The New World Belonged to the Four Emperors

The Grand Line, the New World.

Bikahi Island.

It was the largest of the twenty-seven islands under the jurisdiction of the Ekmondo Kingdom, and the island where the kingdom's capital, Arabica, was located.

The Ekmondo Kingdom was known as the "Kingdom of Coffee." The coffee beans produced on Bikahi Island alone could satisfy one-tenth of the Grand Line's market demand, while the beans produced across all twenty-seven islands made up nearly a quarter of the market.

The kingdom's capital, Arabica, was also renowned as the "City of Coffee."

On the hill directly north of this "City of Coffee," the Royal Palace, built of white marble, was still brightly lit in the night, illuminating the entire hillside until it was as bright as day. Its lights shone in concert with the full moon above.

Contrary to the citizens' imaginings of the royal family enjoying lavish banquets amid luxury and revelry, the entire palace was now steeped in a terrifyingly oppressive atmosphere.

The maids huddled along both sides of the corridor like quails, too frightened to even draw a breath, afraid they might disturb His Majesty the King, who was in a fit of rage in his study.

Until—

"Tap, tap, tap—" Light yet steady footsteps came from the other end of the corridor.

The oppressive, heavy atmosphere suddenly showed the faintest sign of easing.

"Your Highness Aleus."

Seeing the man striding toward her, the head maid hurried to greet him.

His short black hair was neatly groomed, his clear green eyes as brilliant as the finest jade. Not a flaw could be found in his handsome features. At two hundred and five centimeters tall, he could hardly be called a "giant" in this world; he was simply not a short man.

Sokachio Aleus.

He was the First Crown Prince of the Ekmondo Kingdom, Deputy Commander of the Royal Guard, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom.

The moment the maids trembling in the corridor saw the Crown Prince appear, they all breathed a sigh of relief. The kindest member of the Sokachio Family, Aleus had always been regarded by the palace servants as their saving grace.

There were naturally more than one person in the palace who could calm the king's anger. But neither the queen nor the ministers cared much about the servants' lives. Even the seven-year-old Second Prince and the Little Princess, who was not yet six, were indifferent to their fate. Or rather, if the servants' heads could appease the king, that would probably be considered a good thing.

Everything was relative. With so many others serving as counterexamples, Aleus had naturally become a savior in the servants' eyes.

"Golia, haven't I told you? When Father loses his temper, keep your distance. Go get Mother or one of the ministers."

Aleus slowed his steps and glanced at the head maid as she bowed. The bruise at her temple had clearly been caused by a hard object, and it looked fresh—she had probably been struck less than an hour ago.

"I'm not allowed to abandon my post."

The head maid, Golia, was as stubborn as ever, rigidly adhering to the maid's rules said to have been passed down through the Sokachio royal family for generations. Aleus didn't know if they really had been passed down for generations, but the yellowed rules were definitely more than two hundred years old. They were practically antiques.

"Go see a doctor and have that treated. That's an order."

As he spoke, Aleus picked up his pace and pushed open the study's tightly shut door.

As soon as it opened,

A cloud of dense, white smoke billowed out.

"Smoking too much is bad for you. You're not a Smoke-Smoke Fruit user, so stop wrecking your lungs and heart." All the study's windows were open, and the cold sea breeze rushed in, quickly scattering the smoke.

"Ale, you're back."

The man sitting behind the desk coughed twice, snuffed out his half-smoked cigar, and looked at Aleus standing by the window. His face, which closely resembled Aleus's, broke into a smile. The ruthless killing intent that had nearly surged forth earlier was pushed back into the depths of his eyes, leaving only genuine delight in his green gaze.

As the Sixth King of the Ekmondo Kingdom, Sokachio Bovell's greatest pride in life was having a son a hundred times more outstanding than himself.

"Any changes among the Whitebeard Pirates?"

"Gion, the Second Division Captain known as 'Blue Horn,' probably doesn't have long to live. He's terminally ill, already at death's door. Also, Whitebeard's health isn't great. Marco, the First Division Captain known as 'Phoenix,' isn't aboard the Moby Dick. I heard he went to look for medicinal herbs. For now, things are being handled by Jozu, the Third Division Captain known as 'Diamond,' and Vista, the Fifth Division Commander known as 'Flower Sword'..."

