Chapter 777: So Unfair
Chapter 777: So Unfair
"This old man", Kuro muttered, glancing at him with a sidelong look. His gaze flicked between the man's face—remarkably similar to Ajitan's—and Ajitan himself. "Your dad? Dementia kicking in? Why so angry?"
"Father!"
Ajitan stood abruptly, asking, "You’re feeling better?"
"Not dead yet." The old man's voice was icy.
Ajitan instinctively moved to surrender his seat but caught himself, straightening his posture defiantly. "Father, I am the king now. I have the authority to decide everything about Kolfkingdom. That right no longer belongs to you."
"Kingship? What qualifications do you have to be king? Do you even understand this nation’s reality? You know nothing. You naively think the World Government will help you? They care only about their own interests. As for the Navy—"
The old man glanced at Kuro. "The Navy isn’t bad, but this is our kingdom’s affair. Your sudden invasion of my land—does the World Government intend to declare war on Kolfkingdom? If they do, we won’t back down!"
"This old man—"
Kuro exhaled a plume of smoke, eyeing the elder up and down. Truth be told, upon closer inspection, the old man’s aura was surprisingly formidable.
Though his current state was frail, Kuro could sense the lingering power of his prime.
A truly formidable old man.
"Noardi?" Kuro recalled the name, asking cautiously.
Lucci nodded, his gaze fixed on the aged figure. "The former king of Kolfkingdom, with a pirate history. Not particularly famous, but we managed to trace his records."
"That was the past. I’ve been king for over two decades."
Noardi declared, "I have no bounty. Your accusations are baseless. Moreover, this is the New World—beyond the World Government’s jurisdiction. You lack the qualifications to declare war."
"No one’s declaring war", Lucci retorted coldly. "We’re here at the invitation of the current king to investigate. As King Ajitan said, you’re no longer king. You have no right to speak. Furthermore, your people will never accept your rule again."
"That’s right!"
Ajitan seized the momentum from Lucci’s words, finding courage. He faced Noardi head-on. "Father, you’re old. What you did before was wrong. Luffy’s arrival merely accelerated the inevitable. If I let you keep going, everything will be irreversible when you die. Luffy, I’ll help you seek justice. Now I’m in charge. Just watch me!"
"You, in charge? Help Luffy seek justice?!"
Noardi scoffed. "Monkey D. Luffy—the one you call Luffy—is beyond your ability to confront. Not now, not ever. That boy will shake the world’s foundations, and much sooner than you think."
"Luffy..." Lucci’s expression stiffened. He lowered his head, recalling the relentless young man at Enies Lobby.
He had lost to him.
A defeat that shouldn’t have happened, yet it did.
"Another one."
Kuro leaned back, addressing Noardi. "You think a brash kid like him will shake the world?"
Not that Kuro underestimated Luffy—being a world’s chosen child, he had no objections to that title in a decade or two.
But now? To dominate the world, one needed to defeat the Four Emperors. Could a reckless punk truly challenge them?
What were the Emperors to him? What was the Navy?
A joke?
"You dare call him that?" Noardi shot Kuro a glare. "A thief like you has no right to speak."
Kuro’s eyes narrowed. "Old man, watch your mouth. Since when am I a thief?"
"Hmph. Guilty and still denying it? You took the Bomb Rockvein vein from Boam Village—nothing left, not even the land itself. I don’t know how you did it, but that aura was unmistakably yours."
Noardi’s voice hardened. "In Kolf Island, nothing escapes my eyes."
Kuro fell silent.
This old man...
He’s got some skill!
Observation Haki at this level? Like a surveillance camera watching everything?
No, that didn’t add up. Even Observation Haki couldn’t be that absolute, and certainly not for this old man.
"Devil Fruit user?"
Kuro squinted. "Don’t flatter me with ‘thief.’ I merely prevented pirates from coveting it. If you’re so perceptive, you should know your own kingdom’s already crumbling. I removed the Rockvein to prevent greater destruction."
Kuro rambled on, tossing out terms like "custody" and "Navy protocols you wouldn’t understand", filling the air with an aura of inevitable gloom.
No one dared laugh.
"That was still my people’s land", Noardi said after a pause. "Those causing chaos in Kolfkingdom—they’re my people too. Ajitan, inviting outsiders to slaughter your own citizens? How can you call yourself king?"
"If you hadn’t enslaved them, none of this would’ve happened!" Ajitan snapped. "Your tyranny for over two decades—that’s the root cause!"
"Enslaved, you say?"
Noardi chuckled. "What do you understand of my rule? If you claim kingship, act like one. Pirates are converging here—they’ll arrive shortly. If you can conquer them without relying on outsiders, I’ll acknowledge you as the new king of Kolf. Otherwise..."
He glanced at Kuro. "I know you, Golden Lion. Don’t think killing a few old men makes you mighty. Violence is a fleeting solution. Defeating those who come—that, you’ll manage. But will it prove anything? I’ll never recognize you."
"Need your recognition?!"
Kuro’s temper flared. "Who do you think you are, an old fossil spewing nonsense? Age doesn’t grant you the right to lecture me! Old man, don’t provoke me. Want me to slap a bounty on you and drag you to Impel Down?"
For a former pirate like him, Cpintelligence had already confirmed his past. Even without proof, Kuro could fabricate a pirate identity. A bounty would follow—a simple matter.
Years of ruthless dealings had left him unaccustomed to being challenged.
Verbal jabs? He despised them most.
He’d seen countless keyboard warriors in his past life—men who thought themselves gods behind a screen.
What’s this fool’s difference?
"Hmph. A dying man fears no threats!"
Noardi scoffed at Kuro, then turned to Ajitan. "Prepare yourself. They’re coming!"
With that, he ignored Kuro’s group entirely, stepping outside.
Outside, the once-neat food lay in disarray.
"My food..." Lida opened her mouth, her face twisted in distress.
She hadn’t done anything wrong. Just waiting to eat.
How unfair!
(End of Chapter)
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