"Hahahaha!"
The first thing that rang out was loud laughter. The leader, who had the same golden hair as Lily, wore a crown and a luxurious cloak. Underneath, his attire was resplendent with jewels, and he was as round as a ball, almost rolling away, fully rotund.
"Lily, long time no see!"
His face was full of thick beard, and his skin was rough. As he opened his mouth to laugh, a few of his front teeth were missing, making him look like a creepy pervert, though he was a tall and rotund creepy pervert.
Sage estimated that he was at least two meters and a half tall.
Seeing the newcomer, Lily gritted her teeth, spitting out a few words through them: "Ennio!!"
The man before her was the main culprit behind the country's turmoil, the despicable usurper—Benedetta Ennio!
Ennio bared his mouth full of gold teeth: "Finally caught you, Lily. During the time you were away, this king was quite worried that something might have happened to you..."
"You scoundrel!"
Lily's eyes reddened and she was about to rush forward, but as soon as she moved, the soldiers behind Ennio quickly dashed out, using gun blades to restrain Lily's body, stopping her in her tracks.
Ennio reached out with his large hand to touch her face, but was pushed away by Lily, who glared back angrily.
He continued to reach towards Lily's face and asked, "So, since you escaped, why did you come back?"
Lily held her head high, staring straight at that ugly face, and said through gritted teeth, "Of course, it's to stop you from continuing to cause chaos. This country cannot be ruined by you any longer!"
Ennio showed disdain: "How do you plan to stop me? With your bounty, or with the populace who don't even know you? Don't be ridiculous. Other than obediently paying taxes, they have no value."
"But they can choose not to pay!"
Lily said through gritted teeth: "As long as they leave the Oyekot Kingdom and are no longer your citizens, they can choose not to pay taxes. Without the money to pay the Heavenly Celestial Dragon's tribute, you can't maintain your throne!"
A hint of startled surprise flashed in Ennio's eyes, but he quickly burst into laughter: "You're suggesting they become bandits? Even bandits are within my territory! Or do you want them to venture out to sea?"
He didn't even give Lily a chance to respond, raising his hand and shouting to the citizens watching behind him: "Hey, you all go out to sea! As long as you go out to sea, you won't have to pay heavy taxes. Taxes elsewhere aren't this heavy, hurry up and set sail!"
The heavy taxes and burdens of life pushed the citizens to the brink of endurance, each citizen Lily encountered along her journey bore a pallor of nutrition deficiency. If they could choose to go to sea and change their lifestyle, then they would surely...
Do nothing.
The citizens watching showed no reaction whatsoever. Instead, they stepped back a few steps in fear.
"Lily, you should understand that this country deteriorated because of the war with the Pirates."
Ennio sneered, caressing Lily's cheek, and said deeply: "Venture out to sea? Even if I, the king, ordered it personally, they wouldn't do so. You think I impose excessive taxes without reason? Of course, it's because they're just a bunch of cowards! Cowards have no right to go to sea!"
After speaking, he shook his head with a smile, seeming to lose interest, and waved his hand, "Colonel Mouse..."
A navy officer dressed in something like a windbreaker stepped out. The officer's hat was connected to the coat, with two ears on it, and his mustache was much like a mouse's, with three long whiskers on each side, resembling a... mouse.
He wasn't in good condition, with bruises covering his face, his face blue and swollen.
He looked Lily up and down, revealing a sneaky smirk: "I am Colonel Mouse of the Navy's 16th branch. Hearing about King Ennio's previous assassination attempt, I specifically applied to elevate the local wanted order to a World Government wanted order. Now that we've caught you, let's proceed with the arrest!"
Ennio said: "Lily, you as a successor are quite troublesome, so handing you over to the World Government can provide a stream of funds for me, isn't it, Colonel Mouse."
Colonel Mouse smiled broader, "Such a beauty, coupled with her noble status as a princess, she would surely sell well as a slave, and perhaps even catch the eye of the Heavenly Celestial Dragons. They spare no expense."
"Exactly!" Ennio revealed an unbridled smile.
"Um..."
Suddenly, a voice interjected.
Sage raised his hand and said, "This person was caught by me. Whatever you intend to do, shouldn't the bounty be settled?"
He had been watching for a long time, desperately wanting to interject but unable to.
"Oh? So you captured Lily?"
Ennio then looked towards Sage, eyes narrowing as he swept a glance over the white hair, and chuckled, "It's no longer a royal bounty. If you want money, talk to the Navy, but, Colonel Mouse, white hair is quite rare..."
Colonel Mouse glanced at Sage's white hair, showing a smile: "Indeed, you are under arrest."
Tap, tap, tap!
Following his words, the navy behind him drew their flintlocks and blades, quickly surrounding Sage.