Aleus had gone to visit the Whitebeard Pirates this time to pay the protection fee for flying their flag.

As a country that had managed to establish itself in the New World for two hundred years, the Ekmondo Kingdom naturally had strength of its own.

But—

There was a saying widely repeated in the New World: "The New World belongs to the Four Emperors." No one knew where it had first come from, but in a very short time, the saying won the heartfelt agreement of all the New World's powerful forces.

It was true!

The so-called New World belonged to the Four Emperors.

Anyone who wanted to keep operating in the New World needed the protection of one of the Four Emperors. The Ekmondo Kingdom wasn't afraid of attacks from great pirates with bounties of hundreds of millions; its army was more than capable of crushing those ignorant pirates. But that didn't include the Four Emperors.

Faced with the Four Emperors who ruled over the New World, even the Ekmondo Kingdom had to bow its proud head and choose one of them to become a vassal of.

Becoming a vassal of one Emperor greatly reduced the likelihood of being attacked by the others. After all, in the New World, only an Emperor could restrain another Emperor. Even the colossal Navy was unable to contend with the Four Emperors there.

The four Pirate Emperors.

Whitebeard, Beast, Red-Haired, and Big Mom.

The first one they ruled out was Big Mom—Charlotte Linlin. As the only female Pirate Emperor, she had given birth to an entire pirate crew. She trusted only her original companions and her children; her other vassals held little standing. And what if Big Mom took a liking to someone and decided to make him her husband? Wouldn't that be a disaster?

Next was Beast—Kaido. This suicidal maniac valued talent, liked recruiting strong fighters, and never stopped dreaming of building an army made entirely of Zoan Devil Fruit users. He wasn't a bad choice at all. As long as you were strong enough, you could earn a corresponding position in the Beasts Pirates.

Unfortunately, when the Ekmondo Kingdom started looking for protection, Kaido was still in Wano Country, up to who knew what. He hadn't yet ascended to the throne of Pirate Emperor. At the time, there were only two Pirate Emperors in the New World: Whitebeard and Big Mom. As for Red-Haired, he rose to prominence even later, so there was no chance to choose him.

The final choice was obvious.

The flag of the Whitebeard Pirates flew high above the harbor, declaring to the outside world that the Ekmondo Kingdom was, in name, Whitebeard's territory.

"Whitebeard's getting old, too."

Bovell sighed softly. He was forty-three, in the prime of his life. He had seen and heard for himself how Whitebeard, "more terrifying than a demon," had carved a path through the New World's bloody meat grinder, becoming the first to ascend to the throne of Pirate Emperor. He had loomed over everyone like a towering mountain.

And yet even someone as powerful as him couldn't withstand the ravages of time...

"What's this declaration of war from the Amento Kingdom about? Have the people of the Nebri Family gone mad?" Aleus dragged an armchair over to the desk and sat down, casually leafing through the scattered documents and letters.

The Amento Kingdom was a neighbor of the Ekmondo Kingdom and one of the forces protected by the Whitebeard Pirates' flag. The Nebri Family was the royal family of the Amento Kingdom. The two countries had always had their share of friction, but things had never reached the point of outright war.

But the Amento Kingdom had done exactly that. It had unilaterally declared war and brazenly opened fire on the Ekmondo Kingdom, igniting a conflict between the two countries.

Aleus, who had been making his way back at a leisurely pace, had been forced to hurry home.

"It was Umit. He's set his sights on our family's coffee plantations."

Bovell spoke frankly.

"Umit... Deep Sea Torrent, the King of Maritime Transport?" Aleus lowered his eyes to the document in his hands. It was the Amento Kingdom's declaration of war. Its wording was utterly uncompromising, leaving no room for negotiation or a truce. It made their intent to fight to the death perfectly clear. "From the looks of it, Umit has the people of the Nebri Family under his control?"

"More than a month ago, we stopped hearing from our informants inside the Nebri Family. Before that, the family had recruited a group of pirates willing to pledge themselves to them. The trouble probably came from that bunch." Bovell licked his lips, murderous intent rising again in his green eyes.

