Chapter 29: Haoshoku Haki!
Below, besides the group of soldiers dressed in armor, there was also a thin man with a goatee. He was wearing luxurious clothes, a red carpet-like cloak, and a crown on his head.
This should be the king!
"Murdoch!!"
Before Sag could act, a group of people emerged from the tunnel. Lily, leading the pirates, rushed out. Behind them, a small pink-haired figure also jumped up, wielding her long hammer and smashing it down.
Murdoch was startled. His body instinctively retreated, and he shouted, "Protect me!"
A king, no matter how small, always had decent guards around him.
Two guards reacted, pulling Murdoch away and blocking the incoming hammer.
*Bang bang!*
Two sounds rang out, accompanied by a wave of kinetic impact, like hitting a gopher, sending the two guards into the ground, leaving only their heads exposed.
Renettia landed on the ground, baring her teeth at Murdoch and yelling, "You old pervert, old geezer, old hemorrhoid monster, motherless bastard! Don't think you can run, I'm going to smash you!"
"I'm not old!!"
Murdoch hurriedly retreated into the ranks of soldiers. Hearing these words, his eyes turned white, and he turned his head to roar.
"Hmph..."
After roaring for a while, he calmed down and looked up at Sag, who was in the air with air currents rising beneath his feet, and laughed, "So you're Norton Sag, huh? You look impressive... But with so few of you, can you defeat my two thousand soldiers?"
He spread his arms and laughed wildly, "This is the entire kingdom's military force! But I'll give you a suggestion. How about pledging allegiance to me? You're a black-sailed pirate noticed by the Marines. No one on the sea can protect you, but I can! Swear allegiance to me, submit to me, and I can give you protection!"
"Being a pirate, isn't it all about making money? With this invincible ship, my two thousand soldiers, and you, the treasures of the East Blue will be ours! Isn't that what you pirates are like? As long as you get the money, it's fine. Do you really care about some One Piece? That's just an excuse to go to sea! Such a thing doesn't exist!"
Murdoch pointed at Renettia. "Kill her. Just kill her, and everything I said can be fulfilled!"
"You..."
Renettia gripped her long hammer tightly and subconsciously looked up at Sag.
Murdoch was right. They were a group of pirates, and they weren't related. He had been their enemy just a moment ago. If this terrifying man agreed...
Sag slowly raised his hand, extending his index finger, aiming it at Renettia. This made her break out in a sweat. But the next moment, the finger didn't stop, but passed by her, pointing at Murdoch.
Although he didn't know what would happen, Murdoch instinctively sensed danger, retreated, and used the soldiers as a human wall to block.
"Never mind..."
Sag thought for a moment and lowered his finger.
"That's more like it!"
Murdoch secretly breathed a sigh of relief and grinned. "Then hand over Leticia to..."
*Boom!*
The figure in the air descended like a cannonball. The impact blew away a group of soldiers in front, knocking them into the walls of the tall palace. Their blood spurted, staining the walls.
In just a blink of an eye, Murdoch found that the soldiers' human wall was gone. In its place was that ferocious, tall body.
"What I meant by 'never mind' was that I didn't want to use Finger Gun on you."
Sag pulled out the flintlock pistol from his waist, pressed it against Murdoch's head, and his finger hooked the trigger. "For an execution, a gun is more fitting..."
Murdoch didn't even dare to move his head. Sweat broke out on his head, and he trembled, shouting, "I'm a king! A king of a World Government member nation! And you're just a mere pirate. Killing me would offend the World Government. That's a major crime!"
Pirates wouldn't deliberately target the World Government, or even the Marines. Unless it was absolutely necessary, they wouldn't fight.
No one would needlessly engage in pointless battles. Even lunatics had their reasons.
Pirates were not lunatics. How could they fight against the World Government...
Killing a king of a member nation was tantamount to opposing the World Government!
"Didn't you say earlier that I destroyed a country... Can you guess how I destroyed it?"
Sag looked at Murdoch and slowly showed a sinister smile. "I don't know if One Piece exists, but the treasures of the East Blue are mine. There is no 'us'. There is only 'me'. I give, no one gives to me. You sank my treasure and made me take a huge blame, and now you're saying a few words and want to subdue me..."
