What?!
This answer shocked them, and Monkey D.
Dragon was even more puzzled.
After all, what he was doing now was overthrowing these kingdoms, gathering more people, and then overthrowing the World Government.
Wouldn’t it actually be a good thing if Roger was damaging these kingdoms?
Dragon Slayer: “Why would hurting these kingdoms help the World Government?
Many of them are member states of the World Government.
They provide Heavenly Tribute, which supports the Marines and Cipher Pol.”
As he spoke, a flash of realization struck Dragon’s mind—could it be…
Kaelin: “It’s precisely because of the Heavenly Tribute.
Roger triggered pirate chaos across the world, leaving these kingdoms unable to cope.
In the end, they can only turn to the World Government for help.
And for that help, they have to pay tens of billions in Heavenly Tribute to the World Government.
What does that mean?
It means using the money of the member states to fund the World Government’s military.
And what’s the result?
The treasuries of those countries are emptied, the World Government grows stronger, and what about the pirates?
They become vicious dogs used by the World Government to force those kingdoms into joining them.
Roger is basically delivering resources straight to the World Government!”
So that’s how it is!
No wonder after the Great Age of Pirates began, the World Government didn’t weaken—instead, it grew stronger, and the number of affiliated nations kept increasing.
It turned out all of this had been under the control of the World Government!
Everyone in the chat group suddenly understood.
Roger’s face turned even redder.
His plan had completely backfired—no wonder Kaelin had judged him so harshly.
Kaelin: “And if you think that’s all, that’s only the first layer.
The World Government gains far more than that.”
Dragon Slayer: “Please explain.”
Kaelin raised his eyelids slightly, a bit surprised.
This guy’s attitude was way too serious—what he was saying was basically common sense, no need to act like it was some grand revelation.
Kaelin: “The second layer is also very obvious.
The Heavenly Tribute drains the kingdoms’ treasuries.
With no funds, their military strength naturally weakens.
Those kings have no choice but to squeeze their civilians harder, which leads to public resentment.
At that point, talented people begin to leave.
Where do they go?
There are only two choices—become Marines or become pirates.
We already said becoming a pirate helps the World Government force kingdoms to join them.
Becoming a Marine directly strengthens the World Government.
No matter which path they choose, the World Government profits.
At this stage, the kingdoms lose both wealth and people, while the World Government gains both.
Don’t you think the World Government should be thanking Roger?”
Dragon Slayer: “I understand now… it seems Roger’s decision really was wrong.”
The people in the group had originally been amused that the World Government allowed Roger to shout “One Piece is real” before his death.
They hadn’t expected things to be like this.
Now it seemed more likely that the World Government had deliberately allowed Roger to say that in front of the entire world.
Otherwise, how could a man who knew the ultimate secret be allowed to speak publicly?
Roger’s face flushed even deeper.
But Kaelin didn’t stop there.
He continued:
“Not only that—this is only the second layer.
You haven’t even seen the third layer yet.”
What?!
The moment those words came out, everyone in the group was stunned once again.
Roger covered his face, almost typing in the group: Brother, please stop roasting me—I’m already dead inside, I know I messed up!
But Kaelin had no idea what was going through his mind.
Kaelin: “You should know that at the beginning, the World Government was formed by only nineteen royal families.
A government made up of just nineteen kingdoms shouldn’t be more than ten times stronger than an average kingdom.
Yet there are still so many kingdoms in the world, and they’ve never been able to overthrow it.
Of course, the World Government has a trump card like Uranus—but let’s set that aside for now.
Uranus is a last resort.
You can’t just use it every day to threaten people.
So instead, the World Government came up with the system of affiliated nations, allowing other kingdoms to join them.
Then they use Heavenly Tribute to drain those kingdoms’ wealth, use that money to strengthen their own military, and then absorb talent from those kingdoms to build up the Marines across the world.
On the surface, it’s all about maintaining justice and fighting pirates—but in reality, the bigger goal is to eliminate potential threats from these kingdoms.
Think about it—if your nineteen kingdoms can form the World Government, what about another twenty or thirty kingdoms doing the same?
To eliminate that possibility, the World Government uses Heavenly Tribute to hollow out the strength of member states so they can’t pose a threat.
As for non-member countries, they let pirates plunder them, achieving the same goal of weakening them.
In the end, all kingdoms—big or small—are constantly weakening, while only the World Government continues to grow stronger, creating a situation where the strong dominate the weak.
At that point, the World Government no longer has any real opponents in the world.
It truly becomes the ‘World Government.’
As for what real-world system inspired the World Government in the anime… I don’t even need to say it.”
Thanks to [David PONS]