"Y-Your Highness, I would like to make it known that I, Beltu, the First Advisor, did not share the beliefs of the former king! I-I tried to dissuade him from raising the taxes, I promise! I really did try my best! P-Please don't imprison me!"
"T-That's right! I tried as well, Your Highness! I really did!"
"Same here!"
"Me as well! I was just following orders, you know? I didn't want to be executed! As the Commander of the Garrison, I had to obey the king's orders! I promise I didn't want to harm any civilians like that!"
They were like rats running from a sinking ship.
I stared blandly at the large group of people kneeling in front of me, which was a mixture of Daruel's Advisors, various soldiers, and even some 'nobles' - aka, rich bastards from the North side who were at least smart enough to realize their fancy lifestyle was about to change.
"So, um... You guys wanna handle this?" I asked hopefully, glancing over at both Borin and Nero, who were grinning humorously at my expense, as I certainly wasn't enjoying my current predicament.
"No, no, Your Highness, we couldn't! We're merely lowly fishermen, you know? I'm grateful to even be in your presence!" Borin said loudly, giving me a mock bow as the sarcasm in his voice wasn't lost to me, "I don't know about rich folk matters like this!"
"Same here! I'm just a stupid fisherman who only knows how to cast a rod. You'll have to handle all these smart-folk issues," Nero chimed in, acting overly dumb as he also gave me a mock bow, and I just sighed.
I knew these bastards wouldn't have been any help anyway.
Only a single night had passed since I defeated John Giant, and since the former King Daurel had been slain. And, let me tell you, I didn't know so much could happen in one single night!
News had spread through all of Imbale about what happened - which I expected, as the death of their king in front of all his guards would definitely leak out to the public. However, what I hadn't expected was just how quickly that news would be acted upon. Not even an hour after Daurel's death, after checking to ensure John Giant was still alive, and just unconscious, I had gone back to the South side to find out that damn-near everyone had heard the news. The result had been a huge celebration held in my honor, which, of course, I didn't mind one bit!
What I did mind was the next day, that being today, where I woke up on my usual dock, hungover, to a constant stream of North-side inhabitants coming to plead their cases to me, and constantly calling me 'Your Highness.' I know I had all-dramatically been like 'Now, there will be a new king on Imbale!' but I hadn't meant me, damn it! I was just a fisherman staying here until the Germa quest expired!
Speaking of quests, I had completed a certain quest revolving around Daurel.
[Quest Complete!]
Make a stand, or back down!
Dethrone [King Daurel] and Conquer the Kingdom of Imbale!
Rewards:
+250 to all stats!
+Increased [Reputation] and [Obedience] with the Kingdom of Imbale!
For how easy it had been to kill Daurel, the rewards were pretty good. But, if you added in the effort of taking down John Giant to get to Daurel, then...
"This shit was so not worth it," I sighed, and Borin chuckled at me from the side, thinking that I was still talking about the people kneeling in front of me.
"What's the matter, Your Highness?" Borin grinned, "Don't like your new subjects? It seems that since you're the one who took down the old king, everyone thinks that you're the new one. Whether you like it or not, lad, you're the one they want."
"Bullshit," I shot back, running a hand through my hair in annoyance, "I'm a fisherman, not a king. The whole 'ruling an island' lifestyle isn't for me. I planned on sailing around the world, you know? Exploring, fishing, and seeing what's out there. I didn't intend to live here for long to begin with."
Borin's grin didn't falter, but there was a knowing glint in his eyes now - a glint that was starting to piss me off.
"Of course, you can do that if you want," He said, shrugging as if it were the simplest thing in the world, "No one's chaining you to this island. You can just hop in your boat and sail away whenever you want."
He paused, letting the words hang in the air before delivering the punchline.
"You'll just have to live with the knowledge that you left us all behind to whatever hell comes next after you killed our king."
Yeah, I knew some smart-ass comment was coming.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," I grumbled, my gaze sweeping over the groveling nobles and guards before returning to Borin, "But Daurel's dead now, so it's too late for that. Can't you guys just elect a new king? Can't you like, I don't know, hold a vote or something? Or, can I just pick one? Hell, you can even be the king if you want."
Borin let out a short chuckle as he shook his head.
"For someone who's smart enough to take down a Vice Admiral," He replied, "You're surprisingly clueless about how the world works, Your Highness."
"Don't call me that," I muttered, but he ignored me, continuing with his explanation.
"It doesn't work like that," Borin continued, gesturing vaguely towards the north side of the island, "The World Government doesn't deal with 'elected kings.' They make agreements with royal families - with bloodlines, that is. Now that Daurel's dead, without an heir, the whole system is thrown into chaos."
