Chapter 143: The Palace of Kings! Watching the Ceremony!
Chapter 143: The Palace of Kings! Watching the Ceremony!
This was not just a passing visit, this should be Borsalino's third time in Marijoa.
No matter how dissatisfied they were with Borsalino in their hearts, at least on the surface, the Five Elders still gave face to Borsalino, or the future Navy Marshal.
As soon as he stepped out of the bubble pod, a band dressed in gorgeous clothes and moving in unison began to play music to welcome Borsalino's arrival.
A brand new handmade red carpet was rolled out from the exit of the bubble pod to the gate of the World Government.
The basic unit of price for this highest-grade red carpet is calculated in millions of berries. This red carpet that is several kilometers long alone is equivalent to the cost of building several warships.
And this is just part of the welcome ceremony. The entire process is enough to empty the treasury of more than half of the countries.
The Five Elders put on such a show not just for the sake of face, but more importantly, they wanted to ease the relationship with Borsalino.
Otherwise, although they could use military spending to force the navy to surrender, they would also inevitably have to endure a lot of unnecessary trouble.
"Tsk, it would be better if you just gave me the money. What a waste."
Unfortunately, the "good intentions" of the Five Elders were a complete waste. Not only did Borsalino not show any sign of appreciation, he even made a note of them in his little notebook.
I originally wanted to triple the budget, but now it seems I have to increase it tenfold!
Considering the scale of the navy’s annual military expenditure, a tenfold budget would probably force the Five Elders to curse in public regardless of their status.
However, Borsalino is not worried about being rejected by the Five Elders, because it won't be long before a "Pirate King" who is more brutal than Rocks and Roger combined will emerge from the ocean.
By then, let alone increasing military spending tenfold, even if he asked the Five Elders to perform hula for him in public... Well, this condition is a bit excessive, so let's change it to asking the Five Elders to spend all their family assets.
"Let's go. The Five Elders are already waiting for you at the Palace of Kings. According to normal procedures, we have to invite the kings of the member states to be witnesses, but..."
Marshal Kong rubbed his forehead. The former marshal who was loyal to the World Government still found it difficult to accept Borsalino's attitude towards the Five Elders.
Fortunately, he also knew that this was Borsalino's era, and as a former marshal, it was enough for him to just do what he was supposed to do.
Marshal Kong thinking this way took Borsalino and walked towards the direction of the Palace of Kings. As they walked, he explained the process of the promotion ceremony to Borsalino to prevent Borsalino from making a fool of himself during the promotion ceremony.
Although in theory, the Admiral of the Navy is not ranked particularly high in the power sequence established at the beginning of the establishment of the World Government.
But eight hundred years have passed, the once glorious army has long since become a thing of the past, and the divine army has gradually become an empty shell.
On the contrary, the navy, which was supposed to be the younger brother of the three armed forces, has expanded to an incredible extent, so that the status of the navy marshal has also risen.
Even the Five Elders would have a headache when faced with a strong Navy Admiral.
This led to the period when Cyborg Sora was the Admiral of the Navy, where the Five Elders seized the opportunity and suppressed the Navy to the point where they could not raise their heads.
As a result, such behavior backfired severely, and two Pirate Kings were born in the turbulent sea.
Especially the ruthless character Rocks, who even started to cause trouble for the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.
The Five Elders then realized that, without their knowledge, the navy had grown to the point where it could no longer fall.
Otherwise, when facing the troublemaker Borsalino, the high and mighty Five Elders would not think of easing relations with him.
"...But the Five Elders are eager to get the pure gold, so I have to bear the brunt of it, right?"
Borsalino doesn't care about the kings of the member states, but that doesn't stop him from taking the opportunity to make trouble and accumulate bargaining chips for asking for more military funds in the future.
"That's not the case. After all, the World Conference will be held in two years. We can't let the kings of the member countries make two trips in such a short time... And there are already Celestial Dragons present at the promotion ceremony to witness it..."
Marshal Kong tried hard to defend himself.
In the past, the Cyborg family had always been at the top of the army, and it was not until Cyborg Sora's generation that they switched to the navy at the request of the Five Elders.
If everything had gone well, the position of Navy Marshal would have been in the hands of the Five Elder Stars from then on.
Unfortunately, Marshal Kong, a naval marshal from the army, failed to calm the situation. In other words, no matter which naval marshal was in his place, it would be impossible to maintain the stability of the sea while suppressing the navy's strength in accordance with the orders of the Five Elders.
Fortunately, the Five Elders did not treat Marshal Kong too harshly in the end. At least they left him a position as the commander-in-chief of the three armies, so that he did not end up retiring in disgrace.
This is also the main reason why Marshal Kong is still willing to speak for the Five Elders even though he knows that he has been cheated by them.
