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It took so much effort to finally get Vice Admiral Aokiji from the Marine Headquarters to here. Naturally, he was not just here to watch.
"Vice Admiral Aokiji, although I don't expect you to take action this time, I just want to trouble you about something. There are so many pirates in the city. I wonder if you can use your strength to break the city gate?" Anos said.
"This is a troublesome matter. It would be bad if our Fleet Admiral found out," Aokiji said lazily.
"Vice Admiral, you misunderstood. I didn't ask you to hurt anyone. I just wanted you to help me break the opponent's city gate. This shouldn't be a big problem for you, right?" Anos repeated.
"With your people's strength, it shouldn't take much effort to open a city gate, right?"
Aokiji wasn't stupid but couldn't pinpoint exactly what was happening. Still, he sensed that the little guy in front of him seemed to be tricking him.
Seeing Aokiji still hesitating, Anos said in a deep voice to Daiki beside him, "Next, take down Royal City at all costs. By then, there will be no need to leave any pirates behind. Kill them all."
"Your Majesty, those people…"
"War inevitably causes losses. If Vice Admiral Aokiji doesn't want to, we have to do this!" Anos said with a sombre face.
"Okay, it's just a door. I'll help you," Aokiji responded, looking at Anos's expression with helplessness.
He had enjoyed good food and drink over the past few days, and doing such a thing didn't violate the orders of Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
Destroying a door doesn't harm anyone, so there wouldn't be any special consequences.
Hearing that Aokiji had agreed, Anos's smile immediately bloomed. He then exchanged a look with Daiki, who began retreating slowly.
Just when Aokiji was about to act, a few people nearby aimed their Den Den Mushi at him.
Not to mention how Aokiji could become an Admiral, he pressed his hand to the ground, and frost began spreading toward the gate.
Although they were about a hundred meters away from the gate, this distance was no problem at all for someone on the verge of becoming an Admiral.
The entire gate of the Roya Kingdom's capital was sealed in ice in an instant. When the ice shattered, nothing could stop the Tru Kingdom's forces.
Of course, at the moment the gate shattered, hundreds of the Royal Guards using Geppo, along with many others moving swiftly, rushed to the city walls in an instant.
The hostages were also rescued in an instant.
As for the pirates, none of them on the city walls survived.
However, every scene was recorded by the Den Den Mushi.
This was all part of Anos's plan. By the next morning, the newspaper gulls had already started delivering news about the day's events, which immediately became headlines.
The news that "The Roya Kingdom in the South Blue was occupied by pirates, and the Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral worked with the Tru Kingdom to rescue the Roya Kingdom" piqued everyone's curiosity.
The key moment was when Aokiji used his power to break open the Royal Capital's gate, a whole photo of the act was displayed prominently in the newspaper.
The headlines, content, and photos all confirmed the incident's authenticity.
Especially the image of pirates holding hostages emphasized the truth of the situation.
Anos's motive was to provide a pretext for occupying the Roya Kingdom.
First, the pirates captured the Roya Kingdom, and their goal was to save the people there.
Aokiji's presence only added authenticity to the situation.
After all, this was a solid demonstration from a Marine headquarters Vice Admiral.
The witnesses, evidence, and facts were all laid out. Even though the Roya Kingdom had now become part of the Tru Kingdom, no one from the outside world dared to raise objections.
Not even the World Government could object to this.
Anos simply wanted the world to know. Otherwise, Daiki could have led his forces to invade the Royal Capital from the very beginning.
He had delayed this long just to wait for this plan to unfold.
Anos had every reason to believe in his judgment. Even if Marine Headquarters sent someone, the outcome would not change.
Even Akainu, the most difficult to reason with, might be a hundred times more complicated than Aokiji but still easier to manage.
Akainu is someone who upholds absolute justice in the Marines. He would never allow pirates to create such threats.
Now that all his goals had been achieved, Aokiji still didn't realize that he had been used.
"Losta, count how many Beris there are in the entire Roya Royal Palace. When the time comes, all of it will be used for the people of Roya Kingdom," Anos ordered as soon as he entered the city gate, calling out to Losta behind him.
Before the king's capital was fully taken, Anos was already thinking about how to divide the spoils. Even the usually lazy Aokiji looked at Anos with disdain.
Losta walked forward gracefully, adjusting her glasses, and said elegantly, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I'm happy to take care of such matters."
"We've occupied the Royal Capital now, and there are likely no more obstacles. As for the Devil Fruit users in Roya's Royal City, Daiki and the others will be responsible for capturing them. Keeping them alive will serve me well later," Anos said to Daiki.
"Yes, Your Majesty…"
"What do you plan to do with those Devil Fruit users?" Aokiji asked curiously.
"Of course, they must be executed. These people have already caused me to lose many soldiers, so they must pay the price," Anos replied bluntly.
However, he didn't explain the real reason. In this world, countless people have Devil Fruit powers. Although no one knows where these fruits come from, Anos had at least figured out one thing how to control the location where a Devil Fruit reappears after its user dies.
