I have to say, the greenery on this island is seriously awful. Once you leave the city, as far as the eye can see there's barely a single tree. The only "green" left is the wild grass covering the ground.
"That's because of the war. Anything that can be used can't be wasted," Katherlin said. She clearly knew more about this than the others.
"How long has the war between your countries been going on?"
"Who knows? Anyway, it was already going on when I was born. They say it's been decades, I think it started back in my great-grandfather's generation. At first it was just small skirmishes, but recently it feels like they're about to get serious."
"Then how did you end up here? By rights, it should've been impossible for you to come here alone."
"There was a traitor in our country." When she said that, Katherlin gritted her teeth, hatred practically dripping from her voice.
"He lured me outside the city, but there was already a squad of soldiers from this kingdom waiting in ambush. So, as you'd expect, I got captured. When they tried to send me back to their palace, I took the chance to escape."
"You escaped?" Baichuan was genuinely surprised. "You, a weak woman with no strength to tie up a chicken, got away from trained soldiers? How?"
"Because I had sleeping drug on me. When they were cooking, I secretly put it in the food. Then when they all passed out, I ran."
"Then you were really lucky. If a few of them hadn't eaten, you wouldn't have gotten out." Baichuan paused. "But I'm a little surprised. Why would you carry sleeping drug around with you?"
"Hehe." Katherlin stuck out her tongue, embarrassed. "It's a must-have for my pranks. I didn't think I'd end up using it then."
"Pranks. With sleeping drug." Baichuan didn't even know what to say anymore. "You really are mischievous."
"I'm starting to suspect your father couldn't stand your pranks and deliberately wanted to send you to the Mol Kingdom."
"Impossible. My father isn't that kind of person. Don't talk nonsense."
"Alright, alright. I won't."
From the conversations along the way, Baichuan understood why Katherlin ended up here, and what her country was like.
Unlike the power-first countries they were currently in, the Mol Kingdom focused mainly on governance. Their military might be weaker, but their internal administration was the best of the three nations, and their people had the strongest sense of belonging.
After introducing herself, Katherlin also wanted a clearer understanding of the three of them.
"What about you? Where are you from?"
"Buggy and I are from the West Blue," Shanks said, throwing an arm around Buggy's neck in an overly intimate way.
"The West Blue? Buggy, you're actually from the West Blue?" Baichuan blinked. "I thought you were from the East Blue."
Baichuan knew Shanks came from the West Blue, but he'd always assumed Buggy was from the East Blue.
After all, in the Pirate King story, the Straw Hat crew first ran into Buggy in the East Blue.
"Of course I'm from the West Blue." Buggy snorted. "People from the East Blue are all monsters. I can't deal with that."
"What do you mean?"
"Look at the Captain and the vice-captain, both from the East Blue. Even the Marines' Garp is from the East Blue." Buggy spoke like he'd cracked some cosmic truth. "If I were from the East Blue, maybe my strength would already match the vice-captain's."
"Hah." Baichuan gave a cold laugh. "With your personality, it wouldn't matter where you were born."
"If you want to get stronger, you might as well find a stronger Devil Fruit to eat."
"Impossible." Buggy instantly refused. "A Devil Fruit worth 100,000,000100,000,000 beli. If you eat it, isn't that just wasting it? The correct way to use a Devil Fruit is to exchange it for beli."
"Heh. You really are a money-grubber." Baichuan shook his head. "If you aren't strong, no matter how much money you have, you won't be able to keep it."
"And you?" Katherlin asked. She didn't fully understand the back-and-forth between Baichuan and Shanks and Buggy, but she did catch that Shanks and Buggy were born in a place called the West Blue.
"Me?" Baichuan pointed up at the sky. "I'm from up there."
"The sky?" Katherlin stared at him like he was crazy. "You're lying. How could a person come from the sky?"
"You don't believe me? Ask them." Baichuan nodded at Shanks and Buggy. "They both saw me come down from the sky."
"That's true." Shanks chimed in. "Baichuan really did come down from the sky. He gave us a scare back then."
To be honest, even now, Baichuan still didn't know why he had descended right into the Roger Pirates' orbit. Maybe it was because Roger's Conqueror's Haki was too strong, drawing him in with that kingly power.
"Wow, then you're really amazing," Katherlin said, sounding impressed, though the way she said it was clearly perfunctory.
"If you don't believe it, there's nothing I can do." Baichuan spread his hands helplessly.
Just then, Baichuan suddenly heard a rapid pounding of hooves, coming straight toward them at high speed.
"What is it, Baichuan?" Shanks asked when he saw Baichuan stop and his expression turn grave.
Shanks knew Baichuan didn't change his face for no reason. Something must have happened.
"Someone's coming toward us. If nothing goes wrong, it should be an enemy."
As he said that, Baichuan snapped his focus forward and saw a black-scaled horse in the distance, charging toward them.
As the horse drew closer, Katherlin finally saw the fat figure riding it. Her expression changed instantly.
"Who is he?" Baichuan asked, noticing her shift.
"He's the infamous Butcher Akda," Katherlin said through clenched teeth. "He's both the city lord and the general in charge of defending the city."
"Is that so?" Baichuan narrowed his eyes. "Then it looks like his target is us."
Not far from them, Akda reined in his black-scaled horse. His gaze slid over Katherlin, and a lewd expression spread across his face.
"Princess Katherlin, why did you leave without telling me?" he said, oily and smug. "You really didn't give me any face."
The moment he finished, Katherlin hurriedly hid behind Baichuan, trembling.
"Oh, you mean you were kidnapped by them?" Akda said, smiling like he'd already won. "Don't worry. I'll kill them all in a moment and personally escort you back into the city."
When Katherlin heard that, her body shook even harder.
"Hey." Buggy stepped forward, clearly disgusted. "You pig-faced bastard, aren't you running your mouth a bit too much?"
Buggy had survived facing people like Garp, the Golden Lion, Whitebeard, and more. A small city's general was nothing to him.
"Pig?" Akda's face sank. "You dare call me a pig?"
"That's right. You're a fat pig." Buggy pointed right at him. "And you're still bragging about killing us? If you can do it, then try."
No one knew where Buggy got the courage, but he really said it.
"Then I'll start with you." Akda sprang off his horse and rushed straight at Buggy, a massive cleaver in hand, ready to chop Buggy's head off at any moment.
Buggy went a little numb with fear. He hadn't expected this dead-fat bastard to be so agile.
But Shanks reacted fast. He drew his blade and stepped in front of Buggy, blocking Akda's strike.
Shanks was the type who fought with狠 and few words. Life and death meant little to him. If you don't accept it, then fight.
/-\
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