"Whoa, Captain, this place is insane!" More stared at the streets swarming with people, the lively scene unlike anything he'd ever witnessed in his life. The Ablo family was just as stunned, wide-eyed at the spectacle before them.
"Of course it is," Yuristin explained. "This is a port city of a superpower nation. Naturally, it's packed with people."
The city they now found themselves in was called Nanohana, a harbor town in the Kingdom of Alabasta. Countless merchant and cargo ships came and went every day, making it the second wealthiest city in the entire kingdom.
"Captain, look! They're selling golden apples over there!" More tugged on Baichuan's sleeve with one hand and pointed at an older woman running a fruit stall.
"Care for one, lads? A single bite grants eternal life." The apple vendor, seeing she had caught their attention, seized the chance to pitch her wares.
"Whoa, eternal life?!" More's eyes lit up. Clearly, the so-called immortality apples had hooked him completely.
"Oi, More, you seriously falling for a brain-dead scam like that?" Jora sighed, walking over to the stall. She grabbed the cloth beside the woman and yanked it down. Hidden behind it was a man brushing gold-colored pigment onto ordinary apples. And it wasn't just gold—there were black, white, purple, every color of the rainbow.
"Eating one of those won't kill you, right?" More's expression turned sour. Just moments ago, he'd genuinely wanted to try one.
"Death, no. But it'll probably keep you on the toilet for a few days," Lisa, the ship's doctor, chimed in with textbook clarity. She'd spotted exactly what they were painting on them in an instant.
The vendor woman's face darkened when her trick was exposed. She snatched up a stick beside her, ready to come out swinging. But the man doing the painting held her back, shooting Baichuan and the others a look that screamed get out of here. Apparently, this woman wasn't someone to mess with in these parts.
Baichuan's group had no interest in getting tangled up in someone else's domestic dispute, so they quickened their pace and left the scene behind.
Meanwhile, within the royal palace, Nefertari Cobra, King of Alabasta, had already received word of their arrival. His expression grew heavy.
Ordinary pirates would never have warranted a king's concern. But the Silver Pirates were anything but ordinary. They were a great pirate crew—on a completely different level from those minor-league rookies.
"Honestly… barely on the throne and already facing a headache this big." Cobra had only recently succeeded to the crown, and his wedding was just two months away. The last thing he wanted was chaos during that time. If things went wrong, he'd become the laughingstock of the kingdom.
He still had no idea what the Silver Pirates' intentions were or how many days they planned to stay. A few days? Fine. But if they lingered for two months or more, by the time dignitaries arrived for the wedding, that pirate crew would be a walking time bomb.
"Send word. Dispatch a messenger to the Silver Pirates and inform them that I am inviting them to the palace as guests."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Once the communications soldier had departed, Igaram, captain of the royal guard, stepped forward and addressed Cobra.
"Your Majesty, is this decision not far too reckless? If the Silver Pirates mean you harm, what then?" Igaram's face was etched with worry. As guard captain, the safety of the palace and the king fell entirely on his shoulders.
In contrast, Cobra was remarkably at ease. "Relax. Do I not still have all of you?" Then he added with confidence, "Besides, I don't believe the Silver Pirates would dare lay a hand on me. The Nefertari family still has a voice before the World Government, after all."
The Nefertari line was one of the twenty royal houses that had established the World Government eight centuries prior. Though they had chosen not to relocate to Mary Geoise, in terms of nobility they were second only to the Celestial Dragons living there. Should the Silver Pirates actually try anything against him, he could easily call upon the Navy for aid—and Marine Headquarters wasn't even that far from here.
Back in Nanohana, the city guard captain received the king's orders with no small amount of shock. He'd never expected His Majesty to make a move like that. Maybe it was meant to show the Silver Pirates who was boss.
It didn't take long for the captain to track down the Silver Pirates and successfully cut them off.
"What's this? You need something else?" Baichuan asked, eyeing the armored man on a white horse standing in his path.
"Our king wishes to invite you to the royal palace for a gathering."
"Sure. If we end up heading to the capital, we'll stop by and meet your king." With that, Baichuan moved to walk past him and continue on his way.
"Our king wants you to go see him now." The guard captain stepped forward again to block them.
"Don't push your luck." Baichuan's glare locked onto the man.
In that instant, the guard captain felt an immense pressure bear down on him. It wasn't a person standing before him anymore—it was a primordial beast. Cold sweat burst across his skin. By the time he regained his senses, Baichuan and the others had already moved far off, disappearing from sight.
"So this is a great pirate worth a billion berries… A single look scared me that badly." The guard captain exhaled shakily, still relieved to be alive. With the kingdom backing him earlier, he'd let himself get a little too full of himself. Without delay, he reported Baichuan's whereabouts back to the king. In his mind, he'd already marked the pirate as the country's number one threat right now.
"Captain, are we actually going to the palace?" More asked.
"Who knows? If we make it to the capital, checking out the royal palace might not be a bad idea. What, More, you want to see the inside of one?"
"I've never seen a palace in my whole life."
"Heh, there'll be a chance."
"Captain, what do you think the king wants with us anyway?" Jora asked.
"Most likely to warn us. After all, in their eyes, we're a crew of extremely dangerous great pirates."
/-\
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