Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

The North Star Hundred Crack Fist wasn't ineffective, it just wasn't finished. That guy's Haki protected his vital areas, but other parts weren't guarded. Most of his acupoints were hit - the bleeding was just superficial, but internally he must have suffered serious injuries.

With such heavy injuries, he was even less of a match now!

"Rankyaku!"

Ennio aimed a Rankyaku kick at Sag's head. As the slashing attack came at his face, Sag leaned back while thrusting his leg forward, stabbing like a sword straight into Ennio's protruding belly.

Bang! The kick sunk deep into his stomach, where Haki hadn't protected in time.

"North Star Soft Breaking Slash!"

Sag didn't hold back either. His leg became a blur as he kicked Ennio's body all over.

Ennio's whole body shook as he was kicked, stumbling back several steps. Bright red blood seeped through his rain-soaked, bejeweled clothes. His body swayed again, and he tried to raise his fist but couldn't lift his arm at all.

"Has it rotted?" Ennio looked at his right arm indifferently. As he spoke, blood began trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Like the Hundred Crack Fist, this move not only had the power to strike acupoints, but also possessed tremendous force. Once hit, the body's tissues would be destroyed.

This guy's right arm looked fine on the surface, but inside it must have turned to mush. Sag flexed his fingers, hunching slightly as he said coldly: "My techniques aren't so easy to withstand."

Ennio coughed up a mouthful of blood. He looked at Lily lying on the ground still unable to get up, then at the mountain bandits cowering like rabbits, and the citizens being chased by soldiers. "You think defeating me will make this country better? Impossible!"

He shouted loudly: "The Heavenly Tribute is already an established fact. Even without me, you'll still have to pay! It'll be the same even with a new king! If we don't pay, we won't be a World Government affiliate country and won't receive protection. On the contrary, we'll be punished and live even worse than now!"

"By then, even becoming mountain bandits will be a luxury for you. You'll suffer every misfortune this world can inflict! If you run away now, you'll lose everything! I won't let you set sail. Captain Mouse, catch them! Otherwise the Heavenly Tribute will be gone!"

Ennio looked ferociously at Sag, "Especially you, pirate. If you want them to set sail, you'll have to step over my corpse!"

"?"

Sag was stunned. He was planning to become a pirate if he couldn't be a bounty hunter, but not right now. But soon, he thought of something and his expression turned strange.

Surely not?

At this moment, Captain Mouse in the back pulled out his flintlock and led the remaining marines to chase after the citizens.

The battle had indeed frightened people, but he hadn't forgotten his original mission.

He was here to temporarily escort the Heavenly Tribute! If he failed, he would truly lose his life! "Suppress the riot!" Captain Mouse shouted.

Marines and soldiers mixed together, frantically driving away the citizens. One citizen fell to the ground, coincidentally tripping the approaching Captain Mouse with his foot.

Already panicked and angry, Captain Mouse became even more enraged. He pointed his gun at the man.

"No, don't!" The citizen cried out in panic, but in this chaos, no one could hear him.

Like superior, like subordinate.

Captain Mouse of the 16th Branch was a greedy scoundrel, so naturally his subordinates weren't good people either. The marines only cared about completing orders. Even if they saw the captain kill someone, they wouldn't say anything.

"Die!" Just as Captain Mouse was about to pull the trigger, a swish sounded from behind. A cold glint pierced through his chest.

"You-"

He turned back in shock to see a determined face beneath golden wavy hair.

Lily pulled out her rapier, letting Captain Mouse fall. The rain washed the blood from her blade, also washing the dirt from her face. "Set sail!"

Her shout startled the citizens and mountain bandits.

Swoosh! Lily moved like a swimming dragon. In the rain, her sword flashed a dazzling light as she swept through the pursuing marines and soldiers, knocking back a group of people and blocking the pursuers.

Ennio's words had made her reach a final decision.

Indeed, the Heavenly Tribute still had to be paid. Even if she became king, there was no way to exempt it. Throughout history, there had never been a precedent for exempting the Heavenly Tribute.

