"The puny Nanami Kingdom—once it lost the World Government's protection, it really was no match for our Six-Gold Kingdom."
"Hmph! We should've seized the Nanami Kingdom long ago. Down here under these blast furnaces we eat dust all day, while those poor bastards get to enjoy such good land."
Anyone from the Six-Gold Kingdom who had been to the Nanami Kingdom would mostly end up jealous of the Nanami people for having such picturesque land.
The air in the Nanami Kingdom is sweet.
The water is crystal clear; there are flowers and butterflies everywhere—even the green grass is easy on the eyes.
It isn't that the Six-Gold Kingdom "worships foreign things." It's just that, when it comes to the environment, the Six-Gold Kingdom has really done a terrible job.
Aside from Gold Mine Island, which hasn't been developed that deeply and still preserves some scenery and water sources, the other five islands are all covered with blast furnaces, and those furnaces are always belching black or white smoke.
The water sources are also extremely murky. Locals hardly dare to drink it. A large portion of the water used on the five islands relies on shipments brought by boat from Gold Mine Island.
Although the Nanami Kingdom is much poorer, the happiness of its civilians is far higher than that of the civilians of the Six-Gold Kingdom.
The seeds of jealousy had long since been planted in the hearts of the Six-Gold Kingdom's people, and the war launched against the Nanami Kingdom was, in a sense, inevitable.
"But… is the king's promise really true…? My cousin is still in the mine tunnel."
Taking down the Nanami Kingdom is something to celebrate, but there's still a layer of dark clouds hanging over the Six-Gold Kingdom. Earlier, in order to "mass-produce troops," after the new king took the throne he forcibly conscripted a batch of people to serve as miners.
The miners' lives were no different from slaves; in private everyone called them "mine slaves."
The new king promised that the miner policy was only temporary, and that once the Nanami Kingdom was conquered, the people of the Nanami Kingdom would be turned into miners, and the people of the Six-Gold Kingdom could be freed from their miner status.
Now the Nanami Kingdom has been taken, and many miners are craning their necks, hoping the king will pardon their status.
"Who knows."
On the ships at the Gold Mine Island dock, several Marines were chatting idly with each other when suddenly someone's eyes flicked toward the sea.
They saw two large ships sailing in one after the other, and more importantly, both ships were flying the flag of the Nanami Kingdom.
Damn it! Where did the Nanami Kingdom get two ships like that?!
Their kingdom only has three, and one of them sailed out the day before yesterday and still hasn't come back.
The Six-Gold Kingdom originally had three large warships and six small ones.
After the Nanami Kingdom was formally taken, three small ships were left there.
One large warship was destroyed by Vane and the others, and two small ships are at Copper Mine Island.
Now there are only two large warships and one small ship in the harbor. At a glance, their advantage really isn't big, and if ships stay parked in the harbor without moving, it's very easy for them to get blasted and sunk.
Woooo—!!
An unusually urgent alarm instantly echoed across the entire Gold Mine Island.
Among the six islands, Gold Mine Island is the smallest. It was only designated the capital because of the gold mine. Once the dock alarm sounds, half the island can hear it.
The royal palace of the Six-Gold Kingdom is on higher ground, from where you can see the entire dock, and naturally you can also see what's happening on the sea.
"The Nanami Kingdom actually hid two ships like these?"
The new king of the Six-Gold Kingdom stood on the palace terrace, looking at the two ships that had appeared on the sea, equally puzzled.
He was very clear about the Nanami Kingdom's military strength. With how poor they were, there was no way they could hide ships like this. But the two large ships had already sailed right up before his eyes—he couldn't help but believe it.
At the dock, two large warships had already started up, with the small ship following closely behind. The Six-Gold Kingdom's army, having just fought a war, reacted very quickly.
"Den Den Mushi."
The warships moved fast, but the new king still decided to contact the two warships near the surrounding islands to come support them. This was more prudent. Even if their current forces could defeat the incoming enemy, calling the other two small ships over would also help cut off their retreat.
...
"Finish it quickly."
On the Thunder Fortress, Baccarat used her ability at the stern to "copy" another Thunder Fortress to follow behind.
They only have one ship; the so-called two are just a smokescreen created by her ability.
From far away it's hard to see clearly, but if anyone on the island got closer, they'd be able to tell—the ship behind is completely fake.
"With two ships closing in, the Six-Gold Kingdom folks won't dare be careless."
"Don't open fire yet. Wait until the ships get closer."
The Thunder Fortress has extremely powerful firepower. If he wanted, the two ships in front of them could all be blasted into scraps with the Lightning Projector.
"Later, you two pick your own opponents. If you can't win, don't force it."
Letting them get close is entirely to train his subordinate officers. They're itching to trade blows with the enemy's generals.
Since the Thunder Fortress isn't firing first, the other side won't hold back—they directly unleash dozens of cannons in a volley.
Whoosh!
With a sharp boom in the air, Vane appeared at the bow of the Thunder Fortress.
"Continue forward."
He didn't even need to swing a blade. With a palm thrust forward, a powerful cold wind surged ahead.
The incoming cannonballs were either knocked away elsewhere by a strange force, or sliced open by the sharp edge of his fist, exploding ahead of time.
The strongest move of Flowing Water Crushing Rock Fist and Whirlwind Cutting Fist is their fusion. Vane practiced these two fist arts to temper his body, and also so that even barehanded he'd still have combat power.
Now that his body can withstand stronger moves, he's started thinking about combining the two fist arts.
"As expected of the leader—he's incredibly strong."
"The leader's swordsmanship is even better than his fist arts."
Vane had also taught the soldiers the fist arts, but these techniques demand quite a lot of comprehension. So far, not many can perform them properly. On the other hand, Rokushiki is easier for everyone to learn—more or less, they can manage one or two moves.
"Enough flattery. Get ready for battle… Meowth, take out the small ship once we're in range."
In the control room, Meowth was managing the distance between both sides, and at the same time had two quick learners following along to study the controls.
"You need to look carefully—this is… and that is…"
"The distance is about right, meow. Time to let them see how awesome meow is!"
Meowth pushed the lever with a cat paw, and the Lightning Projector released a lightning beam that was much smaller than before.
The small ship in the middle had no time to react. Starting from the bow, a fierce web of lightning burst across it. Wherever the lightning passed, the deck either caught fire or shattered.
Fortunately, the attack didn't hit the ship's ammunition hold. Otherwise, everyone on that ship would have died instantly.
"What happened?!"
"One of their ships… is fake!"
For the people of the Six-Gold Kingdom, the situation could be described as bizarre and unpredictable. All of a sudden, one of their ships here was crippled, but they also discovered that one of the enemy's ships was fake.