South Blue, Sorbet Kingdom.
Inside a church in the southern district, fifteen-year-old Bartholomew Kuma was dressed in the robes of a church missionary, staring at the newspaper in his hands with a deeply shocked look in his eyes.
Ginny, who was four years older than Bartholomew Kuma and had now grown into a beautiful nineteen-year-old girl, rushed in from outside the church with a newspaper in her hand.
"Kuma!!!" Ginny shouted, her expression just as shocked. "Did you see today's news?"
Bartholomew Kuma turned to look at Ginny and nodded seriously. "I saw it. Pirate King Roger's crew has disbanded!"
"And there's the more than sixty billion berries, plus that great treasure that can shake the world!!!" Ginny swallowed and said, "That's way too incredible, right!? Laugh Tale!"
Bartholomew Kuma had no real interest in money or wealth. Over the past several years, every now and then, the Jaygarcia family in Mary Geoise would send him a large sum of money, and Kuma had used all of those funds for charity.
Because of that, even the missionary clothes he wore were very old and worn, with many patches sewn onto them.
"Mr. Dragon and Big Brother Iva are discussing it right now. They're also preparing to take the Freedom Fighters to look for that Laugh Tale. Do you want to join them!?" Ginny stepped forward, hugged Bartholomew Kuma's arm, and asked while shaking it.
In the original story, because of his race and because he remembered his parents, who had died such tragic deaths, Bartholomew Kuma rejected Ginny when she was about to confess to him.
He did not believe he had the right to receive that kind of happiness, and perhaps that same misfortune would repeat itself in the future.
But things were different now. Bartholomew Kuma had been protected by Valthior since childhood, and he did not feel too much pressure about his race, so his relationship with Ginny was also very close.
"The Freedom Fighters?" Bartholomew Kuma murmured softly, then smiled and shook his head.
Speaking of it, things were rather coincidental. Back then, Ivankov, who had escaped from God Valley together with them, soon set out to sea alone in search of freedom. After that, Ivankov happened to meet Dragon, who had likewise left the Marines and lost the direction of his life.
Not long afterward, Dragon decided to create the Freedom Fighters. However, over the past several years, their scale had remained very ordinary. The nature of this army was also somewhat like a civilian security group.
They were hired by certain local forces to help them deal with pirate trouble in the area.
In some ways, there was still a bit of a Marine flavor to it.
But Dragon always felt that this was not what he truly wanted. It was just that he had not yet thought it through or clearly considered what direction he should take.
It was not until the original story, when Ohara was destroyed and Dragon personally witnessed the tragic aftermath of that disaster, that after a conversation with Vegapunk, he decided to raise the banner of resistance against the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.
He reorganized the Freedom Fighters and rebuilt them into the famous Revolutionary Army, then began lighting the flames of war all over the world to overthrow rotten rule.
Of course, during more than twenty years of development, the Revolutionary Army was constantly struck down by the World Government on every front, so it was always difficult for them to achieve anything truly great.
But one had to admit that Dragon did indeed later become a major figure who carried great weight in this world, possessing the power to influence the course of the world.
Not long ago, Ivankov had brought Dragon to the Sorbet Kingdom, preparing to recommend his two young friends to him, namely Ginny and Bartholomew Kuma.
Ginny was quite interested in the Freedom Fighters. No, in truth, Bartholomew Kuma was also very interested in the Freedom Fighters, and his impression of Dragon was very good as well.
After all, they were all people who stood on the side of ordinary folk.
However, Bartholomew Kuma had already given his heart to someone long ago and offered up his loyalty, so naturally, there was no way he could join something like the Freedom Fighters.
"Eh? You don't plan to join?" Ginny asked curiously. "I thought you and Mr. Dragon were having a pretty good talk."
"I do think Mr. Dragon is very interesting, and we do get along well, but don't forget, I already have a master, Ginny," Bartholomew Kuma said with a gentle smile.
"You're not some slave, Kuma!" Ginny argued back, very unhappy.