*Bang!*
The trigger was pulled.
Murdoch's body suddenly leaned back, his entire person lifted an inch off the ground, and then he fell heavily into the crowd.
His eyes were wide open, still carrying a look of terror, and a bullet hole had appeared on his forehead.
"Such a good deal, I never even dared to imagine it. What makes you think you're so special?"
Sag put away the flintlock pistol and snorted coldly.
"Lord Murdoch!"
"Your Majesty!"
Exclamations and commotion arose from among the soldiers.
Their king had been killed by pirates!
"Kill them! Avenge the King!"
After the commotion, the soldiers aimed their weapons at Sag. Those closest even thrust directly at him.
"Tch!"
Sag didn't even look. He kicked out, creating a huge pale blue slash.
"Rankyaku: Ōkabutowari!"
The *Rankyaku* slash smoothly cut the soldiers closest to him in half at the waist, quickly flying towards the entrance of the hall, bringing with it a trail of blood. Only when it reached the entrance of the hall did the power of this slash diminish, hitting the remaining soldiers and knocking them out of the hall.
In front of him, there was no obstruction.
The remaining soldiers around him fled outside the castle, but outside, there were even more soldiers.
Two thousand people were already a sea of heads.
No matter how full the palace was, it could only hold a hundred or so people. Sag's kick cut down twenty, knocked out thirty, and the rest all ran outside.
"Cannons! Use cannons! Don't get close!"
The soldiers outside reacted very quickly, pushing cannons from various places. Behind the cannons, a group of soldiers holding muskets also quickly lined up, approaching the castle.
"Sag... what do we do?"
Lily gripped her rapier, looking at the soldiers gradually approaching outside, and asked solemnly.
There were too many...
They only had thirty-some people.
Even standing still and letting them kill, they would be exhausted.
"Use the ship!"
Renettia suddenly said, "The castle is outside the place where the ship was raised. We can go there. The terrain here is a slope. We can use the ship to slide down. The ship I made can withstand cannon fire!"
"No... there's no need for that. If we use the ship, even if it can withstand cannon fire, it will be damaged, right? That's my new ship. Also... my treasure is gone, and I want to loot the castle's treasure. A king's treasure is definitely much more than a mayor's."
Sag narrowed his eyes, and his body suddenly shrunk, returning to its original form.
He turned his head to look at Gin and said, "Gin, take the men and loot."
Gin was stunned for a moment. Before he could react, Renettia shouted, "There's treasure, but it's not the time! There are so many people here. Once we're surrounded, we..."
"Lily..."
Before she could finish speaking, Sag interrupted her and said to Lily, "Stay away from me. I can't completely control it yet."
With that, he walked out of the castle on his own.
Outside, a large number of soldiers were gradually approaching. Their cannons were adjusted and aimed at the interior of the castle.
Around the castle on this sloping terrain, the heads of more than two thousand people moved, all facing the one person standing at the castle entrance.
Sag looked at the approaching soldiers, his expression calm, and a scarlet gleam flashed in his pupils.
His body had returned to normal, of course it wasn't because he had reached his limit. The 80% enhanced Turning Dragon Breathing Technique, he was confident he could also deal with these two thousand people. Even if they were mixed with many people, and he was careless and hit by guns and cannons, with his current body, he would only be slightly injured.
If they really fought, it would take one night to resolve the battle.
However, there was a better way.
Especially when dealing with small fry...
"Fire..."
*Buzz!*
Before the word 'fire' could even be shouted, Sag's pupils solidified, and he stared at them.
Just this one look made the soldiers' bodies tremble, their eyes rolled back, and their bodies softened.
*Boom!*
A large number of cannons hadn't even had time to be fully adjusted before they were fired, exploding on the castle and the ground, turning into burning flames.
Above the flames, under the starry sky, only one person remained standing outside the castle.
*Haoshoku Haki* (Conqueror's Haki/King's Disposition)!
---
You can also support me on patreon and can read upto 20 chapter ahead on patreon.com/Devmaya
---