A Crazy Request

Heavenly Tribute is a huge sum of money that the Affiliated Nation of the World Government have to pay to the Celestial Dragons every year.

As a model kingdom in the East Blue, the Goa Kingdom has always been very proactive in paying Heavenly Tribute.

The Goa Kingdom had already prepared this huge sum of money by the end of last year.

After leaving the royal city at nine o'clock in the morning, the procession escorting the Heavenly Tribute bypassed the foul-smelling, Uncertain Substance Terminal and headed towards the docks on the West Blue.

Heavenly Tribute is not actually currency in the literal sense, but rather a general equivalent recognized by the World Government, such as gold, jewelry, food, slaves, and so on.

Therefore, the procession was quite large, consisting of slaves pulling heavy wagons.

Stelly rode a tall carriage, constantly wiping the sweat from his brow, which had been burning under the scorching sun.

Strictly speaking, it's still spring, and the weather isn't extremely hot, only around 30 degrees Celsius.

However, in order to maintain the appearance of an aristocrat, Stelly still wore impeccably tailored aristocratic attire.

As a result, it naturally gets unbearably hot.

"Stop!"

Less than half an hour after they started walking, Slit called the group to a halt again.

He scrambled down from his horse in a disheveled state, and the servants quickly brought over parasols, deck chairs, fruit juice, and large fans.

Stelly plopped down in a chair, and the servants frantically fanned him.

Stelly counted on his fingers how far he had walked since morning, but he couldn't figure out how many additions and subtractions he could do within twenty.

But regardless, Stelly finally understood why his father-in-law and brother-in-law, who were so eager to curry favor with the Celestial Dragons, had given up this excellent opportunity to meet with the Mary Geoise envoy.

Walking under the scorching sun, and occasionally encountering those lowly people who reek of poverty, this work is truly inhuman.

Stelly opened his mouth, bit the straw the servant handed him, took a sip of grape juice with ice, and immediately spat it out.

"I don't want grape juice, I want honey water, iced honey water!"

Stelly started shouting.

The servants looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Mr. Stelly, we didn't bring any honey, and this is the wilderness, there's no way to buy any..."

"Damn it, is there really no way?"

Stelly lay sprawled on the chair like a shameless scoundrel. "I, the second son of the prestigious Outlook Family and the prince consort of the Goa Kingdom, can't even get a cup of honey water! Is there any hope left in this world?!"

Just as Stelly was sighing deeply, the faint cries of a peddler suddenly drifted from afar.

"Want some sunflower seeds and cola?"

Would you like some chilled watermelon?

"Would you like some yogurt and honey?"

Yogurt and honey!

Stelly's ears immediately perked up.

He jumped up from his chair and directed those around him, "Carry me over so I can have a look."

The servants quickly set up chairs and ran towards the direction from which the shouts came, braving the scorching sun.

The kingdom's soldiers responsible for escorting the valuables and slaves quickly dispatched a portion of them to follow, in order to protect Lord Stelly's safety.

Soon, a dilapidated road sign appeared on the mountain path, with the place name "Foosha Village, Cross Slope" written on it.

After running a few more steps, you'll see a spacious and brightly lit food stall.

"Sōjirō char siu rice?"

Stelly looked at the signboard fluttering in the wind with a disdainful expression.

"Is this a shop run by a man? What a disappointment..."

A maid with a very abstract appearance next to Stelly pulled out a notebook:

"Lord Stelly, I am Her Highness the Princess's spy planted by your side. What did you just say? I need to write it down in detail."

"Uh, I mean, these kinds of shabby little shops in the mountains are really disappointing! But..."

Stelly then changed the subject. "Honey water is a must-drink no matter what!"

The servants carried Stelly into the food stall.

A man with Moss Head was chopping the meat of an unknown creature on a cutting board with three cleavers, turning it into char siu.

"That..."

"Um?!"

The man raised his head and simply hummed in response. The servants, as if being stared at by a wild beast, felt their hair stand on end and were unable to move.

No way.

Anyone who overslept and was late, resulting in a defeat in an important duel without a fight, and was forced to continue serving as a subordinate, would not be in a good mood.

However, Stelly was completely unaffected by Zoro's aura.

In his view, this was nothing more than a rather irritable commoner.

He stepped forward and asked, "Who's shouting that they have honey and yogurt for sale?"

Zoro spat out the butcher knife from his mouth and pointed to the megaphone tied to the flagpole.

Just then, the same hawking voice came through the loudspeaker.

"Consider yourselves lucky. I happen to be thirsty and need some honey water. Quickly prepare some honey water for me! And remember to wash your hands!"

"Stelly yelled viciously."

"Wait a mininute."

Zoro was seething with anger, but he was a man of his word.

Since I promised Brother Yasuo that I would do this big thing, I have to keep my word.

He turned and went to the back kitchen, and a moment later he came out carrying an exquisite Western-style plate covered with a red cloth and a lid.

"I didn't expect such a small rural shop to be so particular."

Stelly nodded in satisfaction. "Is this honey water?"

"I think so. Our boss, Yasuo, just gave it to me. He said this honey is very precious and extremely fresh."

As he spoke, Zoro lifted the cover off the plate.

However, when the cover was completely lifted, there was actually a King Luffy inside.

This guy had a round belly, was holding a large jar in his hand, Kakuzu.

Luffy grinned, licking his fingers and waving, "Hey, Zoro... and you guys with the round face, hello!"

"Damn it, what are you doing here!"

Both Stelly and Zoro loudly berated this unfortunate creature that had suddenly appeared.