"He didn't have any kids," Nero chimed in from my other side, scratching at the back of his head, "Not that the World Government would approve, anyway. The man was too busy stuffing his face and writing love letters to that New World pirate to bother with an heir, so it's all bastards that he pretended didn't exist."
"Exactly," Borin nodded, "And since there's no heir, the World Government will have two choices. One: they declare Imbale's old treaty void since the ruling family is gone. If that happens, this island becomes a free-for-all. And, I'm sure you know about our closest neighbors, Germa 66, right? You think they won't jump at the chance to annex a kingdom right on their doorstep? They'll swoop in, and all of this-"
Borin swept his arm out, encompassing the entire area around us, "Will be gone in a heartbeat. They'll turn this place into somewhere to host experiments, and we'll be walking around with extra arms and legs in a few weeks."
He paused, letting that grim image sink in before continuing with the second option.
"Or, the second option," He went on, his voice dropping lower, "Is that the World Government decides to install one of their own. Which, most likely, means they'll auction it off to whatever current royalty or Celestial Dragon has a relative who wants a playground. They'll send some noble from who-knows-where who's never even seen a fishing net in his life. He'll be just as greedy as Daurel, and he'll squeeze this island for every beri it's worth to pay for fancy parties, and we'll be right back where we started, if not worse."
This bastard. He knows I'm not cold-hearted enough to let something like that happen, even if I really don't want to be responsible for an entire Kingdom.
My heart was with the adventure of this world - with all the places I could go, all the fish I could catch, and all the power I could gain. But, at the end of the day, I was still... just a normal guy. Despite my power, I wasn't like the other power-maniacs of this world. I wasn't a pirate who wanted to hoard gold and steal women, nor a marine who was infatuated with justice, nor a greedy king who wanted to spend all his days partying. I was just a normal guy who happened to have a fishing system.
"But... they'll just accept me? They won't be pissed that I killed the king?" I pressed, finding a problem with what he said.
Borin glanced over at me, his lips curling into a humorless grin, "Oh, you bet they will. The World Government is, at its heart, a predatory organization. They love to ensure that the kingdoms under them always pay their dues, but they tend to be late if those very kingdoms call for aid. But 'late' is not 'never.' They still will come to the aid of the kingdoms under them, which doesn't just involve pirate attacks, but also something like this, where you just usurped the king."
Nero chimed in with a small smirk, "However, the World Government has priorities, and Imbale isn't one of them."
"What do you mean?" I asked, my brow furrowed. A kingdom was a kingdom, and a treaty was a treaty. Did the World Government really care about Daurel so little that they'd let the king being usurped go unpunished? They sent a Vice Admiral at his request, so I assumed they cared about his well-being at least a bit.
Borin answered, his tone grim, "While Daurel was wasting money as if he had an unlimited amount, Imbale definitely doesn't. The heavy taxes weren't just for the North side, but also to pay the fee to the World Government. That money is all Imbale has - we're a small nation with no real manpower, and even that money is rather thin compared to many other nations, which you can bet your ass the World Government knows. If some big-shot king of a huge, important nation was killed, an Admiral would be chasing you down right now, and they'd probably burn half of this island to the ground for the insult. But, for Imbale? A place they don't really care much about, and are only useful for the fees we pay to the World Government? They won't try too hard to make things right."
Nero chimed in again, "Exactly. They'll send someone over to ensure John Giant is fine if he doesn't return, to see what happened here, and to make a report. But, at worst, if they decide you're too threatening or crazy to be a king, they'll send another Vice Admiral here. They wouldn't bother wasting someone like a Warlord or an Admiral on Imbale. They'd sooner just let the kingdom go from their control than spend a lot of manpower to keep it."
Borin nodded, "Exactly. Your best-case scenario is that they decide you're not a threat, as long as you keep paying the fees, and let you stay as king. They'll grumble and make some threats, but they won't start a war over it. Your worst-case scenario is they send another Vice Admiral, and you have to fight again before they give up on bothering to reclaim the throne. But even that... that's a risk you've already proven you can handle."
I fell silent, absorbing their words. The logic was cold, but it was undeniable. And, in a way, it was kind of humbling.
This wasn't a grand chess game between world powers - it was a forgotten corner of a much larger board. My actions, while world-shattering to the people of Imbale, and seeming massive in proportion to myself, were likely just a minor bureaucratic headache for the World Government. They had much bigger problems to handle and much stronger foes to send their Admirals after. If even Luffy, who was taking down powerful pirates left and right, involving himself in Arabasta, and even invading Impel Down, was only having Captain Smoker sent after him, then I certainly wouldn't warrant anything more than a Vice Admiral for my actions. This was just a blip on a report that would be filed away and forgotten as long as the tributes kept coming.
"So, what I'm getting out of all this..." I groaned, looking over at Borin and Nero's smirking faces, "Is that I have to be a King?"