Since gaining space-based abilities, Anos has learned to manipulate spatial barriers. Though this area wasn't vast, it was more than sufficient.
Aokiji glanced at the young ruler beside him. It was hard to believe this kid had such cunning tactics at the age of sixteen. When he saw the newspaper, he might just go mad.
Aokiji marvelled at the discipline and teamwork of the Tru Kingdom's troops. It shocked him that most of them were trained in the Rokushiki, with team coordination even stricter than the Marines.
A kingdom that was once in such a state of ruin could develop so significantly in just two or three years. Aokiji found it truly unimaginable.
What would this little guy become when he grows up?
What intrigued Aokiji more, and the main reason he had been following Anos, was understanding how Anos knew so much about the Marine Headquarters and the New World.
The people In the Roya Kingdom did not resist as expected, especially those in the royal city. Some of them even danced and celebrated that Anos had brought the army to liberate them.
After all, to prepare for this moment, he had spent a lot of money to produce a pamphlet for the Tru Kingdom, explaining the benefits they would enjoy after becoming citizens of the Tru Kingdom.
Although the Roya Kingdom does not belong to the World Government, those within the World Government remain very concerned about the situation in South Blue.
If the Tru Kingdom merges with the Roya Kingdom, it could become the largest Kingdom in the entire South Blue region.
However, the Roya Kingdom is in such poor condition now that it's unclear how long it will take to recover.
At the very least, it will take more than two years for it to reach the level of the Tru Kingdom, mainly because its population and land area are much larger.
"Mr. Aokiji, I wonder what you think after seeing the guards of my Tru Kingdom today?" Anos asked as he walked alongside Aokiji.
In this royal city, the two of them seemed to be walking as if it were their own Kingdom, without any sense of discomfort.
Aokiji was even more surprised. He hadn't expected this little guy to ask him such a question.
It was true that he had initially wanted to investigate the Tru Kingdom's army, and what he discovered this time surprised him.
The Marine's Rokushiki skills seemed to be employed more skillfully here, and their training methods appeared even more effective than those in the Marine.
After thinking for a moment, Aokiji said leisurely, "It's quite impressive. I hope you can maintain law and order here and prevent pirates from appearing in the South Blue. That would be your greatest achievement."
"I think you can rest assured on that point. At least within my jurisdiction, such a situation won't happen," Anos replied.
"Oh, I've come across such a complicated situation this time. How am I supposed to report it when I return to Marine Headquarters?" Aokiji asked, looking troubled.
"What if you just tell the truth?" Anos asked curiously.
"Didn't you mention earlier that after merging the Roya Kingdom with the Tru Kingdom, the World Government would send people to observe you, and most likely CP agents would come to your Kingdom?" Aokiji said.
"Is that what you're worried about? There's no need. In the South Blue, there's nothing here worthy of the World Government's full attention. In the end, they just want us to join the World Government. If there's no downside, we'll join. It won't harm our Kingdom," Anos said with a smile.
"I remember you saying something different two days ago. Didn't you say that joining the World Government meant serving the Celestial Dragons and paying the heavenly tribute, which could lead to serious suffering for our people?" Aokiji squinted at Anos.
"Does Vice Admiral Aokiji believe the Celestial Dragons are short on money? They already live in luxury. At least when it comes to wealth, there's no need to worry. When the time comes, I'll offer them a few rare treasures to replace the heavenly tribute," Anos said.
"I'm really curious about what you'll be like in the future, and even more curious about how far this Kingdom will develop. But I don't want you to push the boundaries with Marine Headquarters. If that happens, I won't be able to help you," Aokiji said.
"I'm not as reckless as you think. I'm quite content staying in this peaceful corner. There's no need to clash with the World Government & Marine's," Anos replied with a grin.
"Then that's for the best."
Aokiji was now really curious about what kind of strength Anos had. Was Anos a Devil Fruit user?
From the time he arrived until now, he had never seen Anos take action, and his behaviour had been completely normal. This unsettled Aokiji the most.
Without realizing it, the two had followed the army and arrived in front of the Roya King's palace.
There had been no resistance along the way, only some trouble from pirates.
But now, in front of the palace, almost all the pirates causing trouble had been arrested, including those with Devil Fruit abilities.
However, the palace gave everyone a foreboding feeling.
If you used Haki to observe, you could sense a very sinister presence inside, as if something that shouldn't exist in this world was there.
"Do you feel it?" Anos asked, glancing seriously at Aokiji.
"Of course. I've got a bad feeling about this."
Aokiji dropped his lazy demeanour and matched Anos's serious expression.
"Daiki, have everyone retreat immediately. Without my order, no one is allowed within 500 meters of the palace. Put everyone on high alert, and make sure you're prepared for battle," Anos called to Daiki, who stood nearby.
Then, in a low voice, he said to Haruya, "Haruya, evacuate the city's residents as fast as possible. You must do this quickly and thoroughly."
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