One Piece: Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

The wind and rain never ceased, but the people on the sea were unafraid of the storm.

Sage left half of his crew on the ship, including Renetia.

It wasn't that the ability users couldn't exert their powers in such a storm; in fact, as long as they weren't submerged more than half their bodies in water, it wouldn't have much effect.

But someone had to stay behind to guard the ship. Renetia was still a little girl, and it wasn't wise to let her venture out in such bad weather. Moreover, she was familiar with the ship and could use her abilities to get it moving in case of an emergency.

Otherwise, with just his few subordinates, it would be difficult to even raise the sails.

Facing the wind and rain, Sage approached the unconscious fisherman. "Akin."

Akin stepped forward, grabbed the fisherman by the collar, and slapped him twice.

Stimulated by the slaps, the fisherman slowly regained consciousness. As he opened his eyes, he saw a face resembling a demon against the darkened sky.

"Ghost!"

Smack! Akin drew the iron staff hanging at his waist, and as the iron ball swung, he pressed the staff against the fisherman's throat, pinning him heavily to the sand.

The weight of the iron staff with the iron ball made the fisherman's eyes bulge, clearly struggling to breathe, his hands instinctively clawing at the staff, trying to break free.

"Are you awake now?" Akin asked flatly.

The fisherman nodded desperately.

Akin withdrew the staff and looked at the gasping and coughing fisherman. "We're not ghosts; we're pirates."

"P-pirates?"

The fisherman was momentarily stunned, and instead of being afraid, he turned and shouted towards the back, "It's pirates! No need to run! It's pirates! Quickly, gather everything from the sandcastle!"

Sage was puzzled. "Hey, I'm a pirate. Aren't you scared?"

The fisherman waved his hand dismissively. "What's there to be afraid of? I thought it was a ghost ship."

"I'm a pirate, here to rob you!" Sage emphasized.

"I know, what else would pirates do?"

The fisherman looked at Sage curiously. "Just by looking at your outfit, I can tell you're here to rob, but there's nothing here."

Crash!

A loud crashing sound of waves came from behind, and at the sound, the fisherman showed a look of fear.

"The tide is rising!"

From the sandcastles on the beach, terrified screams erupted.

"Ah—"

Then came a deep and strange sound from a bone horn, and with that sound, a large number of people rushed out from the sandcastles, running towards the inner region.

"Sage."

Lily's expression turned serious as she called out.

Behind them, the waves surged like a pack of galloping wolves, crashing towards them.

If they were hit, it would be like facing a shipwreck.

"What are you standing there for, waiting to drink seawater? Run!"

Sage merely turned his head to glance and then took off running forward.

With waves of this magnitude, it was wise to avoid them.

Especially for Sage himself.

Although he wasn't an ability user, he was no different from one. If he were to be submerged in the sea, he wouldn't lose his abilities, but something far worse than losing his powers could happen.

He could summon Sea Beasts or even sea kings! That's right, he was always incredibly confident about his bad luck! A group of people began to run forward, dodging the crashing waves behind them. The surging tide swallowed the shallow beach, quickly rolling into the sandcastles that had been built, and with a single wash, the sandcastles collapsed, revealing the stone beds and shells inside.

A woman holding a child stumbled and fell to the ground. She looked in terror at the approaching waves, instinctively clutching her child tightly.

Whoosh! A sudden gust of wind blew, and the fallen woman was lifted into the air, bouncing around before being placed at the highest point of the beach.

Only then did the woman look up, seeing a man adorned with many jewels bouncing in the air before landing back on the ground.

"Thank you! Thank you!"

The woman tightly held her child and knelt before Sage, her eyes brimming with tears. "Thank you so much! Thank you!!"

The waves continued to surge, but just as they reached the top of the slope, they stopped. The once relatively large beach had now turned into a small shallow area, with two to three hundred people gathered on it.

At first glance, it was all elderly, weak, women, and children. There were a few men, but they were all frail.

In their hands, they held tools made of stones and shells, along with a few pieces of flint. Aside from that, they didn't even have decent clothing; their garments were patched up in various ways.

"You guys are really poor,"

Sage clicked his tongue and sighed helplessly.

Even at his worst, he might just be hungry, but he wouldn't be so poor as to use stone pots and shell bowls.

He turned back to glance at the beach that had turned into seawater and asked, "What's going on here?"

"The Shallow Sand Kingdom is built on rising tides. Every so often, we face a tide, and the sandcastles we build get washed away."

A woman stepped out from the crowd and said, "Thank you for saving the mother and daughter, Hildy."

This woman was tall, at least two meters, much taller than the group of pirates, but she wasn't muscular; she was a delicate-looking woman wearing a white robe adorned with a few shell ornaments. Her long black hair, as smooth as satin, flowed freely behind her, straight and shiny.

Her face, though youthful, radiated an exceptionally gentle maternal aura. A beautiful black-haired woman.

"That kind of thing is no big deal."

Sage waved his hand dismissively. "I'm not interested in poor people. It doesn't matter if you're poor; as long as your king is wealthy, that's fine. Since I saved your people, lead the way and tell me where the king is so I can go rob him."

The black-haired beauty was taken aback. "Rob the king? Aren't you supposed to be the good guys?"

Sage bared his teeth and stepped closer to the woman, raising his hand. "First of all, does being a good person mean you have to give without expecting anything in return? Secondly, look at me from head to toe; do I look like a good person?"

With an open-collared pirate shirt, loose trousers, and black boots, a jeweled pistol at his waist, a red jade necklace around his neck, rings of jewels and gold on his fingers, and a large cloak draped over him, he looked nothing like a good person.

In fact, he looked like a very standard pirate.

"Marika, they are pirates!" the fisherman from earlier shouted.

Hearing this, the black-haired beauty smiled helplessly. She slightly bowed to Sage and said, "So you are pirates. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but as you can see, we are very poor. As for the king you mentioned, let me introduce myself. My name is Marika, and I am the king of this Shallow Sand Kingdom."

Sage: "…"

"You are the king?" He raised an eyebrow, looking Marika up and down in disbelief. "Don't joke with me; what kind of king are you? You're probably the only one here worth anything."