "Hero of the Marines." Yet he bore it because the Marines needed a symbol of strength and stability. They needed a hero, even if that hero was a reluctant one.
Seeing his commander struggle, the lieutenant leaned over and whispered, "Let's not say things that divide us…"
Garp's mouth curled into a sad smile as he responded, "Luffy, there is kindness and justice in this world. You can see it in people's genuine smiles. That's worth protecting."
"But," he admitted, "that's not what matters here. In this world, only strength truly matters."
He sighed deeply. "I hate the Celestial Dragons, but my fists aren't strong enough to topple them. I've come to accept that. So, if the seas aren't flowing with blood, then I'm satisfied…"
"Strength, Luffy," he added, "is the ultimate decider."
In saying this, he acknowledged his own limitations, his compromise, and the painful truth of the world they lived in.
In the Pirate World, the Celestial Dragons ruled by sheer power, nothing more. Their dominion over the world was built on the strength to crush any who defied them. And as the saying goes, where there are ants, one spark can burn them all to ash.
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