"Damn right you do!" Borin chuckled, and I sighed, looking back at the people in front of me.
This wasn't how I thought my time in this world would go, but if I was doing something, I wouldn't do it half-assed.
"Then, it's time to clean this place up."
If I had to rule a kingdom, then you can bet your ass it'll be the best damn kingdom in the entire North Blue!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"...Why didn't you kill me?"
"Because then I'd be fucked?" I answered John Giant's question bluntly, giving him a dry look, "Killing a Vice Admiral is a lot different than kicking one's ass, y'know?"
"...Fair enough," John answered, his lips cracking only a slight smile as he laid on... the hard floor, as there were no beds on Imbale that could even come close to his size, so the floor was all he got as he recovered from his injuries. Injuries that weren't very severe, as he just had a couple of bones in his face broken, along with a lot of soreness and bruises that made his huge face look a bit like a grape.
"Besides, it's not like we're enemies. You were just doing your job, and I understand that," I shrugged, "In the same vein, I was doing my job… kind of. The job I felt like I had to do for the people here, anyway. I assume you would've done me the same courtesy and spared my life."
"Nope," My expression turned bland as John answered far too bluntly, his lips curled in a grin, "I should've just captured you, but you were pissin' me off by running around so much, so I was definitely trying to kill you with my last attack."
"Well, fuck you too then."
"Ha! I like you, fisherman," John chuckled at my crude remark as he reached down, pushing off the ground and shoving himself to a sitting position, which made the ground shake so hard it felt like an earthquake in the process, "You've got balls. Not many people would curse at a Vice Admiral right to their face."
"I also kicked your ass," I pointed out, "I think I've earned the right to say whatever I want to you."
My blunt words earned another chuckle from the giant as he stretched and groaned, the sound of huge joints popping sounding through the room.
"That you did," He admitted, a grudging respect in his tone, "And that's what makes this so damn complicated. I've been in this game for a long, long time, kid, and I've never seen anything like you. To be this strong without Haki or a Devil Fruit... It's unnatural. You're a monster, and monsters like you don't belong in a sea like this. You're weird - this world ain't ready for you, and you ain't ready for this world."
He paused, his gaze thoughtful as he stared at me. There was no anger in his eyes now, only a deep, unsettling curiosity, and a hint of something that looked almost like... caution? Maybe a bit of fear?
"If I had been any other Vice Admiral, this wouldn't be over here," He continued, his tone serious, "No one else would feel fine with leaving a monster like you to run around in the North Blue. But you're interesting, and I owe you. I'll do you a favor, fisherman, so I'm not indebted to you any longer."
I raised an eyebrow at him, a dry look on my face as he finished.
"That's not necessary," I said, shaking my head slightly, "I didn't spare your life because I wanted a favor. I did it because I'm not a murderer unless I need to be, and you didn't need to die. We're even. Though I certainly won't turn down a favor if you insist..."
"Hah! I like your nerve, fisherman," John chuckled again, this time with a bit more warmth, as he slowly pushed himself to his feet, "But I'm a man of my word. And I'm not one to be in debt to anyone, especially to some fisherman brat."
He stood to his full, ridiculous height and was able to fully stand without hunching over as we were on the outskirts of the North Side, on one of the many particularly nice beach areas. I had personally dragged his body over here from where it had been lying in the remains of a mansion he'd flattened as if it were a gingerbread house.
"My main ship and crew are stationed at a nearby island," He said, glancing towards the ocean as a perfectly-timed sea breeze blew past us, "I came here alone, as I didn't want to cause a scene by bringing a whole marine crew to a tiny place like this. When I return, I'll make my report. I'll say that Daurel was already dead when I got here, but that I killed the culprit and picked a new king."
I blinked at that, a bit surprised by the offer. He was going to lie to the World Government for me? To cover up my little coup? That was... bigger than I expected.
"Wait, aren't you going to get in trouble for that? Saying you 'picked' someone?" I asked a bit incredulously.
"Probably," He shrugged, the gesture causing a small tremor in the sand beneath our feet, "But it's better than the alternative. If I go back and report the truth, that the King of this island was beheaded by a fisherman who then kicked my ass as I only landed one blow? You'd have someone much stronger on their way here to breathe down your neck. Maybe even an Admiral."
"...They'd go through all that trouble for a place like this?" I asked slowly, thinking back to Borin's words, as John's seemed to go against them.
"They wouldn't do all that for a little kingdom like Imbale," He replied, shaking his head, "But they would do it for you. You're not just a local problem anymore, fisherman. You're an unknown who can easily defeat a Vice Admiral. That's the kind of thing that makes the World Government nervous, and they can't have people like that running around unsupervised. Especially not as a king now."
