A Newspaper That Shocked the World

As for the fat man's face, no one wanted to look at it. He was dead anyway, and Nova had no intention of seeing him one last time.

He had never seen what the man looked like before, and now he had even less desire to find out. All that mattered was knowing that he was truly dead.

After squatting down and examining him for a while, Nova confirmed his identity, then rolled his eyes in disdain.

"This guy, honestly... I really don't know how he survived all these years. As a king, he turned his country into such a mess. Even dying like this is embarrassing.

Lostar, he has quite a few valuable things on him. He's dead and won't need them anymore, so remember to put them in the national treasury," Nova said, turning to Lostar behind him.

"Rest assured, Your Majesty. I will see to it," Lostar said with a smile.

Nova's words surprised the guards and others behind him. No matter what, the man had still been the ruler of a country. Though he had failed, his status had not vanished.

The man had only just died; his body was not even cold, yet Nova was already treating him this way. It was oddly satisfying.

Outside the Royal Palace

"Guard Captain Junhe, too many citizens are unwilling to leave. They want to see His Majesty the King. How should we handle this?"

On the streets outside the Royal Palace, the people who had originally been preparing to evacuate to the Royal City had begun demanding to return to their homes once the giant dog was dead and no longer posed a threat. Yet the streets were still packed with people. No one showed hostility; instead, enormous smiles filled their faces.

Every one of them hoped to see the face of the King of Tru Kingdom, if only so they could remember what the king who had come to save them looked like.

When Junhe heard the report from his subordinate, his expression was one of complete helplessness.

Before this, he had only encountered such a situation in the Royal City of his own country. He had never seen or heard of anything like it elsewhere.

Especially when their country had just been conquered, the common people's enthusiasm was truly unexpected.

Junhe was helpless as well. He had already witnessed the scene before him, but he could not simply order the guards to disperse the people in the face of such enthusiasm.

After thinking for a long while, Junhe could only say to the guard below, "Let them be for now! But make sure to maintain order. Nothing must happen to these citizens. There may also be people in the crowd who intend harm toward His Majesty, so keep a close watch on that as well."

"Yes..."

Junhe turned to look toward the Royal Palace. He also wanted to go inside and take a look, but as the Royal Guard Captain, he understood the priorities.

On the surface, Junhe was merely the captain of the King's Guard. In reality, however, he was practically the general of the entire nation, responsible for directing the National Army.

The burden on his shoulders was immense. In his opinion, aside from His Majesty the King, he was probably the strongest person in the country.

"Geju, come here..."

Junhe called out to a young man chatting not far away.

Upon hearing him, the man hurried over and respectfully said, "Guard Captain, what are your orders?"

"How are those captured pirates doing now? His Majesty specifically instructed us to keep strict control over those with Devil Fruit abilities."

Junhe looked at him and asked directly.

"Rest assured, Captain. They have all been completely restrained and fitted with suppression collars. They are all locked in cages now. None of them will cause any trouble," Geju answered seriously.

"Have you confirmed how many Devil Fruit users there are? What are their abilities?" Junhe asked again.

"Captain, those matters have already been confirmed. A total of eleven Devil Fruit users were captured in Roa Kingdom. According to the interrogation records, they all came from West Blue. Their Devil Fruit abilities have also been documented in detail and can be submitted to you and His Majesty at any time," Geju replied at attention.

"You must not let your guard down. The more it comes down to a time like this, the more careful we need to be. Go tell them to strengthen security again," Junhe said.

Every pirate had been fitted with a collar around their necks. These things were forged from refined steel, something that could not even be manufactured with current technology. They also incorporated the properties of Seastone, completely suppressing the abilities of Devil Fruit users.

Besides their hardness, they also contained what amounted to a bomb that could explode at any time. Nova had paid quite a price to purchase them from the System Space.

The main reason for buying these things was to deal with Devil Fruit users. They were now lambs awaiting slaughter, but no one knew whether something unexpected might still happen.

On the surface, everything appeared to be progressing smoothly, but no one dared to guess at the undercurrents lurking beneath.

Roa Kingdom was different from the former Tru Kingdom. This country alone had quite a number of nobles, and they were almost all close confidants of the king. In their usual dealings, they exploited and harshly oppressed the people.

Yet once the war began, those so-called nobles had all vanished overnight.

No one could guarantee that they had not left behind some contingency plan, but in a place like South Blue, Junhe had complete faith in his king's strength. It was more than enough for him to dominate this region.

Even so, Junhe remained meticulous in everything he did. Bringing matters to absolute perfection was the result he wanted.

By the next day.

The past few days had not been lively in Tru Kingdom. Rather, it was the Marine Headquarters base that had been in an uproar.

Tru Kingdom's attack on Roa Kingdom had ultimately been portrayed in the newspapers as an effort to save Roa Kingdom's citizens. More importantly, Aokiji appeared in the accompanying photograph. Even when the World Government saw this, there was nothing it could do.

The moment the newspapers came out, the news spread across nearly the entire Pirate World.

The newspaper offices spared no effort in printing copies. At that moment, pirates, Marines, the World Government, and other countries all became fully aware that such a nation as Tru Kingdom existed in South Blue.

Moreover, the words printed in the newspaper were especially clear: "Forever friends with the Marines."