Chapter 6: Setting Sail!!!
Chapter 6: Setting Sail!!!
The Hundred Fists of the Big Dipper did not fail to deliver; it just wasn't completed. This guy's Haki protected his vital points, but the rest of his body was left exposed, and most of his pressure points were struck. The bleeding was only superficial; he must have sustained severe internal injuries.
Having sustained such serious injuries, he definitely wouldn't be a match anymore!
"Ranjyakku!"
Ennio aimed a Ranjyakku kick at Sag's head. The slashing kick came whistling, and Sag arched his body backward, lifting his leg to stab forward like a sword, piercing Ennio's large belly.
Bang!
This kick embedded itself in his stomach, and his Haki failed to protect him in time.
"Hokuo Yupozan!"
Sag didn't hold back either. His legs turned into afterimages as he kicked Ennio's body all over.
Ennio trembled from the kicks and took several steps back. The bright red blood seeped through the raindrops on his bejeweled clothes. His body swayed, and he wanted to raise his fist, but he couldn't lift his hand at all.
"Is it ruined?" Ennio glanced at his right arm nonchalantly, and as he spoke, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Like the Hundred Fists, this move not only struck the pressure points but also packed a tremendous amount of power. Anyone struck by it would have their body tissues collapse.
This guy's right hand seemed intact on the surface, but the insides must have turned into mush.
Sag flexed his fingers, his body slightly bowed, and he coldly said, "My moves aren't that easy to withstand."
Ennio coughed up a mouthful of blood and looked at Lily, who was still on the ground and hadn't gotten up, then at the mountain bandits who were as obedient as rabbits, and finally, at the citizens being chased by the soldiers.
"Do you think that by defeating me, you can make this country better? It's impossible!"
He shouted, "The Sky Bond is already a done deal. Even without me, you'll still have to pay up. It's the same with any other king! If you don't pay, we won't be a member state of the World Government, and we won't be protected. Instead, we'll be punished and live worse than we do now!"
"At that time, even if you want to be mountain bandits, it will be a luxury. You will encounter all the misfortunes this world has to offer! If you run away now, you will lose everything! I will not let you go to sea. Colonel Mouse, catch them! Otherwise, Sky Bond will escape!"
Ennio glared at Sag, "Especially you, pirate! If you want them to go to sea, you'll have to step over my corpse!"
"?"
Sag was taken aback. He intended to become a bounty hunter, and if that didn't work out, he'd turn to piracy, but not now.
However, he soon realized something, and his expression turned strange.
Could it be?
At that moment, Colonel Mouse, who was at the back, pulled out his flintlock and chased after the citizens with the remaining marines.
This battle had indeed startled him, but he hadn't forgotten his original task.
He was here to temporarily escort Sky Bond!
If he failed, he would truly be dead!
"Suppress the riot!" Colonel Mouse shouted.
The marines and soldiers mixed and went crazy driving away the citizens. One of the citizens tripped and fell, accidentally tripping up Colonel Mouse, who was rushing over.
The already flustered and anxious Colonel Mouse became even angrier. He aimed his flintlock at the citizen.
"No, don't!" The citizen panicked and shouted, but in this chaotic situation, who would listen to him?
The boss reflects the quality of his subordinates.
Colonel Mouse of the Sixteenth Division was a despicable profiteer, so his men were naturally no good either. The marines only cared about completing their orders, and even if they saw the colonel committing murder, they wouldn't say much.
"Die!" Colonel Mouse was about to pull the trigger when a hissing sound came from behind, and a cold light pierced his chest.
"You..."
He turned back in surprise and saw a resolute face beneath the golden waves of hair.
Lily pulled out her rapier, letting Colonel Mouse fall, as the raindrops washed away the blood on the blade and that dirty face.
"Set sail!"
Her shout startled both the citizens and the mountain bandits.
Swish!
Lily's body moved like a swimming dragon. Under the raindrops, her sword blade flashed a dazzling light, and with a wave among the pursuing marines and soldiers, she cleared a path, blocking the chasing soldiers.
Ennio's words had made up her mind.
Yes, the Sky Bond still had to be paid, even if she became the king. Throughout history, there had been no precedent for exempting it.
