One Piece: Mandala Swordsman

Chapter 61 Which company has the strongest brainwashing ability?

Borsalino became increasingly alarmed as he looked at it.

These words, brimming with political wisdom and rational thought, yet tinged with arrogance, seem utterly incongruous with a little girl. If this content were written by that Staff Officer Crane, then Borsalino would have nothing to say.

but……

"You wrote all of this?" Borsalino finally understood why Farmor praised her intelligence; her thinking was strangely mature, and she also had a broad perspective.

But she was an orphan. How could an orphan have such a high level of education?

"Just some thoughts, please return them to me." Roman easily got the notebook this time.

"Please don't be too surprised. The General Staff is full of talented people, and their notes should be even more interesting." Roman couldn't even put on a smile anymore. Actually, there was no prohibited content in them, but some of them contained real future events, while others were based on her own imagination. Now that they had all been seen, she felt somewhat embarrassed.

After calming down, Borsalino began to look the girl in the eye.

"You seem to have quite a few secrets."

"Since you knew it was a secret, you shouldn't have just asked me. You should have found out yourself." After saying that, Roman quickly put the notebook away.

I'll burn it when I get back.

She started to get irritated.

This was a good opportunity, and Borsalino, who always had a keen eye for people, began to be aggressive.

"This isn't something a destitute, wandering child should write. If you had received an education before becoming an orphan, perhaps that would make sense, but were you a nobleman before?"

"No." They're more like nouveau riche royalty.

"Speaking of which, I heard your house was taken over by pirates."

"Yes." They are a large pirate family.

"He doesn't seem to hate pirates?" After all, the part about pirates in the text is written from the perspective of an outsider, very rational, and even the handwriting is consistently smooth.

"No."

His tone was clear, and his eyes were sincere; there was absolutely no trace of him lying.

However, if the answer is honest, the problem becomes even bigger.

Borsalino crossed his arms and gently lowered his chin: "I don't think you're lying, but your answer is contradictory and it's hard for me to be completely at ease."

"Doesn't the Navy also use pirates to maintain peace on the sea? What's the big deal about mere personal feelings?"

It's a completely neutral tone, which is somewhat like him, but it's different from Kuzan's assessment. Borsalino's eyes began to narrow.

"Didn't you also say that we can't betray our interests, so we should treat special cases specially?" To be honest, the Seven Warlords system was the World Government's idea, and the Navy was just following orders. However, Borsalino obviously couldn't easily say such a hot potato.

He liked to beat around the bush, but if he continued to beat around the bush with Roman, he probably wouldn't get anything out of him. So when Borsalino wanted to go further, Roman spoke up.

“During my time at the General Staff, I enjoyed attending lectures, but I’ve discovered that I also enjoy giving lectures. Would you be interested in listening?” Roman retorted, not to be outdone.

interesting.

She was clever, and Borsalino believed that what she had to say wasn't so boring, and it wouldn't hurt to listen.

"of course."

"OK".

The West Sea is rife with gangsters and arms dealing, causing immense suffering for some civilians. Even though the kingdom is powerful, it is unable to deal with the extremely secretive arms trade. Moreover, the arms dealers are more cunning and unscrupulous than the kingdom's regular soldiers, and have been operating underground for many years. What should be done now? How can the king save his people?

As the problem remained unresolved, the people began to lose faith in the king.

At this point, a prince or minister offered his opinion.

He hoped the king would recruit pirates.

At this point, Borsalino frowned, but he didn't speak. Instead, he gestured for Roman to continue.

The king found it absurd. Arms dealers were already a major concern for him, and now they were even bringing in pirates? Did they want him to destroy the country?

However, the minister swore on his life that if the plan failed, he would be willing to pay with his own head.

So in the end the king agreed, even though he still found it absurd.

Borsalino also found it absurd, but the girl continued to tell the story.

As it turned out, the "double-crossing" strategy was very effective. Compared to the arms dealers who were hiding in Xinjiang, the pirates who fought on the sea every day seemed to be even more ferocious. They almost successfully destroyed the arms depot, and the local gangs were routed.

Of course, this can only be described as sending away the leopard and welcoming the tiger.

Borsalino nodded in agreement.

But that's not the whole story. In fact, when the pirates arrived, the minister was willing to offer the land occupied by the gang as their place of residence.

Because of the unique nature of pirates, they can hardly stay in one place for long. However, the minister's condition is essentially to allow them to have their own legal gathering points, and he hopes that they can allocate troops to protect them in exchange for money and legal status.

The pirates agreed. After all, many pirates are driven by money and fame, and killing is just a part of their daily lives.

But a thief is a thief. Even so, although the captain agreed to provide protection for ordinary residents, some of his men's killings were still unavoidable, but the lives of ordinary people became much more stable.

Not only was the country spared from the harm of arms dealers, but pirate attacks also decreased, the king's regime became more stable, and the number of civilians who died in accidents decreased. Some sacrifices were exchanged for greater benefits.

"Lieutenant General Borsalino, do you think they are villainous heroes who saved the country or scum who kill indiscriminately?"

A tricky problem.

If it were Kuzan, he would probably acknowledge the positive effects brought by these pirates, since the outcome was good. However, he would still not let the pirates who killed indiscriminately go unpunished.

If it were Sakazuki, he would sternly rebuke them, not only denying the role of the pirates but also potentially throwing the minister into prison.

But he is Borsalino, and he cannot answer that question.

He neither supports the pirates' actions nor can he completely deny them.

"Now do you understand the root of the contradiction you see? When faced with greater interests, emotions are unimportant. If I want to hate someone, I won't bring all their attributes into it. Pirates are pirates, but they are not pirates either. Depending on the situation, they will be different. So I don't really hate pirates."

Borsalino fell silent. Today's words had given him a new understanding of Roman; perhaps she truly was extraordinary.

Seeing the lieutenant general deep in thought, Roman made a decision.

If not now, when?

Spread honey on the soles of your feet, and get running!