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Chapter 100 is out!!!! +40 advanced chapters monthly
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The man wore a standard-issue Marine cap pulled low, his crimson suit perfectly matching his sharply chiseled, unsmiling features. Every step he took, every rigid gesture he made, radiated the strict discipline of a hardened military man.
This was none other than one of the three Marine Admirals: Akainu, Sakazuki.
"Ah, here is his file. Garp has personally verified it. He should be enlisting in the Marines shortly," Fleet Admiral Sengoku said, sliding a confidential dossier across his desk to Akainu.
Akainu opened the file, a flicker of genuine surprise crossing his stoic face. "Oh? Seventeen years old, and he managed to capture 'Sabertooth' Torsen, a pirate worth 120 million Berries. It seems he does have some potential."
"However," Akainu's voice hardened, "to mobilize all the pirates in the East Blue to annihilate an entire nation—just for a woman? Can we really allow someone like this to wear justice on his back?"
"This is pure absurdity! How can we tolerate such behavior? What happens to the dignity of the World Government?" Akainu demanded, his voice dropping to a dangerous rumble.
"Heh, it wouldn't be the first or second time the World Government has had its pride wounded. What, haven't you gotten used to it yet?" Sengoku didn't seem bothered in the slightest; if anything, he treated it like a passing joke. It was clear the Fleet Admiral was in a rather good mood.
"He has zero regard for the law. I hope your judgment isn't flawed here, Sengoku!"
But Akainu was Akainu. Even when standing before the Fleet Admiral, he didn't hesitate to drop titles and use his first name. That was simply his nature.
Sengoku could only shake his head, helpless against the Admiral's abrasive personality. Sakazuki was an Admiral; unless he committed a severe offense, even the Fleet Admiral couldn't casually discipline him.
Besides, Akainu wasn't entirely wrong. Baishui's personality definitely needed some heavy hammering to get into shape.
Otherwise, he'd end up as another thorn in the Marines' side, just like Smoker. Only, this particular thorn was far sharper.
"Heh, looks like we'll have quite the show to watch when the time comes," Sengoku chuckled, flashing an eerily uncharacteristic smile that would have sent a chill down anyone's spine.
Meanwhile, back on Kuro Island.
When Baishui announced that the murderer, Richie, had been officially executed, the families of his victims broke down into heart-wrenching, cathartic tears. It was a deeply moving sight.
The Mayor and the others had been escorted back to the island a few days prior. Now, the older man approached Baishui, his face etched with heavy guilt. "I'm so sorry. If it weren't for me, they wouldn't have—"
Before the Mayor could finish, Baishui gently cut him off.
"Mayor, you can't blame yourself for this. Who could have possibly predicted that pirate would suddenly show up on our shores?" Baishui offered a comforting smile. "Besides, Nall's illness was critical back then. We couldn't afford any delays. You can't have your cake and eat it too."
Despite everything, Baishui remained relentlessly optimistic, turning the tables to comfort the older man.
"I suppose so... but my heart still aches over it. At the end of the day, this tragedy happened because of me," the Mayor sighed heavily, his head bowed in lingering grief.
Sigh. Never mind, Baishui thought. The Mayor really doesn't have the stomach to be a king. I'll just have to find a different figurehead.
Seeing the village chief so thoroughly broken by guilt, Baishui scrapped his plan of installing the man as the puppet king of the Green Fruit Kingdom. Even a puppet king needed to have some semblance of royal presence, and the Mayor didn't possess a single ounce of a conqueror's aura.
I just hope the Marines don't interfere with the kingdom's succession too soon, Baishui prayed silently. If the Marines decided to force their way in, his hands would be tied. He wasn't strong enough to provoke Marine Headquarters just yet.
What Baishui didn't know was that the Green Fruit Kingdom had descended into an eerie, suffocating silence following the death of King Hoben.
Those with any modicum of political power were biding their time, waiting for the perfect moment to rise up and seize the vacant throne. Hoben's death had been sudden, and with the crown prince perishing alongside him, the royal bloodline was practically wiped out. This left a gaping power vacuum for the ambitious to exploit.
The throne, they believed, belonged to the most capable. After all, how had Hoben claimed the crown in the first place? By assassinating the previous king. If Hoben could do it, these power-hungry nobles reasoned they could, too.
What they didn't realize was that they were trying to snatch meat from a tiger's jaws.
In terms of sheer strength, who could even hold a candle to Baishui? A conventional, mortal army stood absolutely no chance against a powerhouse like him. The only reason the nobles dared to plot was because they were completely ignorant of Baishui's designs on the kingdom. If they had known, not even a hundred extra lives would have given them the courage to contest the throne.
