“Hahaha!”

The first sound that rang out was a hearty laugh. The leader, with golden hair like Lily’s, wore a crown and a luxurious cloak. Beneath it, his attire shimmered with jewels, but his body was round and plump, resembling a giant ball.

“Lily, long time no see!”

This person had a thick beard covering his face, his skin was rough, and as he laughed heartily, several of his front teeth were missing. He appeared to be a lecherous fool, albeit a tall and rotund one.

Sarg estimated he was at least two and a half meters tall.

Upon seeing this person, Lily clenched her teeth and spat out a few words through clenched jaws: “Ennio!!”

The man before her was none other than the mastermind behind the country’s turmoil, the despicable usurper—Bendetta Ennio!

Ennio flashed a mouthful of gold teeth and said, “I finally caught you, Lily. During your absence, I was quite worried that something might have happened to you…”

“You bastard!”

Lily’s eyes reddened, and she was about to charge forward, but as soon as she moved, the soldiers behind Ennio quickly stepped forward, using their guns to block her, halting her movement.

Ennio reached out his large hand as if to caress her face, but Lily pushed him away, glaring at him with anger.

He continued to reach for her face while asking, “So, since you’ve escaped, why did you come back?”

Lily raised her head and stared directly at that ugly face, gritting her teeth and saying, “Of course it’s to stop you from continuing your rampage. This country cannot be ruined any further by you!”

Ennio sneered, “How do you plan to stop me? By relying on your bounty, or on this bunch of commoners who don’t even know you? Don’t be ridiculous; they are worthless aside from obediently paying taxes.”

“But they can choose not to pay!”

Lily gritted her teeth and said, “As long as they separate from the Oikota Kingdom and are no longer your citizens, they can choose not to pay taxes. If you don’t have money coming in from taxes, you won’t be able to maintain your throne!”

A hint of concealed shock flickered in Ennio’s eyes, but he quickly burst into laughter. “Are you suggesting they become bandits? Even if they were bandits, they would still be on my territory! Or do you want them to go to sea?”

He didn’t even give Lily a chance to respond. He raised his hand and shouted to the citizens watching from behind, “Hey, go to sea! As long as you go to sea, you won’t have to pay heavy taxes. Taxes are not this heavy elsewhere, so hurry and set sail!”

The heavy taxes and the burden of life had left the citizens struggling. Each one they passed along the way looked pale. If they could choose to go to sea and change their way of life, then they would definitely…

Not make any move.

The onlooking citizens showed no signs of reaction; instead, they stepped back in fear.

“Lily, you should understand that this country has declined because of the war with pirates.”

Ennio grinned maliciously, stroking Lily’s cheek, and said in a deep voice, “Go to sea? Even if I, the king, personally ordered it, they wouldn’t do it. Do you know why I can recklessly increase taxes? Because they are a bunch of cowards! Cowards have no right to go to sea!”

Saying this, he shook his head and smiled, seeming to lose interest, waving his hand, “Captain Mouse…”

A navy officer dressed like he was in a trench coat stepped forward. His hat was attached to the coat, and it had two ears on it. His beard was long like a mouse’s, with three long whiskers on each side, making his face resemble a… mouse.

He didn’t look well; there were bruises on his face that hadn’t faded, and he appeared to have a swollen nose and face.

He looked Lily up and down with a lecherous grin. “I am Colonel Mouse from the Sixteenth Division of the Navy. Hearing about King Ennio's previous assassination attempt, I specifically applied to change the local wanted notice into a world government wanted notice. Now that we’ve found her, we can carry out the arrest!”

Ennio said, “Lily, you are a troublesome heir. Why not hand you over to the world government? In that case, I could gain a source of income, right, Colonel Mouse?”

Colonel Mouse smiled even wider. “A beauty like this, especially with her noble identity as a princess, could fetch a high price as a slave. She might even catch the attention of the Celestial Dragons; they are quite willing to spend money.”

“Exactly!” Ennio displayed a reckless smile.

“Um…”

Suddenly, a voice interrupted.

Sarg raised his hand and said, “I caught her, so whatever you want to do, shouldn’t the bounty be settled?”

He had been watching for so long without being able to interject and was feeling anxious.

“Oh? So you’re the one who caught Lily?”

Only then did Ennio turn to Sarg, narrowing his eyes and glancing at his white hair, laughing, “It’s no longer the kingdom’s bounty; if you want money, you have to find the Navy. But, Colonel Mouse, white hair is quite rare…”

Colonel Mouse looked at Sarg’s white hair and smiled, “Indeed, you are under arrest.”

Tap, tap, tap!

With his words, the soldiers behind him drew their guns and blades, quickly surrounding Sarg.

No…

What does this have to do with him?