Recruiting pirates was nothing unusual in the New World.

The New World was the end of the Grand Line, the destination all pirates sailed toward—and the vast graveyard of countless pirates. This sea, teeming with powerful fighters, was a nightmare for those pirates who clung to naive fantasies. Countless spirited rookie pirates ran into trouble in the New World, their unrealistic dreams ground away by its cruel reality.

Many pirates grew tired of life adrift at sea, but their enormous bounties made it impossible for them to return to their hometowns. They could only find a way to scrape by in the New World's lawless waters. Joining a local power was the best option.

As for why they chose not to join the Four Emperors, but instead pledged themselves to lesser or weaker forces—

The reasons were complicated. Some insisted it was better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. Others simply couldn't get close to the Four Emperors, and some were repaying a debt of gratitude... There were plenty of reasons.

This time, the Nebri Family had been unlucky enough to fall into the King of Maritime Transport Umit's trap.

"The protection money we pay the Whitebeard Pirates is certainly worth it."

Aleus tossed the declaration of war back onto the desk and remarked thoughtfully.

"The New World belongs to the Four Emperors... That's no empty saying. Even the Underworld's big shots have to lower their heads before the Four Emperors." Bovell passed on his hard-won life experience to his eldest son.

"Back then, Old Man made me go to the Whitebeard Pirates and pay for their flag. There weren't Four Emperors yet, just two Emperors, Whitebeard and Big Mom. Beast was still in Wano Country... I'd only just taken the throne, and I was young and hotheaded. I wasn't keen on it. So Old Man came back from the Red Line Continent and hung me up for a good beating."

Old Man meant Aleus's grandfather, the former king of the Ekmondo Kingdom. The retired king was still in excellent health, full of life, and working as a senior official at the World Government headquarters on the Red Line Continent. He was living quite comfortably. Not long ago, he had even found Bovell a new stepmother who was supposedly not yet twenty.

That was...

Just thinking about it was painful. Thankfully, she was on the Red Line Continent. If she came back to Arabica, who knew what they would do? Aleus certainly couldn't bring himself to call a woman younger than him Grandmother.

Bovell seemed to recall the same upsetting matter, and his expression darkened a little. He quickly wrapped up the topic. "Anyway, remember this: paying for the Whitebeard Pirates' flag is never a loss. As long as Whitebeard hasn't fallen, keep flying that flag, no matter how much it costs."

Umit was a major figure in the Underworld, known as the King of Maritime Transport. When someone of his caliber set his sights on the Ekmondo Kingdom's holdings, he hadn't attacked the kingdom directly. Instead, he had gone to great lengths to use the Amento Kingdom to make the first move. The reason for all that trouble was the Whitebeard flag.

Umit didn't dare attack the Ekmondo Kingdom directly.

Because that would be a provocation against the Whitebeard Pirates.

The consequences would be more than Umit could bear. Even with his wide circle of connections and powerful influence in the New World, even as a favored guest of Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors, all of that together was still no match for the pressure of the "World's Strongest Man."

Fortunately, hardship was fixed, but solutions were flexible. As long as you kept your wits about you, there would always be more solutions than problems.

After the King of Maritime Transport had carefully plotted things out, the Amento Kingdom—which was also protected by Whitebeard's flag—had declared war on the Ekmondo Kingdom!

It was an internal conflict between forces under Whitebeard's banner. Unless there was clear evidence that a third party was pulling the strings, the Whitebeard Pirates wouldn't get involved in such disputes. Whoever won or lost, the protection money still had to be paid.

Even if Umit succeeded in usurping the Ekmondo Kingdom, he wouldn't reduce the protection money paid to the Whitebeard Pirates. He might even offer to increase it.

"Ahem, back to business."

Bovell cleared his throat and continued. "Umit has set his sights on our family's coffee plantations, and he's willing to risk offending the Whitebeard Pirates to take control of the Amento Kingdom. We're bound to face a tough fight. Ale!"

Bovell looked at his eldest son, the pride of his life.

"Step down as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Take up the post of Deputy Minister of the Navy instead. You'll be in command of this war."