The young prince of Prodence, unable to contain his fury at Redfield's taunts, unleashed a King's Punch he'd been charging for half an hour, hurling it toward the brazen Red Count.
King Elizabello tried to intervene, but it was too late. He cursed the impulsiveness of youth under his breath. If the Hell Pirates agreed not to plunder or destroy the Prodence Kingdom, handing over the King's Punch as a ransom for survival was a fair trade. After all, what's treasure without lives to enjoy it?
But now, with war breaking out, they'd lose not only the King's Punch but likely suffer heavy casualties among the kingdom's elite and see their wealth stripped bare!
"Jahaha! Is that all the King's Punch has got? Pathetic!"
Golden Lion Shiki sneered at the incoming shockwave. Redfield raised a hand, summoning a terrifying dragon of lightning that roared toward the attack.
The King's Punch, hyped as a blow capable of toppling an Emperor, couldn't even dent Bartolomeo's barrier—a sign its reputation was overblown. Still, it was a solid technique. For non-Devil Fruit users, it could unleash a devastating shockwave capable of leveling fortresses, far surpassing the laser beams of a Pacifista.
The catch? Its power scaled with charging time, making it ideal for sieges but near useless in fast-paced combat. The prince's half-baked punch collided with Redfield's lightning dragon, triggering a massive explosion. The King's Punch fizzled out quickly, while the dragon splintered into dozens of electric serpents, streaking toward the royal court.
"King's Punch!"
Roars echoed as King Elizabello and several dukes unleashed their own charged punches. The young prince's rash move had ignited a war, and with arrows notched, they had no choice but to fire back against the onslaught of lightning serpents.
Shiki wasn't about to let Redfield steal the spotlight. Golden crescent-shaped sword slashes erupted, clashing with the King's Punches in a barrage of destruction.
Redfield flicked his index finger, sending a flock of lightning ravens swooping down. Combined with Shiki's slashes, they obliterated the royal family's desperate attacks.
King Elizabello's face darkened as he watched their trump card crumble before the Hell Pirates' two top officers. Fear gnawed at him more than shame.
"We surrender! Your might is unmatched, lords! We offer the King's Punch training method and two billion Belly as tribute. Please, spare my people!"
The king bowed deeply, his politician's knack for quick pivots on full display. Like the Riku family of Dressrosa, the Elizabello royals were relatively benevolent rulers, striving to protect their citizens.
"Tch! Why bother? We could just kill you all and take everything!"
Shiki's glare pierced the king, a wicked grin spreading as he spoke. The royal family quaked, collapsing under the weight of the golden-haired demon's presence.
"Quit screwing around, Shiki!" Redfield cut in. "Hand over the King's Punch manual, any Devil Fruits, and whatever else you've got. Don't tell me a kingdom like yours doesn't have a single Fruit stashed away. We're picking through your treasury ourselves!"
Redfield's interruption was sharp. Time was short—they had other allied nations to raid for Devil Fruits and treasures. With Rocks drawing the World Government's attention up front, the Hell Pirates' goal was to plunder, not slaughter or raze kingdoms.
"Tch! You heard him!" Shiki growled, chomping his cigar. "Take us to your treasure vault, or I'll float your whole damn palace into the sky!"
Brook had other islands to hit, or Shiki would've already looted the palace for fun.
"Yes, yes, of course, lords!"
King Elizabello breathed a sigh of relief. These pirates hadn't gone on a killing spree or executed the royals who dared fight back. All he wanted now was to pay the price and see these terrors leave.
...
On Golden Island, sniper Silva kept watch through his Glare-Glare Fruit, scanning for approaching Navy forces. Despite the Hell Pirates' dominance in the New World, Brook stayed cautious, never letting arrogance cloud his judgment.
Brook was particularly wary of Imu's mysterious "national treasure," a weapon of unimaginable power. Did that ancient ruler constantly monitor the world, or did they slumber periodically? Imu hadn't intervened during Rocks' assault on the Valley of the Gods or Roger's ascent to Raftel. Were they dormant, or did they simply dismiss those threats as insignificant?
Eight hundred years of history, including the century-long Void War, meant Imu had seen it all. To them, Rocks and Roger were likely just minor nuisances.
"Captain Brook, Admiral Devo's on his way, but his fleet's small and moving slow. Should we take him out?"
Silva's Glare-Glare vision spotted the Navy reinforcements. With the Hell Pirates' current strength, they could potentially crush an admiral's fleet.
"If he's dumb enough to chase us, we'll bury him," Brook replied coolly. "But he's dragging his feet, probably waiting for Marineford backup. Let's focus on grabbing what we came for."
Brook's mantra held firm: fighting and killing weren't the goal—plundering was.
"With Kong still out of the New World, we've got a shot at that high-value island. It'll give Vegapunk a serious boost!"
After looting Prodence, Brook set his sights on Punk Hazard, a critical World Government secret research base in the New World.
Punk Hazard housed top-tier scientists and cutting-edge equipment, some even Vegapunk himself coveted, each worth hundreds of millions of Belly. In the original timeline, the government locked Vegapunk and Caesar Clown there. Caesar's poison gas experiments ruined the island, forcing Vegapunk out.
Vegapunk had studied Kaido's Lineage Factor there, crafting the first artificial Devil Fruit—later eaten by Momonosuke by mistake. Experiments like gigantification and the Seraphim project kicked off on Punk Hazard, leaving behind troves of valuable data.
Even some of Kaido's Numbers, the ancient giants, were failed gigantification experiments bought from Punk Hazard, as Big Mom herself confirmed.
Now, Brook aimed to seize this research island and hand it to a young Vegapunk, setting the stage for his brilliance to shine.
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+400 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg