The King's Dead End (Please Bookmark and Recommend)

The soldiers charging out of the palace were all clad in full suits of silver-white armor, covered in exquisite patterns. With their visored helmets on, they looked solemn and imposing, their armor far more ornate than that of ordinary soldiers.

They were the Royal Guard, the Euro Kingdom's most elite force and the king's basis for refusing to let the Marines establish a branch on Pus Island. Their numbers were small—only three hundred—but each of them could hold off ten enemies alone.

Three hundred heavily armored Royal Guards charged together. Their full-body armor was exceptionally sturdy, impervious to bullets and blades.

For a time, the rebel army's casualties rose sharply.

No sooner had the Royal Guard achieved success than the palace gates opened again. Nearly thirty people dressed in luxurious garments rushed out, led by the king of the Euro Kingdom himself. He shouted, "Charge! Hurry and charge! Break through these rebels! Once we reach the sea, I can ask the World Government for reinforcements!"

The Royal Guard had already been selected as the most loyal and powerful soldiers from among all the troops. Upon hearing the king's command, their morale surged. Led by a seven-meter-tall giant of a man, they fought fiercely and quickly approached the inner city's walls.

"Ha ha! Good, good! Shandi, open the city gates at once!" the king laughed as he gave the order to the giant leading them.

Just then, a person over three meters tall, with a head even larger than his body, descended from the sky and landed in front of the Royal Guards.

Death Wink

The enormous head blinked one eye, and the Royal Guards opposite him seemed to have been struck by an air cannon. In an instant, a two-meter-wide stretch of ground was cleared.

Emporio Ivankov, the Okama King. I didn't expect him to have joined the Revolutionary Army this early, Zhong Hao thought when he saw the bizarrely dressed figure.

Ivankov fired off three more Death Winks in succession, blasting away a large number of Royal Guards. Only the giant Shandi managed to withstand them. His feet slid three meters across the ground, but he held firm. With a roar, he smashed a fist toward Ivankov. Even Zhong Hao atop the city wall could feel the wind pressure raised by that punch.

Ivankov met him head-on, and the two began fighting. The rebel army kept away from their battle zone. With Shandi held back, they surrounded the Royal Guards. Since they could not cut through the armor, they simply pounced on them one after another, pinning the guards to the ground and binding them with chains, capturing them alive.

Zhong Hao looked at the giant Shandi, sensing strength no weaker than that of a Marine Headquarters vice admiral. He sighed. "Such a powerful man, yet he serves trash like this. What a pity. What a tragedy."

Nico Robin had been watching Ivankov with a strange look in her eyes, deeply curious about his peculiar appearance. Hearing Zhong Hao's words, she turned to him and asked, "Is that giant gentleman very strong?"

Her experience was limited, and she could not tell how powerful the two men below were. She only felt that their destructive power was astonishing. The thunderous blasts from their clash rang out endlessly, and in such a short time, they had destroyed huge sections of the inner city's buildings, leaving her speechless.

After thinking for a moment, Zhong Hao said, "He probably has the strength of a Marine Headquarters vice admiral. But since I haven't seen him use Haki, it's hard to judge." Seeing the confusion in her eyes, he added, "Saul is a Headquarters vice admiral, while Aokiji is now an admiral."

"H-How do you know that?" Robin's eyes suddenly widened as she stared at him.

"I know far more than you can imagine. I even know how the next twenty years will unfold," Zhong Hao said lightly with a shrug. For someone who had read the original work, knowing the future was nothing remarkable—provided he did not change it.

"A prophecy?" Robin's face was full of disbelief.

Zhong Hao shook his head without answering.

Dragon turned his gaze toward Zhong Hao and watched him quietly. He cared greatly about what Zhong Hao had said regarding the next twenty years.

Below, the rebel army held an absolute advantage. The Royal Guard had too few men—only three hundred. The rebels swarmed them, pinned them to the ground, tied them up, and captured them alive. Fewer than a hundred guards remained protecting the king and the nobles.

Though the king was arrogant, he could tell that the situation was unfavorable. He kept shouting for "Shandi" as he looked around for a way to escape. Suddenly, he spotted Zhong Hao on the city wall. His face changed, then immediately lit up with joy. He shouted, "It's you! You're that Marine from before! Hurry! Go and summon Admiral Zephyr to protect me!"

Zhong Hao looked down at him from above, a faint smile on his face. "Mr. Zephyr isn't on Pus Island. There's no way for him to come protect His 'Honorable' Majesty."

There was no surprise on Dragon's face. Clearly, he had long gathered intelligence that Zephyr was stationed on Lukesen Island. From the very beginning of the uprising, he had sealed off the sea. Not even a bug could fly out, and the Den Den Mushi signals had been blocked as well.

The king ground his teeth. "Why isn't he here? You can be here, so why isn't he here?!"

"Why isn't he here? That's hilarious. Didn't you refuse to allow the Marines to establish a branch on Pus Island? Since there's no branch, isn't it perfectly normal for him not to be here?"

Zhong Hao chuckled twice. Though his laughter was soft, it strangely spread across the entire battlefield, echoing along the wide avenue of the inner city. This was an ability he had accidentally comprehended while training in the Six Powers, merely the most superficial application of Life Return.

Comprehending the ability had been entirely accidental. He had drawn inspiration from Genghu's tiger roar. It was not particularly useful, but amid a battlefield filled with constant sounds of slaughter, soft whispers suddenly ringing beside one's ears felt especially eerie and shocking.

Both the rebel army and the Royal Guard stopped, keeping their guard up while glancing toward the city wall. Even Ivankov and Shandi, who were still fighting, raised their heads to look up.

Whispers spread through the rebel army. "Why is there a child on the battlefield? This place is far too dangerous. That's too reckless."

"That child is a Marine? Have the Marines come? Damn it, we're about to win."

"No, Mr. Dragon is right beside him. He probably isn't on the king's side."

"You idiots, haven't you recognized him? He's the child who helped the wounded at the docks four days ago and questioned the king. My son was the one he pulled out from beneath a corpse. He's my benefactor. He can't possibly be a bad person."

"So it's him. I heard about what happened that day too..."

"I know about it too..."

"Me too..."

In an instant, every rebel soldier learned about Zhong Hao and what he had done. The looks they gave him became warmer and friendlier.