Loguetown, the Town of Beginnings and Endings

Nova's sudden collapse immediately threw everyone aboard the ship into a panic. Gogoya froze in place, too scared to move.

The two sides had only fought for a short while, yet their king had already suffered such serious injuries. Everyone else could not help but marvel at Kamolong's formidable strength.

By the time Nova woke again, he was practically fine. Besides, no matter what happened, at worst he would only be seriously injured—he would never die. After all, he still had the System, that cheat-like existence.

Nova slowly opened his eyes. Above him were still blue skies and white clouds, while the massive ship drifted with the wind across the sea.

"I let my guard down..."

Still lying where he was, those words instantly flashed through Nova's mind.

He really had been careless this time. It was such a simple matter, yet he had insisted on getting himself covered in wounds just to grind some experience.

But after this incident, Nova finally understood something. Once he had money, the first thing he needed to buy was combat experience. At the very least, he would not be so passive and careless no matter what situation he faced.

Who knew? If something like this happened again, his carelessness might lead to some unexpected complication.

The key issue was that he had no money left. There were only tens of millions of Beli remaining on the ship, and to the System, that money was useless for anything except buying food.

"Your Majesty, you're finally awake..."

Gogoya crouched beside Nova's deck chair, tears streaming down her face as she cried out.

Ever since Nova had fallen unconscious, Gogoya had practically remained by his side without even daring to blink. She had been terrified that something might happen to her king. If that happened, once she returned to the kingdom, the others would tear her apart.

"What's wrong? How long was I unconscious?" Nova asked with a smile.

"Your Majesty, you were asleep for two whole days! Gogoya was scared to death!"

Seeing Gogoya sobbing so hard, Nova smiled reassuringly and said, "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

"You call this fine? After you passed out, your whole body started turning green! Even the ship's doctor thought you were beyond saving!"

Nova's attempt to comfort her only made Gogoya cry even harder.

The guards standing behind her all wore grim expressions as well. They were terrified that something would happen to their king, and the guilt on their faces could not have been clearer.

"I'm fine now. None of you need to worry." Nova sat up, glanced around, and asked Gogoya, "Where are we now?"

"Huh? I'll go ask!"

Gogoya blanked out for a moment, then headed toward Barlow.

Watching the silly, airheaded Gogoya, Nova helplessly closed his eyes. He truly could not understand how he had entrusted maritime affairs to a woman like her in the first place.

After asking Barlow, Gogoya quickly ran back and said to Nova, "Your Majesty, we should be close to Loguetown now!"

"Fine, I understand."

Nova was still wondering why Kamolong had spared them. Why would a man with such overwhelming strength stay near Reverse Mountain in the East Blue?

Once everyone aboard saw that Nova had awakened, the Barlow Pirates resumed their carefree ways. They even dragged the guards from Nova's National Guard into shouting, playing, and drinking with them.

Although they were not pirates, Nova did not stop them. Life aboard the ship was dull and tedious, and this was indeed a good way to blow off steam.

The only truly meticulous person on the ship was probably Barlow. He was the ship's navigator and needed to control its course and direction. While the wind could propel the ship forward automatically, even the slightest error at sea could leave them far from their destination.

Most importantly, there was no navigation system here. If they missed their destination, who knew where they would end up?

About two hours later, Gogoya stood on deck and shouted, "We're here..."

Nova lay in his deck chair and cracked open his eyes. An island had already appeared clearly before everyone.

Those who had been drinking stopped their revelry as well. They had spent seven or eight days aboard the ship, and seeing land so suddenly actually felt a little unfamiliar.

An unknown number of ships were docked in Loguetown's harbor. There were merchant vessels, of course, but even more pirate ships.

They were moored side by side, their pirate flags visible from far away.

There were relatively few pirates in the East Blue, but for those preparing to enter the Grand Line, Loguetown was their only—and final—supply stop.

No matter how many pirates appeared on this island, it would not be surprising. The era of great pirates had already quietly arrived, and the number of pirates across the Four Seas had even surpassed the number of Marines.

The pirate crews who came here generally understood this without speaking. No one chose to fight or cause trouble here directly, though there were always exceptions.

"Your Majesty, can I go look around after we disembark?" Gogoya asked carefully.

"No problem, but don't wander off. There are too many pirates here, and someone without strength like you might get kidnapped by some pirate crew."

Nova spoke calmly. Since they had come here, he naturally intended to take a look around. But his words immediately made Gogoya nervous again.

She was not completely ignorant. They had already seen so many pirate ships at sea, so who knew what Loguetown itself was like?

"Then I'd better stay with you..."

Gogoya said softly.

"Inform everyone. Leave some people behind to guard the ship, and have the rest go ashore to replenish the supplies we need," Nova said.

"Yes, Your Majesty..."

Many of them were not interested in the Pirate King at all, some did not care in the slightest. But now that they had arrived in Loguetown, everyone still wanted to see what the place where the Pirate King had been executed actually looked like.

A man who had led an entire era naturally stirred some curiosity. Otherwise, they would not have diverted their course to come to this godforsaken place.

Loguetown did not look especially large from the outside. It was only a small island, after all, essentially a Marine military base.

But unlike what one might expect, Loguetown's defenses were extremely lax—at least for now.

