Chapter 221: The Sweet Commander Bows!
After listening to the comprehensive explanation of the grand design, Rem and Ram both showed heartfelt, overwhelming admiration in their eyes.
They finally understood that behind Lord Suzaku's seemingly casual, "laissez-faire" policy toward the conquered territories lay such a profound and ingenious plan.
He was not merely occupying land; he was completely reshaping the geographical reality of the New World.
"As expected of Lord Suzaku!" Rem's praise came directly from the very bottom of her heart.
Her sweet voice was filled with absolute, unwavering adoration.
Her beautiful blue eyes sparkled like polished sapphires, completely captivated by the unfathomable depth of the man standing before her.
Ram's stoic face also showed a rare look of sudden, profound realization.
She immediately bowed slightly, her posture expressing the utmost respect and submission.
"This subordinate was dull-witted and failed to see the bigger picture," Ram said softly.
"Lord Suzaku's foresight is incredibly profound; Ram has learned much today."
At this exact moment, Esdeath, who had been standing quietly by Suzaku's side like an unyielding sword, also had a flash of understanding.
A sharp, brilliant light flickered within her cold, ice-blue eyes.
As a military genius who had commanded massive armies and orchestrated continental wars, she instantly grasped the terrifying tactical advantage of this arrangement.
She spoke, her voice carrying its usual cold, direct, and authoritative tone.
"So, arranging so many floating islands to be scattered in a specific orbital pattern around the mainland of our Vermilion Bird Kingdom..."
"This acts as an absolute physical barrier, ensuring that external enemies cannot directly attack or bombard our core area from the sea."
"Furthermore, by deliberately spacing them out, you are ensuring our people have sufficient geographical strategic depth."
A rare smile of genuine military appreciation tugged at the corners of her lips.
"Was creating this impenetrable, layered defense grid also one of your primary objectives, Captain?"
Hearing this razor-sharp analysis, Suzaku nodded slightly.
His deep, calm gaze carried a distinct hint of appreciation as he looked at the beautiful, ice-cold general.
"As expected of General Esdeath, to be able to directly perceive the core strategic objective hidden beneath the surface."
He slowly turned his gaze toward the massive window, looking out over the expanding domain he now ruled.
"Although with the absolute strength of our Vermilion Bird Kingdom, we truly need not fear any powerful enemy currently sailing these seas..."
"War is fundamentally a path of deception, and one can simply never be too careful."
Suzaku's voice was low, echoing with the calm authority of a true emperor.
"Having good strategic depth not only provides us with vastly more logistical resources and staging grounds."
"But also, in the highly unlikely event of a massive enemy coalition attack, it acts as a massive buffer zone."
"It gives our military forces more time to prepare, prevents surprise attacks, and provides far better security for the civilian population."
He turned back to face his loyal subordinates, his expression completely resolute.
"This structural arrangement is a permanent cornerstone of safety."
"It is a secure, unassailable land envisioned specifically for our people, just in case the entire world decides to turn against us."
Brilliant, golden sunlight streamed through the massive, crystal-clear floor-to-ceiling windows of the Suzaku Mansion.
The warm light spilled across the highly polished marble floor, illuminating the entire grand hall.
In the devoted eyes of Rem, Ram, and Esdeath, the light seemed to naturally gather around their master.
It made Suzaku's deep, wise, and imposing figure appear even more godlike and untouchable.
A few more days passed in the New World, and the distant sea surrounding Wano Country was no longer as empty or calm as before.
In fact, the horizon was currently choked with an unprecedented, chaotic gathering of vessels.
Densely packed wooden masts, looking exactly like a terrifying forest of black spikes, violently pierced the horizon where the sea met the sky.
There were thousands of various ships bobbing restlessly on the churning waves.
Some of these grand galleons were proudly flying the official, colorful flags of prominent kingdom envoys.
Some were heavily disguised, rugged merchant vessels trying to blend into the background.
Others bore the dark, unmistakable marks of those operating deep within the criminal underworld and the gray areas of the sea.
This massive, unprecedented armada had gathered cautiously on the open sea, deliberately anchoring themselves far from the official borders of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom.
They had all braved the dangerous weather of the New World with only one desperate goal in mind.
Since absolutely no one in the world knew the Suzaku Pirates' next target for conquest, they wanted to get ahead of the inevitable bloodshed.
They all desperately wanted to present their lavish "visiting cards," offering unimaginable wealth to establish a protective connection with the new ruler of the sea.
But every single one of these seasoned politicians, greedy merchants, and ruthless brokers carried the exact same complex, paralyzing emotions.
There was a burning, desperate urgency to cling to this terrifyingly powerful rising star as early as possible.
However, this greed was violently counterbalanced by a bone-deep, suffocating fear of the Suzaku Pirates' fiercely brutal reputation.