He then looked up at the cloudless sky, his expression turning a bit more serious.
"It would be justice if I captured you now," He said firmly, "Before you cause any more trouble. That would certainly be justice, which I promised to uphold."
"But you won't," I stated more than asked.
He simply shook his head.
"No. I hate to admit it, but I owe you. So… justice will have to fail this one time."
He stared up at the sky for a moment, not speaking, and then finally let out a short, somewhat embarrassed chuckle as he continued, "And... I'll also admit, I don't particularly want to go back to headquarters and explain how a fisherman with no Haki or Devil Fruit managed to kick my ass."
I couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that.
"Thanks," I said, a bit more genuinely this time, "I appreciate it, John."
"That's 'Vice Admiral' to you. Don't think that we're friends now, fisherman. After this, I won't owe you anything, and if you cause trouble, I won't be kind twice," He waved a dismissive, mountain-sized hand, "Just pay me back by not getting on the World Government's radar again. It'd be a shame if I had to come back here and drag you to Impel Down."
"You could try," I said with a dry, cocky smirk, "You'd need to come with some more help though, or you'd just get your ass kicked again."
He stared down at me for a long, silent moment, and I thought I might have pushed my luck. Then, he let out a loud, booming laugh, which made the sand beneath us vibrate, "Hah! I'd crush you like a bug next time, kid. I've been lazy with my training as of late, but I guess I'll take it a bit more seriously again. If we meet again, it won't go as it did before."
I rolled my eyes, but didn't retort as I just chuckled.
Somehow, I'd become not quite friends, and maybe not even acquaintances, but at least on good terms with the Vice Admiral whose ass I had just kicked.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How goes the seizing of property and taxes from the North Side?"
"Um... not well. They don't want to give up their money."
"Did you tell them I'd kick their asses if they didn't?"
"Yes, but that only partially worked. I fear they value money more than their well-being, Your Highness. They might need a physical demonstration."
"Then send the guards this time to anyone who is still refusing, and tell them that they'll get my foot up their asses if they don't pay this time!"
I finished the end of my loud statement with a bit of a tired groan as I slumped back in the half-destroyed throne, which was sitting in the still-destroyed throne room, which looked more like a collection of rubble with a couple of sections of functioning walls than a prestigious throne room.
Nearly a week had passed since Daurel's death, and progress so far had been... slow. I was currently in what I had been calling the 'Time Skip Zone' - the period of time where, in whichever anime I was watching, the next episode would start with a 'One Week Later' card at the bottom. Then, the main character would give a quick explanation of 'Wow, this last week sure has been hard, but we figured everything out! With the help of 'insert genius character here' we were able to completely restructure the entire Kingdom, and with the help of 'insert muscular character here' anyone who didn't agree with the changes was quickly convinced!'
Reality, sadly, was not quite as simple. I really wish I could just teleport a few weeks in the future and have everything work out, but I couldn't. On top of that, I had neither a generic genius nor a generic roided-out muscle man to help me out. Instead, I just had myself, and... Anjani. As in, the daughter of Goran, who was somehow the closest I had to a genius sidekick on Imbale.
I glanced over at the woman in question, who was, contrary to what Goran had told me a few days ago, not a 'spitting image of her mother.' I had seen Goran's wife, and while I wasn't one to judge, she was... not my type. That is to say, she was a huge drunkard who spammed every slur she could think of, was missing at least a dozen teeth - an impressive feat, considering I was pretty sure most people only had a couple dozen to begin with - and was coated with tons of tattoos. I'm sure she was a lovely person, but I was more of the 'quietly fish and farm XP' than the 'drink until I die at the bar' type.
By comparison, Anjani was surprisingly normal. While I expected anyone who came from Goran's family to be much the same as him and his wife - that is, muscular, fat, and very crude - Anjani was different. She had long red hair, a pretty face that didn't have any missing teeth, nor any face tattoos, and a thin, curvy body that had smooth skin, overly large breasts, and rather wide hips. She was also rather tall, only adding to the appeal of her body, and it seemed she got all of Goran's family's best attributes without any of the downsides.
And, it also seemed that when Goran said Anjani was a bit 'plumper' than her mother, he really hadn't meant that she was fatter - she was, instead, far plumper than most women I had met in the breast and ass areas. She was a bit older than myself, as while I hadn't asked her age, she seemed to be in her mid-20s. She was also surprisingly smart, as she could read, write, and think at a high level - unlike Goran, who I wasn't even certain could do any of those. How a woman like this had come out of the slums of the South-side and the childhood of being Goran's daughter, I wasn't sure, but I was grateful to have at least a bit of help.
