Reaching the end of the street, Robin looked at the fortress entrance guarded by soldiers.
She hesitated for a moment, her gaze then firmed as she strode forward.
It was somewhat unexpected, yet somewhat anticipated...
The most critical fortress on this island, its guarding soldiers did not impede Robin. They merely asked for her name and destination before letting her pass.
They even proactively informed her of where she needed to go and how to get there.
After thanking them, Robin followed the direction indicated by the soldiers and headed straight for the elevator.
-----------
Exiting the elevator.
She arrived at the platform atop the fortress.
Standing there and looking out.
She could clearly see the entire island's panorama and more intuitively felt the strictness of the place.
Robin paused for a moment, then walked towards the Fleet Admiral's office.
As she reached the doorway, the door to the Fleet Admiral's office was pulled open.
Karol appeared before Robin with a smile.
"Have you finished sightseeing?"
"Come in."
Robin nodded slightly and followed him inside.
The room's furnishings were actually quite simple. Besides a giant sand table and a world map hanging on the wall, there were only two sofas, and the office seats of Karol and Sakazuki.
However, Sakazuki was not in the room at the moment.
Robin's attention was immediately drawn to the map and sand table.
Even Robin, who only had a vague understanding of the war situation, could instantly grasp the current global circumstances through the sand table and map.
Karol returned to his desk, poured a cup of water, and handed it to Robin.
"Don't be formal."
After taking the water, Robin said "Thank you," then hesitantly asked.
"May I... see these?"
She was referring to the giant sand table and the world map.
The clear markings and divisions of power and territory, if leaked, would surely cause immense upheaval. These were likely top-secret items...
Karol shrugged and explained.
"It's nothing."
"These things are actually quite useless."
"They just allow a clear understanding of each faction's territories."
"If we wanted to, we could flatten the New World in a very short time."
"It's just not time yet."
Hearing Karol's words, Robin was somewhat stunned.
"Flatten the New World..."
To be honest, this news was quite shocking. After all, there was a difference between her own speculation and a direct admission from them.
Robin took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in her heart.
She scanned the room and spoke.
"Where is that Fleet Admiral?"
Karol was at his desk, sorting through documents.
"He's in the adjacent conference room for a meeting."
"He should be back soon."
"Are you looking for him for something?"
Robin opened her mouth, but couldn't articulate a reason.
Thinking about the reason for her arrival, she seemed to have no specific reason...
She had just walked over...
Shaking her head, she said.
"No..."
"Nothing."
Karol chuckled softly.
"Then take a look around."
Robin nodded.
"Okay."
She walked a few steps towards the wall where the world map was hanging.
The Four Seas were almost entirely marked as occupied by the Revolutionary Army's influence, leaving only the Grand Line as the World Government's territory, visible on the map.
Though it appeared small in area, the Revolutionary Army did not have a significant advantage against this small domain.
After observing for a while, she turned her gaze to the side.
There, a giant sand table depicted the war situation in the New World.
From the sand table, the Navy's forces had separated the Four Emperors into three groups.
Hale Noir and Red-Haired Shanks were on opposite sides, while Charlotte Linlin and Kaido seemed to be the focus of the Navy's encirclement, with their pincer movement closing in.
Seeing the clear battle situation.
Robin began to understand why Karol said the Navy could flatten the New World in a short time.
"Picking them off one by one, you mean..."
But she had still thought too simply...
Karol, working behind her, heard Robin's whisper and replied.
"Something like that."
"First, we deal with Hale Noir and Red-Haired Shanks and all their forces."
"Then, we'll directly advance the pincer, trapping Charlotte Linlin and Kaido within the encirclement, and wiping them all out."
Robin turned back in confusion.
"All of them?"
"Can you really achieve something like that?"
She didn't know about the others, but Hale Noir was the one who had severely injured Crocodile back then. For years, Crocodile had been secretly causing trouble for Hale Noir's faction.
When Sakazuki ordered the extermination of Hale Noir's arms factories in the Grand Line, much of the intelligence was provided by Crocodile.
Therefore, Robin had some understanding of this man, the world's strongest dark emperor. Their personnel were too numerous...
They could no longer be considered mere pirates, but rather the world's largest organized crime syndicate...
Karol, seated at his desk, smiled.
"Do you see the black lines on the edges of both sides?"
Robin nodded.
"Those black lines surrounding the forces of Hale Noir and Red-Haired Shanks?"
On the sand table, the Navy's forces had isolated Hale Noir and Red-Haired Shanks.
However, they were not encircling southward, but rather northward, seemingly driving the isolated forces of the two towards Charlotte Linlin and Kaido.
The remaining two-thirds were entirely enclosed by a single black line.
Karol's next words made Robin's pupils constrict instantly.
"Those are all islands within the detonation range."
"When the great decisive battle begins, the areas enclosed by the black lines will all be detonated."
"Just as I said earlier."
"We'll first sweep away the forces of Hale Noir and Red-Haired Shanks."