The citizens could no longer afford the Heavenly Tribute tax. So rather than that- "Set sail! Run to the port. If we sail away we won't have to pay taxes anymore. Everyone will have a new life, so... let's set sail together!" Lily shouted with all her might.

The mountain bandits who were already confused and the chaotic citizens who heard this didn't immediately run to the port. Instead, they looked at Ennio.

The king who should have shown brutality and cruelty now had his right arm hanging limp, his whole body covered in blood, completely lacking his previous demeanor.

He was injured... The strong soldiers and marines had also been defeated by that blonde woman who seemed to be the princess. No one could stop them now.

Set sail... If they set sail they wouldn't have to pay such high taxes. If they set sail they could survive. Setting sail... would things really be different? In the eyes of the people of Oikot Kingdom, even joining the Marines after setting sail would be criticized, because they had experienced war between Marines and pirates on this land. Let alone setting sail on their own. But if they didn't set sail, they would pay more and more taxes in Oikot Kingdom, and would eventually end up in the mountains with the bandits.

Being a mountain bandit was one thing, but setting sail didn't necessarily mean becoming criminals!

Anyway, it couldn't be worse than now!

Among the mountain bandits, someone took the lead in moving, running madly towards the port. Like lighting a fuse, once the first person acted, the rest were no longer like headless flies, but uniformly headed towards the port.

Some citizens didn't even know what was happening, but seeing so many people running to the port, they followed along. So more and more people joined the ranks heading to the port.

Seeing this, Ennio's mouth curled into a smile, then his expression turned solemn again. His round body crashed towards Sag like a heavy cannonball.

Sag widened his stance and shifted his body slightly. As Ennio approached, he quickly sidestepped and snaked one hand towards Ennio's temple.

"North Star Striking Finger!"

Slap! Ennio immediately twisted his ruined right arm to block Sag's finger strike. Sag's finger plunged into his arm.

"Ha!"

Ennio's eyes bulged. His left hand grabbed Sag's wrist and quickly flung him upwards.

Boom! As soon as Sag's finger left his arm, Ennio's right arm exploded, splattering flesh and blood everywhere.

Ennio didn't even frown. He stomped his feet, using Geppo to quickly jump high into the air. At the same time, he kicked wildly with both legs. "Rankyaku Ran!"

Swish swish swish! Numerous slashes rained down from the sky, cutting down most of the soldiers and marines still chasing the citizens.

The remaining marines and soldiers looked up at the sky in shock, but from their angle, they only thought it was the white-haired youth who did it.

Ennio's desperate attack stance gave Sag an opening. He didn't hold back at all, his fists becoming hundreds of afterimages as he rapidly struck Ennio's body.

"North Star Hundred Crack Fist!"

This time, there was no Haki protection! Countless fists smashed into Ennio's body, instantly creating several dents. But at this moment, he gritted his teeth hard, enduring the incoming punches and headbutting Sag's chest, rapidly plummeting with him.

Bang!!

The two bodies fell from the sky. Ennio smashed a large crater in the ground, while Sag spun several times in the air before landing steadily.

This time, Ennio didn't get up.

His body looked like it had been hit by a dump truck, twisted beyond recognition. Only the rise and fall of his chest showed he was still breathing.

Sag looked at Ennio in the crater and said: "The price for framing me is very high."

"Cough, cough cough!"

Ennio coughed up several mouthfuls of thick blood. He took a few deep breaths and bared his teeth: "I don't understand what you're saying. I just wanted to catch you and sell you."

"You think I'm an idiot?"

Sag pointed at the people rushing for ships at the port and said: "You planned this all along, didn't you?"

There were many ships at the port, only a few belonging to merchants. When he arrived, he had seen these docked ships, some even gathering dust.

Haki, ships, and this 'king's' inexplicable words, as well as deliberately killing marines and soldiers... Sag wasn't stupid, he could naturally see clearly.

Whether it was blood stains or something else, that fat ugly face didn't look so hateful now. Ennio slowly stopped baring his teeth, his cloudy eyes turning to look at Sag.

"Are you angry? About me framing you as a pirate..." he suddenly said.