He hadn't hesitated to kill King Hoben; he certainly wouldn't hesitate to slaughter them. To Baishui, they were no different than ants. Why else did the World Government establish the Marines, if not to counter the overwhelming might of monsters on the seas?
Forget it. I'll just pick someone highly manipulable from the current crop of nobles. The Green Fruit Kingdom shouldn't have a shortage of spineless opportunists, Baishui mused, rubbing his chin. He sank deeper into his bathtub, letting out a long, satisfied sigh as the warm water enveloped him, and closed his eyes.
One year passed.
The pirate world remained as vast and turbulent as ever. The Yonko and the Revolutionary Army were constantly making moves, violently shaking the foundations of the New World. But none of that mattered to the historically peaceful East Blue.
Over the course of this year, only one major event rocked the East Blue: The Green Fruit Kingdom officially joined the World Government, earning the right to attend the Levely.
Strangely enough, the man who ultimately claimed the throne was initially the weakest contender in the succession war: Pubot. As the newly crowned King of the Green Fruit Kingdom, he had personally buried every single one of his former rivals.
The very first decree King Pubot issued upon his ascension was to officially annex Kuro Island into his royal territory. Furthermore, he established a draconian law: no one was allowed to enter the island without his explicit permission.
Violators would be executed for high treason!
The general public couldn't understand the reasoning behind this bizarre edict. But a shrewd few managed to piece together the truth: Pubot's miraculous rise to power was intrinsically tied to a certain individual residing on that island.
When Sengoku heard the news back at Marineford, he wasn't surprised in the slightest. He knew Baishui was too cunning to let an opportunity like that slip through his fingers.
With the island now under the Kingdom's sovereign protection, the residents of Kuro Island never had to worry about pirate attacks again. Pubot deployed the kingdom's most elite military forces to patrol the island's perimeter twenty-four hours a day. Not even a fly could slip through their naval blockade.
Of course, this blockade didn't apply to Baishui. The patrolling guards had strict, unspoken orders: whenever Baishui inevitably flew through the air or appeared out of nowhere, they were to act completely blind to his presence.
Over time, these elite soldiers even managed to pick up a few combat techniques from Baishui, sharpening their skills further. Baishui, naturally, had ulterior motives for training them. First, as a reward for protecting his home. Second, to build a rapport and firmly plant his own loyal "nails" right next to King Pubot. Third, to increase their overall combat strength, ensuring they took their defensive duties seriously and could actually repel any real threats to Kuro Island.
Baishui obviously didn't trust Pubot.
Therefore, he had to set up failsafes. He had no intention of starring in his own version of The Farmer and the Viper.
The Green Fruit Kingdom was now an affiliated nation of the World Government. If Pubot ever decided to report Baishui's shadow-rule, Marine Headquarters would dispatch investigators, and that would be a massive headache. Baishui despised anything that fell outside of his control.
Sure, his planted soldiers wouldn't be put into the king's inner circle immediately. But that didn't matter. As long as stories of Kuro Island spread throughout the kingdom's military, more and more people would idolize the island. Once public sentiment shifted in his favor, Baishui would have achieved his goal. If Pubot ever thought about betraying him then, he'd have to carefully weigh the political suicide it would cause within his own kingdom.
Simultaneously, Baishui arranged for Pubot to subtly spread legends of his deeds throughout the populace. He wanted the citizens to know that there was a guardian deity watching over the Green Fruit Kingdom.
With this two-pronged approach, Baishui practically cemented his absolute control over Pubot. Combined with the sheer disparity in their combat strength, Baishui was confident the puppet king couldn't pull any tricks. Once he officially joined the Marines, he planned to plant even more operatives within the kingdom's infrastructure.
Nobody took what belonged to Ronel Baishui.
With a year to heal, the dark shadow looming over Aki's heart had largely dissipated. Only occasionally would the horrific memories of the pirates resurface, bringing brief bouts of melancholy.
The year was Sea Circle Calendar 1517.
Baishui was nineteen years old now, having grown into a striking young man. Aki, also nineteen, had blossomed into a stunningly beautiful young woman. Radiant, elegant, and graceful, she was a far cry from the simple seaside girl of three years past; truly, time had been kind to her.
They were the picture-perfect couple in the eyes of everyone on Kuro Island. The villagers eagerly anticipated their wedding, constantly pestering them to settle down and have kids, hoping to add even more life to their peaceful island.
In the world of One Piece, getting married and starting a family at nineteen was incredibly common.
Unable to withstand the villagers' relentless, enthusiastic nagging, Baishui and Aki finally decided to tie the knot in March. In truth, they had both been waiting for this day for a very long time.
Three years had passed since the day they first met.
Baishui had claimed Aki's innocence three years ago, yet they were only getting married now—a rather unconventional timeline. Even more miraculously, despite three years of intimacy, Aki had never gotten pregnant.
