Build The Strongest Family in the Prirate World

The kingdom was destroyed, and its status as a World Government member nation was stripped away.

Trying to provoke the Noxus Empire under these circumstances doesn't make much sense.

The rise of the new Four Emperors and Gecko Moria's failure have already made the seas more chaotic.

If the World Government were to attack a non-member country without a valid reason, especially a powerful one, it would only make the world even more unstable.

Before Lord Im orders a complete purge of the world, the Five Elders are focused on maintaining the balance of the seas.

As for the Noxus Empire, which recently appeared in the first half of the Grand Line: those who rise through war often fall because of war.

There are only so many non-member countries in the first half of the Grand Line. The destruction of the Four Seasons Kingdom has already served as a warning from the World Government to non-member nations.

The worse off those non-member nations become, the more likely World Government member countries are to pay higher "Heavenly Tribute." After all, in addition to dealing with dangerous pirates, the World Government also has to keep an eye on ambitious kings.

While the Noxus Empire may have profited by conquering the Four Seasons Kingdom, the World Government has its own ways of ensuring they never lose.

After capturing the Uranus Kingdom, the Noxus Empire quickly annexed the Spring Uranus and Winter Uranus Kingdoms, which had already been weakened by pirates and bounty hunters.

By taking control of all four kingdoms, the Noxus Empire has officially become a significant power in the first half of the Grand Line. Although they still lag behind nations like Alabasta, their strength is enough to make other forces in the pirate world take notice.

After this conquest, the Noxus Empire paused its expansion.

The Five Elders weren't wrong—there are only so many non-member nations left in the first half of the Grand Line. Some are far away, and the Noxus Empire doesn't yet have the resources to continue its conquests.

Defeating non-member nations might be easy, but controlling and integrating them into the Noxus Empire is a much greater challenge.

As for attacking World Government member nations directly? Swain and his allies have no intention of starting a full-scale war with the World Government yet.

After all, both Marineford and the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, are located in the first half of the Grand Line.

Instead of donating the treasures seized from the Uranus Kingdoms, the Noxus Empire kept them. These resources are being used to strengthen their hold over the Four Seasons Kingdom.

The growth and success of any power depend on financial support.

This is especially true for the Spring Uranus Kingdom and the Winter Uranus Kingdom, which had just been raided by pirates and criminals. These kingdoms needed a lot of money to rebuild.

Unfortunately, the Noxus Empire is in a very poor state right now!

Vladimir, who had just left Thriller Bark, was heading to Beehive Island in the New World to retrieve Captain John's great treasure.

Captain John's treasure was hidden on Beehive Island, one of the former bases of the Rocks Pirates.

Now, Captain John's great treasure was the hope of Duke and his people—the only thing standing between them and poverty.

There was no choice; everyone was desperate for money.

On the way, Vladimir encountered an envoy from the World Government!

"They want me to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, with the power to legally plunder, but I must help the World Government and the Marines deal with remaining pirates. Should I accept the World Government's forced recruitment?"

"Given these conditions," Vladimir thought, "I have no reason to refuse!"

Vladimir gracefully accepted the World Government's offer.

Being a Seven Warlord of the Sea came with many privileges, not just the right to legally plunder. In fact, each Warlord and their lands had significant influence within World Government member nations.

This was very important for the labor dispatch company Vladimir planned to start with Gecko Moria.

After all, what kind of workers could be better than those who had undergone Vladimir's "flesh and blood transformation"? They were turned into living undead by Gecko Moria and worked tirelessly.

Duke and his people were serious about becoming successful capitalists.

As for being forced into service by the World Government?

Ha, who cares?

The Seven Warlords of the Sea were never chosen because of the World Government's favor. They had power beyond measure, which was the real reason they were granted the title.

The World Government's forced recruitment never had much effect on the Seven Warlords. They usually accepted the call because it benefited them.

The new Seven Warlords of the Sea were stronger than the previous ones, like Gecko Moria.

The chaos in the pirate world caused by the new Four Emperors and the fall of one of the Seven Warlords began to calm down.

The entire sea entered a strange, uneasy peace.

Duke's Figarland Manor had just welcomed a new group of guests.

"Hey, hey, why are there still some idiots who aren't afraid of death?"

"Seriously, just surrender already!"

Inside the manor, Capone Bege, holding a cigar, looked coldly at the two Vanke killer brothers who had rushed into Figarland Manor. His eyes were filled with pity.

Others might not know it, but Capone Bege knew very well that recently, besides the terrifying head maid, there was another manager in the manor who seemed difficult to deal with.

Capone Bege didn't think he was a match for this manager.

The Figarland Manor was filled with monsters.

Capone Bege glanced at the strange blue statue beside the fountain, feeling a sudden sense of security.

"Believe it or not, even if I'm no match for you," Capone thought to himself, "any statue or person in this manor could destroy you in an instant."

But the Bobby Funk killer brothers didn't realize Capone Bege's warning at all.

Guy Bobby Funk, the more violent of the two brothers, rushed forward without hesitation, leading the charge to attack Capone Bege.

Before his brother, Bobby Funk, could react, Guyli was riddled with bullets from countless gunshots that came from the windows of Capone Bege's body.

Bobby Funk was shocked, and even Capone Bege himself couldn't believe what had just happened.

He had expected that anyone bold enough to attack Figarland Manor after the bounty had been lifted would be a dangerous opponent, like the CP0 agents he had faced before.

But this?

Although the Vanke killer brothers had a strong reputation in the New World, together they were only strong enough to take down pirates with bounties in the hundreds of millions.

Their strength mainly came from Bobby Funk's impressive physical abilities and his brother's skills.

To put it simply, they could easily bully smaller pirates, but they weren't strong enough to face Capone Bege now.

That's right—after Capone Bege had dealt with countless killers and pirates, and had endured many beatings from strong foes returning from the New World, he had become much stronger.

The main reason was that the weapons and ammunition hidden in his body had been upgraded by Jace.

While Capone Bege's strength wasn't overwhelming, his bounty was under 100 million, and his physical abilities and Haki weren't fully developed, he could still easily handle this.