Currently, she was my main helper with all the many, many problems that faced Imbale - from getting the North side not to immediately try and rebel against me, to finding a good balance with the South side, and even to dealing with repairing the palace. As much as I would've loved for this to be a clean cut, 'Hey, North side, you're all the bad guys here, so I'm taking your money and giving it to the poor! Call me Robin Hood!' it wasn't nearly that simple.
Most of the North side citizens didn't interact with the South side much - which I couldn't fault, because if I were essentially a multimillionaire, I wouldn't be hanging around McDonald's either - and didn't care for them at all. It wasn't like they were the ones oppressing the Southerners, as they had just lived, enjoyed their wealth, and done what their King told them. I couldn't fault them for that, even if there was about to be some real redistribution of wealth going on here.
Which was one of the biggest problems right now - the Northerners didn't want to give up their lavish lifestyles, understandably so, and I couldn't just tear them out of their homes like a ruthless tyrant and take their money. Instead, I needed a system that they wouldn't revolt against, but that would also be able to slowly take wealth from them and funnel it to the South side. That was likely through taxation - which was another problem entirely.
"Got it! I'll try that next," Anjani nodded firmly at my words, glancing over at me with a raised eyebrow afterward, "And, what about the tax collecting? Should I send the guards for that, too?"
"No, no, I'll handle that," I shook my head casually, "That's a more delicate issue, and they'll need to hear it from me. I'll make an announcement soon."
The 'tax' issue in question was what to do with the South side's insanely high tax. Obviously, I had to lower it, but after seeing just how much the World Government's fee really was... I couldn't lower it as much as I would've wanted - not without taxing the North side to hell, anyway, and essentially just reversing Imbale's social situation so they were the new oppressed class. Instead, I needed to find another way to get money, and I had yet to figure one out. Luckily, there was a certain chain-quest that might be able to assist me.
[Quest]
Use your new position to form a relationship with Germa 66!
Declare war on Germa 66!
OR
Form an alliance with Germa 66!
Rewards:
+250 to all stats!
+A follow-up quest!
+GREATLY Increased [Infamy] with Germa 66!
OR
+250 to all stats!
+A follow-up quest!
+GREATLY Decreased [Infamy] with Germa 66!
+Increased [Reputation] with Germa 66!
Time Limit:
1 Month
Failure:
Miss out on continuing the chain of quests!
After evading the Germa patrols for enough time, I had completed the quest and gotten the decent rewards, but this was the true prize - continuing the chain quest, which seemed to increase in both difficulty and rewards the deeper I got. And, this time, I didn't have to think nearly as hard about which route to take.
I had a weak, small Kingdom that had just gained a new King and was in the process of reforming itself. Obviously, we were in no position to go to war with Germa, and I definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end of any of their scientifically advanced weaponry. I could handle a big man with a big sword just fine, but I didn't think my INT was quite high enough yet to be genius-like in deducing the effects of everything they had and countering it.
So, instead, I wouldn't declare war on Germa - instead, I would try to form an alliance with them. That way, I could hopefully secure funding for the World Government fee.
"Yes sir, Your Highness sir!" I glanced over at Anjani blandly as she gave me a mock salute.
"Please stop calling me that," I deadpanned, but she just giggled and then stuck her tongue out at me teasingly.
"No can do, Your Highness! You're the big shot around here now! Oh, and I heard from my father that you wanted to marry me, huh..." She trailed off, giving me a teasing smirk as I looked at her blandly.
Goran really needed to stop trying to set me up with his daughter, damn it!
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Two weeks... for two weeks I've been working my ass off, talking to a bunch of dumbass greedy bastards from the North side, and for two weeks I've been doing mountains of paperwork! I deserve a break now, damn it!" I groaned, flopping down on the large - far too large - bed that Daurel had once used, and which I now had.
I had been working my ass off with annoying political and kingdom-related stuff for the past two weeks when I wanted nothing more than to be fishing, so I felt like this was a much-deserved break as night fell around me. I had put in some extra legwork today, and felt like Imbale was finally starting to stabilize again, so I could, in turn, be stress-free tonight. I closed my eyes, and for the first time in two weeks, I felt like I was about to have a good night's rest.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
THUMP.
I blinked, lifting my head out from the soft pillow I was lying on as I heard a rather loud rumbling sound - as if someone had chucked a rock at the wall of the palace. But, then... I decided that someone else could deal with it.
I shoved my face back down into the pillow, content to rest. I closed my eyes, and sleep-
THUMP.
-almost took over. I groaned, pushing my head deeper into the pillow. Whoever was throwing rocks really needed to fuck off.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. BOOM.
"Well, fuck," I sighed, shoving myself up as the last thump sounded much less like a thump, and much more like a loud explosion, "What the hell is going on now? Is some Northener pissed and launching cannonballs or somethin'?"
