One Piece: Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

In the wind and rain appeared a group of soldiers clad in armor, wielding long spears, surrounding a line of civilians bound by ropes, arranged like a long snake.

The group of people was ragged, stumbling under the wind and rain. Some were crying loudly, while others silently shed tears, seemingly wanting to struggle, but were pushed forward by the soldiers' spears, forced to quicken their pace.

Once they set foot on the beach, the soldiers stopped. The leader, a man draped in a cloak and not wearing a helmet, waved his hand, and the ropes binding the civilians were loosened, leaving them on the beach.

"Don't!"

As soon as the ropes were untied, a woman with a relatively good appearance cried out in tears, "I don't want to be here! I can earn money! Let me go, I can definitely earn it!"

The soldiers stood straight, unmoved.

The woman wiped her tears, her eyes filled with determination, and ran towards the jungle that was different from the beach. However, as soon as she moved, the soldiers raised their spears to block her path.

Then, the woman let out a painful scream.

The helmetless soldier grabbed her hair and flung her directly onto the sand, the force causing her to roll on the ground until she landed in front of Marika, who caught her and helped her up.

Marika patted the dust off the woman's clothes, looked at the helmetless man, and said in a deep voice, "Don't go too far, Xiji!"

"They are already abandoned people; what more can be considered going too far?"

The helmetless man sneered, "As for you, the former royal chef of the Forest Kingdom, why must you come here to suffer, mingling with these people who have no rights? Come back with me and play in the sand; this is not where you belong. Your talents should not be wasted here."

"I've said it many times,"

Marika said firmly, "I will stay here and help these people. You can't just eat your fill and ignore everything else; everyone has the right to eat!"

Xiji shook his head, a smirk forming on his lips as he said, "Unfortunately, this is your last chance. You have held out here for two years; this year is the final opportunity. The king has issued an order; if you refuse again, you won't be going back on the recruitment ship from the Bridge Kingdom. You will be included!"

"How could this be!"

A fisherman widened his eyes in disbelief, "Lady Marika has property in the kingdom! She can pay taxes; how can you send her to the Bridge Kingdom!"

"Shut up, abandoned trash!"

Xiji glared at the fisherman and said, "You are now merely people of the Shallow Sand Kingdom, not citizens of our country. How to deal with you will, of course, be according to the king's decree. Chef Marika only had property in the Forest Kingdom before; isn't she now your 'king'? Since she is a king of another country, how could she have property on our land!"

"Without property, and no one to pay her protection fee, she cannot receive the protection of our country. Such a person with no rights must be taken to the Bridge Kingdom!"

"And you all!"

Xiji pointed at the others, grinning maliciously, "Some of you can no longer support the 'protection fee' at home. Next, I will read names and put shackles on you. When the ship arrives, you will be the next batch going to the Bridge Kingdom!"

Upon hearing this, some in the group seemed to have prepared themselves, while others appeared extremely numb, as if they had already grown accustomed to it.

The more such expressions there were, the more excited Xiji felt.

This is how the lowly should be, obediently going to the Bridge Kingdom to be slaves, contributing for them. To survive by relying on food materials like this is simply a rebellion.

How can the lowly rebel?! Especially as Xiji quickly walked over and kicked over the Shell Cauldron that was still cooking, the milky white soup splashed with ingredients fell to the sandy ground, eroded and washed away by the storm.

"Oh dear,"

He revealed a satisfied smile, spreading his arms wide, "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention while walking and knocked over your meal. If you have no food, don't be angry, okay? Otherwise, if you take action against me, the captain of the soldier squad, I have reason to retaliate. Getting injured before going to the Bridge Kingdom could easily lead to death."

"Hey,"

At that moment, a voice rang out beside him.

Xiji turned his head just in time to see a dark gun barrel aimed at him.

"My men haven't had their fill yet."

Sage held a Flintlock Gun and pulled the trigger. Xiji's pupils instantly contracted, and he instinctively tried to dodge, but it was too late. Click! But apart from the sound of the trigger being pulled, nothing happened.

Sage fiddled with the Flintlock Gun and shook his head, "It's waterlogged and can't be used."

Once a gun gets waterlogged, it indeed cannot fire.

"You bastard! Are you toying with me?!"

Xiji's forehead bulged with veins, and his hand went to the hilt of his sword.

Swoosh! Just as his hand touched the sword hilt, a cold flash came swiftly, and in the next moment, Xiji felt the world spinning, followed by darkness.

Lily expressionlessly sheathed her slender sword, and with a soft sound of the blade returning to its scabbard, a head fell from the air, landing on the beach.

Silence fell.

"My clothes are dirty too."

Sage finished the soup from the shell, casually tossed the shell aside, and glanced at the dirt on his abdomen, sneering at the head, "Your life cannot be compensated either."

"Captain!"

"Captain Xiji is dead!"

"Rebellion! This is rebellion!"

Only then did the remaining soldiers react, quickly raising their spears, aiming this way, but at that moment, gunfire suddenly erupted from behind.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The first soldier was splattered with blood and fell.

From the sea behind, Renetia stepped onto a small boat, gliding towards them with two pirates. When the boat reached the shallow water, Renetia jumped down, twisting the flintlock in her hand into a small tool hammer.

"It smells so good, what is that? Are you having a feast again? Damn it, why did I have to stay behind?" Renetia sniffed with her little nose, her eyes darting around.

Even on the boat, she could smell the aroma wafting through, a scent that even the storm couldn't block, making her mouth water. Seeing Sage and the others gathered there, she brought her two subordinates over.

"The feast is over, Letty, help me modify this."

Sage tossed the flintlock gun to her, saying, "This thing is useless in the rain, too inconvenient, and it can only load one bullet. Modify it to hold more."

As he spoke, he looked at Marika, "The Bridge Kingdom? If you're going to that kind of hellhole, why not come on my ship? After all, it's all the same; being a slave or a pirate, anyone would choose the latter, right?"