The citizens could no longer afford the tax burden of the Sky Bond, so they might as well...
"Set sail! Run to the port! If we go to sea, we won't have to pay the bond! We can have a new life, so... let's set sail together!" Lily shouted with all her might.
The mountain bandits and confused citizens who heard these words did not immediately run towards the port, but instead turned to look at Ennio.
The king, who was supposed to exude brutality and cruelty, now had his powerful right arm hang powerless, and his entire body was covered in blood, completely devoid of his former demeanor.
He was injured. The strong soldiers and marines had also been defeated by that golden-haired young woman. No one could stop them now.
To set sail, to set sail and not have to pay such high taxes, to set sail and be able to survive. Would it truly be different?
In the eyes of the people of the Kingdom of Oikotte, even going to sea as a marine would be frowned upon, as they had experienced the war between the marines and pirates in this land, let alone going to sea on their own.
If you don't go to sea, you'll end up paying more taxes in the Kingdom of Oikotte, and sooner or later, you'll end up in the mountains with the mountain bandits.
Being a mountain bandit is being a mountain bandit, but going to sea doesn't necessarily make you a pirate!
Anyway, it won't be any worse than it is now!
Among the mountain bandits, someone took the lead and ran madly towards the port, as if they had lit a fuse, and the rest followed suit, no longer like headless flies, but all moving uniformly towards the port.
Some citizens had no idea what was going on, but seeing so many people running towards the port, they followed suit, and so more and more people joined the ranks heading towards the port.
Seeing this scene, Ennio smiled, and then his expression turned solemn again. His round, plump body was like a heavy cannonball as he rushed towards Sag and rammed into him.
Sag planted his feet and twisted his body to the side, and as this guy closed in, he quickly sidestepped and struck out with one hand like a snake, aiming for his temple.
"North Dipper Finger Strike!"
Pa!
Ennio directly twisted his ruined right arm, blocking Sag's finger strike, and Sag's finger penetrated his arm.
"Hey!"
Ennio glared, and his left hand reached out, grabbing Sag's wrist and quickly flipping it up, tossing Sag into the air.
Bang!
As soon as Sag's finger left his arm, his right arm exploded, and the shattered flesh and blood splattered everywhere.
Without even a change in expression, Ennio stomped his feet and used Moonwalk to leap into the air, and at the same time, his legs kicked wildly, "Storming Legs: Chaos!"
Hsss!
Countless slashes fell from the sky, slamming into the group of soldiers and marines, taking down most of those chasing the citizens.
The remaining marines and soldiers looked up in shock, and from their perspective, it seemed like it was the white-haired boy who had done it.
Ennio's desperate attacking stance gave Sag an opening, and he didn't hold back, his fist became a hundred blurred shadows, rapidly pounding on Ennio's body.
"Big Dipper Hundred Crack Fist!"
This time, there was no Haki protection!
Countless fists slammed into Ennio's body, and in an instant, several indentations appeared on his body, but at that moment, he gritted his teeth and forcefully endured the pounding fists, ramming his head into Sag's chest and taking him down with the force.
Bang!!
The two bodies falling from the air hit the ground, and Ennio's body caved in a large dent in the ground, while Sag spun a few times in the air before landing steadily.
This time, Ennio did not get up.
His body looked like it had been run over by a mud truck, twisted beyond recognition, only his heaving chest showed that he still had breath.
Sag looked at Ennio in the dent and said, "The price of making me a scapegoat is very high."
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Ennio coughed up mouthfuls of blood, took a few deep breaths, and grit his teeth, "I don't understand what you're saying. I just wanted to capture you and sell you off."
"Are you taking me for a fool?"
Sag pointed towards the port where people were scrambling for ships, "You had this planned all along, didn't you?"
There were many ships at the port, and only a small portion belonged to merchants. When he arrived, he saw these docked ships, and some of them were so dusty they must have been there a while.
Haki, ships, and the intentional killing of marines and soldiers by this so-called 'king', as well as his deliberately inciting speech.
Sag wasn't a fool, and he naturally saw through it all.
It was unclear if it was because of the blood or something else, but that ugly, chubby face didn't seem so detestable at the moment, and Ennio slowly retracted his gritted teeth, his cloudy eyes shifting as he looked at Sag.