"Celestial Dragons? There are actually Celestial Dragons willing to participate in my promotion ceremony?! How did the Five Elders coax them over?"
Borsalino couldn't help but want to complain. He did act very secretly at the beginning, but there were very few people who had the courage to cause trouble to the Celestial Dragons.
Even though he was protected by Marshal Kong and the murloc adventurer Fisher Tiger was there to attract hatred, the Celestial Dragons never cared about evidence or anything like that.
Since then, Borsalino has been on the blacklist of Marijoa and the Celestial Dragons.
Not to mention wanting to be promoted, even during normal vacations there are idiots who want to curry favor with the Celestial Dragons and will rack their brains to make trouble for Borsalino.
Borsalino's response was also very simple, which was to start playing badly directly. He didn't care whether there were Celestial Dragons behind these idiots. Anyone who dared to mess with him would have an "accident" the next day.
Because it was done so crudely, anyone who was not a fool could guess who did it, and so Borsalino's reputation among the Celestial Dragons became hated by everyone.
If it weren't for the pure gold this time, the Five Elders probably wouldn't even want to see Borsalino's face.
They have such a relationship of mutual dislike, but Marshal Kong actually told him that the Celestial Dragons would attend his promotion ceremony?
"Hey! Don't think too much about it. The Celestial Dragons aren't actually... not that difficult to talk to."
Marshal Kong subconsciously wanted to defend the Celestial Dragons, but he couldn't say the words when they came to his lips. Even though he was an old marshal who was loyal to the World Government and the Five Elders, he couldn't say good things about the Celestial Dragons against his conscience.
He could only hold his nose and explain in a relatively tactful tone. He couldn't tell Borsalino that Saint Peter couldn't convince those Celestial Dragons and finally found a way to trick two young Celestial Dragons into coming to watch the ceremony.
"hehe."
Borsalino smiled meaninglessly and was too lazy to argue with old man Kong.
If it could be quantified with data, Cyborg Sora's loyalty to the Five Elders and the World Government would probably be over ninety.
The reason why it is not the full value of 100 is purely because old man Kong still has some conscience, and the Celestial Dragons are sometimes so cruel that even the Five Elders can't stand it.
The Palace of Kings is one of the tallest palaces in Marijoa. It is said to be the first palace built in Marijoa by the twenty kings who founded the World Government.
Of course, Borsalino believes that the authenticity is questionable.
After all, no matter how luxurious the palace is, it is unlikely to remain intact after eight hundred years. In addition, the people of Marijoa are eager to have anything related to the twenty kings.
Maybe the toilet was in the place where twenty kings had squatted. In any case, Borsalino felt nothing as he walked on the royal road that was said to have been walked by twenty kings.
On the contrary, Old Man Kong was extremely excited. He was a die-hard fan of all twenty kings and knew the deeds of each of them like the back of his hand.
If he didn't have to take Borsalino to an audience with the Five Elders, Old Man Kong could have spent the entire day dawdling on this Imperial Road.
Because no guests were invited to watch the ceremony, the viewing stand that had been arranged in advance was empty, with only two celestial dragons sitting there bored.
However, the moment Borsalino stepped into the palace, solemn music sounded all around.
The Five Elders in formal attire sat on a high platform, looking down like gods at Cyborg Sora and Borsalino as they walked into the palace gate.
"The Commander-in-Chief of the Three Armies, Kong Gang, is here to meet the Five Elders!"
Before Borsalino, the person involved, could feel anything, Old Man Kong had already knelt on one knee and paid the highest respects to the Five Elder Stars.
With his status, there is actually no need for him to be so respectful when facing the Five Elders.
However, for Old Man Kong, the Five Elders are not only his superiors, but also the objects of his family's loyalty for generations.
"Stand up, Sora. With your achievements, you don't need to be polite in front of me."
The Five Elders also gave face to Cyborg Sora and asked him to stand up and reply before he could even open his mouth to greet them.
Although this honor was not entirely given to Old Man Kong, he was still very touched to receive such high evaluation from the object of his loyalty.
"Admiral Borsalino of the Navy Headquarters has an audience with the Five Elders."
Borsalino began to imitate.
Not to mention kneeling on one knee, even when bowing, his waist was only bent at an almost invisible angle.
Even Marshal Kong couldn't stand such a perfunctory attitude and wanted to reach out and break Borsalino's waist.
Even though there were only two silly-looking Celestial Dragons on the viewing stand at this moment, the Five Elders still felt a little embarrassed.
"No need to be polite! Admiral Borsalino of the Navy Headquarters has recently killed the great pirate Whitebeard Edward Newgate in Marinford, injured Red-Haired Shanks, and severely damaged the Whitebeard Pirates and the Red-Haired Pirates. His achievements are outstanding..."
The bearded Five Elders with a slightly dark face loudly proclaimed Borsalino's achievements and began to list all the achievements he had made since he joined the navy.
