Rosede Kingdom.
Inside the lavish royal palace, the tall walls were lined with glittering golden ornaments, making the entire hall blaze with splendor.
Resplendent and magnificent.
Luxurious and proud.
Right now, Rosede IV leaned back in his throne, brow tightly furrowed, racking his brain over how to deal with that group of pirates.
The five hundred royal guards who had been taken hostage were one thing.
The real problem was…
Over a dozen nobles had been captured as well.
That was what truly left Rosede IV in a bind.
He couldn't just mobilize his troops openly to encircle and suppress the pirates.
If he launched a large-scale operation, it might provoke those pirates into killing all the hostages in retaliation. Once those nobles died, the fallout would be enormous.
Behind each of those nobles stood a powerful faction.
Even Rosede IV couldn't afford to bear the rage of all those forces combined.
That was why he felt so tormented.
Did he really have to bow to the pirates' demands?
"No. Absolutely not."
"How could a kingdom of this size bow to pirates?"
"If it happens once, it will happen twice. If it happens twice, it will happen three times."
"Once the precedent is set, this kind of thing will never end."
"I cannot allow that."
"As the king of Rosede Kingdom, how could I compromise with pirates? What would my people think of me?"
Rosede IV clenched his fists.
He crushed the budding thought of surrendering to the pirates before it could take root.
The king of Rosede Kingdom—
Would not bow to pirates.
This wasn't just about the kingdom's dignity.
It was about his own dignity as king.
Besides—
Once this kind of thing had a precedent, endless trouble would follow.
In the future…
Rosede Kingdom would become the primary target of every pirate in the area.
That was the last thing Rosede IV wanted.
So this time, no matter what, he would not choose to yield.
Even if—
It meant killing all the hostages.
Even those nobles.
Once the hostages were gone, he wouldn't have to worry about them being used to threaten him.
Even if he had to face the wrath of the powers behind those nobles later…
Rosede IV was prepared.
Better that than bowing his head to pirates.
Better a kingdom stained with noble blood than a kingdom that surrendered.
"Those damned people in the World Government…"
"Every year I pay them so much tribute."
"Yet when my kingdom is in crisis, they send two brats to solve it. It's disgusting. They really can't be relied on."
Rosede IV ground his teeth.
He couldn't help thinking of the two "brats" who had just visited the palace earlier.
One of them was only four years old.
That was the worst part.
He could still stomach the thirteen-year-old boy.
But sending a four-year-old?
What was that supposed to mean?
Did they think this was a joke?
"Those two brats are probably dead already in the hands of those pirates."
"I have to make a long-term plan…"
"I'll have to rely on myself to deal with those vicious pirates."
Rosede IV thought darkly.
Just then—
Tap, tap, tap—
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed from outside the hall.
"Your Majesty!"
An anxious yet respectful voice rang out.
Moments later, a man in black rushed into the glittering palace.
He was the spy Rosede IV had sent earlier to covertly observe Kai and Lucci's movements.
Seeing the man in black return, Rosede IV raised a brow, expression growing serious.
"Well? Those two reckless little brats should have been killed by those pirates by now, right?"
"Did the pirates vent their anger on the hostages after seeing them?"
"Tell me everything, in full detail. I don't want a single thing left out."
"I want to know exactly what happened there."
The man in black nodded quickly, swallowed, and began to speak with a trembling voice.
"Your Majesty, you guessed wrong."
"Those two brats…"
"They're not dead."
Rosede IV frowned even more deeply.
"So you're saying those two brats actually negotiated with the pirates and succeeded? Those cutthroat pirates agreed to talk to two children? You're not joking, are you?"
The man in black shook his head.
"You misunderstand. From beginning to end, those two never negotiated with the pirates."
Rosede IV was even more confused.
"Then what? If there were no talks, how are those brats still alive? Shouldn't they have been torn apart right away by those pirates?"
He knew very well how vicious that pirate crew was.
He did not believe for a second that those pirates would suddenly grow a conscience and spare two kids.
"N-No, that's not it either," the man in black denied quickly.
"Then spit it out, all of it!"Rosede IV snapped, patience running thin.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The man in black trembled and finally blurted out the truth.
"The ones who captured over a dozen nobles and five hundred soldiers of our kingdom, the pirate crew known as the Sword-Lion Pirates…"
"Just now, they were completely annihilated."
"All four thousand-plus pirates were wiped out. Not a single one left standing."
"As of this moment, the safety of our nobles and soldiers who were taken hostage is guaranteed."
"The Sword-Lion Pirates' captain, Sword-Lion Gart, along with his four officers, are all dead. Killed on the spot."
"The rest of the pirates have all mysteriously fallen into an unconscious state…"
As the man in black spoke—
Rosede IV froze.
He wondered if he'd heard wrong.
The Sword-Lion Pirates had been wiped out?
For real?
That was a crew with over four thousand members.
Gone?
And their captain, Sword-Lion Gart, was a Devil Fruit user with a Marine bounty of 48,000,000 Berries.
That kind of monster… dead?
Impossible.
"You… do you have any idea what you're saying?"
Rosede IV shot to his feet, demanding an answer.
"Your Majesty, it's all true," the man in black said quickly. "Even though I was watching from thousands of meters away, I clearly saw what happened."
"The Sword-Lion Pirates really were annihilated."
"You're not about to tell me…"
"That all four thousand pirates… were taken out by those two brats, are you?"
Rosede IV felt a cold chill run down his spine.
"N-No."
The man in black thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"I knew it. There's no way those two kids could have that kind of power,"Rosede IV muttered, letting out a relieved breath.
But then—
The man in black's next words made his mind go blank.
"In truth…"
"The one who wiped out that pirate crew wasn't 'those two'."
"It was just…"
"One of them."
Rosede IV's eyes went wide.
His heart lurched.
"Wh-What did you say?! One of them single-handedly wiped out that entire pirate crew? Are you sure?"
"Was it the thirteen-year-old boy?"
"I knew it. That one didn't look ordinary."
But the man in black shook his head again.
"No, Your Majesty. You're wrong again. It wasn't the boy."
"It was the younger one."
"He was the core of the massacre."
"The one who's only four years old…"
"Single-handedly wiped out more than four thousand pirates."
"He personally blew apart that big-name pirate, Sword-Lion Gart, whose bounty is close to fifty million Berries. The four officers with bounties over thirty million each also died at his hands."
"He's too strong."
"Even from thousands of meters away, the pressure I felt from him was terrifying. In my entire life, I've never seen someone so powerful."
"And the most frightening thing…"
"Is that he's only four years old."
When he finished—
Rosede IV completely lost his composure.
He stared at his subordinate in horror.
Not the thirteen-year-old?
But…
The four-year-old brat?
And this child, by himself, had wiped out a pirate crew with more than four thousand members?
He had personally killed Sword-Lion Gart?
And the four officers with bounties over thirty million Berries each?
"This… this isn't a dream?"
"A four-year-old brat…"
"Wiped out a pirate crew that size?"
"This is insane…"
Rosede IV was stunned.
Everything he'd just heard utterly shattered his understanding of the world.
His worldview crumbled on the spot.
"What kind of monster is this…?"
Rosede IV's heart pounded wildly, his face filled with disbelief.
Only now did he truly understand.
The Marines hadn't sent someone here to die.
They had sent—
A terrifying monster that shook the very seas.
A monster…
Only four years old.
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