One Piece: Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

Among the people below, besides the group of equipped soldiers, there was a thin-faced man with a goatee. He wore luxurious clothing, draped in a cape like a red carpet, with a crown on his head.

This must be the king!

"Murdock!!"

Before Sage could make a move, a group of people emerged from the underground tunnel. Lily led the pirates as they rushed out, and behind them, a small pink-haired creature leapt up, swinging a long hammer with great force.

Murdock was startled, instinctively stepping back while shouting: "Protect me!"

Even a small kingdom's king would have decent guards.

Two royal guards reacted, pulling Murdock away and moving to block the incoming hammer.

Bang! Bang!

Two loud impacts rang out, accompanied by a burst of kinetic energy. Like in a game of whack-a-mole, the two guards were pounded into the ground, leaving only their heads above the surface.

Renetia landed on the ground, baring her teeth angrily at Murdock: "You Old Butt Eye, Old Glass, old Hemorrhoid Monster, motherless bastard! Don't think about running, I'm going to smash you to death!"

"I'm not old!!"

Murdock hurriedly retreated among the soldiers. Hearing her words, his eyes turned white with rage as he turned and roared with sharp teeth.

"Hmph."

After roaring for a moment, he calmed down and looked up at Sage, who was floating in the air with waves of energy rising from his feet. Murdock smiled and said: "I see, so you're Norton Sage? You look impressive. But with just this many people, can you defeat my two thousand soldiers?"

He spread his arms and laughed wildly: "This is the entire military force of the kingdom! How about I make you a proposal - why not pledge loyalty to me? You're the Black Sail Pirates who've caught the Navy's attention. No one on the seas can protect you, but I'm different! Pledge loyalty to me, submit to me, and I can offer you protection!"

"Isn't being a pirate all about seeking wealth? With this invincible ship, my two thousand soldiers, and you added to that, all the treasures of the East Blue will be ours! Isn't that what you pirates are after - just getting money? You're not really after the so-called One Piece, are you? That's just an excuse to set sail! Such a thing doesn't even exist!"

Murdock pointed at Renetia, "Kill her. Just kill her, and everything I've said will come true!"

"You-"

Renetia gripped her hammer tightly, instinctively looking up at Sage in the sky.

Murdock was right, these were just pirates with no family or ties. They were enemies just moments ago. If this terrifying man agreed-

Sage slowly raised his hand, his index finger gradually extending forward, aiming at Renetia. This made sweat break out on her forehead. But in the next moment, without pausing, his finger swept past her and pointed at Murdock instead.

Though unsure what would happen, Murdock instinctively sensed danger and stepped back, using the soldiers as a human shield.

"Never mind."

Sage thought for a moment and lowered his finger.

"That's more like it!"

Murdock secretly breathed a sigh of relief and grinned, saying: "Then hand over Renetia-"

Bang! The figure in the sky fell like a cannonball, the impact blowing away the group of soldiers in front, smashing them against the walls of the tall palace. Their blood splattered across the walls.

In the blink of an eye, Murdock found the human wall of soldiers gone, replaced by that towering, fierce figure.

"When I said never mind, I meant I didn't want to use Finger Pistol on you."

Sage drew the flintlock pistol from his waist and pressed it against Murdock's head, his finger on the trigger. "For an execution, a gun is more fitting."

Murdock didn't dare move his head, cold sweat breaking out as he shouted trembling: "I'm the king! A king of a World Government allied nation! You're just a mere pirate. Killing me would offend the World Government - that's a major crime!"

Pirates don't deliberately target the World Government, or even the Navy if they can avoid it. No one fights meaningless battles without reason, even madmen have their motives.

Pirates aren't madmen. Why would they oppose the World Government by killing an allied nation's king? That would be opposing the World Government directly!

"Didn't you say earlier that I destroyed a country? Guess how I did it?"

