Sorbet Kingdom, South Blue.
On the east blue emperor with its dragon head and red sails, the Morning Star Pirates were holding an internal meeting, with the intern, the little dark-skinned girl Robin, in charge of taking notes.
"Captain, the east blue emperor is too large a target. Entering the Sorbet Kingdom rashly is highly likely to attract the attention of the Marines and the World Government."
Fujitora continued, "To avoid unnecessary trouble for our subsequent actions, I suggest that you and Mr. Mihawk travel light."
Seven retracted the electric arcs dancing at his fingertips and, in a rare move, vetoed Fujitora Issho's proposal.
"It's not necessary."
"We'll sail the ship there openly. Without permission from the World Government, the Marines won't easily engage us in battle, let alone the Marines of the four seas."
"Don't underestimate our influence."
In the future, after the Four Emperors system was established on the sea, why were they able to coexist peacefully with the Marines for many years?
What the World Government wants is stability and order. Rashly starting a war with a Four Emperors pirate crew would only cause instability, which does not align with the World Government's interests.
Although the Morning Star Pirates are few in number, every member is a walking natural disaster—
A Captain who summons thunderstorms, a vice-captain who cleaves mountains and seas at will, and a combatant who summons meteors; the Marines would have to deploy at least three Admiral-level combatants to have a chance of taking them down.
The cost and the reward are disproportionate. The World Government won't engage in such a losing business.
Seven pointed to the map hanging behind him.
"The Sorbet Kingdom has been split in two by the current King Bekori. The northern urban cluster continues to pay the tenryuubito tribute as a World Government member nation, while the southern rural areas have become a lawless zone."
"This guy has some wisdom, but not much."
The tenryuubito tribute is collected based on population size.
It is a system of treasures that the 170 member nations of the World Government pay annually to the Celestial Dragons, transported by Marine warships to the Holy Land Mary Geoise to maintain their affiliation.
King Bekori's aim in splitting the kingdom in two was to reduce the population count, thereby decreasing the amount of tenryuubito tribute paid to the Celestial Dragons.
Such operations are common practice on the sea.
Compared to the massive amount of tenryuubito tribute, the kings don't care at all whether half of their citizens live or die.
You should know that the Celestial Dragons aren't the only ones who are filthy and corrupt on this sea; kings, nobles, pirates, and even some Marines are all birds of a feather.
Seven pointed to a certain area on the map.
"After the Battle of God Valley ended, Kuma and Ginny returned to the South Blue. They are currently serving as pastors in a church in the southern countryside of the Sorbet Kingdom, treating commoners for free."
"If we want to dispel Kuma's concerns, we must overthrow the rule of the current King Bekori and find a decent king for the Sorbet Kingdom."
During the era when the former King Bulldog reigned, although they were poor, their spirits were rich..."
Mihawk said out of the blue, "The difficulty is precisely being poor..."
Seven shrugged.
"Whether they are poor or not has nothing to do with us; it's the Celestial Dragons who are robbing them of their wealth."
"We aren't saviors. It's enough to give them a relatively loose and democratic environment. Changing their impoverished lives can only depend on themselves."
"Mihawk, let's go to town first to buy supplies. Mr. Fujitora will stay behind to guard the ship."
Mihawk nodded slightly. "Alright."
Despite repeatedly emphasizing the need to develop stealthily, as soon as they arrived at the Sorbet Kingdom, they were going to overthrow the current king's rule.
It just had to be you, Beelzebul!
Before long, the east blue emperor docked steadily at the port of a southern town.
Due to the lack of manpower in the pirate crew, the task of replenishing supplies could only be handled by Seven, the Captain and chef, and Mihawk, the vice-captain and helmsman.
Robin and the Ohara scholars were essentially walking time bombs, unsuitable for showing their faces in public.
This also made Seven realize that he had to recruit some loyal and versatile crew members as soon as possible to handle these trivial matters, so the time saved could be used to develop his Rumble-Rumble Fruit abilities.
Regarding the development of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit—
Following powerful moves like the Railgun, Seven was currently focusing on bioelectricity—specifically, brainwaves similar to telepathy.
It was a higher realm of Observation Haki.
Besides telepathy, Observation Haki also included foreseeing the future, reading memories... and even listening to the Voice of All Things, which might be the ultimate manifestation of Observation Haki... Stepping onto the town's commercial street, Seven and Mihawk split up to purchase supplies.
Among the scattered alleys, most of the storefronts remained open, yet the streets were empty, with only signs occasionally creaking as they were blown by the wind.
As a heavy meat lover, Seven immediately went to a butcher shop to make purchases.
Various types of meat were displayed on the butcher's counter. Behind it, the owner's eyes were alert as he slowly wiped a thick-backed knife.
As the God of Sky Island, the wealth of the Gold Country was immeasurable, but Seven felt that bargaining was the true joy of shopping, regardless of the thickness of one's wallet.
"Twenty percent off, and I'll take it all."
The owner's movements paused.
"Customer, these are fresh goods slaughtered just this morning. Look at the texture of the meat; there's nothing better in town than what I have."
Seven pointed to the empty street.
"Someone has to buy it, right? Besides me, who else is on the street now?"
The owner was silent for a moment before setting the knife down.
"Fine, we'll go with the price you said."
"Do you need delivery?"
Businessmen are best at reading people. Seven's attire clearly showed he wasn't a local, likely a merchant stopping at the pier for supplies.
Why not a pirate?
In all his years of business, the butcher had never seen such an easy-to-talk-to pirate. If the other party were a pirate, a blade would already be at his throat.
"Deliver it to the pier."
While waiting for the packaging, Seven casually asked.
"Boss, I see this town is quite large, so why isn't there a single soul on the street?"
The butcher explained, "The villagers have all been arrested by the King."
"Arrested?"
As if finally finding someone to vent to, the butcher opened up. "To tell you the truth, the King has abandoned us rural areas."
"Our pastor led the villagers to try and get the King to rescind the order, but they were all locked up in the kingdom's prison."
"Pastor Kuma is a good man. He's been treating us for free all these years and helps anyone who runs into trouble."
"I just don't understand. Why isn't such a good person the King?"
Seven shrugged: Because he's the crew member I have my eye on. If Kuma becomes your king, what will I, the Captain, do?
I, the Captain, fought all the way from the West Blue to the Sorbet Kingdom just because I was worried the Cold Sweat King would get to him first.
Looking at it now, the timing is perfect.
"Boss, deliver the goods to the largest ship at the pier. I'm going to buy some other things."
The butcher pushed a small cart. "Customer, let me go with you. I can help you load other things as well."
"That would be great." Seven didn't refuse the kindness.
Humans, these little things, when they are good, they are truly good, even able to receive the doting of the legendary Lover King.
When they are bad... well, let's not say things that affect unity.
After nearly clearing out the supplies sold in the town, Seven led the delivery merchants back to the pier.
Once all the supplies were moved, the east blue emperor left the port under the stunned gazes of the merchants.