I had learned, much to my surprise, that there was a concerning number of citizens on the North side who owned cannons. Not for battle, mind you, but simply because they had money and thought they looked cool.
"W-What's going on?! W-Where's Arvel?!"
Though as Anjani's muffled voice rang out so loudly that I could hear it even from my room, I assumed this wasn't simply a Northener throwing a temper tantrum. So, with a groan, I jumped out of bed and strode to the large window in Daurel's former room. I didn't even bother with the handle as I shoved it open with enough force to send the large glass panel shattering, and then I jumped through. The courtyard below was many stories down, but the fall didn't even bother me as I landed with a soft thud. My bare feet crunched on the gravel path as I quickly scanned the chaos in front of me.
The usually calm courtyard looked like they were facing down a zombie apocalypse as more than a dozen guards, their faces pale with terror, were scrambling around, bumping into each other and shouting conflicting orders. Some were fumbling with their weapons, while others were trying to herd panicked servants and workers towards the relative safety of the palace interior. I quickly spotted Anjani, who was shouting at a group of guards, her eyes wide with fear and confusion as she tried to make sense of the situation.
"What's going on?!" I barked out, striding towards the group.
Anjani spun around at the sound of my voice, her face flooding with a relief that was quickly replaced by fresh panic, "Arvel! Thank goodness you're here! It... It's chaos! I don't know what's happening!"
Her words were dramatically punctuated by a group of screams from beyond the palace walls around us. My head snapped towards the fancy, massive gates that led to the North side, and just as I looked, a large black sphere arced through the night sky, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. It slammed into a pretty large mansion across the street - not nearly as large as my palace, of course - and the resulting explosion was a loud crunch of stone. The entire front of the building collapsed in on itself, sending a plume of dust and debris into the air. A chubby man scrambled from the wreckage a second later, tripping over his own expensive robes as he fled for his life from another cannonball firing at his home.
"It's not just one side, Your Highness!" Rayon, who was one of the guards next to Anjani, spat out, "The Northsiders... they're attacking each other! They're firing cannons at random! And the guards! Some of those bastards went to the armory, and they're using explosives on civilians!"
"A rebellion?" I asked bluntly, my eyes wide as I hadn't expected this. I knew the Northerners and the guards wouldn't enjoy the way I was starting to rule, which impeded their luxurious lifestyles to support the South, but I hadn't expected a rebellion like this. I thought the fear of my strength would be enough to keep them in line, at the very least.
"N-No, sir! It's not even that! They're not coming for you, or for the South... they're all fighting each other!" Rayon said hurriedly, and I blinked at him blankly, "Even in the South there's people going wild! There are so many fights in the streets, and we wouldn't have enough guards to handle them all, even if half our numbers weren't going crazy!"
I stared at him for a moment, my mind struggling to process the sheer scale of the insanity. This wasn't a rebellion. A rebellion had a goal, a leader, and a sense of purpose. If they weren't coming for me, or getting 'revenge' on the South, but instead fighting each other, then this wasn't a revolt at all. This was as if the island was collectively going mad.
"Anjani," I said, my voice tight as I turned to her, "Any idea what's causing this? Did someone spike the water supply? Did Daurel have a fuckin' psycho gas button I didn't know about that went off when he died?"
Maybe Daurel was a secret mastermind after all?
…
Nah, it definitely wasn't that. I refused to believe that Daurel was secretly the Joker of this world.
She just shook her head, her expression lost, "I... I don't know! One minute everything was quiet, the next... this. It's like someone flipped a switch and everyone just went feral."
Another explosion, closer this time, rattled the palace windows as a cannonball slammed into another nearby building. I gritted my teeth, turning towards the gates.
"Stay here," I commanded, my tone leaving no room for argument, "Rayon, stay with Anjani. Anjani, get the non-essential staff into the basement. Whatever happens, I want them somewhere safe. The rest of you, with me. If someone swings at you, disarm them. If they don't stop, knock them out. I don't want any deaths unless it's absolutely unavoidable, got it?"
The guards who were borderline cowering in terror nodded, a fresh wave of resolve on their faces as they saw their new King not cowering behind them, but instead ready to face the threat head-on.
I didn't wait for a response. I burst forward, my feet pounding against the cobblestones as I charged towards the massive palace gates. They were closed, and the guards who should have been manning them were nowhere to be found, but that wouldn't stop me. With a frustrated grunt, I didn't bother with the massive latch in the middle. I just lowered my shoulder and slammed into the gate as if I were a Football player and not a fisherman-turned-king, the metal groaning as it buckled under the force of my charge. The hinges shrieked in protest, and then, with a final screech, the gates burst open as the latch snapped, and one side flopped forward onto the street in front of me.