Sage looked at Murdock, slowly revealing a fierce grin: "I don't know if One Piece exists or not, but the treasures of the East Blue are mine. There's no 'our' in this. I only give to others, no one gives to me. You sank my treasure, making me take the blame, and now you think you can recruit me with a few words?"

Bang! The trigger was pulled.

Murdock's body suddenly jerked backwards, lifting an inch off the ground before crashing heavily among the crowd.

His eyes were wide open, his face still wearing an expression of terror, with a bullet hole in his forehead.

"I wouldn't dare imagine such a profitable deal. Who do you think you are?" Sage holstered the flintlock pistol with a cold snort.

"Lord Murdock!"

"Your Majesty!"

Cries of shock and commotion arose from among the soldiers.

Their king had been killed by a pirate!

"Kill them! Avenge the king!"

After the initial shock, the soldiers aimed their weapons at Sage. Those closest even thrust their weapons at him directly.

"Tch!"

Sage didn't even bother to look as he raised his leg, unleashing a massive pale blue slash.

"Tempest Kick - Great Reaping!"

The Tempest Kick slash smoothly cut through the nearest soldiers at the waist, quickly shooting towards the entrance. It kicked up sprays of blood along the way, only losing power when it reached the palace gates, where it collided with the remaining soldiers and flew out of the hall.

The path before him was now clear.

The surviving soldiers in the surrounding area quickly fled outside the castle, but there were even more soldiers waiting outside.

Two thousand men was truly a sea of people.

No matter how packed the palace was, it could only hold about a hundred people. Sage's kick had cut down twenty, sent thirty flying, and the rest had all run out.

"Cannons! Use artillery! Don't engage in close combat!"

The soldiers outside reacted quickly, wheeling out cannons from various locations. Behind the cannons, groups of soldiers armed with muskets quickly formed ranks and approached the castle.

"Sage... what do we do?" Lily gripped her rapier and asked tensely, watching the soldiers gradually closing in outside.

There were too many... they only had about thirty people.

Even if they stood still and let themselves be killed, it would take forever.

"Use the ship!"

Renetia suddenly said: "The place to raise the ship is just outside the castle. We can go there - the terrain here is sloped, we can slide down using the ship. The ship I built can withstand cannon fire!"

"No... that's not necessary. Even if the ship can withstand cannon fire, it would still be damaged. That's my new ship. Besides... I've lost my treasure, so I need to plunder the castle's treasures too. A king's treasure must be far more than a mayor's."

Sage narrowed his eyes, his form suddenly shrinking back to normal size.

He turned to look at Akin and said: "Akin, take the men to plunder."

Akin was stunned for a moment, not yet reacting when Renetia cried out: "We can get treasure anytime! There are so many people here, if we get surrounded-"

"Lily."

Before she could finish, Sage interrupted her and said to Lily: "Stay away from me. I can't fully control it yet."

As he spoke, he walked out of the castle on his own.

Outside, large numbers of soldiers were gradually approaching. The cannon muzzles had been adjusted to aim inside the castle.

Around the sloped castle grounds, over two thousand heads bobbed up and down, all facing the single figure standing at the castle entrance.

Sage looked at the approaching soldiers, his expression calm. A crimson light flashed in his pupils.

His body had returned to normal size, but not because he had reached his limit. With 80% Dragon Transformation Breathing Technique enhancement, he was confident he could handle these two thousand men. Even if he was careless and got hit by guns or cannons in the chaos, with his current physique he would only be slightly injured.

If it came to a real fight, one night would be enough to settle it.

However, there was a better way to resolve this... especially when dealing with small fry.

"Fi-"

Hum! Before they could even finish shouting "Fire!", Sage's pupils contracted as he glared at them.

With just this one look, the soldiers' bodies trembled one by one, their eyes rolling back as they collapsed limply.

Boom! Many of the cannonballs were fired before their aim could be fully corrected, exploding against the castle and the ground, bursting into flames.

Above these flames, under the starry sky, only one man remained standing outside the castle.

Conqueror's Haki!