Sarg glanced around at the navy soldiers surrounding him and said, “The navy doesn’t have the right to arrest me; I haven’t committed any crimes and I’m not a pirate.”

“Look at my wounds!”

Colonel Mouse pointed to his bruised face. “You attacked a navy officer; I consider you a pirate, so I can certainly arrest you!”

Sarg raised an eyebrow, looking at the two men wearing lecherous smiles, nodding, “Got it, you want to play dirty, right?”

As expected, bad luck followed him around.

He took a step back, raising his hand. “Just my luck, I’m just a bounty hunter targeting the Evil Dragon Pirates and have no intention of clashing with you.”

He didn’t want to conflict with the navy; what if he ended up with a bounty… He still had hope as a bounty hunter, and unless necessary, he didn’t want to switch careers.

Upon hearing this, Colonel Mouse’s expression darkened, while Ennio laughed, “The Evil Dragon Pirates are long gone.”

“Who are you talking about?” Sarg froze.

“Of course, that damned Evil Dragon Pirates!” Colonel Mouse gritted his teeth. “And that damned straw hat kid, who robbed me of a single beli!”

He had been protecting the Evil Dragon Pirates, and their collaboration had been quite profitable. However, once the Evil Dragon Pirates fell, his protection of them was exposed. Although he hadn’t been punished yet, it was only a matter of time.

Fortunately, Oikota Kingdom was under his jurisdiction, and he understood the situation here. Although he was here to escort the Celestial Gold temporarily, he was also tempted by Ennio’s proposal.

He wanted to consolidate his throne and make the heir disappear, while Colonel Mouse also needed someone suitable to please his superiors.

If he could take this noble princess away and perhaps send her to the Celestial Dragons as a wife, he could not only avoid punishment but might even get promoted.

If that didn’t work, entrusting her to someone to be sent to the Chambord Islands could still earn him a good sum of money, enough to evade punishment.

He had been thinking about how to catch the fleeing princess, and now she was right in front of him, saving him the trouble.

As for this white-haired kid, since Ennio didn’t like him, he didn’t care either.

Rare white hair could also fetch a price.

“Catch him!” Colonel Mouse commanded.

Just then, Sarg suddenly jumped high, directly leaping out of the navy’s encirclement. His agile movement made Ennio instinctively narrow his eyes.

What a joke!

Sarg’s face was dark; this was something he hadn’t expected at all.

He still wanted to catch the Evil Dragon Pirates, only to find they had already been taken down?

The straw hat kid… that’s Luffy, he knew that.

He just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly!

He had just seen the bounty for the Evil Dragon, and now they were gone?

Did this hope have to shatter so fast?

“Fire!”

Bang, bang, bang!

The navy surrounding him immediately raised their guns and pulled the trigger, aiming directly at Sarg, who was still in the air.

“Two-Finger Vacuum!”

Facing the incoming bullets, Sarg extended his two fingers, creating afterimages as he swiftly caught the bullets.

A large number of bullets were pinched and then scattered, momentarily suspended before him.

Sarg glared at the navy ahead, a fierce glint appearing in his eyes.

He still wanted to continue being a bounty hunter, but now they were blocking his way!

Boom!

He struck his hands in the air, producing a muffled sound, and the suspended bullets flew back at a speed that rivaled their original.

But just then, the air around him trembled, and a pale blue slash swiftly flew over, cutting a gash in the ground as it came straight for him.

Sarg instinctively dodged, barely brushing past the slash, surprised, “Arashi Foot?”

At this, both Lily and Colonel Mouse looked at Ennio in astonishment.

This king had many rumors about him: a tyrant who extorted and a miserly rich man… but no one had ever mentioned he was also a formidable figure.

Ennio withdrew his leg, casting a glance at the astonished Lily, and grinned fiercely at Sarg, “I told you, white hair is very rare. How could I let you go?”

Whoosh!

As soon as the words left his mouth, he vanished from his spot, instantly appearing in front of Sarg, then extended a finger, striking the air with a loud bang as he quickly pointed at Sarg.

Snap!

Sarg’s body sidestepped, his knee driving into Ennio’s elbow, pushing his arm up, and quickly striking downwards with the other leg, piercing Ennio’s abdomen like a bullet.

Bang!

The sensation felt as if he had hit steel.

Sarg’s expression hardened as he pushed back, staring at Ennio, uncertain, “Six Forms?”

Although he had tried to forget, seeing someone display superhuman martial arts in front of him was hard to ignore.

If he wasn’t mistaken, this guy was using Arashi Foot, Shave, Finger Gun, and… Iron Block.

“Hahaha…”

Ennio twisted his chubby neck and grinned maliciously, “Before I became king, I was in the navy.”