Sag sighed, "The Arlong Pirates are gone, that's a fact. I have bad luck and couldn't find other drifting pirates. This profession clearly won't work anymore. Even if you didn't pull this stunt, my next step was to become a pirate anyway."

"Oh? Never thought about joining the Marines? A man like you would surely accomplish great things in the Marines."

"Forget it, my personality doesn't suit it. I can't stand restrictions. I heard Marines have no freedom at all, they even need orders from superiors to fight pirates. Besides..."

Sag trailed off, "Anyway, I'm not suitable."

With that, he turned to leave.

"Hey, aren't you going to kill me?" Ennio called out.

Without looking back, Sag said flatly: "You're already dead."

Ennio smiled and tilted his head back to look at the sky, letting the increasingly large raindrops fall on his face. Another layer of cloudiness covered his pupils as his breathing began to slow...

Boom!!

Thunder crashed, whipping up fierce wind and rain, along with cannonballs exploding on the water's surface in front of the port.

Cannonballs?

Sag looked towards the port and saw the silhouette of a huge warship appearing on the distant water, getting closer and closer.

"A Marine warship! It's a Marine warship!"

Someone at the port shouted, causing the people about to steal ships to panic again and stop.

"Cough cough cough!"

Ennio coughed violently, using his left arm to prop himself up and crawl to his feet bit by bit.

"No sailing!" Ennio shouted loudly.

...

"Ennio, they all say it was Shiki who invaded here, inciting war between Marines and pirates, causing the country to decline. But I know that's not true. The Heavenly Tribute tax has always been too heavy, the citizens can't bear it anymore. I want to change this country, will you help me?"

That man with hair shining like the sun reached out his hand to Ennio...

He looked at the people at the port, his voice growing from weak to strong as he shouted hoarsely with neck veins bulging: "No sailing! Don't steal my ships to sail away! How will I pay taxes if you don't pay?!"

That voice made more people look over, discovering their king's increasingly miserable state. After a brief pause, they quickly recovered from their panic, raised the sails, changed course, and sped away from the port.

A king with no deterrence and soldiers who suffered heavy losses only strengthened their resolve to set sail.

"You can't, you can't-" Ennio's pupils constricted as he struggled to straighten his body and take steps forward.

...

"Ennio, please, protect Lily well."

This time it was a woman lying in bed, weakly pleading... What followed were increasingly heavy taxes and those nonsensical nobles. No matter how they tried to change things, the Heavenly Tribute could not be reduced.

No matter how tyrannical the rule, those nobles just sucked blood from the kingdom.

Even if Lily became king, she would end up like her parents - either dead or dethroned.

Although dethronement was no longer like thirty years ago, Ennio knew well how terrifying those people were. They didn't care about affiliate countries, let alone non-affiliates.

This country was beyond saving long ago!

But the people could still be saved! To save this country, to protect Lily, the only way was to let her, to let them...

His steps were slow, but now showed unusual determination as he stumbled bit by bit towards the port, still muttering:

"No sailing... I said no-"

The departing ships moved faster and faster. Ennio's body suddenly swayed, his pupils growing dim and blurry. But that face full of resentment and anger gradually lifted into a smile as he shouted with all his might: "Set sail!!!"

Thud.

Ennio fell to the ground. His eyes went from cloudy to dark, his life force completely stopping, but the smile on his face was frozen solid.

Sag, walking towards the port, heard the sound and shrugged, muttering: "Should have died from the explosion... A strong person's physical constitution really is extraordinary."

Taking the blame was fine. Being a bounty hunter clearly wouldn't work anymore. Besides becoming a pirate, there was nothing else he could do.

However... "I haven't boarded a ship yet. Hey, I haven't boarded a ship!!"

Sag stared dumbfounded at the empty port without a single ship.

So many ships, and now not one was left? Oh, there was one... That large warship gradually approaching.

"Sag, get on board! The Marines are coming!"

A voice reached his ears. He turned to look and saw Lily hanging onto a sail with one hand, riding a small boat speeding across the water. The wind and rain whipped her hair into a wild tangle.

"What are you doing?" Sag asked.

"Setting sail!"