"Yes!"
Kuzan sprinted to the bow, wiped sweat from his face and swallowed hard. He had only been to this place once as a small child. After that his parents died on that island, and the Sorbet Kingdom became a memory, a yearning. Unlike the craziness of the Grand Line, the Four Blues were mostly "normal" — with charts and a good navigator you could manage.
Olivia, with her skills and study, quickly took up the navigator's duties.
"Resupply!" Sharn liked to say that phrase most of all. If you resupplied, you could eat your fill — store up fighting energy. Sharn had found that after merging the Eat-Eat Fruit's storage space with the Meatball Fruit's power, practically nothing couldn't be absorbed: impurities could be popped out and the rest stored in perfect form. Movement no longer required snapping his hands to launch — he could use the meatball patterns on his soles to move at high speed while unleashing pressure blasts from hands and mouth at the same time.
He even tried to "弹出" (expel) the power of the Thunder-Thunder Fruit stored inside his eat-space — to trigger only its power while leaving behind its user-side effects. Every attempt failed.
"Am I still too weak? Damn."
Sharn leapt straight to the harbor and dashed for a tavern. If his strength wasn't enough, he would keep training until both of his superhuman fruits were awakened. He refused to accept failure.
"Boss, your tavern's door smells pretty good!" Sharn bit the tavern door as he passed and swallowed it — then, after a moment, he re-formed it into a brand-new dining table. He spat out a set of forged silverware he'd just synthesized and announced, "Bring all your food!"
Ding! He didn't need money — with the Eat-Eat Fruit he could extract gold and silver from anything he'd swallowed. The fruit could synthesize and perfectly purify. Having swallowed many rare materials before, he produced gold coins and silver that clinked onto the bar. The tavern owner wisely hustled his staff and kitchen; course after course of delicious food appeared.
Kaido only picked at a few bites and kept drinking.
"Did you learn that drinking habit from John? Too much is unhealthy — take care of your body!" Sharn said, stuffing dumplings packed with everything into his mouth. He inhaled roast meat, bread, fruit — everything.
"Captain! We haven't eaten yet!" Moria shuffled to another table. Following Sharn's gluttony meant going without three days to make up for it, but soon they had a feast. The three trainees ate until tears came to their eyes. Kaido scoffed.
"It's the same for me — my body can extract all nutrients. What's the difference? Black dragon form looks flashy but surface-level only!" Kaido smugly gulped his drink.
At the docks, the giant Saint Juan "Evil Wolf" and Molly were moving supplies. Olivia recorded local features and inventoried goods.
"Self-deception — black dragon form is the strongest Devil Fruit, possessing everything!" Sharn teased, making Kaido steam.
The Sorbet Kingdom's harbor had a momentary panic. People were frightened by the pirate flag and the giants. But when no fighting broke out, they did their best to act like nothing happened — better not to poke the hornet's nest.
"Thanks, your cherry pie is great," Sharn said, swallowing twenty cherry pies at once. He was about to pay the bill when the tavern door was thrown open.
"Disaster!" someone blurted. "The king is going to raze half of the Sorbet Kingdom! He claims those people are old, weak, sick, unable to pay the Heavenly Tribute!"
"He's starting a war with the southern church!"
What? Kuzan was the first to stand, furious. The rumors were true. He leapt up but found the rest of the tavern blasé — the owner hid silently behind the bar. The messenger was quickly escorted away by two guards.
"You dared to question our great King Bekolli!" the guards barked as they hauled the man off. The tavern grew even quieter.
When the royal guards saw pirates in the tavern, they pretended not to notice — especially when Kaido and Sharn were present. They went pale.
"That's it?" Kuzan stood frozen, sunglasses slipping from his curled hair. Darkness shaded his youthful eyes.
"Why's Kuzan mad?" Urouge asked, puzzled. He was still learning how the world worked.
"Because the king — like the 'gods' of Sky Islands — is abandoning half his people to die," Moria explained, chuckling in his odd way. "Places like Kuzan's home and my village get ditched all the time. If you want the navy's protection you pay the Heavenly Tribute to the World Government. Even paying it doesn't guarantee justice; the Celestial Dragons do whatever they please."
Each word struck Kuzan like a nail. "So my family… my island were the abandoned ones." He clenched his fists and bolted out of the tavern. For the first time since joining Sharn's crew he felt full — and that made him believe he could actually change things.
"Captain! Defeat the king's forces!" Kuzan cried. "I want to stop this war! This is my duty!"
"Half the kingdom's being thrown away, yet there are many places on the sea that don't even have the chance to be 'abandoned' — they can't even afford the tribute," Kuzan shouted. "If they can be cast aside, it's a crime. We should take down the Celestial Dragons someday! That's my justice — blazing justice!"
Everyone around him went silent and nervous at the word "justice." Sharn stepped out of the tavern. His tall silhouette blocked Kuzan's path.
Justice — a word of the Marines. Kuzan suddenly realized his words could have angered Sharn. After days with the crew he'd learned how powerful Sharn was. He turned — and Sharn plopped a cap on his head: a navy-style baseball cap embroidered with the Sharn Pirate Crew's dragon-scale flag.
"We aren't caught up in petty labels aboard this crew," Sharn said. "Kuzan — charge forward. Become the kind of seafaring sovereign who can make your justice burn."
The cap covered Kuzan's boyhood; he swore to become a sea emperor and make his blazing justice spread across the seas.
"Men — take the Sorbet Kingdom!" Sharn launched the attack. With three trainees, three regular crew, and a vice-captain, the ragged flotilla set out for the Sorbet Kingdom.
At the same time, in another place of lawlessness, Father Kuma charged forward on the front lines shouting, while the Sorbet King Bekolli shouted orders that would doom many:
"Burn it all! Take that fool and burn this place!"
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