"Young Master has never seen me as a slave. He is my best friend!" Bartholomew Kuma said in a serious tone. "It was all thanks to him that I was able to return to my hometown with my parents and live peacefully here for so many years. Without him, we would definitely have died long ago in Mary Geoise, or perhaps in God Valley."
"That's exactly what I'm saying! If the Celestial Dragons didn't exist in the first place, how could we have ever become slaves? You can't just forget the cause and effect because he treated you well!" Ginny said angrily, her cheeks puffed up.
She had no good feelings toward the Celestial Dragons at all, even though Bartholomew Kuma often said that his Young Master was completely different from the other Celestial Dragons and things like that.
Even so, Ginny still hated the Celestial Dragons very much.
Naturally, she did not have much of a good impression of Valthior either.
Seeing Ginny's angry look, Bartholomew Kuma did not try to argue with her, because he knew that unlike him, Ginny and Ivankov had once nearly been killed by the Celestial Dragons, and they had been enslaved and persecuted for a long time as well.
Without having gone through the same experience, one could not truly feel another person's pain, and naturally had no right to preach to them.
That was what Bartholomew Kuma believed.
So he only smiled and looked at Ginny. After quite a while, Ginny also understood that she could not persuade this guy. After all, Bartholomew Kuma was actually a very stubborn person.
"Then what are you going to do?" Ginny said in great irritation. "The Roger Pirates have disbanded, so that Young Master of yours will probably return to Mary Geoise soon and throw his weight around, continuing to be a Celestial Dragon, right? Are you going to return to Mary Geoise too and keep being his slave?"
A bright smile appeared on Bartholomew Kuma's face. He reached out and touched Ginny's hair, then said with a smile, "The Roger Pirates have disbanded, but Young Master definitely will not stop here. I can feel that he has a very deep resistance toward Mary Geoise. I do not understand why, but I am very sure that he will not easily return to Mary Geoise. Next, he should begin forming his own crew, so I'm going to help him. I'm getting ready to become a pirate, Ginny!"
"Hah!?" Ginny stared at Bartholomew Kuma in a daze. "You're going to become an evil pirate?"
"Mm-hm. Do you want to come with me?" Bartholomew Kuma asked.
"No way! I'm going to follow Mr. Dragon and strike down pirates like you, the kind who harm ordinary people, and those useless nobles who do nothing but sit in high positions!" Ginny refused without the slightest hesitation.
Bartholomew Kuma clearly already understood what her answer would be.
Just like many people on the sea, such as Valthior and Olvia, they all had their own resolve and beliefs.
Bartholomew Kuma was like this, and Ginny was also like this.
People who loved each other did not necessarily need to stay close every single day. As long as their hearts were connected, even the sea could not stop that love.
Ginny had no intention of becoming a pirate. The things she had experienced since childhood had already made her decide that she would seek benefits for ordinary people, fight pirates, and overthrow decay.
The present Freedom Fighters had not yet reached that level, but that was only because they lacked a guiding idea and a clear direction. Ginny planned to join them and search for that direction and method together with everyone.
Seeing that Bartholomew Kuma still had that expression of "whatever you choose, I will accept it," Ginny finally lost her temper no more and said helplessly, "Honestly, there's just no dealing with you. Since that's how it is, then go become a pirate. But you'd better not forget me. If there's a chance, you have to come find me, and I'll come find you too!"
"Mm-hm. I definitely won't forget you!" Bartholomew Kuma said without any hesitation.
"Then when are you leaving?" Ginny could not help asking again.
"I'll wait a little longer," Bartholomew Kuma said, shaking his head. Then he raised his eyes and looked at the scenery outside the window, his voice soft as he said, "When Young Master needs me, he will contact me. When that time comes, I will set out and go serve him."
He did not tell Ginny that deep in his heart, Lord Valthior was a man who could change the world. Serving him also meant contributing to changing the world.
If Lord Valthior became the king of the world and gained everything in this world, then would all those slaves in Mary Geoise be treated gently by that lord, just like he had been?
How could that not also be a good result?