"Heh heh, everyone, could you return our companion to us?"
Shirogai stepped forward calmly, approaching the heavily armed soldiers of Gear Country. Their weapons were raised defensively as they guarded Franky, who lay nearby under their protection.
With a relaxed smile, Shirogai pointed lightly toward Franky.
"Who... who are you?!"
The Female Minister of Gear Country, known as Iron Woman, struggled to suppress the fear rising in her chest. Her voice trembled as she spoke.
"This is our King! We will not hand him over to you!"
She stared at the man before her. Something about him looked extremely familiar, yet her mind could not place it.
However, the massive mechanical giant that had been piloted by the Tyrant was now frozen solid into an enormous ice statue. That terrifying scene had occurred only moments earlier.
It was obvious that the man standing before her had something to do with it.
A pirate with a terrifying Devil Fruit ability.
So the King was actually his companion?
But no matter what happened, the King could not leave this country.
The prosperity of Gear Country depended entirely on him.
Only the King's genius could keep their nation prosperous.
As long as they clung to him, their country would continue to thrive.
Iron Woman had already made her decision.
No matter the cost, Franky could not be allowed to leave. Even if it meant offending the powerful pirate standing before her.
"Heh heh, you made him the King of this country..."
Shirogai slowly glanced at the citizens surrounding Franky.
"My companion does not seem to have agreed to that, does he?"
"The King?"
Zoro blinked in surprise while looking at Franky's shriveled figure.
"Franky actually came here and became the King of a country?"
Based on Zoro's understanding of Franky, that outcome seemed almost impossible.
Power and authority meant nothing to that eccentric cyborg.
A throne that ordinary people would desperately chase might not interest Franky half as much as a fascinating machine.
"Eh!? Franky is the King?"
Chopper sniffed loudly, his tiny blue nose twitching beneath his hat.
His eyes sparkled with admiration.
"Wow! Franky is amazing! He became a King so quickly! Do we need to kneel and call him King Franky?"
Chopper's thoughts were simple. He was genuinely happy for his friend.
"I... I am exhausted..."
Usopp lay sprawled on the ground nearby.
His hands slowly transformed into vines as they stretched deep into the earth, searching underground.
"Ah! Found it! The Spring of Life!"
Usopp's eyes lit up.
Water surged upward through the vines. Bathed in sunlight, his body quickly absorbed the nutrients through photosynthesis.
In only a few moments, his stamina fully recovered.
"Wow! This is exactly what you would expect from the powerful Devil Fruit ability once used by an Admiral!"
Usopp jumped to his feet with renewed energy.
He clenched his fists while proudly puffing out his chest.
"Hmph! Now Captain Usopp also possesses the strength of an Admiral!"
Crack!
Suddenly, a figure tumbled down from the frozen mechanical giant.
The young man landed heavily on the ground, covered in frost and pale from the freezing cold.
It was the former King of Gear Country, the Tyrant.
"Cold... so cold... I am freezing to death..."
"Hey! Are you alright?"
Usopp immediately walked over with concern.
The next second, everything changed.
"Do not move!"
The Tyrant suddenly forced himself upright.
His arm twisted and transformed into a sharp mechanical blade. In one swift motion, he pressed the blade against Usopp's neck.
"Tell your companion to cancel his ability immediately!"
The Tyrant's voice was hoarse and desperate.
"Release my beloved concubine and my subordinates! Otherwise I will kill you!"
"Eh!!!"
Usopp instantly trembled in terror.
He raised both hands shakily.
"D-don't kill me..."
"Idiot."
From a distance, Zoro rolled his eyes in exasperation.
Usopp had already obtained an incredibly powerful Devil Fruit ability.
Yet his cowardly instincts still controlled him.
Whenever danger appeared, his first reaction was always to beg for mercy.
The irony was that the Tyrant could not actually kill him even if he tried.
Usopp possessed the regenerative vitality of the Mori Mori Fruit.
Without Armament Haki, the Tyrant simply could not inflict any real damage.
"Ah! This is terrible! Shirogai! Usopp has been captured!"
Chopper panicked and tugged frantically at Shirogai's coat.
"Chopper, relax."
Shirogai smiled calmly without even glancing in that direction.
"It is fine. Let Usopp deal with it himself."
His tone remained casual.
"He has grown into a dragon already. He cannot continue pretending to be an earthworm. The mindset of a strong person is not built by constantly relying on companions."
"Shirogai?"
When Chopper spoke his name, Iron Woman froze.
She repeated the name silently in her mind.
Shirogai.
The name felt painfully familiar.
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Her body began trembling uncontrollably.
She stared at the smiling man standing calmly in front of her.
Memories flooded her mind.
A pirate who had shaken the entire world only months ago.
A monster who had intervened in the great war at Marineford between the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates.
The man whose actions had changed the balance of the world itself.
The Marine Headquarters had issued an unprecedented bounty for him.
Ten billion Berries.
Iron Woman's face turned pale.
The pirate standing before her was none other than the man the world feared.
Shirogai Yamikuro.
Also known as The Plunderer.
Why would a monster of this level appear in their insignificant little country?
And he just said that the King was his companion.
Her heart trembled violently.
Could their King truly be a member of the Straw Hat Pirates?
"Hey! You pirate over there! Did you hear me?!"
The Tyrant waved his mechanical blade while shouting hysterically.
"Release this King's mechanical giant immediately!"
"Poor fool..."
Iron Woman looked at the Tyrant with pity.
"You have just offended the most terrifying pirate in this world."
She almost felt sorry for him.
But that meant one thing.
The King could never remain in this country.
Iron Woman's heart filled with sorrow.
"Healing Room: Restoration Infusion."
Without anyone noticing, Shirogai had already spread the Room ability of the Ope Ope Fruit across the entire island.
Franky's unconscious body suddenly began to recover.
The drained energy inside him returned instantly.
His shriveled frame regained its powerful elasticity.
"Ow! You damn wooden man! You actually ambushed this perverted master!"
Franky suddenly flipped up from the ground.
He looked around angrily.
"Eh?"
Then he noticed several familiar faces standing nearby.
Shirogai.
Zoro.
Chopper.
All three of them were smiling.
"Ow! You guys!!!"
Franky's eyes burst into exaggerated tears.
He dashed forward at full speed, ignoring the stunned Iron Woman who was staring at him with expectation.
He crashed straight into his companions while crying loudly.
"Ow! Woohoo! I missed you guys so much! Are you all okay?!"