"You want a piece of the pie?"
Cobra remained unfazed.
"More accurately, I want a partnership."
"If the Martial Arts Tournament wants to expand outward, increase its influence, and even truly reach out to the whole world, it must enter the Grand Line."
"With your title as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and your strength close to that of an admiral, the pirates and Underworld forces in Paradise will naturally not dare to touch you."
"But at its core, the Martial Arts Tournament is a talent selection system."
"In East Blue, it's fine to keep things small, but once you scale it to the entire world, especially the Grand Line, the number of participants will increase exponentially."
"With that, you'll be able to gather an incredible amount of talent with ease. There's no way the World Government or the Marines will sit back and let you grow unchecked."
Gawain raised an eyebrow.
When he first established the Martial Arts Tournament, this was exactly his plan.
However, he had yet to find a proper foothold, so he had opted for an elite-focused approach for now rather than fully launching the expansion.
Even Kuro hadn't seen through this intention back then, yet Cobra had grasped his ambition at a glance.
It was a testament to his decades of ruling Alabasta, growing its national strength. While he might not match Kuro in sheer cunning, his vision and strategic insight were certainly not lacking.
"Continue."
Cobra said seriously: "I can help you fend off this kind of trouble."
"A pirate controlling a global talent selection system would never be allowed, but a member of the World Government's affiliated country, no, one of the original twenty countries that created the World Government, the Alabasta can."
"Even though our ancestors refused to relocate to Mary Geoise, and the Nefertari family are not truly Celestial Dragons, our status is still far higher than that of ordinary nations."
"In this regard, we can work together."
"A mutually beneficial arrangement."
Gawain didn't immediately respond. Instead, his mind wandered to another matter.
At this point in time, Vegapunk should have already started research on the Seraphim. Once completed, those creations would completely replace the Warlords of the Sea.
In the original timeline, what truly led the World Government to abolish the Warlord system wasn't the demands of the affiliated country or even the will of Admirals but the absurdly powerful Seraphim.
You have to know that those things didn't suffer any actual damage at all when facing Blackbeard, Straw Hat, and others who were already at the level of the emperor at that time.
It's just outrageous to the extreme.
Once he lost the protection of his title as Warlord, the Martial Arts Tournament, already a massive money-making machine, would become a prime target, drawing enemies from all sides.
Even if he had the strength of an Emperor by then, he wouldn't be able to fend off every single threat.
But Cobra's proposal had just given him a new angle to consider.
Let big countries like Alabasta join in and use their power to cover up the Martial Arts Tournament within the World Government itself.
And in the future, if the opportunity arose, he could even pull a few reasonable Celestial Dragons into the circle.
With the backing of such influential figures, even if he lost his Warlord title in the coming years, the Martial Arts Tournament would remain untouchable.
It is even possible to copy Blackbeard's actions and secure a territory recognized by the World Government.
And if anyone stretched their hand too far, he wouldn't even need to act; there would always be others ready to cut them down.
Of course, the premise of all this is that Gawain must occupy a dominant position.
Gawain lowered his eyes to glance at the Guanze Masamune in his hand, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
If the monks fled, their temple still remained. Killing a few shareholders was far easier than chasing down every single enemy across the world.
Seeing Gawain lost in thought, Cobra waved to Vivi calmly.
Vivi understood and turned away quietly, leaving the room for Gawain and Cobra.
Gawain closed his eyes and began to think about who would be more suitable to be responsible for this matter.
First of all, the candidate must be trustworthy and have strong abilities.
The first person who popped up in his mind was Kuro, but he suppressed the thought the moment it appeared, although Kuro is the best choice in terms of both ability and combat power.
But this guy has never been a peaceful person. He can't hide his bloodthirsty and aggressive nature.
After breakthroughs in his strength, the first thing he did was to always find him to test his strength.
The madness displayed in the previous battle with Gin in Raven Harbor was so frightening that even Gin felt chill.
If he were really put in charge of managing the Martial Arts Tournament, he would probably end up going out on the field and starting to kill people indiscriminately.
The other candidate, Gaza, is undoubtedly credible, but her ability is a little lacking. She is okay with defending the East Blue, but she is not good enough to expand the Grand Line.
So, there is only…
Gawain looked at Robin lying on the bed.
His eyes lit up.
Robin, as depicted in the original story, had the deepest thoughts and was the most knowledgeable member of the Straw Hat Pirates. Her abilities were undoubtedly strong.
If she could take this opportunity to clear her name and become the princess of Alabasta, taking over the Martial Arts Tournament in the future would be completely justified.
But for all of this to happen, she first had to clear her name.
The best way would be for her to fake her death, completely disappearing from the eyes of the World Government!
Gawain had a rough plan in mind: "Allowing Alabasta to get a share of the pie isn't out of the question."
"But before that, I have one condition, Robin must truly become the princess of Alabasta."
"There should be plenty of female death row prisoners in Alabasta, right?!"
"Find one who closely resembles Robin."
Cobra understood immediately. He glanced at Robin and said. "A cicada shedding its shell?!"
"That's easy enough, but it will take some time. And no matter how similar the target looks, she won't be an exact match."
"That doesn't matter."
Gawain said calmly.
"The photo on the wanted poster is from over ten years ago. After such a long time, slight changes in appearance are completely normal."
"What about Kizaru?"
"You haven't figured it out yet?!"
Gawain twitched the corner of his mouth.
"That old bastard avoids trouble whenever possible. Since he's already chosen to turn a blind eye this time, he won't make things difficult for himself later."
"Understood."
Cobra nodded, his voice trembling slightly.
Alabasta had been impoverished for far too long. The people of this land had endured endless suffering.
But now, with the Martial Arts Tournament as a financial lifeline, even if the kingdom didn't undergo a complete transformation, the industries derived from the tournament would at least allow the people to live better lives.
Cobra slowly stood up, and when he extended his hand, he realized that it wasn't just his voice trembling; his arm was trembling, too.
"Then… happy cooperation!"
"Happy cooperation!"
Gawain nodded.
He could understand Cobra's feelings at the moment, which was no different from Genzo's excitement when Cocoyasi Village was reborn.
They truly love the land beneath their feet and the people who live there.
"For more detailed questions, I'll have the person in charge of East Blue contact you later."
"No problem."