"Lord Jack, ahead lies the fleet carrying the fleeing nobles and royals of the Joromia Kingdom," a former member of the Jack Pirates reported aboard the Mammoth.
"Prepare for battle! Target that fleet ahead—leave no survivors!" Jack ordered coldly.
"Yes, sir!" the crew member responded immediately.
"But Captain Jack… are we really going to take orders from that man now? We've already broken free, why not just roam the seas freely? Why become some bodyguard for a backwater kingdom like Joromia?" the crewman asked hesitantly.
"You questioning my orders?" Jack turned a chilling gaze on him.
"N-No, not at all!" Cold sweat broke out on the crewman's forehead.
Seeing his terrified expression, Jack turned away and ignored him. If this weren't one of his trusted men—and the navigator at that—Jack would've already turned him into paste.
Truthfully, Jack had no interest in serving as the Joromia Kingdom's guard dog. But for now, he had to endure. Until he found a way to break free from the oppressive silence of that cursed fruit's power… A bloodthirsty glint flickered in Jack's eyes.
"Alarm! Pirate ship approaching from the rear!"
"Oh no, it's the Jack Pirates' ship—the Mammoth!" Panic erupted among the fleeing nobles aboard the Joromia Kingdom's fleet.
"This can't be! Weren't the Jack Pirates attacking the capital? Why are they chasing us now? Has the kingdom already fallen?" one noble stammered in disbelief.
"Impossible! There were so many people in Joromia—it's too soon for them to have wiped them all out!"
"You idiots, what are you standing around for? Full speed ahead! If they catch us, we'll meet the same fate as those filthy peasants!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! As the nobles screeched in panic and shouted for speed, a barrage of cannon fire thundered from the Mammoth.
The nobles, already scared out of their minds, had no thought of resistance. They only wanted to escape. But greedy as they were, they'd loaded every ship with the kingdom's treasures and refused to throw any of it overboard. The overloaded fleet moved sluggishly, and before long, the Mammoth caught up.
Screams and wails echoed across the fleet. Compared to the civilians, the nobles were utterly useless in a crisis. At the sight of Jack, they didn't even resist. The one man who might've helped—the former royal guard commander—was a weakling who got his post through connections. He was even weaker thanFelost and was crushed to a pulp by a single blow from Jack.
"You can take the treasure! Just spare our lives!" one of the nobles pleaded.
"Boring," Jack sneered. "Kill them all."
The Jack Pirates descended on the fleeing fleet with vicious grins.
"I'm the king of the Joromia Kingdom! Our kingdom is a World Government affiliate! You'll bring the wrath of the Marines down upon you! I've already sent a distress call—they're coming! If you don't want to be annihilated, leave now!" the former king of Joromia said, trembling.
"Idiot. Are you threatening me?" Jack said, voice cold as steel. He reached out, grabbed the former king by the head, and slammed him into the deck.
CRACK! The deck shattered under the force. Blood poured from the king's skull, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"Scum… scum… scum!!" Jack snarled, not stopping. Again and again, he lifted the lifeless king and smashed him into the deck until he was nothing more than a pulp of blood and shattered bone.
The nobles had become the perfect outlet for Jack's pent-up rage.
"Kill. Not a single one lives!" he ordered with a final cold stare.
"Kill!!" The Jack Pirates roared in glee, charging into the terrified nobles with twisted delight.
…
Back at the Joromia Kingdom Palace—
"Your Majesty, repairing the city walls will require 700,000 Berries."
"Your Majesty, the residents urgently need lumber for rebuilding."
"Your Majesty, over ten thousand citizens are severely injured and in desperate need of treatment—but we lack doctors."
"Your Majesty, most of the villages and towns were destroyed by the pirates. People are sleeping in the streets. This must be addressed quickly."
"Your Majesty, the royal treasury is nearly empty. We can't fund government operations."
"…"
Rosinante hadn't expected ruling even a tiny kingdom to come with such a flood of responsibilities. In his previous life, he was just a college student—what did he know about governance? His head was starting to spin.
"There's nothing left in the royal treasury?" Rosinante asked.
"Your Majesty, when the royals and nobles fled, they took all the national treasures with them. The kingdom's coffers are nearly dry. If we don't find a way to replenish them, the entire kingdom might collapse," Felost reported grimly.
He wasn't exaggerating. The people had just survived a massacre and were emotionally on edge. They desperately needed the kingdom's help to get back on their feet. But if the government couldn't provide aid, unrest would erupt—especially if some ambitious agitators stirred the pot.
Despite Rosinante saving them, there were still many who didn't want a foreigner ruling over them. The world wasn't lacking in schemers, and the New World was crawling with them.
People are like that: in crisis, they pray for salvation. But once the storm passes, they start plotting how to protect their own interests.
If Rosinante couldn't meet their expectations, they'd begin to wonder—if an outsider like him could become king, why couldn't they? And ambition would quickly blind them to his overwhelming power.
"I understand. I'll figure something out about the money. As for housing—the nobles ran off, didn't they? Reclaim their estates. Any noble who refused to stand with the people during the kingdom's crisis is no noble at all. Strip them of their titles and confiscate all their assets. Let the displaced citizens take shelter in their abandoned homes," Rosinante said.
"Understood, Your Majesty!" Felost replied with determination.
"I wonder if Jack caught up to those nobles. Now that I'm king, their stolen treasure is mine. I won't let them get away with it."
With that thought, Rosinante lightly kicked off the ground—and with explosive speed, soared into the sky. A powerful step crushed the air beneath him, and in an instant, he shot through the sky like a cannonball toward the horizon.