There were so many pirate ships outside, and there were surely even more pirates on the island. Yet the Marines here did nothing at all, which was enough to show just how poor security in Loguetown truly was.

As the hundred-meter-long ship pulled up beside the harbor, it immediately drew the attention of countless onlookers.

Most of them were pirates. Just from the looks in their eyes, it was obvious how much they coveted the ship.

Most pirate ships docked here were only a dozen meters long. A slightly larger wave could capsize them outright. For the nearly one-hundred-meter National, this was already the largest ship Loguetown had ever received.

Every person standing along the edge of Loguetown's harbor harbored complicated thoughts.

"Captain, this ship is pretty nice. It doesn't look like a pirate ship either. Should we replace ours with it?"

A burly man at the edge of the harbor stared confidently at the National and spoke to the man beside him.

"Don't cause trouble here for now. It'd be bad if we drew the Marines over. Once he comes out, we'll wait for him outside."

The so-called captain wore a sinister smile as he spoke to the burly man.

Quite a few people had the same idea. For pirates like them, who would willingly give up meat that had already reached their mouths?

As the National slowly docked, its enormous size was fully displayed before everyone.

The moment it came to a stop, a gangplank was laid down from the ship to the edge of the harbor.

Nova led the group down slowly. Facing so many pirates in the harbor, he did not feel the slightest fear.

"Hey, kid, that ship of yours looks pretty good. How about sharing it with us brothers?"

Just as Nova stepped off the ship and prepared to walk forward, a rather clueless-looking middle-aged man stepped out. He held a long blade in his hand and kept waving it around, as if deliberately trying to draw attention to himself.

"Ask them whether they all have the same idea."

Nova tilted his head toward the Guard Captain behind him.

Before disembarking, the guards had already changed into matching blue combat uniforms, making every one of them look spirited and imposing.

The cloth for these outfits had been produced by a mechanical Loom Nova had taken from the System Space, then tailored to fit each person. At the very least, they looked quite imposing.

After receiving Nova's order, the Guard Captain put on a fierce expression and shouted at the surrounding pirates in an unfriendly tone, "Anyone with the same idea as him can step forward. At least then we can discuss how to divide it."

"Haha... We quite like that attitude of yours.

Have the same idea? I'd say everyone here wants the same thing. Your ship is far too eye-catching and doesn't suit people as low-key as you. Leave it to us gentlemen—we'll take good care of it for you."

Someone in the crowd suddenly said this, and it immediately triggered a burst of laughter among the crowd of at least a thousand pirates.

"Guard Captain Chiya, are they all planning to come share some of it?" Nova asked with his head tilted.

"Your Majesty, it does seem like these people have that intention!" Chiya replied with a grin.

Suddenly, another image seemed to appear in Nova's mind, and a sinister smile spread across his face. He no longer restrained the guards and simply acted as though he had not seen any of this.

"Then stay here and give them a proper welcome. Those pirate ships are pretty good too. Remove their sails and auction them off right here afterward. That'll save us the trouble of finding another place," Nova said with a smile after thinking it over.

Now that they were at sea, if they wanted to make money without breaking the law, robbing pirates seemed like a pretty good option.

Guard Captain Chiya immediately understood what Nova meant. He had followed him for so long that he knew exactly what had happened along the way, and he understood his king's thoughts very well.

After Nova finished speaking, he continued walking forward. Gogoya followed behind him, while the royal guards remained where they were.

Before they had gone very far, the sounds of fierce fighting erupted behind them.

Though the pirates were numerous, their overall combat strength was nowhere near Kamolong's group.

"Your Majesty, Loguetown is a Marine base. Is it really okay for us to do this?" Gogoya asked.

"What is there to worry about? We're not pirates, and we're not Marines either. This is merely a conflict between a country and pirates. The Marines would be happy to see it happen. How could they possibly have anything else to say?" Nova said with a smile.

"So that's how it is..."

Gogoya finally relaxed.

Nova had no idea that this conflict with the pirates would soon become known throughout Marine Headquarters.

But how could he care about that now? Making money was the most important thing.

Robbing pirates was much faster than doing business. Across the seas, who knew how many pirates there were? Some pirate crews even possessed wealth comparable to that of an entire country.

And in the process, they would not only earn the people's support, but would not offend or cross anyone else's bottom line either.

At most, he would be something like a pirate hunter. Catching a few pirates for fun was not bad either.

Loguetown's streets were not especially wide, but the commerce along both sides looked very prosperous. Pirates were indeed detestable in many ways, but in a place like Loguetown with a Marine base, whatever they did, they generally paid the appropriate fees.

"You go with the others and purchase the supplies the ship needs. There's practically no need to worry about safety here. I'll go take a look around the center of Loguetown, and we can meet back at the ship afterward," Nova said to Gogoya.

"But Your Majesty, didn't you say there were a lot of pirates here?" Gogoya asked.

"There's no need to worry now. Guard Captain Chiya is clearing out the pirates at the harbor. Those staying in Loguetown will naturally hear the news and head over, so there's no need to pay too much attention to this."

"All right..."

Gogoya understood what he meant. He was sending them away so he could go elsewhere by himself.

She did not ask any further questions. Then she followed Barlow in another direction.