After all, this was not just a normal pirate crew.
This was a literal legion of unfathomable monsters that could effortlessly sweep through the legendary Beasts Pirates' territory in a drastically short amount of time!
They were beings who could perform a miraculous, terrifying manipulation of the world itself, ripping every island in their sphere of influence straight into the sky!
Who knew if recklessly approaching such godlike beings would bring unimaginable fortune or instant, brutal calamity?
If they boldly sailed into the Vermilion Bird Kingdom to deliver their chests of gold and rare devil fruits...
What if the temperamental new emperor simply decided he disliked their faces and ordered them all to be slaughtered, ending up losing their lives instead?
This suffocating hesitation created a bizarre, terrifying stalemate on the open ocean.
Thus, although more and more heavily loaded ships continuously gathered, and the wooden decks were bustling with thousands of anxious people...
Not a single ship captain or arrogant royal envoy dared to take the lead and actually cross the invisible border into Suzaku's territory.
"Hey, Old John! Isn't your Logos Chamber of Commerce supposed to be the best informed on this entire sea?!"
"What's the actual situation?! What kind of terrifying temperament does that Suzaku... I mean, the ruler of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom, actually have?!"
"Or... hehe, is it truly worth us taking such a massive gamble with our lives?!"
From the deck of a heavily armored merchant ship flying a white dove flag, a portly, sweat-drenched merchant poked his head out.
He shouted frantically across the churning waves to a lean, heavily scarred old man standing on the neighboring ship.
The lean old man, known as Old John, immediately shrank back, frantically rubbing his nose as his eyes darted around in pure paranoia.
His eyes were completely filled with an extreme, almost comical level of wariness.
"Shh! Keep your damn voice down, you fat idiot! The Suzaku Pirates are absolutely not an existence we can afford to provoke with casual gossip!"
"I heard from my deepest underworld contacts that all those terrifying monsters from the Beasts Pirates have been completely wiped out by Lord Suzaku!"
"Even a legendary, invincible monster like Kaido of the Beasts is no match for him now! He was crushed!"
Old John clutched the wooden railing, his knuckles turning pure white from the strain.
"We are only here to respectfully give gifts and beg for mercy, not to actively find our own deaths!"
The portly merchant wiped a massive bead of nervous sweat from his forehead with a silk handkerchief.
"So are we just going to keep wasting our precious time floating out here like a bunch of frightened ducks?!"
"If this keeps up, we'll completely miss the boat! If someone else suddenly gets the jump on us and secures an alliance..."
Just as everyone across the massive, anchored fleet was nervously whispering, sweating profusely, and aggressively passing the buck...
With absolutely no one willing to be the very first to stick their neck out onto the executioner's block...
"Look! By the gods, look over there!"
A wildly startled, completely terrified cry suddenly cut through the nervous noise of the crowded sea.
The shout was so loud and filled with such sheer panic that everyone's eyes turned simultaneously toward the northwest horizon.
The dense fog of the New World violently parted.
A massive, incredibly intimidating sailing ship came aggressively cutting through the dark waves, heading straight toward the gathering.
Its hull was absolutely enormous, dwarfing even the largest kingdom galleons present in the hesitant fleet.
Its bizarre decorations were a sickening mix of extreme, candy-coated opulence and a somewhat eerie, deeply unsettling childlike whimsy.
On the massive, billowing white sails was a striking, freshly painted massive pink swirl emblem.
Along with that swirl flew the terrifying, world-renowned skull flag of the BIG MOM Pirates!
Boom!
The collective psychological impact was as if an invisible, highly explosive thunderbolt had detonated directly in the middle of the crowd.
The previously noisy, gossiping, and complaining sea fell into an instant, deathly silence.
It was a silence so profound that only the sound of the wind and the crashing waves could be heard.
All the surrounding ships desperately backed away in perfect, terrified unison.
Captains screamed at their helmsmen, frantically spinning their ship wheels to quickly clear a massive, wide lane in the ocean.
They scrambled to get out of the way, respectfully letting the candy-coated behemoth sail straight toward the border of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom.
After the BIG MOM Pirates' terrifying ship had sailed through the parted sea, gradually moving away and beginning to vanish over the horizon...
The suffocating silence holding the thousands of onlookers hostage was finally broken.
Hushed, frantic whispers instantly rose again, but this time they were completely filled with uncontrollable shock and deep, agonizing confusion.
"I saw him... standing right there on the bow... it's that monster of a man!"
"The terrifying great pirate with a staggering bounty of 1,057,000,000 Berries!"
"It's one of the legendary 'Three Sweet Commanders' of the BIG MOM Pirates, Charlotte Katakuri!"
Someone in the crowd finally exclaimed the name, their voice trembling so violently they could barely form the syllables.