As a result, one thought took more than ten minutes. To have the achievements worthy of being mentioned by the Five Elder Stars, one had to be a pirate with a bounty of at least over 100 million.
Even if we take into account that the upper limit of pirate bounties has been significantly raised by two generations of Pirate Kings, reading out these hundreds of names and nicknames still makes Saint Wokuri's mouth a little dry.
The other four of the Five Elders, who had relatively limited knowledge of Borsalino, also realized at this moment more intuitively... what this guy, who they had always regarded as a thorn, meant to the Navy.
"Porusalino..."
Old man Kong also felt proud and looked at Borsalino with great satisfaction.
Although he did not do a very good job as the admiral of the navy, he was able to train outstanding admirals and even marshals like Borsalino for the navy, which was not a waste of time.
"…Therefore, Borsalino is hereby promoted to the rank of Admiral of the Navy!" As soon as Saint Vochuli finished speaking, loud applause from Marshal Kong rang out beside him.
Although he was the only one clapping vigorously, the scene did not feel deserted at all. Even the two Celestial Dragons on the viewing platform clapped their hands a few times.
It was not until Marshal Kong's palms were about to turn red from clapping that an attendant delivered the commission of the Admiral of the Navy to Borsalino.
Of course, this was just a promotion ceremony. Borsalino would go to Marinford to participate in the real marshal's inauguration ceremony.
By that time he would be the supreme commander of millions of marines and the naval marshal holding supreme power!
"Alright, that's enough. It sounds embarrassing."
Borsalino took the letter of appointment casually, and then quickly spoke to Old Man Kong who was still not satisfied.
It always felt a bit strange that he was the only one clapping. If he wanted to enjoy the cheers and applause, he should wait until he returned to Marinford and celebrate with tens of thousands of headquarters navy.
"Don't be rude to the Five Elders!"
Old Man Kong whispered a warning to Borsalino. Logically speaking, after becoming the Admiral of the Navy, he should be more respectful to the Five Elders.
But Borsalino is a notorious troublemaker in the navy. It is undoubtedly a pipe dream to expect him to obey the orders of the Five Elders for the sake of the position of Navy Admiral.
Borsalino sneered when he heard this. He always respected people who were worthy of respect. Even if it was a diehard like Marshal Kong who was loyal to the World Government and the Five Elders, Borsalino would not have any problem with him.
In other words, if Borsalino didn't have enough respect for someone, it must be that person or group of people didn't deserve it.
"Borsalino, do you have anything else to say?"
Saint Vochuli suddenly spoke up to remind him. Marshal Kong was still worried that the Five Elders would be unhappy with Borsalino's disrespect, but he didn't expect that the Five Elders were more realistic than he imagined.
Even Saint Maz, who used to attach great importance to etiquette and would even cancel the membership of a member country because of the slight rudeness of the king of a member country, seemed to have become blind and did not see Borsalino's frivolous words and deeds at all.
The Five Elders, who stood at the pinnacle of power in the World Government, were staring at Borsalino without blinking.
Waiting for him to hand over the pure gold that all the Five Elder Stars of past generations have dreamed of.
"Oh, yes. This is the Navy's military budget for next year. Please approve it, Five Elders."
Borsalino took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the follower who was looking so frightened that he could hardly hide his face.
Anyone who can serve as an attendant of the Five Elders, even if he is just a small errand boy responsible for running errands and delivering messages, is, in a sense, a great "big shot".
But having been a follower for such a long time, he had never seen anyone dare to be so rude to the Five Elders.
"Don't go too far, Borsalino!"
Saint Wouchuri took the paper with a bit of disgust, and after just one look at it, he couldn't help but curse out loud on the spot.
It’s not because the budget items listed above are too outrageous, but because Borsalino directly added a zero to the printed total budget with a carbon black pen.
"Calm down, Saint Vochuli, how much does he want... bastard!"
The blond Saint Peter tried to smooth things over for Saint Vochuli. He had already prepared himself for Borsalino to ask for a huge amount of money, and even secretly laughed at the fact that the holy vessels of Vochuli were not in sufficient supply.
As long as they can get pure gold, it doesn’t matter if they bleed heavily once. What’s more, they can pass the cost on to the kings of the allied countries.
However, after taking the paper and taking a look at it, Saint Peter became furious. This was no longer a matter of the Lion asking for too much, but Borsalino was deliberately provoking the Five Elders!
"Borsalino! You're looking for death!"
"Don't think we can't do anything to you just because you become the Admiral of the Navy!"
"Too arrogant!"
……
The other three Five Elders were a little confused. Didn’t they already know that Borsalino was a troublemaker? Why was he still so angry?
But when they looked at the paper one after another, they exploded one after another like a powder keg.
