First Contact with Dragon (Please Bookmark and Recommend)

When Ivankov saw Dragon beside Zhong Hao and realized the two were getting along peacefully, he knew they were not enemies.

"Y-you're Marines too. You three protect me, and afterward, I promise to grant you the status of high nobles of the Euro Kingdom." The king began writing bad checks—checks from a bank about to go bankrupt.

Before the rebellion began, he had been summoning the nobles to the palace to discuss the murder of nobles. Everyone had agreed that they should report Zhong Hao to the World Government, demand that he be held accountable, and sentence him to death. He had acted accordingly.

But now, none of that mattered anymore.

Zhong Hao looked at the king as though watching a clown, finding it utterly amusing. The man had actually asked Dragon to protect him. How ironic. He deliberately turned to Robin and asked, "Euro Kingdom? Is there such a country?"

Robin had already heard Zhong Hao tell her about this country and was thoroughly disgusted by it. Playing along, she said, "Where is the Euro Kingdom? I don't think I've ever heard of it."

As soon as she finished speaking, Dragon suddenly said, "There is. The history books will record how the Euro Kingdom exploited, enslaved, and slaughtered commoners in every possible way, leaving its people in unbearable misery. Having endured beyond their limits, they formed a righteous army, destroyed the kingdom, and built a just, beautiful, peaceful homeland upon its former lands."

"All change begins today!" Dragon suddenly raised both hands and shouted toward the city below.

Robin looked over in surprise. Only then did she realize that someone had appeared atop the city wall at some point. But seeing that Zhong Hao did not react, she temporarily suppressed her doubts.

Below, the rebel army felt their blood boil. A thunderous cheer erupted, their morale surged, and they charged at the royal guard without fear of death.

The king's expression changed drastically. Unable to maintain his royal composure any longer, he cursed in front of everyone, "Rebels! Rebels! I'll kill you all! Kill you all! You traitors! The Euro Kingdom is a member nation of the World Government and is protected by the World Government! You will not succeed!!!"

Hearing that, Zhong Hao snorted and said, "What the World Government cares about is this land, not you. It makes no difference who sits on the throne. As long as the new king is willing to join the World Government and serve it, they won't care whether you live or die. Once your bloodline ends today, who will remember you? Who will even know you ever existed?"

"Bloodline ends... bloodline ends..." The king was so enraged by those words that he spat out a mouthful of blood. Disregarding all decorum, he shoved aside the nobles surrounding him, pointed at Zhong Hao, and roared, "You're a Marine! You are a Marine! How dare you say something like that? I... I..."

Zhong Hao shook his head, revealing a pitying expression. "Who told you I was a Marine? Do you remember what I said to you at the docks four days ago?"

The king froze at those words, his outstretched finger stiffening in midair.

Dragon glanced at Zhong Hao, then began reciting in a clear voice that carried across the entire battlefield, "The people are water, and the nation is a boat. Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. You hold them in such contempt. Perhaps one day, the ones who drag you from your throne and take your life will be the lowly commoners you despise."

The king suddenly remembered. His eyes went vacant as he muttered, "Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it... can also overturn it... overturn it..."

As he spoke, the royal guard had already all been captured alive. The nobles who had once been polished and arrogant now huddled together, trembling all over, their lower bodies wet and reeking.

The king's four children trembled as they cried, shaking his body. "Father... Father... Didn't you say we had the noblest bloodline? Didn't you say we were born superior to others? Didn't you say commoners were lowly, that we could take whatever we wanted from them and kill them as we pleased? How did this happen... Father... I'm so scared..."

"Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it... can also overturn it... overturn it..." The king did not answer his children and merely kept repeating the words. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He jerked his head up and shouted at Zhong Hao, "I understand! I understand everything!"

Zhong Hao looked at him in some surprise, then shook his head. "Not bad. To understand it before dying—at least now you know where you went wrong and why you ended up like this."

The king spoke incoherently. "No... no, I can change. I can change. I understand everything now. Don't kill me... I swear, I'll be a good king who loves his people like his own children and is loved by them..."

Zhong Hao lowered his eyelids slightly and said coldly, "A dog can't stop eating shit. Even if you truly changed, so what? The debt you owe to those innocent commoners you killed has not been repaid. Take a good look at the people around you. At the docks four days ago, the bone-deep hatred in their eyes as they faced their loved ones' corpses is still vivid in my memory. Besides, the blood debt on your hands goes far beyond that."

The king's face turned ashen. He collapsed weakly to the ground. With a wave of Dragon's hand, the rebel army swarmed forward and roughly dragged away the king, the nobles, and their families, to await judgment another day.

"Don't... don't kill me! I don't want to die... Father, save me! Father..."

The king's four children struggled violently and cried out in agony, begging him for help. Yet the king turned a deaf ear, his head hanging low as he sat motionless in resignation, allowing the rebel army to drag him away.

Seeing their father dragged away, they struggled even harder. Several rebels approached, hatred and savagery in their eyes. Holding their muskets backward, they smashed the gunstocks down on them mercilessly until their faces were covered in blood and they passed out. No one around them stopped it; they merely watched with grim satisfaction.

The giant Shandi was still fighting, but his strength was ultimately inferior to Ivankov's. His disadvantage grew increasingly obvious, and it seemed he would be captured before long.

On the city wall, Dragon sat down facing Zhong Hao. He pulled back his hood, revealing a face half-covered in tattoos, and solemnly said, "Dragon, leader of the Revolutionary Army."

Zhong Hao turned to face him as well, sitting straight-backed with equal solemnity. "Zhong Hao, a non-staff member of the Marines and disciple of Marine hero Garp. This should be our second meeting, Dragon... senior brother."

The corner of Dragon's mouth curved upward, and he smiled...