In the royal palace of Lulusia—
The attendant at Ronan's side was reporting the situation within the kingdom.
Thanks to the efforts of local officials to calm the population, the people's emotions remained relatively stable. When he mentioned that some of those who had come because of Ronan's special decree had now left the kingdom after Lulusia was stripped of its World Government membership, Ronan's expression did not change at all.
This was entirely within his expectations. Human nature was like that—seeking benefit and avoiding harm. He could understand it.
But if those people wanted to come back and pledge themselves again in the future, Ronan had no intention of giving them that chance.
However, when he heard from the attendant that there were still a few people who had chosen to stay, Ronan was a little surprised.
"Bring me their files."
"All the files are here, Your Highness."
The attendant respectfully handed over the documents in his hands. Ronan took them and began to flip through, page by page.
His gaze swept quickly past those names that were either unfamiliar or only vaguely heard of. But when his eyes stopped on two of the names and the accompanying photographs, a rare hint of surprise appeared on his face.
To him, a transmigrator, these two names were anything but unfamiliar.
"Gasparde…"
Ronan's memories were instantly pulled back to the movie from his previous life, "Adventure in Dead End." That troublesome man who could turn any part of his body into candy, nullifying most physical attacks, and could even turn ships into candy. A defected Marine Headquarters rear admiral.
Originally, Ronan had thought that according to the "original storyline," this guy should have gone on to become a pirate. He never expected that, because of his own butterfly effect, this man did not choose to become a pirate, but instead somehow ended up here—
and even picked up a position as an instructor in the new army?
"Gave up being a Marine to become an instructor? No matter how you look at it, the Marines would have a brighter future than my side, right?"
"Or does he think that staying here will give him a better shot at something bigger?"
Ronan stared at Gasparde's photo for a while, then looked down at the next name.
"Kuro…"
This was the captain of the Black Cat Pirates. Although, at this point in time, Ronan couldn't be sure whether the man had actually been a pirate yet, he knew very well what kind of mind this guy had. Kuro was clever—very clever—and outstanding at planning. In the "original storyline," he had designed his own fake death to escape Marine pursuit.
So now, with the kingdom in a crisis, why hadn't he left?
With Kuro's cunning and caution, there was no way he couldn't see the massive risk in staying.
Was this guy "betting" too?
At that thought, Ronan couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that his age, and the strength Lulusia had displayed, were enough to make at least some ambitious people willing to gamble on him. Judge was one, and the people in these files were another.
But risk always came with reward. High risk meant high returns.
Ronan then ordered the attendant to keep a close watch on those who had chosen to stay.
If they could survive the World Government's suppression of Lulusia Kingdom, Ronan wouldn't mind giving them generous benefits in return.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The attendant bowed respectfully and quietly withdrew.
In the now-empty side hall, Ronan once again picked up that list. His gaze ran back and forth over the names "Gasparde" and "Kuro."
"Chaos is a ladder…" Ronan murmured.
He, too, wanted more. With his status panel in hand now, there was no way he would be satisfied with Celestial Dragons still sitting above his head.
Sabaody Archipelago, 13GR, Rip-off Bar.
"Hey, Rayleigh."
Shakky put down the glass she had just polished to a shine. "There's some news I think you'll be interested in."
"Oh? What news?"
Rayleigh took a sip of rum and gestured for her to go on.
"Mary Geoise's been pretty noisy lately." Shakky lowered her voice, even though there weren't any other guests in the bar. "At least three Marine Headquarters vice admirals have secretly headed there with their own units to assemble. They're moving very quietly, but it's hard to hide something like that from certain people who pay attention."
Rayleigh raised an eyebrow and took another gulp of liquor. "A Marine deployment. What's there to be surprised about? Maybe some idiot in the New World has started acting up again."
"Doesn't feel like that." Shakky shook her head. "It might be related to a certain kid who's been making a lot of waves recently."
When she said that, she couldn't help but think back to the first time she'd seen Ronan a few years ago, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
Rayleigh, of course, knew exactly who she meant.
"Lulusia? Just three vice admirals?"
He snorted. "Shakky, are you underestimating those two little girls who took down Shiki? That old lunatic might be crazy, but he hasn't lost his strength. Anyone who can kill him… and they're going to be handled by a mere three vice admirals from Headquarters?"
Not to mention Teresa, who had fought Mihawk to a draw. Rayleigh did not believe that sort of force could threaten Lulusia Kingdom.
Shakky's gaze turned thoughtful. "What if… it's not just three vice admirals? What if they send an admiral?"
"An admiral?"
Rayleigh's hand, still gripping the glass, paused for a moment. Then he downed the rest of his drink in one go.
"Glug… Well, then things will get a lot more lively."
"But what's that got to do with an old man like me? I'm just a coating craftsman now. Why should I be worrying about that?"
He clicked his tongue and started grumbling.
"Come to think of it, it's all that brat Ronan's fault. These past few years he's been stirring up trouble all over the first half of the Grand Line, hunting pirates and cashing in bounties. Now, more than half the pirates who used to dare come to Sabaody don't even show up anymore!"
"This coating business of mine is about to die. There are barely any hot-headed kids left who still want to rush into the New World. Seriously…"
He spoke while shaking his head, but Shakky, who had spent decades by his side, knew him far too well.
Everything in his tone was screaming that he didn't actually mean what he was saying.
Just as she was about to comment on it, the bar's wooden door creaked open.
A group of people stepped inside.
At the front was a man in a white shirt, collar open, chest bare, with a head of short red hair. It was Shanks, newly arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago.
Behind him followed Beckman, Yasopp, Lucky Roo, and the rest of his core crew.
"Oh? It's busy today." Shanks greeted them with an easy smile, his gaze landing on Rayleigh and Shakky. "Rayleigh, Shakky, it's been a long time."
"Busy where?" Shakky scoffed lightly. "This whole place only has me and this old man. At this rate the bar's not going to survive much longer."
But when her gaze fell on Shanks' empty left sleeve, her expression grew serious.
"Shanks… you brat…"
Beside her, Rayleigh slammed his glass down and stared hard at Shanks' left arm.
"What happened to your hand?!"
He couldn't imagine it. With Shanks' current level of strength, who in the first half of the Grand Line could possibly cut off one of his arms?
Unless he had gone and provoked that walking disaster from Lulusia Kingdom.
(End of Chapter)
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