"The remaining stragglers will be dealt with by the Navy, driven towards Charlotte Linlin and Kaido, and wiped out in one fell swoop."
Robin even doubted if she had heard correctly, finding it hard to believe.
"Detonate all those islands?"
Within the black circle, there were at least thirty to fifty islands.
Karol smiled helplessly.
"Yes, detonate all of them."
Robin still found it difficult to believe.
"Surely not all those islands are populated by pirates, right?"
Pirates alone couldn't sustain the operation of so many islands. These islands must also have a large civilian population. Thirty to fifty islands combined would mean at least hundreds of thousands of people.
Karol clicked his tongue.
"It's quite obvious."
His attitude was clear: the civilians on those islands would be buried along with them.
Robin's heart grew cold. Such slaughter was...
Truly chilling...
It was incomparable to the hundreds or thousands killed by pirates in their village raids or town massacres.
Instead, it was an intention to bury hundreds of thousands at once.
Looking at the nonchalant Karol, Robin felt a crisis of faith and couldn't help but ask.
"Is this also considered 'Justice'?"
Karol was about to speak.
When Sakazuki's voice came from outside.
"That depends on how you understand 'Justice'."
Rumble—
The office door was pulled open.
Sakazuki, having finished his meeting, walked in.
He looked at Robin, who was holding a cup of water and seemed a little nervous, and said.
"Find a place to sit."
He then walked directly to the Fleet Admiral's seat.
Looking at Sakazuki, who was also speaking nonchalantly, Robin took a deep breath, walked to the sofa, and sat down, saying.
"Understanding 'Justice'?"
Sakazuki said.
"The word 'Justice' is very broad; it depends on your understanding."
"If it's merely about doing good deeds, saving people, saving a nation, or liberating an island."
"Then this world is filled with 'Justice'."
"There is 'Justice' among pirates, there is 'Justice' in the World Government, there is 'Justice' in the Revolutionary Army, and even among those foolish Celestial Dragons, there are individual 'just' people."
"So it depends on your understanding."
"But in the end, such things are merely excuses for one's own arbitrary actions."
Robin frowned slightly. Indeed...
If we only considered individuals, then there would be no absolute villains in the world...
Sakazuki continued.
"Just like the 'Justice' within the Marines."
"Many people label their own 'Justice' and act arbitrarily."
"Among them."
"Those who play a cat-and-mouse game with pirates and become 'Heroes'."
"Those who communicate with enemies out of personal feelings, causing countless Marine soldiers to die, can become 'Fleet Admirals'."
"And those who possess great power but believe they have seen the darkness, lazily waste their time, consuming Marine resources, can become 'Admirals'."
"They have saved people, and they have harmed people."
"The current laws cannot categorize such actions, so ultimately they are attributed to 'Justice'."
"If they attach a label to their justice, then all their actions will be rationalized, making them irrefutable."
"No matter what they do, someone will always use those labels to defend it, making everything seem reasonable."
"Even the people I've killed, if their bodies were collected, could fill dozens of islands, yet I still represent the 'Justice' of this world."
"Even the Marines who represent 'Justice' are like this."
"Do you think everything in this world is reasonable..."
Robin's mouth fell open, her mind going blank.
"It's unreasonable..."
She never imagined that Sakazuki would not refute her question, but instead explain it, and even point out the actions and people within the Marines, including himself...
Sakazuki chuckled and said.
"So, in reality, there is no such thing as 'Justice' in this world."
"Everything is merely an excuse found by those at the top for their own arbitrary actions."
"However..."
"This world possesses 'Great Purpose'."
"The word 'Great Purpose' is much simpler, only four characters: For the World."
"After the Great Conscription began, countless youths joined the military."
"The vast majority of them lacked exceptional talent and luck. Enlisting at this time, the greatest possibility was a single outcome: death on the battlefield..."
"Yet they still came."
"Were they foolish?"
"They were certainly foolish, but why were they so foolish?"
"Because they didn't want their descendants to live in constant fear."
"Because they didn't want their descendants to experience the loss of their families."
"For the past eight hundred years, the people of this world have never seen hope."
"But I have come, and I have given them hope."
"And they have chosen to believe in me."
"They charged into the New World without hesitation, choosing to cut off their own futures so that those they loved might have a chance to bask in the sunlight."
"They are not for themselves, but for the world, for the 'Great Purpose'."
Sakazuki leaned back in his seat, arms crossed, and said in a low voice.
"And everything I do is also for the 'Great Purpose'."
"The 'Justice' I carry on my back is merely a means, as I have never been a good person."
"The plan was devised after countless simulations to find the optimal solution."
"Wherever the Marines could reach, they dispatched personnel to transport the island's inhabitants."
"Those who accepted the advice were sent to the Grand Line by the Marines; those who did not accept the advice were not forcibly taken."
"Now, countless soldiers die every day fighting for this world."
"And for those stubborn civilians or in places we cannot reach, why should they not die?"
"Therefore, for the future of this world, for the 'Great Purpose' of this world."
"They must be asked to die, along with those pirates..."
"...And perish."