One Piece: Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

Sage had always assumed this woman was the leader of some local mountain bandits, given how many there were around here—one could run into a group every kilometer on average.

"So that's not the case. I was just thinking, she's quite good-looking and has an air about her, doesn't seem like a bandit. Turns out she's a princess. Wait a minute..."

Sage realized he had missed something and looked at Lily.

"You're royalty, and the ones who put out the bounty are also royalty. So that means... dogs biting dogs?"

"I'm not a dog!" Lily growled, grinding her teeth in anger. "He's the dog! He's a traitor! A usurper, the most evil person in the world!"

"Oh," Sage nodded, then suddenly put his hand on her shoulder, nudging her slightly to keep walking straight ahead.

"You went off course." He said, "It took me three days to get here from the royal capital, but walking in a straight line shouldn't take that long. Bear with it a bit longer, let's push through the night. We should arrive by tomorrow morning."

Lily was stunned, the words caught in her throat. She just stared at Sage like that, until half an hour later when she couldn't hold back anymore.

"Aren't you curious?"

"About what?"

"The royal bounty."

"Not at all." Sage shook his head. "I want to be a wealthy landlord who exploits people, not some savior who wants to meddle in everything. I mainly asked your name for commemorative purposes. I'm not interested in anything else."

"You really are..." Lily sighed, "Not at all like a strong person."

"Well, I've never thought of myself as very strong," Sage smiled. Having cheat abilities doesn't mean being invincible.

Even if he couldn't remember the plot very well, he still knew about the famous strong people of this sea. Those were beings who could casually destroy heaven and earth. Sage was fine dealing with people, but causing massive destruction to an island or even changing the weather—that he couldn't do.

"Is that so..." Lily murmured, then fell silent and kept walking forward. There was clear dissatisfaction on her face, but even more stubbornness. Between the two of them, there was only silence, broken only by the sound of their footsteps as they walked.

Until the sound of more hurried footsteps broke that silence.

"Stop right there!!"

Several armed men burst out of the forest, surrounding them. The leader, a tall man, snarled: "Hand over your money!"

These men were all in tattered clothes, with gaunt faces. Though they held swords and knives, their hands were visibly shaking and their eyes showed hesitation.

Sage had seen many of their kind over the past few days. Mountain bandits.

Sage sighed and said languidly: "Look fellas, do I look like I have pockets anywhere on me? Without pockets, how am I supposed to take out money? I'm even poorer than you—at least you have weapons."

"Don't try to fool us! That sword at your waist looks very valuable, and that woman looks like a noble!" The bandit leader snarled. "Hand over the money, or I'll kill you both!"

"Boss, wait, look at that woman," One of the bandits came closer, taking out a wanted poster that looked very familiar to Sage, carefully comparing it to Lily.

"It's her! Boss, if we capture her, we'll be rich!" The bandit said excitedly.

"100 million berries!" The bandit leader's eyes nearly popped out. He pointed his large knife at Sage. "We're taking this woman. Get lost quickly, or I'll kill you!"

"No." Lily suddenly spoke.

Whoosh!

At that moment, Sage suddenly vanished from in front of them, turning into an afterimage flashing before their eyes. This afterimage moved extremely fast, and in just an instant, appeared behind them.

At this point, whether it was the bandit leader holding up his knife or the other bandits with shocked expressions, they were all frozen in place, as if turned to stone, completely motionless.

Sage turned and walked up to the now-frozen bandit leader, patting him on the shoulder.

"We're all poor folks here. If you're going to rob someone, don't rob me. I'm counting on this woman to fulfill my dreams."

As he spoke, he casually grabbed the tin flask hanging from the bandit's waist, opened the cap, and took a swig.

"Tch, this alcohol... is really awful!"

Sage spat out a mouthful. "You'll be able to move again in half a day. Next time, be careful—you need to consider strength when robbing people."

Lily automatically walked up to Sage at this point, pursed her lips, and said softly: "Thank you."

"I just don't have much interest in poor folks. We're all poor people, and there's no bounty on you, so there's no point in dealing with you," Sage said. Then he asked: "By the way, does your country have some kind of Pirate King's treasure?"

Lily was taken aback for a moment, then shook her head: "I've never heard any rumors about treasure."

"With no treasure, where did all these mountain bandits come from?" Sage asked.

Lily's expression darkened, and she said in a low voice: "The taxes are too heavy. The citizens can't survive, so they had no choice but to become bandits."

"Huh?" Sage was stunned for a moment.

"Don't you understand?" Lily said heatedly. "They can't bear the heavy taxes, so..."

"So the sea doesn't have a lid. If you can't survive here, just set sail," Sage said. "I haven't heard that the Oikot Kingdom forbids people from going to sea."