"Katakuri! Why... why on earth would a monster of his absolute caliber be here?!"
"Could the BIG MOM Pirates be foolishly marching here to cause trouble and start an Emperor war?!"
"Don't be absolutely ridiculous! Are you blind?! Didn't you see the formation?!"
"It's just him! He is entirely alone, traveling with only one single diplomatic ship!"
"The terrifying main military force of the BIG MOM Pirates isn't here at all!"
"Just him, daring to cause violent trouble deep in the Suzaku Pirates' heavily fortified territory? That would be an absolute, undeniable death wish!"
A relatively calm, highly analytical kingdom envoy retorted loudly, completely shutting down the rumors of an impending war.
Indeed, the logic was flawlessly sound.
No matter how individually strong and invincible Charlotte Katakuri was reputed to be in the New World...
He absolutely could not violently challenge the entire, godlike Vermilion Bird Kingdom single-handedly and expect to survive.
Then... what exactly was this billion-Berry monster actually doing here?
"Could it be..." a wealthy merchant suddenly swallowed hard, his throat dry as sandpaper.
His voice was incredibly low, trembling with a terrifying, uncertain realization.
"Could he... could the BIG MOM Pirates also be here to humbly deliver gifts and desperately build a relationship?"
Suddenly, a bold, world-shattering speculation spread rapidly through the densely packed crowd of ships.
It moved like a highly contagious virus, quickly infecting and fundamentally altering everyone's thoughts.
As soon as those terrifying words were spoken aloud, everyone looked at each other in stunned silence.
Their facial expressions violently shifted from basic shock and fear to an unprecedented, bizarre oddness.
Charlotte Katakuri, that completely perfect man, the undefeated son of Big Mom of the Four Emperors...
He was actually here... acting as a simple messenger to give gifts?
The very idea was so absurdly humiliating that it was incredibly hard to logically believe, yet it made absolute, terrifying sense.
After all, if even the terrifying, world-dominating BIG MOM Pirates felt the intense, suffocating pressure of Suzaku's rise...
If even an Emperor needed to humble themselves and send their strongest Sweet Commander to "show goodwill" and beg for peace...
Then just how incredibly, unimaginably high had the true military strength of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom reached?
This singular, terrifying possibility acted exactly like a powerful, massive shot of pure adrenaline straight into their hearts.
It instantly, violently crushed every single ounce of everyone's previous hesitation and paralyzing fear.
If an Emperor was desperately scrambling to bow their head, then what right did mere merchants and kings have to hesitate?
"What in the world are you all still standing there for like complete idiots?! Quick! Follow them immediately!"
The first person to completely snap out of the collective daze was a prominent kingdom envoy dressed in highly opulent, silk clothing.
His eyes were completely bloodshot with absolute desperation.
He violently slammed his heavily ringed hand against the wooden gunwale of his ship and roared at the top of his lungs.
"Lord Katakuri has already gone ahead and broken the ice; why the hell are we still lingering here like cowards?!"
"Now that someone of his absolute, undeniable stature is taking the lead, our physical safety from a random slaughter is greatly increased!"
"Speed up! Full sail! If we mess this up and fail to deliver our tribute, His Majesty will definitely twist my head off when I get back!"
Without waiting for another second of debate, his massive galleon turned around sharply.
The crew worked frantically, unhesitatingly giving chase in the exact direction where Katakuri's pink-swirled vessel had just disappeared.
Seeing this rapid, decisive action, the others present weren't absolute fools either.
Since someone incredibly powerful was actively leading the way...
And that specific "someone" was a terrifying behemoth like the legendary BIG MOM Pirates... what exactly were they still waiting for?
In a single, chaotic instant, the massive fleet that had been nervously observing each other completely lost their minds.
They were exactly like a violently disturbed, massive hornet's nest, desperately racing to accelerate their ships.
Captains screamed themselves hoarse, sailors scrambled up the riggings, and navigators fought for position.
With a deafening multitude of heavy canvas sails unfurling and the thunderous sound of thousands of wooden hulls breaking the ocean waves...
The densely packed, previously paralyzed ships aggressively converged into a massive, unstoppable torrent of wood and greed.
Following closely and desperately behind the departing BIG MOM Pirates' ship, they sailed majestically and fearfully toward the grand borders of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom!
[Akarin Note:
Your Support Keeps This Story Alive!
If you're enjoying this novel, your support means the world to me. Simple actions like leaving a review, power stone, comment, or sharing the story let me know you're out there. It's the greatest motivation for me to keep updating until the very end and ensures this project continues.
For those who wish to support me more directly, you can join my Patreon at [patreon.com/AkarinTL]. As a thank-you, you'll receive access to 50 advanced chapters.
I hope I am still worthy of your support. My life truly depends on this... haha, I know I'm so shameless.]