"Th-this... that..."
The king's eyes darted away as he wrestled with himself.
How could he not be tempted by such a treasure?
Although the Glacier Treasure nominally belonged to the Happo Navy as an inheritance, ever since ascending the throne, he had secretly coveted it deep down.
It was only because of Chinjao, the current pillar of the Happo Navy, and his formidable strength and prestige that the king had never dared act.
Now, if the Rocks Pirates took it... Just thinking about it made his heart bleed. He was utterly unwilling to let it go.
The king played the victim. "The Glacier Treasure is an inheritance of the Happo Navy. Even I, the king, wouldn't dare touch it without permission...
"Chinjao is powerful and hot-tempered. If he finds out I took you there, he'll skin me alive!"
His words were half true and half false. He was trying to evade the issue, while subtly directing the blame toward Chinjao.
The treasure didn't entirely belong to him anyway. If Luo Tian and Chinjao could both suffer in a fight...
A dark thought crossed the king's mind.
However, Luo Tian saw right through his feigned helplessness and fear.
When Observation Haki was cultivated to a high level, it could do more than predict movements. It could also sense emotions and lies.
"I'll say this one last time."
Luo Tian spoke coldly, his patience wearing thin.
"Otherwise, I won't hesitate to make the Flower Country's royal family... disappear completely."
The Flower Country covered a wide territory. Searching for the Glacier Treasure's exact location on his own would take time.
He had approached the country's highest authority directly for the sake of efficiency.
"Sir... you're putting me in a very difficult position," the king continued to play the victim.
"Difficult? Then don't do it!" As he spoke, Luo Tian tightened his grip on the king.
The king immediately felt an irresistible force crushing his entire body. His internal organs seemed to shift out of place. His throat turned sweet, and he couldn't stop himself from spitting out a mouthful of blood!
"Sir! I'll take you there right now! Right away!"
That alone had nearly cost him half his life. The king begged desperately for mercy, keenly aware that death was near.
He had no doubt that if he refused again, he would die on the spot.
Just as Luo Tian was about to leave the palace, carrying the king, whose face had gone ashen—
A powerful figure strode boldly through the palace doors, surrounded by a crowd of formidable subordinates.
The man stood over five meters tall, built like a giant bear. Most striking of all was the oddly shaped, pointed cone protruding from the top of his head.
He wore a loose martial arts uniform, a red sash tied around his waist, and arms thick as pillars.
He was the twelfth-generation pillar of the Happo Navy, "The Drill," Chinjao!
"This is the royal palace of the Flower Country in West Blue, not a place where the Rocks Pirates of the New World can run wild!"
Chinjao glared at the young man standing beside the throne with the king in his grasp, his voice booming like a bell.
"Even if you're with the Rocks Pirates, you have no right to trample on a country's ruler like this!"
The Happo Navy had long stationed informants in the coastal barracks.
The moment the enormous pirate ship entered their territorial waters, the news had reached him.
At first, all he knew was that the ship belonged to the Rocks Pirates. A shadow fell over his heart—the subordinates of that New World tyrant were always monsters.
But now that he saw him in person, the young man's figure looked rather youthful.
West Blue was remote. Surely Rocks wouldn't send a powerful fighter here?
What kind of trouble could one young pirate possibly stir up in the powerful Flower Country?
At the thought, Chinjao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He had absolute confidence in his own strength.
Hasshoken, a powerful martial art passed down from generation to generation, had accompanied him on countless battles and spread the Happo Navy's renown throughout West Blue.
Even in the New World, unless he encountered legends who stood at the pinnacle, like Whitebeard or Golden Lion, he had the confidence to fight without holding back.
"Oh?"
A faint scoff, impossible to read, echoed clearly through every corner of the hall.
Luo Tian slowly turned around, his gaze as sharp as a blade as he stared straight at Chinjao.
"Chinjao, the twelfth-generation pillar of the Happo Navy, known as 'The Drill'—"
"Since you know who I am, why aren't you on your knees begging for mercy?"
Seeing that the other man recognized him, Chinjao looked down on him even more.
