<><><><><><>
Dragon listened, and he was shaken.
How beautiful...
How profound...
How true...
From the formation of the Freedom Fighters to the establishment of the Revolutionary Army, he had experienced so much misunderstanding.
Sometimes, he felt lost.
Why?
The Revolutionary Army was trying to save these people, but they would rather kneel before their kings and nobles than pick up a weapon and fight back.
They would even curse the Revolutionary Army, believing that they were the ones who had disrupted the order, who had brought the king's wrath down upon them.
It happened all the time.
Ignorance.
Apathy.
They bowed to the strong and were cruel to the weak.
Dragon couldn't understand it.
And so, all he could do was follow the winds of fate.
Perhaps... if he overthrew the World Government, the Celestial Dragons... perhaps then things would change.
The burden on his shoulders was so heavy.
But he had no one to talk to.
And in that moment, listening to Jin's speech, he felt, for the first time in a long time, a sense of being understood.
That last line... it sent a shiver down his spine, a jolt of electricity through his body.
An indescribable emotion welled up in his chest. His heart surged.
No matter how difficult the road ahead, a warrior would not be defeated.
"BRAVO!" Dragon said, clapping his hands. "That is the greatest comfort, the greatest encouragement I have ever heard for a warrior. I feel... revitalized."
Jin shook his head. "I can't take the credit. It was a man named Isaac Rosenberg. A great man."
"Can I meet him?" Dragon asked, his eyes lighting up.
"You can't," Jin said. "He's long gone. I've only read his works. Hearing them slander Kuma... it just came to mind."
"What a pity," Dragon sighed. "To not be able to speak with him... it is a great regret. King Jin, those works... may I read them? I feel they would be of great help to us. In all my years as a revolutionary, I've come to realize that the thing that truly imprisons people is not kings or nobles, but..."
He pointed to his head. "Their minds."
Jin smiled. "Perhaps. If I have time, and if I remember, I'll send some your way."
Dragon understood. Books like that would surely be banned by the World Government. To possess them... Ohara was a stark reminder of the consequences.
Jin looked at the raging storm. "Do you always show up with a storm? You're quite the showman."
Dragon cleared his throat. "The World Government's Cipher Pol has been giving us trouble. It's the only way to ensure the safety of my comrades. The Marines should be here soon. You should leave. We'll handle the rest."
"Alright," Jin said. "Please keep my identity a secret."
"Of course," Dragon nodded. "For future contact... how about we use 'Life's Mentor' as a codename?"
Jin's eye twitched. "Ugh... whatever."
"Kuma. Let's go."
The wind and the rain covered their tracks.
—————————
Back on the demonic carrier, Kuma stood on the deck, gazing at his homeland as it receded into the distance. "Is there really any hope for this country?"
Jin was about to say yes, but then he thought, as a "mentor," he should say something more profound.
"Ai," he thought, "search my terabytes of data. Find me a quote I can use to sound smart right now."
Ai ran a search and presented a list of options.
Jin chose one.
"Hope is the thing with feathers," he said, his voice deep and solemn, "that perches in the soul."
Kuma savored the words. They were so profound. It was a quote from a "god." He took out his little notebook and wrote it down.
Perhaps, he thought, his records could become the "holy scripture" of a future generation.
And that speech Jin had given earlier... it had been truly moving. Hearing the slander, he had begun to doubt himself. But those words... they had restored his fighting spirit.
—————————
"SHOCKING! KUMA THE TYRANT, WHO DISAPPEARED 500 DAYS AGO, RETURNS TO SORBET KINGDOM TO ASSASSINATE THE KING!!!"
"TYRANT: KUMA KILLS KING! A MAJOR FAILURE FOR THE MARINES!"
"2,080,000,000 BERRIES! KUMA THE TYRANT'S BOUNTY SKYROCKETS!"
The news of King Bekori's death was quickly reported by the World Economic Journal, sparking a heated debate around the world.
The kings of the member nations were terrified. They all called the Five Elders, demanding that the Marines capture Kuma immediately.
Before, Kuma had only driven the king out. Now, he was killing them. And most of the kings didn't have clean hands.
Who wouldn't be afraid?
And this would inspire copycats.
It was adding fuel to the fire of an already chaotic world.
It was a challenge to their authority.
The repercussions were too great, the act too heinous.
The Five Elders were furious. They put pressure on Kong, who put pressure on Sengoku. In the end, Aokiji was dispatched to the South Blue with a fleet.
His orders were to capture Kuma within a month.
"Bartholomew Kuma?! He's insane! He's being hunted by the Marines, and he still dares to go back and kill a king?"
"So cool!"
"I declare, Kuma is my new idol!"
Around the world, the restless, the oppressed, all felt a surge of excitement at the news.
At the Revolutionary Army's base, Sabo, Koala, and the others, who knew the truth of the situation in the Sorbet Kingdom, cheered as they read the paper.
In Impel Down, Ivankov's jaw dropped. "What? Kuma killed a king?"
"Are you sure you heard that right?" he asked Inazuma, who had heard the news from the vice-warden. Ivankov was deeply suspicious. It had to be fake news. His old friend Kuma, a pacifist, so gentle he wouldn't even kill an ant... a king killer?
He'd be damned.
—————————
While the world was still reeling from news of Kuma's regicide, chaos was unfolding on Kutsukku Island in the South Blue.
Inside a local tavern, several tables lay overturned, food and drink mixing into a reeking mess across the floor. The tavern owner cowered in the corner, head buried in his hands, shaking like a leaf.
"You're the one they call 'Kid'?" Jin said, holding a red-haired youth by the scruff of his neck.
The youth had a fiery red mohawk and a pair of black goggles perched on his head. His eyes were fierce.
"I AM," he snarled, glaring up at Jin, a look of pure defiance on his face, even as he was beaten and bloodied.
The young Eustass Kid was already one of the four bosses of the island's four "delinquent districts."
To Jin's disappointment, he hadn't yet obtained the Magnet-Magnet Fruit.
"Kid! What's wrong?! Hey! Who are you?! Let him go!"
Kid's friend, Killer, and his childhood friend, Doruyanaika, had arrived with a group of their underlings.
Jin unleashed his Conqueror's Haki, and they all collapsed, unconscious. His arm stretched out, turning to candy and wrapping around Doruyanaika.
"Bring me any Devil Fruit you find, and you can have her back," Jin said, dropping a card on the ground.
"Hey! Let her go!" Kid roared, and a powerful aura erupted from his body.
Jin raised an eyebrow. Conqueror's Haki awakening?
He casually slapped him unconscious.
<><><><><><>
~ 80 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
~# Every 100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter!
~# Add to Library!