The anger of the Five Elders made almost everyone present tremble in fear; even the two Celestial Dragons on the viewing stand had somewhat unnatural expressions.
Marshal Kong was extremely anxious, but he had no idea what was written on the paper that could make the Five Elders so angry.
"Just tell me whether you will give it or not."
Facing the rage of the Five Elders, Borsalino yawned lazily and took out a piece of pure gold that was emitting a dazzling light from his pocket.
Even Marshal Kong's eyes were involuntarily attracted by the brilliance of pure gold.
Even without considering the magical effect of pure gold in maintaining eternal youth, its appearance alone is more attractive than the most beautiful gems. Seeing the pure gold being tossed up and down by Borsalino, the Five Elders wanted to rush over and snatch the pure gold from Borsalino.
"So beautiful... the one over there! Give me what you have in your hand! I can give you ten... no! A hundred slaves!"
The female celestial dragon on the viewing platform suddenly shouted loudly that women are like dragons and cannot resist all shiny things.
Especially the pure gold appearance, even Tornado can't resist it, let alone the Celestial Dragons.
"What do I need slaves for? Besides, this is pure gold. Not to mention a hundred slaves, even ten billion berries can't buy it~"
Borsalino looked at the Five Elders fearlessly, and spoke to the female Celestial Dragon as if in a provocation.
When the female celestial dragon heard the word pure gold, she didn't react at all, but another celestial dragon screamed in surprise, obviously thinking of the effect of pure gold.
"Wait! Your request is too outrageous! Ten times is impossible. I can make the decision to increase this year's budget by 50...70%!"
Seeing that the situation was not good, the long-bearded Saint Maz quickly made a promise to Borsalino.
It is true that the Five Elders are the highest-level Celestial Dragons, but that does not mean they can ignore the pressure from the Celestial Dragons.
Otherwise, the Five Elders would not need to bargain with the Celestial Dragons and could just pocket the Heavenly Gold.
"...Okay, 70% to 70%, just consider it as giving face to old man Kong!"
Borsalino was about to open his mouth to sneer when he suddenly felt a fleeting sense of observation Haki, so he changed his mind and threw the pure gold in his hand into Marshal Kong's hands.
Before that huge trouble came to their doorstep, the Five Elders would never bow to him even if they were forced into a corner.
Ten times the military expenditure is not only an astronomical figure, but also means that the navy will no longer need the existence of a world government for a considerable period of time.
In other words, the World Government is no longer a necessity for the Navy. Such a result is absolutely unacceptable to the Five Elders. They cannot take the risk of the Navy being separated from the World Government system.
"Sora! Bring me the pure gold!"
The Five Elders dressed as warriors were overjoyed upon seeing this, and immediately shouted to Marshal Kong who had not yet come to his senses.
He didn't know why Borsalino suddenly changed his mind.
But compared to pure gold that can keep you young forever, that reason is no longer important.
"Pure gold! Send it up quickly!"
Saint Peter was both surprised and delighted. For a moment, the Five Elders were ready to turn against Borsalino and were mentally prepared to get the pure gold even if it meant going to war in Marijoa.
Fortunately, the worst situation did not happen. That bastard Borsalino also has his moments of not being such a jerk. For the sake of pure gold, the Five Elders have temporarily forgotten their recent unhappiness.
"Yes! Here you go, send it up quickly..."
Marshal Kong subconsciously wanted to hand the pure gold to the attendant beside him, but under the repeated urging of the Five Elders, he had to bite the bullet and step onto the sacred stairs, and came before the Five Elders tremblingly.
The Five Elder Stars looked at each other, and finally the Saint Maz, who had the highest status, reached out and took the invaluable pure gold.
When the pure gold fell on the palm that was obviously well-maintained but still old, Saint Maz even trembled slightly.
"You did a great job! Kong, you are worthy of being a member of the Cyborg family!"
Nasujuro Sheng laughed and patted Marshal Kong on the shoulder, which made this old soldier, who had always been a tough old soldier, very flattered.
But after the surprise, Marshal Kong felt inexplicably lost.
From the moment he caught the pure gold thrown by Borsalino, some inappropriate thoughts began to emerge in his mind.
After all, Cyborg Sora has reached that age, and the youngest of the Five Elder Stars, Pitt Saint, is even several years younger than him.
It is no surprise that Marshal Kong would be moved by pure gold that can keep people young forever.
However, the loyalty he had developed over the years made him present the pure gold to the Five Elders without hesitation.
If it happened again, Cyborg Sora might still do the same thing, but he might regret it afterwards.
"interesting……"
Borsalino, who saw all this, couldn't help but smile slightly.
Even a die-hard like Old Man Kong would begin to waver under the temptation of pure gold. Judging from the situation, the task of overthrowing the World Government might be easier than he imagined.
(End of this chapter)