This wasn't due to any physical issues on either of their parts, of course. The reason was entirely practical: Aki hadn't been fully matured back then. Her body was still developing, and childbirth would have posed a severe risk to her health.
Even now, Baishui wasn't entirely convinced that having a child right away was a good idea, feeling her body might still need time before handling the strain of labor. Besides, they were young. Why rush when they had plenty of time?
But Aki was adamant about wanting a baby, and Baishui ultimately relented. Having a kid to spoil wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, would it?
But Baishui could never have foreseen that these next three months might be the last three months he would ever spend with her.
Somewhere in the New World!
"Is everyone ready?"
A massive pirate galleon adorned with a fierce lion figurehead cut through the violent, unpredictable waves of the New World. On the deck, a towering man standing roughly three meters tall swept a menacing gaze across his crew.
"Heh, Captain, aren't you being a little too paranoid? He's just a brat who's barely lost his baby teeth." A handsome man with long, wavy hair sat lazily below the towering captain, shrugging dismissively. "Sure, he managed to capture Vice-Captain Torsen. But that doesn't mean he's actually in our league. Is it really necessary to treat him like such a massive threat?"
"Don't underestimate the enemy, Moyan,"
spoke a steady, composed young man seated next to the wavy-haired pirate. He clearly didn't share his crewmate's arrogance. "That was his battle record from a year ago. Nobody knows exactly how strong he is now. To be safe, we must overestimate him.
Furthermore, we have to kill him in a single strike. If we let him escape, he'll become a relentless nightmare for us in the future!"
"Well said, Xunyang. We cannot afford to look down on him," the towering captain rumbled, thoroughly agreeing with the level-headed youth.
Who was this captain, and why did he harbor such venomous hatred toward an East Blue teenager?
His name was Rahn, a master of hand-to-hand combat and the biological older brother of "Sabertooth" Torsen.
"Lola, have you pinpointed Ronel Baishui's exact location?" Rahn turned his gaze toward the lone woman on the deck, a flicker of admiration softening his harsh eyes.
The woman stood up, shooting Rahn an incredibly icy glare. "Just about. He's on Kuro Island, in the East Blue's Green Fruit Kingdom. I'm certain of it."
"Excellent. Then set sail! We are going to make Ronel Baishui pay the ultimate price! He needs to learn that the Ferocious Beast Pirates are not to be trifled with!" Rahn roared, his eyes practically oozing killing intent.
Baishui had made him suffer the agonizing loss of his beloved younger brother. In return, Rahn was going to ensure Baishui experienced the exact same excruciating pain of losing his family.
He'd heard that Ronel Baishui's soon-to-be wife was quite the little beauty. Heh. Rahn licked his lips; he was going to thoroughly enjoy ripping Baishui's life apart.
Rahn, epithet "The Ferocious Beast"—a moniker dangerously close to that of a certain Yonko—boasted a bounty of 200 million Berries.
In the New World, he was just another face in the crowd, a mid-tier pirate of little renown. But in the East Blue? He was an absolute apex predator, possessing power that would effortlessly crush any pirate crew in the weakest sea.
Baishui, currently buried under the stress of planning his wedding with Aki, was completely oblivious to the fact that someone in the distant New World was plotting his downfall. Let alone someone intent on making him taste the despair of losing a loved one.
For the past few days, Baishui had been running himself ragged. Organizing the countless details felt far more exhausting than his brutal Haki training regimens. He would rather spar for twenty-four hours straight than plan seating arrangements and floral decor; it was simply too mentally draining. Training was simple—you didn't have to think, you just had to let your body move.
But there was no helping it. Not everything in life could be solved with fists. Even if he was exhausted, a wedding was a once-in-a-lifetime event. He was determined to give Aki a beautiful, unforgettable memory.
As for Aki, she was relegated to being a spectator. Baishui adamantly refused to let her lift a finger. In his own words: "A woman is meant to be pampered, not put to work."
This attitude earned Baishui endless praise from the islanders. It perfectly embodied the romantic ideal: One look into your eyes, and I knew I'd met the right person.
Time slipped by amidst the frantic preparations. Soon, it was March, the eve of the highly anticipated ceremony.
A wedding, naturally, required rings. Even if Aki claimed she didn't care about such things, Baishui felt a wedding without diamonds would be incomplete. He insisted on adding them to the itinerary.
Committed to giving Aki only the absolute best, Baishui set sail alone to find the finest custom jeweler in the surrounding regions. He wanted to forge a pair of unique, bespoke diamond rings for the two of them, a perfect testament to their special day.
But at the exact moment Baishui's ship departed, the Ferocious Beast Pirates suddenly broke through the fog, arriving in the waters just off the coast of Kuro Island.