"Are you angry that I accused you of being a pirate?" he suddenly asked.
Sag sighed, "The Evil Dragon Pirate Crew is no more, that's a fact. I've had bad luck and haven't been able to find other drifting pirates, so it's clear that I can't continue with this profession. I was planning to become a pirate in the next step anyway,
"Have you ever thought about joining the Navy? A man like you would surely accomplish great things there."
"Nah, it's not for me. I can't stand being constrained. I've heard that Navy men have no freedom at all. They even have to wait for orders before fighting pirates," Sag replied, hesitating for a moment before adding, "Anyway, it's just not my style."
With that, he turned and started to walk away.
"Hey, aren't you going to kill me?" Ennio called out.
Without turning back, Sag casually responded, "You're already dead."
Ennio smiled faintly, tilting his head back to let the now-heavy raindrops fall on his face. His cloudy eyes took on another layer of opacity as his vitality began to wane.
Boom!!
A clap of thunder rumbled through the air, bringing with it a fierce storm and a barrage of cannonballs that exploded on the water's surface just off the port.
Cannonballs?
Sag looked out toward the port and spotted the silhouette of a massive ship approaching in the distance.
"A Navy warship! It's a Navy warship!"
The shout from the port startled the would-be ship hijackers, causing them to falter in their escape.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Ennio coughed violently, propping himself up with his left arm as he struggled to get back on his feet.
"You're not allowed to leave!" he shouted hoarsely.
...
"Ennio, they say it was the Golden Lion who instigated the Navy and pirates to war, bringing ruin to our nation. But I know the truth. The tax burden from the Celestial Gold has always been too heavy for our citizens to bear. I want to change this country; will you help me?"
The man with hair like shimmering gold reached out his hand...
His voice, initially weak, grew in strength as he shouted, his neck veins bulging, "You're not allowed to leave! You can't take my ships and sail away! What will I do if you don't pay the Sky Bond?"
His words caught the attention of more people, who now turned to see their king in an even more pitiful state. After a brief moment of hesitation, they shook off their panic and resolutely set sail, adjusting their course and accelerating away from the port.
The sight of a king devoid of authority and a contingent of soldiers suffering heavy losses only served to strengthen their resolve to leave.
"You can't! You mustn't!" Ennio's pupils contracted as he struggled to stand tall, taking a step forward.
...
"Ennio, please, I'm begging you. Protect Lily," pleaded a weak voice from the bed.
This was followed by increasingly oppressive taxes and the parasitic nobles who cared nothing for the people's plight. No matter what they tried, the Celestial Gold tax remained an unbearable burden.
No matter how tyrannical their rule, that group of nobles continued to bleed the kingdom dry.
Even if Lily became queen, she would either meet the same fate as her parents or be ousted.
And if she were ousted... Though it had been over thirty years, Ennio keenly remembered the horrors inflicted by those people. They showed no mercy to member states, let alone non-member nations.
This country was beyond saving!
But its people could still be saved! To save this country, to protect Lily, they had to...
His steps were slow, but his resolve was firm as he stumbled toward the port, muttering to himself:
"You can't leave! I won't let you!"
The departing ships picked up speed, and Ennio's body suddenly swayed. His eyes, once cloudy, now darkened and blurred, but a smile spread across his face, and with a final shout, he collapsed.
"Leave! Leave!!!"
Ennio fell to the ground, his cloudy eyes now dull and lifeless. The smile on his face, however, remained frozen in place.
Hearing the commotion, Sag shrugged and muttered, "Should've exploded. Strong bodies are tough, huh?"
So be it if he had to take the fall. Bounty hunting was out of the question now, and aside from turning to piracy, he had no other options.
However...
"Hey, wait! I haven't even gotten on a ship yet!" Sag exclaimed, feeling a bit foolish as he surveyed the now-empty port.
All those ships, and not a single one remained? Well, except for one.
That massive warship was drawing closer.
"Sag, get on board! The Navy is coming!"
He turned at the sound of the voice and saw Lily, one hand gripping the sail, standing in a small boat that cut swiftly through the wind and rain, her hair blowing wildly.
"What are you doing?" Sag asked.
"Setting sail!"
(End of Chapter)
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