One Piece: Mandala Swordsman

Chapter 208 What is your organization's core competitiveness?

"So you're just going to stand by and do nothing, because you're afraid?"

Dragon was clearly not stumped by Roman's provocations, and instead began his own verbal attacks, or rather, brainwashing tactics.

"To do nothing out of fear of bad consequences is nothing but cowardice. If, as you say, every ending is destruction, and therefore we don't need to choose a new beginning, then we humans are destined to die. Why don't you just die now?"

Long's words were very blunt—no, blunt in a euphemistic way—but the reply was quite venomous.

"That's quite a sharp rebuttal."

Does what the dragon said make sense?

Of course there are.

Kuzan has long been criticized for doing nothing.

He knew there was a problem, but he chose to evade it with a lazy and indolent approach.

If we really delve into this kind of behavior, there are indeed big problems.

Either you steel yourself and work hard to change things, or you accept reality. Hesitating and wavering is really not a good look.

“I reluctantly accept this answer. Yes, it would be terrible to do nothing because you are afraid of bad results. If everyone thinks like this, the world will not progress. Only through continuous exploration can we find new paths. That’s just how it is.”

As expected of a dragon.

Ivankov silently gave the dragon a thumbs up.

"And the story you just told wasn't the whole story, was it?" Long retorted sharply again. Although the previous ending could be seen as a complete story, he still felt it wasn't that simple.

"Impressive, you're absolutely right." Seeing this, Roman didn't intend to hide anything and told the truth.

So what was the ending?

"A kind-hearted girl has reappeared. Even after learning about the side effects of magic, she still signed a contract without hesitation to save others."

"Will it then fall into another cycle?"

"After all, it's a fairy tale, so it's not that tragic. She destroyed herself. In the process of eliminating witches, she kept releasing power beyond her control. After destroying all the witches, her life also came to an end, which was the path she had originally envisioned."

"The book you're reading seems unusual," Long said after a moment of silence.

"Of course." This is a major work that changes the cheerful tone of magical girls.

"So I think you need something more detailed, like that girl who decided from the beginning to eliminate all the witches, and at the same time, in order not to fall into depravity, she was determined to kill herself to save everything." Roman began to persuade her.

According to the original storyline, the World Government will indeed perish, but not now.

But this is something that Dragon can see while he's still alive. As the future leader of the Revolutionary Army, he has a lot to think about.

"I'd like to ask if you are aware that you have a development plan spanning approximately 20 years? What are your guiding principles? Do you have an organizational framework? Is your organizational structure well-planned? Do you have investors? Do you have a solid public foundation? What are your action plans? What are your future visions? What is the basis for your organization's sustainable development? What are your core competencies?"

"It's like a barrage of questions," Ivankov thought to himself. "Thank goodness I don't have to answer these questions. It's definitely better to let the dragon answer them."

"If you want to know this, you must be a member of our organization," Long replied, his answer logical and convincing.

That was a brilliant counterattack.

Ivankov lit the dragon's lamp again.

Although Ivankov didn't know the answers to these questions either, his response seemed reasonable.

These are all classified information. Although we don't know for sure whether these classified information actually exists, it's correct to say it this way.

If you're not one of us, then you can't know; but once you join us, everything will be much easier.

Is this what they call poaching someone's talent? They reacted quickly, didn't they?

It's much better than Borsalino.

Roman generally won his verbal battles with Borsalino, but the dragon was a much tougher opponent.

As the leader of an organization, his way of speaking and refuting others is truly different.

However, if Garp finds out, even a dragon would be in for a world of trouble.

"We don't trust each other and there's no basis for us to work together. At least tell me your name first?"

"No, that's not possible."

It's not that the dragon is unwilling; it's truly a matter of the situation.

The girl in front of him was a naval officer, and if he revealed her full name, she would almost immediately think of a naval hero.

He didn't want to put the old man in a difficult position.

He and his father took completely different paths, and he only hoped that one day they would not turn against each other.

But there's no point in lying, so the dragon chose not to answer.

Expected.

He really couldn't say it.

Although the World Government has not pursued Garp because of his status—his son is the world's most dangerous criminal and his grandson is a famous Yonko (Emperor of the Sea)—Dragon does not want to cause trouble for his father.

The fact that she hasn't seen Luffy for so long suggests she doesn't want to burden her son. Of course, it's hard to say whether that's the real reason, as family bonds in this world aren't like they were in the past.

“If you can’t even tell me this, then we can’t possibly cooperate. However, we can check and balance each other. I won’t say much about your affairs, and you can keep my meetings with you a secret.” Roman proposed a compromise.

"Of course, if they don't trust me and are afraid I'll leak their secrets, they can have this lady... gentleman kill me, if he can do that."

After he finished speaking, Roman's eyes suddenly sharpened, radiating an astonishing aura.

"What a terrible sweetheart! But I am the most beautiful queen, remember me!" Ivankov continued to joke, completely ignoring Roman's hostility.

But this is just a facade. Those who want to make a revolution cannot be soft-hearted and truly let themselves off the hook without taking any action. Either they truly believe in themselves, or they are certain that they cannot take her down here, so they can only take a gamble.

Then it depends on the dragon's decision.

"That sounds acceptable, but I can sense that you're a very purposeful person. Since you've been chatting with me for so long, you must have something else in mind. I came here just to figure out some things, so what about you? What is your purpose?"

She knew what they were.

She should have known that it was risky for her to meet and talk to them as a member of the Navy.

But she did it anyway.

So she probably had other ideas. But the dragon couldn't guess.

"You're frighteningly perceptive. If you're an enemy of the World Government, that's certainly a headache. Well then, I'll be frank: I do hope to meet you, for the sake of the future."

What do you want to do in the future?

But Roman just made a "shh" gesture.

"It's not the right time yet."