Stripping the Nobles and Throwing Them onto Trash Mountain

Kahn yawned.

He looked at the somewhat glaring sunlight.

"I can."

Kahn answered without hesitation.

"You three are my little brothers."

"Since I brought you here, I'm giving you the right to decide their fate."

"You only need to say the word if you want someone spared."

Outlook III's delight was impossible to hide when he heard that.

"Did you hear that, Sabo?!"

"Hurry up and tell him to release us!"

"Come home with me. From now on, you'll be the family's sole heir!"

"I'll throw that useless Stelly out tomorrow!"

Stelly stared at his adoptive father in utter disbelief.

The father who had just hugged and comforted him had sold him out in the blink of an eye.

Ace frowned.

He hated this kind of hypocritical family affection most of all.

Luffy picked his nose.

He thought these people were unbearably noisy. He would rather go to the kitchen and find some meat to eat.

Sabo took a deep breath.

He threw the half-section of water pipe in his hand onto the ground.

The pipe struck the stone pavement with a crisp clang.

"I don't know them."

Sabo's voice was calm.

So calm that even he found it surprising.

"From the day I escaped that home, I no longer had a father."

"My only brothers are Ace and Luffy."

"My only family is the Dadan Family."

"And..."

Sabo glanced at Kahn.

"And that perverted big brother who's always beating me up."

Kahn laughed.

He laughed happily.

The kid had finally grown up.

Outlook III's smile froze on his face.

"Have you gone mad?!"

He roared hysterically.

"Noble blood runs through your veins!"

"Are you really going to spend your whole life mingling with those lowborn trash from Trash Mountain?!"

Kahn raised a hand.

He lightly pressed it downward.

Garino strode forward.

He grabbed Outlook III by the hair and lifted his entire body off the ground.

"My lord thinks you're too noisy."

Garino grinned.

Smack.

A solid slap cracked across Outlook III's face.

Several bloodied teeth flew out.

The Minister of Finance passed out on the spot.

Stelly rolled his eyes in terror and collapsed to the ground as well.

The square fell into dead silence once more.

No one dared make another sound.

Kahn rose to his feet.

He walked over to the king of Goa.

He looked down at the ruler of a kingdom.

"I heard you were planning to burn down Gray Terminal?"

Kahn's voice was not loud.

Yet it carried across the entire square.

The king shuddered all over.

"I-It was to welcome the Celestial Dragons."

The king stammered out an explanation.

"The World Nobles are coming for an inspection. We have to ensure the kingdom is clean."

"If we don't clear away that trash, the Celestial Dragons will punish us."

Kahn nodded.

He seemed to agree with the reasoning.

"To curry favor with those above you, you can casually burn tens of thousands of people to death."

"That logic is perfectly sound."

"The strong devour the weak, after all."

Kahn turned to look at Ace and the other two.

"Do you understand now?"

"This is how the world works."

"Big fish eat little fish, and little fish eat shrimp."

"They think they're nobles, so they can burn commoners to death whenever they please."

"The Celestial Dragons think they're gods, so they can rule over them however they please."

Kahn pointed at the people sprawled across the ground.

"And I'm standing here today."

"Because my fists are bigger than theirs."

"My power is stronger than theirs."

"So I can make them crawl like dogs."

Ace clenched his fists tightly.

He had always shouted that he wanted to go to sea and become the One Piece.

But his understanding of the One Piece had only been fame and being good at fighting.

Today, Kahn gave him a vivid lesson in politics.

Power.

That was the deadliest weapon on the sea.

Luffy scratched his head, half-understanding.

"Big Brother, are you saying that as long as my fists are the biggest, I can eat as much meat as I want in the future?"

Kahn was so annoyed by the kid's train of thought that he laughed.

"That's right."

"As long as your fists are hard enough, no one will care even if you eat Sea Kings for every meal."

Kahn sat back down in his chair.

He looked at the king kneeling before him.

"There's no need to set the fire."

"And the Celestial Dragons' ship won't reach the Goa Kingdom."

The king abruptly raised his head.

"Y-You're going to attack the Celestial Dragons?"

The fear in his eyes was even greater than before.

Attacking the Celestial Dragons was a monstrous crime that would bring a Marine Admiral down upon them.

The entire Goa Kingdom would be wiped flat by a Buster Call.

Kahn did not answer.

He merely looked toward the distant horizon.

By his calculations.

The people in Loguetown should have already set out.

That inspection ship carrying the Celestial Dragons would sink to the bottom of the sea the moment it entered the East Blue.

It would not even have time to send out a distress signal.

"Garino."

Kahn called out.

"At your service."

Garino lowered his head respectfully.

"Confiscate all the property of these nobles."

Kahn spoke casually, as if deciding what to have for dinner.

"Transport the money back to the base."

"Take the food to Gray Terminal and distribute it among the commoners."

"As for these people."

Kahn glanced at the trembling nobles on the ground.

"Strip them all naked and throw them onto Trash Mountain."

"Let them experience what true cleanliness feels like."

The king's vision went black, and he fainted on the spot.

The nobles erupted into desperate cries.

But Eclipse's black-clad men gave them no chance to resist.

Rifle butts smashed into their backs.

Their luxurious clothes were violently torn from their bodies.

The lofty nobles became prisoners worse off than beggars in the blink of an eye.

Ace watched the scene.

The stifling frustration that had been lodged in his chest finally dispersed.

"Big Brother."

Ace spoke in an exceptionally serious tone for once.

"One day, I'll surpass you."

"I'll build a pirate crew even larger than Eclipse."

"I'll make the whole world follow my rules."

Kahn looked at the stubborn-faced brat.

He stood and walked over to Ace.

Then he slapped Ace on the back of the head.

"Having ambition is a good thing."

"But before that."

"Hand in that ten-thousand-word self-criticism."

Ace's face completely fell.

All his grand declarations from moments ago vanished.

"Can't you make it shorter?"

"Twenty thousand words."

"I'll write it! I'll write ten thousand words right away!"

Sabo could not help laughing beside him.

Luffy had already run to a grilled-meat stall at the street corner, drooling at the remaining grilled sausages.

Kahn looked up at the sky.

The midday sunlight poured over him without restraint.

The golden energy inside him cheered and surged.

He had completely changed the course of the Goa Kingdom's story.

But this was only the beginning.

This sea.

Would eventually grow accustomed to the fear of being ruled by the Sun.

Kahn looked at the king of the Goa Kingdom kneeling on the ground.

He waved a hand.

Garino understood and stepped forward, dragging the king away like a dead dog.

The square was filled with the wails of the nobles.

But they were soon beaten into muffled groans by the rifle butts of Eclipse's men in black.