I stepped onto the wide, paved road of the North side, and the scene that greeted me was one of complete chaos. The pristine mansions and manicured lawns lining the streets were now a battlefield, as citizens in their fancy clothes and jewels were screaming and running for their lives as guards chased them down with swords and spears. But, as Rayon said, it wasn't just the guards attacking the citizens. The citizens were attacking each other, too, and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it. As I glanced around, I saw a man in a top hat was bludgeoning another with a solid gold cane, while a group of women in expensive gowns were clawing at each other, their nails tearing at skin and hair. And, just as Rayon had said, there were cannons firing randomly from the rooftops, their iron balls smashing through walls and sending showers of stone and glass into the air.
This was more than a rebellion. It was anarchy.
My eyes narrowed as I spotted a group of guards further down the street, their swords drawn as they clashed with each other. But, as I stared, my eyes widened. Instead of looking mad, or determined, they were... crying? And, their movements looked jerky and unnatural. I knew immediately that this wasn't normal. I didn't know what the hell had happened in the assumedly few hours I had been asleep, but I knew someone strong had certainly come to Imbale.
I took a deep breath, and then I burst forward, my legs pumping as I shot down the street. The world around me became a blur of motion, the sounds of screams and explosions fading into the background as I focused on my target. I covered the distance in a split second, my form a blur as I weaved between the fleeing citizens and the rampaging guards. I arrived at the group of fighting guards just as one of them was about to deliver a fatal blow to another. My hands shot out, grabbing the blades of their swords in mid-swing. The steel bit into my palms, but my grip held firm, and with a sharp tug, I ripped the weapons from their grasps.
"What the hell is going on here?!" I demanded, narrowing my eyes at the two men.
The two guards didn't even look at their hands, instead, their gazes stayed fixated on each other. Then, to my surprise, they didn't run, and they didn't surrender. Instead, they both lunged at me, their fists raised as they let out a series of choked sobs.
"We can't... we can't stop!" One of them cried, tears streaming down his face as he swung a clumsy punch at my head, "Our bodies... they won't listen to us!"
"Help... please... help us!" The other one sobbed, his punch going wide as he stumbled forward, "Help me!"
I dodged their clumsy attacks with ease, my expression hardening as I heard their words. There was definitely some Devil Fruit bullshit happening right now.
I stepped forward, my fists lashing out in a blur of motion. I slammed two punches into their guts, the impact sending them stumbling backward as I contained my strength to not accidentally kill them, and their breath was ripped from their lungs. They doubled over, coughing and gasping for air, and I fully expected them to collapse to the ground, defeated.
But, then, they didn't. They stumbled forward again, their bodies slumped over in agony, but their legs kept moving, stumbling towards me with a horrifying, puppet-like clumsiness. Their arms flailed weakly, trying to land another punch, even though they clearly didn't have the strength to even stand upright. Their eyes were wide with terror, their faces twisted in expressions of pain and desperation.
"The hell?" I muttered, my brow furrowed in confusion as I watched them struggle. I raised my hands again, ready to fully knock the guards out, but I was stopped as a loud scream suddenly came from above me.
"I-IS THAT HIM, BUFFALO?! IS THAT HIM?!"
"How the hell would I know?"
"YOU'RE RIGHT, THAT'S DEFINITELY HIM! I CAN TELL HE'S STRONG! I'M COMING, DARLINGGGGGGG!"
I blinked, glancing up, and my eyes went wide as a black blur suddenly came rocketing down from the sky, moving damn-near faster than anything I had ever seen. It burst through the air, and suddenly, in the blink of an eye, both of the guards were pressed flat onto the ground. Each of them had a foot firmly planted into their backs, holding them down, as twin guns pressed into the back of their heads.
"Should I kill them, darling?"
I glanced up, taking in the sight of the woman in front of me, and in that moment, I wasn't ashamed to admit my brain short-circuited. All the INT in the world couldn't have helped me here, as a person that I hadn't expected to see for a long, long time, much less in the North Blue, was standing in front of me and calling me 'darling.' Her head was cocked to the side as she looked down at the guards with an almost bored expression, her eyes large and framed by long, dark lashes. Her hair was a mass of black, thick curls that cascaded down her back in a beautiful mess, which framed her slightly mature, but extremely beautiful face.
She wore a tight pink-red outfit that was a mix between a dress and a maid's uniform, as she had a maid's headpiece on her hair, but the dress cut off at her thighs, and wasn't flurried in the slightest. It pulled tight against her skin, cutting off at the top to reveal a peek at her large breasts, as well as at the bottom to show off her wide hips and thick thighs. Her long legs were bare, as she wore only sharp, deadly-looking stellettos on her high-heeled pink shoes. Beyond her clothing, there was a pair of goggles over her eyes, which were see-through, allowing me to see her eyes, and various weapons were tied to her body through countless accessories - twin swords sheathed on her back, knives tied around one of her thighs, and I could even see a hint of what looked like a throwing star wedged between her breasts. But, all of those weapons were pointless anyway, because at the moment, her arms had vanished - being completely replaced by two guns that came out of her sleeves.
