Off the coast of Cocoyasi Village, Konomi Kingdom.
An orange-haired girl quickly adjusted the sail, making the most of the sea breeze as she hurried back to her village.
A small pile of packages was stacked on the little sailboat.
Golden light reflected from inside one of the packages.
These were the treasures Cat Burglar Nami had stolen on her latest voyage.
"Faster! Come on!"
Nami looked anxious. All she wanted was to get back to the village as quickly as possible, then take Nojiko, Genzo, and the others and flee to safety.
The Konomi Kingdom had already fallen, and its royal family had been exiled.
The Goa Kingdom's army would soon conquer all of Konomi Kingdom's territory.
Nami had a feeling the Goa Kingdom's army would surely clash with the Arlong Empire.
She knew just how arrogant and conceited Arlong and his Fish-Men were.
Once the war began, Cocoyasi Village would probably be caught in the crossfire.
Nami no longer cared about the village's buildings or the Orange Grove. All she wanted was for her family and the villagers to survive.
According to the reports Nami had heard, the Goa Kingdom's army had been exceptionally fierce this time, conquering four kingdoms in a row.
Nothing like this had ever happened in East Blue's history.
With such overwhelming strength, Nami felt that even Arlong and his men wouldn't be able to withstand the Goa King's advance.
Nami even hoped the Goa Kingdom's army would wipe out the detestable Arlong Pirates.
As for the Marines, she had long since stopped counting on them.
She had already uncovered some clues that Arlong was working with the Marines.
Those sordid discoveries left her powerless, with no choice but to pin her hopes on her deal with Arlong.
She had to earn one hundred million Belly to buy back her village.
···
At Marine Branch 16.
The gunfire at the Branch Fortress had died down.
"Don't kill me! Please, don't kill me!"
"I'm a Marine captain!"
"Your Majesty Wang Shi, spare me!"
Captain Nezumi knelt before Wang Shi, trembling with fear. He had never imagined that the Goa Kingdom's warships would arrive so quickly.
It was as if they had finished taking Konomi's royal capital, dealt with the royal family as an afterthought, and then sailed straight here.
It had been less than half an hour since he'd reported the news to Marine Headquarters.
"This little rat's private treasury is quite impressive."
Looking at the money seized from Captain Nezumi's private vault, Wang Shi couldn't help but click his tongue.
A mere branch captain had amassed more than a billion Belly in assets.
Arlong had bribed Captain Nezumi with quite a fortune over the past six years.
No wonder the Domei royal family of Konomi Kingdom had been so poor. They'd paid the Heavenly Tribute, and all the rest of their money had ended up in Captain Nezumi's and Arlong's hands.
Captain Nezumi had spent lavishly on food, drink, and pleasure, and had still managed to set aside so much after paying off his superiors and subordinates.
He really had it better than the king of an Affiliated Nation.
He was practically an emperor in his own little domain.
Eric watched the Goa Kingdom's Guard Army haul away the "ill-gotten gains" and "spoils of war," greed and longing in his eyes.
He risked his life fighting on the front lines and still couldn't earn even tens of millions of Belly in wages and extra bounties.
Meanwhile, Wang Shi, the king of Goa, only had to start a war and bark a few orders to rake in a fortune.
The treasuries of four kingdoms, the Marine Branch's ill-gotten gains...
The sheer scale of the money made Eric's heart itch.
"Send him to keep Morgan company!"
"Come on. We're heading to Cocoyasi Village. I want to see just how strong Arlong, the man with the highest bounty in East Blue, really is!"
After crushing the Marines at Marine Branch 16, Wang Shi led his subordinates straight to their next destination.
"Yes, sir!"
The Guard Army, nobles, and officials of the Goa Kingdom had grown more confident and proud by the day. Even their footsteps seemed to swagger.
Their great king had annexed four kingdoms in a row.
He had raised the Goa Kingdom to unprecedented heights.
It was the supreme glory of every subject of the Goa Kingdom!
The Goa Empire was rising!
···
On the road from Marine Branch 16 to Cocoyasi Village.
Wang Shi was in high spirits, but then he suddenly received an urgent call from Queen Sally.
Sally's aggrieved report made Wang Shi's expression turn cold.
"Husband, King Ba Dodeshinai of the Flaws Kingdom has advised us to stop the war.
"He's already hired the Germa 66 forces from North Blue and sent them to East Blue.
"If the Goa Kingdom continues expanding, he'll take countermeasures."
Queen Sally's voice carried a note of anger as she reported the Flaws Kingdom's background and intelligence to Wang Shi.
The Flaws Kingdom was one of the fifty nations attending the Reverie.
It was a well-known, powerful Affiliated Nation in East Blue.
They had hired the Germa 66 army years ago to destroy their rival, the Kokia Kingdom, seize its territory, and greatly increase their own power.
The former Kokia Kingdom was now the Flaws Kingdom's new Kokia stronghold.
"Germa 66!"
"The Flaws Kingdom!"
Wang Shi's gaze turned icy. He had indeed planned to pause after annexing these four nations and take some time to digest the new territory.
But the Flaws Kingdom had actually threatened him with Germa 66 mercenaries. It infuriated him!
This King Ba Dodeshinai seemed to have appeared at the Reverie four years from now.
He looked like a minor power broker.
The war in the Oykot Kingdom back then had also been connected to the Flaws Kingdom.
The Oykot Kingdom was Nami and Nojiko's homeland.
The Flaws Kingdom was an aggressive, expansionist nation, too.
No wonder it was one of the fifty nations at the Reverie!
But King Ba Dodeshinai was as good as dead.
He'd dared to threaten Wang Shi!
"First, keep the Flaws Kingdom calm. Our expansion is about to stop.
"Once we've digested the four kingdoms, we'll have a little 'friendly exchange' with them."
Wang Shi thought it over, then instructed Queen Sally on how to respond.
This "retreat" wasn't a real retreat.
It was just a step back to build momentum before swinging his blade and cutting someone down.
Germa 66!
He'd see whether those modified humans could withstand the power of his Toki Toki no Mi.
"Understood. I'll keep King Ba Dodeshinai calm!"
Hearing Wang Shi's composed, confident voice, Queen Sally felt safe.
She believed her husband would crush any crisis.
"Wait for me to come home, my darling Sally. Then you'll be the empress of the Goa Empire!"
Wang Shi soothed Queen Sally's nerves.
"I'll be waiting for you, my heroic husband!"
Queen Sally hung up the Den Den Mushi with a sweet smile. The frustration of being threatened by King Ba Dodeshinai vanished in an instant.
Wang Shi set down the Den Den Mushi, his expression growing colder by the second.
Eric, Van Augur, and the others were too scared to speak. Even the Guard Army stood rigid, cold sweat beading on their noses.
Jango, Sham, Buchi, and the other enslaved men were crouched on the deck, trembling.
Wang Shi was furious now.
"I hear the Arlong Pirates have established an 'Arlong Empire' in Cocoyasi Village!"
"A tiny village dares to call itself an empire!"
"What kind of status does Arlong have to establish an empire like I have?"
"Wipe him out!"
Wang Shi spoke coldly. His Guard Army and mercenaries braced themselves, giving the coming battle everything they had.
They couldn't afford the slightest mistake in this campaign to wipe out Arlong.
Otherwise, no one could withstand King Wang Shi's fury.
They didn't want to be exiled or erased in an instant!