How strange, why isn't it snowing today?"
"And there's no wind either, even the clouds have cleared."
"It's the sun, look, it's the sun!"
Smack!
The sound of a whip cracking against flesh echoed through the air.
A group of overseers dressed in thick winter coats mercilessly lashed at another group of people whose thin clothing offered no protection against the cold.
The lashings tore through their already ragged clothes, leaving their bodies bloody and bruised.
This was the "Bridge Kingdom" of Tequila Wolf.
A country built on a bridge, hundreds of meters vast and seemingly endless in length.
Seven hundred years ago, the Celestial Dragons decreed the construction of this bridge to connect all the islands across the sea.
Due to the prolonged construction period, with no end in sight, the workers lived, ate, and slept on the bridge, forming the Bridge Kingdom.
Seven hundred years later, even a tenth of the islands in the East Blue weren't connected.
Yet the World Government continued this laborious project, using it as a warning to those who defied them: opposing the World Government would lead to slavery.
Cold, hunger, exhaustion, and pain...
A frail figure could no longer endure these torments and collapsed to the ground.
"Sister!"
A boy, around fifteen or sixteen years old, threw himself over the girl, his cries of anguish echoing in the clear, still air.
There was no snow or biting wind today, making his voice painfully clear and filled with despair.
Smack!
The whip struck the boy's back, tearing his shirt in two.
A bright red welt appeared, but he remained motionless as if immune to the pain.
His heart hurt more than his back.
After losing his parents, his only sister was now gone.
"Not feeling the pain?"
"Seems I didn't hit hard enough!"
Swish...
The overseer's whip whistled again, aiming for the boy's back.
Other slaves closed their eyes, unable to bear the sight of the impending brutality.
"That's enough."
A calm, authoritative voice resonated out of nowhere.
It wasn't loud but had an undeniable presence, reaching everyone's ears.
A man in black clothes, cloaked in dark green, appeared behind the boy.
He caught the overseer's hand mid-swing, stopping the whip.
The overseer glanced at the man's hooded face and, as if seeing a ghost, collapsed to the ground, wetting himself in fear.
Conqueror's Haki!
"Enemy attack!"
Overseers rushed in from all directions, but the cloaked man paid no heed. He slowly approached the boy.
"Fire!"
A hail of bullets rained towards the man, but suddenly, a green whirlwind swept through the area.
The wind roared.
Bullets were lifted skyward like feathers, and the overseers were hurled into the sea below with no chance of survival.
"A god... it's a god!"
"The god has come to save us!"
Seeing Dragon control the wind, the slaves revered him as divine.
Dragon reached the boy, knelt beside him, and asked softly.
"Child, what's your name?"
"I... I'm Gerald."
"Let's bury your sister together, alright?"
"Th-thank you."
No one dared approach Dragon, and no one tried to escape.
They had nowhere to run in the Bridge Kingdom.
The time it was passed slowly.
The slaves watched as Dragon and Gerald dug a grave on the bridge and buried Gerald's sister.
Gerald knelt by the grave, unresponsive.
Finally, someone in the crowd couldn't help but ask, "God, have you come to save us?"
"No."
Dragon's answer struck their hearts like a hammer.
But he quickly continued, "Only you can save yourselves."
"Give me thirty years."
"No, at most twenty years."
"I will destroy the Celestial Dragons who control the World Government and bring freedom to all."
"Each of you must hold on!"
"In twenty years, there will be no more Celestial Dragons!"
"No more oppression!"
"Hail the god!"
The excited slaves cheered.
Dragon didn't dispel the illusion of his divinity.
He knew people living in such harsh conditions needed a mythical figure to inspire them through tough times.
"Gerald, I must go."
"Live on with your sister's hope in your heart."
"I will live on!"
"To kill the Celestial Dragons!"
Dragon's expression became complicated, but he said nothing.
Dragon left Tequila Wolf with a whirlwind, like a true deity, revered by the kneeling, hopeful slaves.
He took no one with him.
He knew the world could be saved only by overthrowing the Celestial Dragons.
...
Bang!
Bellemere violently flung the door open.
"Major Hailan—"
Hailan interrupted her harshly, "Get out!"
Bellemere was stunned, "Uh..."
"Did you report in? Did you knock? Remember your rank, Lieutenant! You're a soldier, not a thug!"
"Uh... I'm sorry..."
Bellemere sheepishly left the office.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Reporting! Lieutenant Bellemere!"
"Enter!"
Bellemere walked in and slammed her hand on Hailan's desk.
This time, Hailan merely frowned, saying nothing more.
It would take time to correct the Navy's rough edges.
Bellemere, flushed from her urgency, spoke rapidly, "Sir, with all the compensation and rewards you've ordered, we're out of money!"
"Captain Hill's slush fund is depleted?"
"It was nearly empty after you started building the Heroes' Cemetery."
"Uh..."
"No problem..."
"We're not short on money!"