Preparing for War

The next day.

The morning light had yet to chase away the darkness on the ground.

Aleus woke right on time. His ever-reliable biological clock had done its job as usual, without waking the maid who was still sleeping soundly. He washed his face and brushed his teeth himself. Though he was a prince, he was more accustomed to taking care of such things on his own than standing or sitting like a wooden dummy while someone jabbed a toothbrush around inside his mouth.

Well, the maid was very professional, and her movements didn't make him uncomfortable at all. On the contrary, she was gentle enough that the whole thing could be called a pleasure.

But not being used to it was not being used to it.

Some habits left over from his previous life hadn't changed with his rebirth.

After washing up, Aleus changed into his training clothes and went straight to his private training ground to begin his usual morning workout.

More than two hundred years ago,

the ancestors of the Sokachio Clan had come from the East Blue as bounty hunters, fought their way into the Grand Line, and then charged into the New World. Relying on their iron fists, they had carved out a domain there and laid the foundations of the Ekmondo Kingdom. It had taken generations of hard work by their descendants to achieve the flourishing state they enjoyed today.

A good life was hard-won.

Keeping that good life was even harder.

It was a lesson every child of the Sokachio Family had to understand from a young age.

To survive in the New World, formidable strength was the most reliable safeguard. The kingdoms of the New World operated by rules entirely different from those of the Four Seas and Paradise. A king in the New World didn't necessarily have to be the strongest warrior in his kingdom, but he certainly couldn't be some worthless weakling.

So the Sokachio Clan had never abandoned its pursuit of strength, generation after generation.

The strongest publicly known member of the Sokachio Family was Aleus's grandfather—the old man who had married a new wife less than twenty years old on the Red Line Continent. He had the strength of a Navy Headquarters Vice Admiral, and during his time in power, he had been a notorious scoundrel in the New World.

Then there was Aleus's father, the Sixth King of Ekmondo Kingdom, Sokachio Bovell. In the Navy, he would have ranked among the top Rear Admirals.

As for Aleus,

he was still young and had yet to display his prowess before the eyes of the world. He needed a sufficiently dazzling opportunity to make the world aware of his existence, and to let both the friends and enemies of the Ekmondo Kingdom know that its next king was every bit as formidable as his elders.

And that opportunity

was already right before him.

The war with the Amento Kingdom would be Aleus's stage.

After his morning training, Aleus bathed and changed, hurried through breakfast, then returned to the study where His Majesty received guests.

A visitor had already arrived before him.

"Your Highness Aleus."

The burly man sitting on the sofa rose and greeted Aleus as he entered.

"None of that formality. Besides, you're my superior now. I should be the one saluting you, General Foy." Aleus smiled as he greeted the burly man.

The man stood two meters and sixty centimeters tall, with shoulders broad enough to race horses across and a tawny beard beneath his chin. He was Bamund Foy, Minister of the Navy of the Ekmondo Kingdom—and, as Aleus was about to take on the additional post of Deputy Minister of the Navy, very much his superior.

"Ha ha! You've certainly grown up! You're a lot sturdier than you were as a boy." Foy let out a hearty laugh, then turned his gaze toward Bovell, who sat behind the desk. "Your Majesty, it looks like it won't be long before we're off to retire at the World Government!"

That was the custom of the Ekmondo Kingdom.

With each new reign came a new court.

Just as Aleus's grandfather had abdicated in Bovell's favor and gone with his old retainers to the World Government's headquarters on the Red Line Continent, Bovell would take his own trusted retainers with him when he yielded the throne to Aleus.

And it wasn't just ministers. Other members of the royal family would go with him as well.

Aleus's grandfather had taken his other two sons to the Red Line Continent. When Bovell left, he would take Aleus's younger brother and sister with him too.

The second king had established this custom to prevent the family from turning against itself.

After all,

royal families like those of the Alabastan Kingdom and the Drum Kingdom, which had only one heir in each generation, were rare oddities. And then there was the Goa Kingdom, which could only pass the throne to an adopted son—a tragedy, assuming the heir really was adopted and not an illegitimate child.

Most royal families had at least a hundred or so members; otherwise, they'd be embarrassed to call themselves royalty.

As for how they had gotten into the World Government, it was simple. The second king had used his unparalleled golden-ball offensive to win over the only daughter of a high-ranking official in the World Government at the time. He had been over fifty when he married a new wife in her twenties. Perhaps taking a "young" wife was a Sokachio Family tradition?

In any case, the second king had "sacrificed" himself like that. He had died before turning sixty from overexertion, but he had successfully established the Sokachio Family's foothold within the World Government.

"I'm looking forward to that day too!"

Hearing Foy's words, Bovell burst into hearty laughter as well.

The gloom that had hung over the day before had been completely chased away by Aleus's return.

Only after the king and the Minister of the Navy had laughed to their hearts' content did they get down to business.

"Foy, tell us what's happening on the front line."

Bovell had a cigar in his mouth, but it wasn't lit.

"The Amento Kingdom's navy is sailing south from the north. Whale Head Island, the northernmost island, was the first to fall, two days ago. Ten minutes before you came in, the garrison on Whale Belly Island sent word that the Amento Kingdom's fleet had appeared within sight of their lookout.

"Your Highness Aleus, you'll need to get to Whale Tail Island with reinforcements before it falls. If the island is taken, we'll have to defend Fin Island, Macchiato Island, and Bowhead Island instead. That'll make things much more difficult."

A map of the Ekmondo Kingdom's territory hung on the study wall.

Foy stood beside it, pointing out one location after another and doing his utmost to explain the situation to Aleus.

Still,

it wasn't all that complicated.

The New World's chaotic magnetic fields were enough to make a navigator of mediocre skill pass out.

Ships sailing through the New World had to follow the direction of their Log Pose. If they strayed into certain extremely dangerous waters, they might find there was no way out. This also limited the flexibility of naval battles to some extent, making wars in the New World direct and brutal.

There were only a handful of attack routes, and only a few places to defend. Neither the attackers nor the defenders had much room to choose.

A decapitation strike that went straight for the enemy's heart was out of the question. Even with an Eternal Pose pointing to the enemy force's headquarters, there would be no way to carry it out if there were no islands along the route where ships could resupply.

Wars like these didn't call for many schemes or tricks. The side with bigger warships, heavier firepower, and more powerful fighters had the advantage. What mattered was sheer strength.

Whale Head Island, Whale Belly Island, and Whale Tail Island formed the shape of a giant whale on the map. These three islands were the Ekmondo Kingdom's three northern gates. The waters and islands around them were all extremely dangerous. An attacker had to either break through all three islands or bypass the whole region and attack the Ekmondo Kingdom from another direction.

For now,

it looked like the Amento Kingdom intended to punch its way through Whale Head, Whale Belly, and Whale Tail.

"Whale Tail Island?"

Aleus stared at the map for a few seconds, then nodded.

"I understand. I'll wipe out the enemy on Whale Tail Island."

"Aleus, be careful. Don't forget, the Amento Kingdom is just a front. Umit is the real mastermind." Bovell warned him again and again. Aleus's strength had surpassed his own two years ago, but as the saying went, weapons had no eyes. No one could claim to win every battle on the battlefield—not even one of the Four Emperors. Beast had been captured by the Navy plenty of times.

"By the way, the reports from the front mention several Great Pirates with bounties of over a hundred million. Here's the list and information we've put together. Take a look." Bovell picked up a file from the desk and handed it to Aleus.