Chapter 47- A simple reason
"Well, Issho, how can you tell that we don't have any malicious intent?" Robin asked once again. "Once you develop your observation haki enough, seeing the future isn't the only thing possible" Issho calmly answered.
"I guess that's possible" Sanji muttered. "Anyway, why did one of the Yonko board a mere rear admiral's ship? I can't imagine it's for reputation or loot" Issho asked. "When you see a man who can drop meteorites from the sky, you'd be curious too" Luffy answered. "Haha fair enough" Issho admitted.
"Speaking of which, what devil fruit did you eat?" Nami asked in curiosity. "I ate the gravity-gravity fruit, and as the name suggests, I can create and control gravitational forces" Issho informed her. "There was a devil fruit like that?" Katakuri asked in surprise. After all, if a devil fruit like that existed, legends of its wielder would have been widespread. "If you possessed such a powerful ability, how are you only at the rear admiral rank? You don't look like someone that hides his strength" Zoro thought the same as Katakuri and asked Issho.
"It's simple, really, I'm only at the rear admiral rank since I only joined the marines about a month ago. After all, the Marines needed help after what your captain did at Marinford" Issho said as he chuckled a bit.
Suddenly, Luffy erupted with conquerors haki and knocked all the marines besides Issho unconscious. "Don't worry, they are only knocked out" Luffy said to try and calm Issho, but unlike what he expected, Issho wasn't startled at all. "Did you forget I specialize in observation haki? I can tell whether they are alive or not, Plus I looked into the future" Issho said with a calm smile.
"So, I assume you have a reason for knocking my subordinates out?" Issho asked as he led the Straw Hats to a table. "Yes, I wanted to ask you why you joined the Marines. I know you are aware of the corruption going on within the organization, I mean just look at the Celestial Dragons, so why don't you join the Revolutionary Army?" Luffy asked him. This question bugged him since he never got the reason why Issho continued to stick with the Marines after all the shit they did.
"The reason is simple", Issho talked with no change to his calm smile. "There is no, and will never be, a perfect organization with as much power as the Marines and World Government hold. They make mistakes, like all of us. The only difference is that they don't learn from them. There is a saying "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" and it is true. The World Government and Marines believe they can do no wrong, or at least they are bent on portraying that image to the people, and as a result, they don't acknowledge their own shortcomings and mistakes. However, I intend to fix that".
"But if you brought up the Revolutionary Army, I have a few things to say. They "liberate" islands from the World Government, but those same islands are in a worse situation after they get taken over. The Revolutionary Army simply doesn't have enough manpower to take care of the safety of those islands while waging guerilla warfare against the World Government at the same time. As a result, they don't take care of minor and even some major crims in the islands as long as they are hidden well enough. Moreover, they abandon those islands once the World Government arrives to take them back with enough force since they can't spare manpower for a major defense, in which case the island actually suffers under the World Government since the Marines don't take care of minor crimes to teach them a lesson. As I said, none of the sides are perfect, but the marines take care of the citizens far better than the revolutionary army" Issho concluded.
"Good point, I'll have to talk to my dad about this" Luffy said. "But that doesn't exclude all the wrongdoing they've done, I mean just look at Ohara". Robin twitched a bit when Luffy mentioned her destroyed home. "Yes, that is a mistake that cannot be undone" Issho admitted in a grave tone. But Robin got angry, "you call that a mistake? The island was annihilated and it's innocent people murdered!" Robin's voice shook a little while she talked.
"You must be Nico Robin correct? The people of Ohara were mostly innocent, I agree, but the few that were not committed one of the heaviest crimes there are. The reason why I'm calling it a mistake was that instead of capturing the guilty researchers and destroy the forbidden research peacefully, the World Government massively overreacted and called a buster call" Issho stated. "What?" Usopp said, "The researchers only wanted information! How can you call that a crime?!". "It was declared a crime punishable by death by the World Government. Information is the strongest weapon and everyone wants to keep secrets. Your captain's dad does the same, do you think he can lead a revolution without silencing traitors?" Issho said with not a slight change in his calm voice as he pointed at Luffy.
"But it's not on the same level!" Usopp argued. "Unfortunately, it is. But while the world government did it all at once and with flare to send a message, Dragon does it continuously and quietly as to keep a strong image and not hurt the moral. Don't be so naive as to think that only the World Government commits wrongdoings".
Silence.
No one could refute what Issho has said.
"So how do you plan on changing the world government?" Luffy asked after a couple of minutes. "I plan to rise to a high enough position so I can change the rules", Issho said. "I see, if that's the case then there are a couple of things we need to discuss. But first I need to see if you have the potential to reach those heights you speak of".
"Very well". Issho said as they both got ready to fight on top of the Marine ship.