One Piece: Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

The Bridge Kingdom, also known as the Laborers' Kingdom, officially named Tralchivorv, was ordered to be built seven hundred years ago with the intention of connecting all the islands of the East Sea. To this day, the bridge is still under construction.

Most of the people on this bridge are from non-World Government affiliated countries, along with criminals sent from various places. The bridge is vast, and over the centuries, those former 'laborers' settled here, forming a new kingdom with the continuous influx of people, hence the name Bridge Kingdom.

Reminded by Marika, Sage thought it was a great idea to recruit subordinates in the Bridge Kingdom.

After two days of heavy rain, the storm finally subsided. At this moment, his subordinates were mopping the deck, and bubbles of soap rose on the wide deck.

"Everyone, please have something to replenish your energy."

Marika gently called out to the working Pirates while holding a huge platter in one hand.

A group of Pirates rushed over, grabbing the roasted meat-filled bread from the platter, and after a few bites, they were all energized.

"Marika's cooking is incredibly delicious!"

"Being able to eat Marika's cooking makes my life worthwhile!"

"Being a Pirate is just too great!"

Some even cried out in excitement.

"Just eat your fill," Marika replied with a gentle smile, "Now, please continue working hard."

"Yes! Lady Marika!"

The Pirates picked up their mops again, moving back and forth on the deck at three times the speed of before.

After boarding the ship, Marika quickly found her footing and became immensely popular among the Pirates.

Her superb culinary skills comforted people's hearts with delicious food.

Her gentle personality allowed her to patiently listen to the Pirates, even offering advice, like a caring older sister.

After all, who doesn't like a caring older sister with long black hair who cooks well? Leticia also refrained from scolding Marika; as long as she didn't scold, she certainly held a position on this ship.

Seeing the Pirates resume their work, Marika smiled and walked towards the third floor of the deck building.

The third floor, aside from the control room at the top where one could overlook the entire area, also served as a meeting room a little lower down.

Inside the meeting room, Paru was busy setting up dishes on each table.

The dishes were made by Marika, but the arrangement was Paru's responsibility.

It wasn't until the dishes were all set that Sage entered the meeting room. He found a chair to sit down, shifted a bit, and clicked his tongue, saying, "It's not that the throne is uncomfortable, but next time, let's get a throne for the meeting room."

It felt less comfortable than the throne in his captain's cabin.

"Then why not bring that stone throne from Deep Forest Kingdom?"

Renetia found a spot to sit, picked up a piece of fish with her chopsticks, and revealed a look of happiness, "Delicious!"

"What's so good about a broken stone? I've already kicked it to pieces. Don't talk about art; even a stone picked up on the island has gone through thousands of years. I don't need that kind of thing, especially when one is poor. Right now, I just want gold, silver, and jewels, and of course, the throne should be luxurious."

Sage poured himself a cup of wine from a small porcelain bottle, drank it, and continued, "Alright, let's start the meeting."

The layout of the meeting room was not very formal; everyone sat casually around Sage. Closest to him was Lily, followed by Leticia and Marika, with Akin and Paru sitting at the back.

"There aren't many landing points in the Bridge Kingdom, so it's a bit difficult to get up there. My plan is... I'll go up first, recruit subordinates, and as long as someone agrees, I'll destroy the bridge, letting people come down from the collapsed bridge to the ships. What do you think?"

"Is that called a plan?"

Renetia was taken aback, "Isn't that just you charging in recklessly?"

"What else can I do?"

Sage shrugged, "I'm not the type to plot in the gutter; being straightforward is the simplest and most direct, with the strongest effect."

There are ways to enter the Bridge Kingdom.

Their ship hasn't even raised the Pirate flag yet, mainly because there are too few people, and Sage hasn't figured it out yet.

But to show they are Pirates, they raised a black sail; otherwise, a ship with no symbols could easily be misunderstood.

Pretending to be a merchant ship or a slave ship to approach the Bridge Kingdom and then launching a surprise attack?

Wouldn't that just turn them into Klic?

Sage wasn't interested in such behavior.

"What can we do?" Lily asked.

"First, learn the Moonwalk. Without enough strength, you can't do anything."

Sage picked up a piece of fish, saying, "Once we recruit enough subordinates, we can sail at full speed around the East Sea. At that time, we'll first raid a circle to accumulate wealth. You all should train hard; once everything is ready, we can march into the Grand Line!"

As he chewed on the fish, Sage poured himself another cup of wine and raised it towards everyone, "Let's plunder our way to the New World!"

...

On a warship with a dog-head emblem in the East Sea.

"Thirty million."

Koby, holding a mop, looked at Luffy's bounty notice in the corridor of the warship and said firmly, "Luffy, you're pursuing your dream, and I'm about to enter the Grand Line too. When we meet next time, I will definitely be a Navy officer!"

"Koby! Come help, don't slack off!" Belumeb called from the side.

"Coming!"

Koby jolted and ran forward.

On the deck, at the bow, a burly man dressed in a white suit, draped in a Navy cloak, and wearing a dog-head hat, stood with his hands in his pockets, gazing at the sea.

"Colonel."

A hawk-nosed man dressed like a mafia approached and said, "The Straw Hat kid has already entered the Grand Line."

"He's already in? Then it's unlikely we'll run into him! Hahaha!" The dog-head hat man laughed loudly.

"Yes, once he's in the Grand Line, it's hard to encounter him, but..."

He picked up a bounty notice and said, "This one is still in the East Sea."

The dog-head hat man glanced at the bounty notice, "Is he the one who took down that idiot Ennio?"

"Yes, Norton Sage has continuously plundered several towns, destroyed two... no, now it's three countries. The latest news is that he stormed into the Deep Forest Kingdom, killed the King, burned down the Royal Palace, and captured the 'King' of the Shallow Sand Kingdom."

The hawk-nosed man said, "There are already rumors at sea that wherever this man appears, it will bring 'natural disasters' to the locals."

"Hahaha, does the Shallow Sand Kingdom still have a King? I've heard rumors about that Deep Forest Kingdom too; this Sage is doing quite well!" The dog-head hat man laughed heartily.

"Colonel, you shouldn't say that." The hawk-nosed man reminded.

"Hmm."

The dog-head hat man looked again at the photo on the bounty notice, "If he's still in the East Sea, then let's go catch him! Bogart, where will he go?"

"Reportedly, his Pirate Crew is still very small, and he will definitely recruit Pirate subordinates. The nearest places are only the Bridge Kingdom and the Shallow Sand Kingdom. If he 'captured' the King of the Shallow Sand Kingdom, he's very likely to go there." The hawk-nosed man said.

Half of the dog-head hat man's face grinned, revealing a smile, "Then let's go there!"

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