Banquet

About ten days later, Bullet and Gaban returned one after the other. Bullet came back first, his methods simple and brutal—he had directly tied up the king of the Kingdom of Kolun and brought him back.

Gaban and Shikaru's approach was relatively gentler; they had "invited" the king of the Kingdom of Biya back.

The three kings talked through an entire night. No one knew what they discussed, but after the two kings returned to their own countries, they announced their submission to the Kingdom of Mol.

Although there were still some stubborn dissenters in both kingdoms, everyone who stepped forward was eliminated by the Roger Pirates. That's right—eliminated, completely erased from this world, to prevent them from stirring up trouble again after the pirates left.

King Caesar also found out from the Kingdom of Kolun who the spy lurking in his own kingdom was. The result shocked them—it turned out to be one of the kingdom's highest-ranking ministers.

Fortunately, the Roger Pirates had arrived early; otherwise, his royal authority might have been slowly eroded, and the kingdom's fall would not have been far off.

The day after learning the truth, King Caesar ordered the execution of the spy's entire clan. No matter how much the man begged for mercy or how many contributions he had made to the country, no matter how he appealed to reason or emotion, King Caesar did not pardon him.

Because the crime of harming the Princess alone was enough to outweigh all his merits.

On the day of national unification, a grand banquet was held on the island. Every resident, no matter where they were, joined in the celebration, for their island had finally achieved unity, and they no longer had to live in the flames of war.

"Thank you all." During the banquet, King Caesar bowed deeply to Roger. Roger did not refuse the gesture, knowing he could not turn down this gratitude.

"I hope you will treat the people of this island well. If I come back next time and find them living poorly, you should know what will happen to you."

"Rest assured, I will regard the island's residents as my own children." As he spoke, beads of sweat the size of beans kept streaming down King Caesar's face, because he had just felt an immense pressure from Roger, instantly shattering the easygoing image Roger had in his eyes.

"Good." Roger patted him on the shoulder, both as encouragement and in the hope that he would become a great king in the future.

This was the first time in two months that the Roger Pirates had gathered together. Even the solemnity of the royal palace could not dampen their lively atmosphere.

"Thank you." Princess Kaiser Lynn walked up to Shirakawa, raising her glass to him.

Today, Kaiser Lynn wore a very splendid gown, drawing everyone's attention wherever she went.

"You're welcome." Shirakawa had heard Kaiser Lynn say this many times already; one more didn't make a difference.

"Man, Shirakawa sure has good luck with women," a pirate complained to his companion beside him, probably jealous of Kaiser Lynn's closeness to Shirakawa.

"Haha, if you had Shirakawa's face—no, if you were even half as handsome as him, your luck with women would be endless too."

"Hahaha." Hearing this, everyone around burst into loud laughter.

"As if you guys aren't jealous," the mocked pirate retorted.

At that, the laughter stopped abruptly. Claiming not to be jealous would be a pure lie.

Although pirates didn't need handsome faces, if they had them, no one would mind. After all, most pirates pursued two things: wealth and women.

With a handsome face, beautiful women would be no worry—just like Shirakawa now.

But Shirakawa wasn't as happy as others imagined. Kaiser Lynn's words kept pressing him.

"Are you really not going to stay?" This was the umpteenth time Kaiser Lynn had asked him.

"I've already said my ambitions lie elsewhere. Give up on this."

"Can't you think about me for once?" These past few days, Kaiser Lynn had tried to bury her feelings for Shirakawa, but when she learned he was leaving, her emotions could no longer be contained and burst forth completely.

"I'm sorry. Maybe we just weren't meant to be."

Even though it pained him to see Kaiser Lynn's tears, Shirakawa firmly refused, unwilling to give her even a shred of hope.

Although Shirakawa hadn't explicitly said the words of rejection, Kaiser Lynn understood his meaning—it was no different from a refusal.

Then Kaiser Lynn ran off crying. Shirakawa wanted to call out to her and comfort her, but in the end, he held himself back.

"Tch, scumbag." The pirates who had been watching Shirakawa saw Kaiser Lynn run away in tears and didn't hesitate to sneer.

In their minds, they had already concocted a tragic love story.

Shirakawa had toyed with the princess's feelings, shirked responsibility after seducing her, and abandoned his wife and daughter for his dreams.

If Shirakawa knew what story they were imagining, he would have punched them without hesitation. That story was too far-fetched. Besides, where did he even get a daughter?

King Caesar, who had been watching his daughter, sighed helplessly. He too wished his daughter could find happiness, but it seemed impossible now.

And he had really taken a liking to young Shirakawa.

"Can you really bear to reject her?"

At that moment, Rayleigh walked up to Shirakawa, perhaps intending to offer him some psychological guidance.

"Even if I can't bear it, what does it matter? We're ultimately not suited for each other. Besides, I don't love her—it's always been one-sided on her part. I'm not a scumbag."

"Then why are you feeling miserable here? Crying crocodile tears?"

"I just feel uneasy inside."

Rayleigh let out a cold laugh. "In the end, you still have feelings for that girl."

"Let me tell you, if you have feelings, you must suppress them. Don't let them take root and grow. Don't give up a whole forest for one tree."

"Looks like you're the real scumbag. But what would happen if your wife heard what you just said?"

"What wife do I have?"

"Did I misremember? I recall there's a woman in the Sabaody Archipelago who's always been hung up on you—or is it you who's always been hung up on her?"

"How do you know?" Rayleigh exclaimed in surprise, his voice rising as he checked to see if anyone was eavesdropping.

"Heh, that's a secret. I'm not telling you." With that, Shirakawa walked away.

"I'm warning you, you little brat, don't go spreading this around."

Behind Rayleigh, Shirakawa shouted in exasperation.

"Don't worry, I haven't lived long enough yet."

Shirakawa believed that if he spread that information, what awaited him would be endless torment from Rayleigh.