He was still young, after all. Hearing Chinjao's name should have been enough to make him know his place.
But before Chinjao could finish, his son beside him began to tremble violently. He pointed at Luo Tian, lips quivering, unable to get out a single complete sentence.
"Pathetic!"
Chinjao flew into a rage at the sight and raised his hand to slap him.
"—That's Luo Tian! The Luo Tian with a bounty of 2.5 billion!"
His son roared with all his strength.
Chinjao's hand froze in midair.
Luo Tian?!
The monster whose first bounty had shaken the entire world? How could he possibly be in West Blue?!
In a panic, he pulled a crumpled newspaper from his clothes. It was the news that had reached West Blue just a few days earlier, printed with Luo Tian's photo and his terrifying bounty.
He looked down at the newspaper, then up at the man standing before him.
"The Rocks Pirates are far away in the New World. I had no idea Officer Luo Tian would honor our remote West Blue with a visit... May I ask what brings you here?" Chinjao immediately turned polite.
"Since you're here, this works out perfectly." Luo Tian casually tossed the king aside like a dead dog and spoke without the slightest attempt to hide his intentions.
"I want the treasure beneath the Ice Continent."
"Oof!" The king hit the ground with a pained cry, then shot Chinjao a venomous glare.
If only you'd arrived a moment sooner! Then I wouldn't have had to go through this!
Chinjao ignored the king's glare. The moment he heard the word "treasure," his expression darkened completely.
Just as he thought.
He had vaguely guessed Luo Tian's purpose as soon as he recognized him.
But that treasure represented eleven generations of his family's accumulated wealth. It was the foundation for his future journey through the Grand Line. How could he just hand it over?
"Pop..." his son murmured, his voice uneasy.
He understood what it meant, too. But standing before them was Luo Tian, with a bounty of 2.5 billion!
"Pirate—you're going too far!!!"
Chinjao's fury and determination to defend his family's wealth ultimately overwhelmed his lingering fear of Luo Tian's name.
He roared in a rage, no longer hesitating!
That was eleven generations of his family's accumulated wealth! It was the capital he needed to conquer the seas! How could he possibly hand it over?!
In an instant, his burly body burst into motion. A powerful punch, imbued with Haki and the essence of Hasshoken, tore through the air and crashed toward Luo Tian!
Chinjao had absolute confidence in his Hasshoken.
It was a secret art with a hundred-year history, passed down through the generations of the Happo Navy.
Not only was it astonishingly powerful, it could also unleash a potent, expanding shock wave upon impact. Ordinary shields and defenses couldn't withstand it.
At the same time, Hasshoken itself was exceptionally good at absorbing and deflecting force, making it a style equally suited to offense and defense.
This was the unparalleled strength he relied on to dominate West Blue.
"Hasshoken: Secret Technique—Drill Dragon!"
Haki coiled around his fist like a tangible force, forming a spiraling cone of energy.
Facing the heavy punch, which threatened to unleash a shock wave, Luo Tian remained utterly calm.
He didn't even draw his sword. He simply raised his right hand.
Repulsion gathered and compressed around his fist until the surrounding space began to warp slightly.
Then he threw a punch to meet it!
He didn't meet force with force. Instead, he concentrated Shinra Tensei's repulsion into a single point on his fist, creating penetrating destructive power!
"BANG!!!"
Their fists collided!
A violent blast of air exploded around them, scattering the hall's lavish decorations in every direction and sending the unconscious guards flying.
Then, under Chinjao's disbelieving gaze, his whole body was hurled backward uncontrollably.
His feet carved two deep furrows into the floor. He staggered back more than a dozen steps before barely regaining his balance.
"Damn..." Chinjao felt a sharp, tingling pain throughout his right arm. His knuckles felt as if they were about to shatter, and his blood roared through his veins.
The strange, immense force transmitted from the other man's fist had completely exceeded his expectations.
It wasn't mere brute strength. It was some kind of... repulsion on a spatial level!
Chinjao raised his head and stared fixedly at Luo Tian. For the first time, true gravity appeared in his eyes.
This young man...
He was far stronger than Chinjao had imagined.
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