"Sorry, sorry, I was just feeling hungry..."

Luffy waved his hand dismissively, then, as if remembering something, he pulled down his pants and started reaching into his crotch.

Soon, to everyone's astonishment, King Luffy pulled a hornet's nest the size of a durian from his crotch.

"Yasuo claims his honey is the freshest, and I'm really not convinced!"

"I just got beaten up by him this morning, so at least I'm going to beat him when it comes to cooking!"

King Luffy proudly broke open the hornet's nest, trying to find the fresh honey he had imagined.

When Yasuo and his Sun Dog Bandit Group surrounded them, they were all dumbfounded.

The scene before me was horrific, utterly tragic.

Originally, Ma Qiao's plan to cleverly seize the Heavenly Tribute was simply to use sleeping pills to incapacitate the Goa Kingdom's army.

But now these soldiers, covered in bumps and bruises, lay on the ground, groaning and groaning, oblivious to their fate.

Even Zoro's handsome and dashing face was now on par with the good looks of Stelly beside him.

On the contrary, Stelly originally had a potato-shaped face, sausage lips, and beady eyes.

After being stung by a swarm of wasps, there were some changes, but overall it was nothing special.

This is the so-called principle that as long as I'm ugly enough, no one can disfigure me.

As for the culprit, King Luffy, he fell asleep halfway through the run due to ingesting too much sleeping pills, becoming the prime target of the bees and is now unrecognizable.

Theoretically, at this point, he has accumulated toxins in his body and needs Reiju to inhale them for him to fully recover.

However, Yasuo wouldn't dare make such a request to Boss Ma Qiao.

Fortunately, at this moment, Sun Dog's sister-in-law volunteered to help King Luffy suck out the drugs.

Although she didn't have special physical modifications like Reiju, she was still a woman weighing over 500 pounds, and at an age where she could suck up dirt just by sitting down, so her suction power was extraordinary.

Soon, most of the toxins in King Luffy's body were absorbed, and his condition visibly improved.

While Dog Sister was giving King Luffy drugs, Yasuo was directing Sun Dog and his henchmen to pack up all the Heavenly Tribute and take it away.

Even the desperate bandits stripped Stelly of his underwear and trousers.

Three days later.

West Blue Pier.

"So you're the nobleman from the Goa Kingdom responsible for transporting the Heavenly Tribute?"

"I remember the Goa Kingdom was a Civilization and enlightened country, wasn't it?"

On the West Blue docks, the envoy from the Holy Land Mary Geoise stared in disbelief at what he was witnessing.

The world of One Piece is filled with numerous countries, each with vastly different levels of technology and living standards.

It includes both technologically advanced countries in the South Blue and tribal nations like Shandora.

The scene before him made the special envoy from Mary Geoise momentarily think he had gone to the wrong place.

This special envoy, named Horton Tucker, was in charge of collecting the Heavenly Tribute in the entire East Blue region this year, and his power was immense.

Although Horton is not Celestial Dragons, his family has served the Celestial Dragons for generations, and his father is a high-ranking official in the World Government's Treasury Department.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Horton will succeed his father in a few years and become a key figure in the World Government.

At that moment, he stared in shock at Stelly and his group, who were completely naked except for leaves covering their private parts.

The key feature is the obvious swelling and bulge in the area covered by the leaves of the Stelly tree, which makes it look very majestic.

This is, of course, the work of wasps.

But in the eyes of the Mary Geoise envoy, this young man from the Outlook Family was indeed exceptionally talented, no wonder he was able to become the prince consort of the Goa Kingdom.

"If you can't explain all this, you'll be offered up as Heavenly Tribute to the Shalria," Horton casually glanced at Stelly's crotch and offered a plausible suggestion.

Stelly was startled by what he heard.

As the prince consort of the Goa Kingdom, he had heard of the Celestial Dragons' prowess.

Stelly knew all too well how terrible the consequences of becoming Celestial Dragons's male concubine were.

He immediately knelt down and, with tears streaming down his face, recounted his ordeal of being attacked by bandits, embellishing the story.

"Mountain bandits? You mean you were robbed by such insignificant creatures?"

The Mary Geoise envoy scoffed, "I never imagined the Goa Kingdom had fallen to such a state of utter depravity. In any case, without the Heavenly Tribute, you can just wait to be expelled from the World Government's ranks!"

"They're not ordinary bandits, they're not ordinary bandits!"

Stelly scrambled to cling to Horton's leg, shouting, "That's a bandit who's skilled with poisonous insects—yes, skilled with wasps! He's terrifying! It's not that we didn't try, but we only have wasps!"

When he got excited, Stelly suddenly remembered a manga he had read some time ago when he was East Blue and wanted to kill some time, called "Dog Monster".

As the prince consort of the Goa Kingdom, Stelly had heard about the connection between popular comics in the North Blue and Germa 66.

It's hard to say whether this popular East Blue manga is based on a real person!

Thinking about it carefully, the probability is very high!

"That bandit is called Naraku! He goes by the alias Sun Dog, and he's a terrifying character. I suspect they're capable of standing up to the major pirate crews of the Grand Line!"

The thought of potentially becoming Celestial Dragons's male concubine because of the loss of the Heavenly Tribute, and knowing that the Goa Kingdom's royal family, besides his wife, would certainly offer their full support, made Stelly steel his resolve and continued:

"These bandits are beyond the capabilities of our Goa Kingdom. On behalf of all the nobles of the Goa Kingdom, I implore you to use your authority as the Heavenly Tribute Envoy to request the Marine Headquarters to launch... launch... the Buster Call!"