No...
What does this have to do with him?
Sage looked around at the Navy surrounding him and said, "The Navy has no right to arrest me, right? I haven't committed a crime, nor am I a pirate."
"Look at my wounds!"
Colonel Mouse pointed at his own bruised face, "You assaulted a Navy Branch Colonel, and I deem you a Pirate, so of course I can arrest you!"
Sage raised an eyebrow, looking at the two people revealing wily smiles and nodded, "Understood, you want to renege on paying."
Indeed, misfortune still lingered around him.
He raised his hands and took a half-step back, "My bad luck, I'm just a bounty hunter aiming for the Arlong Pirates, with no intention of conflicting with you."
He didn't want to clash with the Navy; if he ended up with a bounty... The bounty hunter still had hope, and unless necessary, he didn't want to switch careers to struggle.
Upon hearing this, Colonel Mouse's face sank, and Ennio laughed, "The Arlong Pirates have long been gone."
"Who do you say is gone?" Sage paused in disbelief.
"Of course, it's that damned Arlong Pirates!" Colonel Mouse said through gritted teeth, "And that damned Straw Hat kid, who cost me a single Belly!"
He had been protecting the Arlong Pirates, cooperating pleasantly and earning a lot of money, but once the Arlong Pirates fell, his protection of the Pirates was exposed. Although he hadn't been punished yet, it was only a matter of time.
But fortunately, the Oyekot Kingdom was under his jurisdiction, and he knew the situation of this kingdom. Although he was here for the temporary escort of heavenly gold, Ennio's proposal was quite tempting to him.
He wanted to consolidate the throne and make the heir disappear, and Colonel Mouse also needed a suitable person to please his superiors.
Abducting this noble princess, if he could deliver her to the Heavenly Celestial Dragon as a wife, he would not only avoid punishment, but might even get a promotion.
If that didn't work, he could also make money by sending her to the Shampodi Islands, enough to avoid punishment.
He was pondering how to catch the fleeing princess, and she appeared right before him, saving him the trouble.
As for this White Hair kid, since Ennio didn't like him, he was even less concerned.
Rare White Hair could fetch a price too.
"Catch him!" Colonel Mouse shouted.
Just at that moment, Sage suddenly leaped high, directly jumping out of the Navy's encirclement, his agile movement making Ennio instinctively squint his eyes.
What a joke!
Sage turned livid; he hadn't expected this at all.
He wanted to capture the Arlong Pirates, only to find they had already been defeated?
Straw Hat kid... So that's Luffy, he knew that.
He just didn't expect it to happen so fast!
He had just seen Arlong's wanted order, and now they were gone?
Did his hope have to shatter this fast!
"Fire!"
Bam bam bam!
The surrounding Navy immediately raised their guns, pulling the triggers and firing at Sage still in the air.
"Two-Finger Vacuum Blade!"
Facing the incoming bullets, Sage extended both index fingers, transforming into countless afterimages, swiftly capturing those bullets.
A large number of bullets were caught and scattered by his fingers, briefly suspended in front of him.
Sage glared at the Navy ahead, a trace of ferocity appearing in his eyes.
He wanted to be a bounty hunter, yet now they wouldn't give him a chance!
Bang!
He clapped his hands in mid-air, emitting a dull sound as the suspended lead bullets flew back at a speed no less than before.
But just at this moment, the air around him vibrated, only to see a faint blue slash rapidly soaring, plowing open a trench in the ground and charging straight at him.
Sage instinctively dodged, almost brushing past the slash, astonished, "Rankyaku?"
Now even Lily and Colonel Mouse were startled, looking at Ennio.
There were many rumors about this King, the tyrant who extorted heavily and the greedy money-grabber... But there was never talk of him being a formidable individual.
Ennio retracted his leg, glanced at the amazed Lily, then bared his teeth at Sage with a sinister smile, "As I said, White Hair is rare; how could I let you go."
Whiz!
With those words, his figure disappeared from the spot, appearing instantly in front of Sage, followed by extending a finger to strike the air, swiftly pointing at Sage.
Snap!
Sage's body flicked to the side, his knee pushing against Ennio's elbow, kicking his arm upward, quickly tapping down his foot while the other leg shot like a gun, fiercely striking Ennio's abdomen.
Bang!
That sensation was like hitting steel.
Sage's expression became serious, leveraging the force to retreat while staring at Ennio uncertainly, "Six Styles?"
Though forgetting what should be forgotten, someone suddenly displayed superhuman body techniques before him, he still remembered.
If he wasn't mistaken, this guy was using Rankyaku, Soru, Finger Gun, and... Tekkai.
"Hehehe..."
Ennio twisted his fat neck, grinned sinisterly, "Before becoming King, I was in the Navy."