In front of me was Baby 5.
"The fuck?" I asked eloquently, not feeling ashamed for a moment as the shocked words ripped from my throat. After all, I was on Imbale - a small, unnotable island in the North Blue. I wasn't in the Grandline. I wasn't in the New World. I wasn't in a place where this woman should be anywhere near, and why the hell was she acting like she knew me?!
"W-Who is that?! Protect the King!" The guards I had told to follow me finally caught up, huffing as they sprinted to my side and angled their swords at Baby 5. However, she didn't pay them even a second of attention.
"'King?' I knew it! I knew you were my Darling! Ah, I'm so glad I got here in time, Darling! I thought the mean Captain was going to kill you before I did!" Baby 5 took advantage of my surprise, lunging forward as her guns shifted back into smooth arms, the guards below her feet entirely forgotten, and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. As she did, the guards behind me shifted nervously, clearly unsure of what to do.
"Uh... yeah, right." I answered rather intelligently, my brain still struggling to fit all the pieces together, and my mouth moving on autopilot.
Baby 5. A member of a Warlord's crew, and not just any Warlord, but DoflamIngo. Why would she be here, and why the hell would she be calling me Darling?! Did she have some connection to Daurel? To Imbale? Did she grow up here? Maybe she-
I blinked, my eyes going wide, as I remembered something Daurel had said to me. Something Goran had told me first, and Daurel had later confirmed.
"He was... exchanging love letters with a big-shot pirate," I muttered, my voice barely a whisper as even Baby 5 couldn't hear it from her position hugging me.
When Goran had told me that, I had waved it off, because what did Daurel's love life matter to me? I was going to leave Imbale soon anyway.
Then, when I had decided to stay and take down Daurel, the man himself had mentioned the same thing. That he was in contact with some big-shot New World pirate, and he was exchanging love letters with her. I hadn't paid him much mind either, because I assumed he was getting catfished - after all, what powerful New World pirate would want anything to do with a man like that? Even Big Mom, who definitely had some strange tastes, only married for the sake of power and to use her husbands. Daurel was the king of a small, unnotable nation - Big Mom had nothing to gain from it. There was no big-name New-World-Tier pirate who would want to be with Daurel.
But I now realized I had been thinking too rationally. This was the world of One Piece - a world full of insane pirates, who I couldn't expect to think rationally as I did.
I glanced back at Baby 5, everything I knew about her flooding into my mind.
She was a woman who wanted to be useful to the point that she'd commit suicide if you asked her to. A woman who would accept any request given to her. A woman who wanted to fall in love so badly, that any sign of interest would make her fall head-over-heels for a man. And... a woman who'd been courted many times before. A woman who despised her very captain, Donquixote Doflamingo, for constantly killing her 'husbands.'
A captain who had, in the time since before Baby 5 met the Strawhats in Dressrosa, killed off eight of Baby 5's suitors to protect her. A captain who knew how easily she accepted any request, and would kill any man who tried to take advantage of it. And, a captain who didn't just kill those men, but demolished their entire hometown along with them.
"Fuck."
In that moment, the reality of the situation came crashing down on me. The guards were being controlled as if they were puppets. The citizens were attacking each other. The entire island was being consumed in madness in a single instance. Now, it all made sense.
Baby 5 didn't know Daurel, the one who was writing the letters to her, had been killed. She had never met him, nor seen him. She simply knew it was the King of Imbale who was trying to marry her. And, Doflamingo didn't know that Daurel was the one trying to marry his crewmate - he just knew it was the King of Imbale. The King of Imbale, who was now me.
"...I'm fucked, aren't I?" I asked to no one in particular, simply causing Baby 5 to take a step back and look at me confusedly.
Maybe Doflamingo will understand that this is all a big misunderstanding?
I became doubtful of that as a shadow was cast over both of us, and the guards behind me took a terrified step back. I glanced forward, my gaze hollow, and Baby 5 looked at me confusedly.
"Darling?"
But I wasn't looking at Baby 5. Instead, I was looking over her shoulder, at a man who had appeared without even the sound of a footstep. A man who was currently towering over me with an expression that didn't bode well for my future.
"...So, you're the King here, Fufufu?" A slow, dangerous voice asked, and my eyes locked with a dangerous gaze. As I stared down Doflamingo, there was only one word that came to mind.
"Sup."
I had a feeling this wasn't about to end well.
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AN: Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be posted in around a week!
Or, this story is updated twice as often on Patreon.com/Koyon ! Up to chapter 14 is posted there!