One Piece: Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

Perhaps it was too shocking, the slaves laboring there were all silent, just staring blankly at Sage.

"Over there!"

Not far away, a group of armed guards were running towards them from the other end of the bridge.

Sage merely glanced at them, and with a kick of his leg, a faint blue slash shot out, slicing through the bodies of the guards and sending a gust of wind.

Pfft! The guards froze, collectively spewing blood, and fell to the ground.

Bang! A labor slave loosened his grip, and the building materials he was holding crashed to the ground, the sound snapping everyone back to reality.

One burly man incredulously asked, "You... are you here to save us?"

"Save?"

Sage bared his teeth in a sinister grin: "Those who become Pirates can be happy, can be reckless, can vent their frustrations, but there is no such thing as salvation! I am not here to save you; I am here to take you to your deaths!"

"Follow me, and you might die the next day, buried in the sea. If you don't follow me, you will remain here forever!"

Sage extended his hand towards them, "Choose! Will you continue this endless labor until death, or will you head to the sea and die with me!"

...

"Can Sage successfully recruit followers? They are a group of slaves, after all, slaves with a history of seven hundred years. Are they fit to be Pirates?"

On the black ship, Renetia sat cross-legged on the ground, examining the small tool hammer in her hand as she asked.

The hammer was currently disassembled, revealing its intricate inner parts, a dizzying sight to behold.

If someone knowledgeable about machinery were to look at it, they would clearly see that the mechanical structure inside the hammer could not be activated; there was no way to do so except by miracle.

Lily stood beside her, carefully wiping a slender sword with cloth. She paused at Renetia's words, glanced up at the massive bridge, and said lightly:

"People must rely on themselves. Only by awakening themselves can they freely master their fate. Sage has brought an opportunity, but this opportunity is not a gift; it is a choice. Those who yearn for the sea and freedom must be prepared to die."

"Truly worthy of royalty, Lily. I could never say such things," Renetia remarked.

"It has nothing to do with royalty; it is simply a truth realized through long-standing hardship. You will understand when you grow up, Letty."

Lily smiled slightly, flicking her slender sword, which glimmered with a golden hue in the increasingly dim sunlight before she sheathed it.

"Yeah, grow up."

Renetia secretly glanced at Lily's chest, which swayed slightly as she flicked the sword, clenched her small fists, and declared firmly, "Yes, I will grow up!"

"Then you need to eat well; only by eating can you grow quickly. Your diet is quite irregular, Letty," Marika approached with a gentle smile. "Otherwise, even when you grow up, you might end up short."

"Eh? Is that so?!" Renetia was taken aback.

"Of course, little Letty." Marika ruffled Renetia's hair and glanced at the massive bridge. "How many people will the captain bring? How much food do we need to prepare? Our supplies seem a bit insufficient; ah, what a happy trouble."

For Marika, having ample resources to ensure everyone is well-fed was a deeply satisfying task.

"If only the warship over there could spare us some supplies, but that seems unlikely. However, as Pirates, it wouldn't hurt to seize a little; leave enough for them to eat, and the rest is ours," Marika said, looking to the side with a gentle smile.

"The warship will certainly have plenty of supplies. A warship?"

Lily nodded in agreement, but her words suddenly faltered halfway as she instinctively looked in the direction Marika was gazing.

"Lady Lily! Lady Renetia! Lady Marika!"

Several terrified voices from the lookout on the mast rang out, "A warship is coming!"

Renetia assembled her tool hammer, twisting it with her ability, extending the handle, which she then hoisted onto her shoulder. She stood up, baring her small tiger teeth: "It's just a warship; why panic? It's not like we haven't robbed one before."

Her voice trailed off as she stared blankly at the approaching dog-headed warship, her bright eyes narrowing in shock.

"The Navy," she stammered, unable to say more.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked, puzzled.

While encountering a warship was surprising, it was nothing new; they had faced many warships before.

Initially, it was just a decrepit ship, and to avoid sinking, they had chosen not to engage with the Navy.

But now they had changed ships, and the cannons on their new vessel were enough to suppress a single warship, even if this one was much larger than the ones they had encountered in the East Sea.

"Letty, is that the main Navy warship? It is indeed large, but it shouldn't be that frightening. Even without Sage, we can still fight them," Lily said.

"It's not that simple."

Marika's voice grew somber. "Lily, you've been trapped in the Royal Palace since childhood, so you don't know. That ship is not just any Navy warship; it is—"

Anyone who could normally receive information would recognize that dog-headed warship.

It had been featured in newspapers for years, and its owner...

"The Navy hero!" Renetia finally exclaimed, "It's Garp!"

...

On the bridge, Sage's words plunged the people into a brief silence.

After the silence, a man suddenly laughed, "What are you saying? How could I possibly go die?"

But halfway through his words, he stopped, staring blankly at the fallen guards, as if he had lost his voice.

They had been captured and forced into slavery, enduring inhumane treatment, yet even so, they still wanted to live.

It was precisely because they wanted to live that they gritted their teeth and persevered, gradually becoming numb to their plight as slaves, laboring day after day, believing that living one more day was worth it.

After all, no one wants to die.

But now, a man had suddenly appeared, telling them he would take them to die; of course, no one would agree to such a ridiculous statement.

Yet when the words were on the tip of their tongues, they found themselves unable to speak.

Sage's wild and unrestrained face stirred something within them.

It was like running freely by the sea as a child, feeling jealous over a girl in youth, or getting into a fight over a trivial argument.

It wasn't about how those memories were; it was about the freedom they brought.

At that time, they were free, able to decide what to do.

Death was indeed terrifying.

But that man instinctively looked at the shackles on his hands and feet, then turned to gaze at the vast sea beyond the bridge.

That was the sea!!

The sound of dragging shackles drew everyone's attention as a towering man, nearly three meters tall, dragged his chains towards Sage.

The scars on his face made him appear quite fierce.

But they all knew that when this fierce guy first arrived, he was just a clean-faced young man with a friendly smile.

Those scars had been beaten into him.

The burly man even opened his mouth, revealing a half-missing tongue, and raised the shackles in his hand.

The meaning was simple.

Cut them off, and I will follow you.

"Good deal."

Sage reached out and sliced through the shackles with a hand like a knife, severing the thick iron chains binding his hands and feet.

Excitement flickered in the burly man's eyes, and he immediately ran towards the sea.

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

Sage grabbed the man's clothing and pulled him back.

"No need to jump into the sea; at this height, without some skill, even the water will kill you. When I say go die, I don't mean to die right now; just follow me, and I have a way to get you down from here."

Sage said, looking at the others, "So, is there anyone else willing to die with me?"

"Do you have a way to get directly to the sea from here?"

One person looked down at the sea below, puzzled, "But even the warship's cannons can't collapse the bridge."

Sage clenched his fist, "Of course, the warship can't collapse the bridge, but I... a warship?"

What does a warship have to do with it? If he remembered correctly, he had already changed ships!

Sage instinctively looked to the side, and below the bridge, he saw his black ship, which was now increasing its power to sail outward, while behind it, a massive dog-headed warship was in pursuit.

At the same time, Renetia's familiar voice seemed to come through some kind of loudspeaker from the black ship.

"Sage, Garp is coming, run away!"

Boom!!

A massive impact struck Sage's position, sending him flying, crashing to the ground and creating a dent in the bridge, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Pfft, hahahaha!"

Amidst the smoke, a broad figure laughingly emerged, along with a hearty voice: "You want to take away the people of Bridge Kingdom? Well done, Sage, you little brat!"