He was a typical example of someone who set sail because he couldn't survive on land. If he had any extra money to use, he might still be trying to start a business.

Lily's eyes suddenly widened, filled with intense surprise that even startled Sage.

"You didn't think of that? Seriously?" Sage said curiously.

In the Great Pirate Era, people set sail for all sorts of reasons, with those who couldn't survive on land making up the majority. The people here would rather be mountain bandits than go to sea? This wasn't the Grand Line, it was the East Blue. The climate here was perfectly normal—even kids could make a raft and set sail.

If you can't survive, just leave.

"Set sail..." The girl's eyes widened for a moment, but then fell again. She said, "The Oikot Kingdom once experienced a pirate war. Everyone hates those who go to sea, so they won't easily set sail."

...

Biendetta Lily, currently sixteen years old, was the princess of the Oikot Kingdom and the next heir to the throne, if nothing went wrong. Oikot was a war-torn country, especially after a war between the Marines and pirates here twenty-some years ago. It had never really stabilized until Lily's father became king, when the country started to improve somewhat.

However, Lily's father died in an accident when she was born, so naturally the improving situation vanished, becoming as chaotic as before. And her mother, in the midst of this national chaos, not only didn't try to turn things around, but found a new husband, becoming Lily's ghost stepfather!

Lily's mother passed away not long after her second marriage, and this stepfather, using the excuse that she was still young, naturally took on the name of the Biendetta family and became king, taking over the chaotic situation and then making it even more chaotic! He couldn't be said to have great talent and strategy, but at least he was incompetent in human affairs.

In short, under his rule, Oikot became more and more chaotic, with bandits running rampant and mountain bandits everywhere. Such a chaotic environment was maintained for over ten years.

Lily grew up in this environment. She had a strong desire to save the country, so one day six months ago, she boldly attempted to assassinate that usurper... and then she was given a bounty.

And then, she was captured by Sage.

"You're pretty unlucky..." Sage showed an indignant expression.

"You..." Lily saw his expression of feeling that she wasn't worth it, and her heart stirred. Could it be that he was willing to help her?

"A royal princess, and a royal princess who tried to assassinate the king at that, is only worth 100 million berries." Sage said indignantly. "It should be at least 1 billion or 2 billion, right?"

So that's what he meant by unlucky!

Lily couldn't help but roll her eyes, but the impulse in her heart burst out strongly at this moment. This man might be able to...

"Stop." Sage suddenly held up his hand.

Lily was stunned. "I didn't say anything..."

"Your eyes are full of stories, and what I dislike most is listening to stories." Sage waved his hand. "It's nothing more than asking me to help you reclaim the throne, or help the citizens set sail, something about heavy taxes and unbearable burdens... I don't have that kind of free time. There are plenty of people suffering at sea, not just your country. I'm suffering too. Why don't you help the person right in front of you first, and let me turn you in for the bounty."

He had just started his career as a bounty hunter, and he was counting on this woman to make his first big score!

Seeing this, Lily also closed her mouth and said no more.

The two of them walked quickly, silently disappearing into the forest...

The next day, before the sun had reached its zenith, Sage brought Lily to the royal capital.

The royal capital of Oikot was like a medieval town from the 17th or 18th century, but the town was clean, with rows of colorful two- or three-story buildings lining both sides of the streets, shops everywhere, and a large square in the center of town with a tall clock tower, taller than the city walls, which was Oikot's landmark building.

If you ignored the mountain bandits all over the hills, it would be a peaceful town.

Bringing Lily into the royal capital, after informing the guards at the gate, the soldiers led Sage and Lily towards the palace.

Originally, Sage had prepared for all kinds of situations. This was a grand princess, very beautiful, with a strong desire to save the country. She should be quite popular.

He had expected scenarios like the gate guards seeing the princess and turning their weapons on Sage, or citizens seeing the princess and frantically trying to stop him—the kind of situations where you'd be hated for capturing a country's princess. But none of that happened.

Instead, people seemed quite interested in following behind to watch the commotion. It wasn't until they reached the huge staircase leading to the palace that Sage finally couldn't help but ask: "Aren't you a princess? This atmosphere... it doesn't seem like they know you."

"I've never left the palace," Lily, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke. She stared intently at the huge staircase and said in a low voice, "Since I was little, I've been confined within the palace, so naturally no one knows me. Everyone in the palace is that man's subordinate... All the information I know, I heard from them. We're here!"

Sage also looked towards the staircase. On that vast, huge staircase, a group of figures gradually appeared.

They were divided into two groups.

One group was the royal soldiers of Oikot, protecting one person. The other group was a bunch of people wearing white uniforms... Marines.