"Understood. Take me to see your King. I'll persuade him to give up this ship." Norton nodded slightly.
"Can you really do that?" The Duke was still worried.
"Of course. To me, fate is nothing but something I can crush with ease!" Norton said with a smile.
"Whatever you do, don't rashly attack His Majesty! Otherwise, I'll immediately..." The Duke wanted to warn Norton, but realized that with Norton's strength, no one in this country seemed capable of stopping him if he actually resorted to violence.
"In any case, don't resort to force rashly!"
In the end, that was all the Duke could tell him.
"You nag like an old woman. Lead the way," Norton said carelessly.
"All right! Please follow me..."
"My lord, do you need me to accompany you?" Sanosuke asked.
"No. Stay here and watch the remaining pirates. Don't let them cause trouble, but don't let them die either," Norton said meaningfully.
Sanosuke's heart skipped a beat, and he bowed. "Understood!"
The group immediately set out for the Royal Palace.
After some thought, the Duke decided to have the White Pearl transported to the Royal Palace as well, just to be doubly safe.
"Dad, I want to go too!" Funing caught up with them. She still couldn't bear to leave the White Pearl in someone else's hands.
But if the King wanted it, she couldn't defy him. She could only hand it over.
At that moment, Funing felt like a mother sending her daughter off to be married, except this "son-in-law" was far from satisfactory.
The King can't protect the White Pearl. That was already proven last time, Funing thought.
"All right."
After considering it, the Duke agreed.
They left the Duke's castle by carriage, followed the town's main road, and entered the Royal Palace.
"How strange. Why are there so many more guards on duty today?"
The Duke lifted the carriage curtain, puzzled by the unusual sight.
Though the Royal Palace was normally heavily guarded, security was never this tight.
There were more than three times the usual number of guards at the Royal Palace today.
"Maybe some important person is visiting," Nami said casually.
Even the Duke's carriage was stopped as it entered the Royal Palace.
Led by the palace guards, the group continued into the Royal Palace on foot.
When they reached the main entrance to the Royal Palace Hall, a man in a white suit and dark tie stood blocking the doors, a strange black chrysanthemum mask covering his face.
Norton raised his eyes and looked the man over. He seemed somewhat familiar.
"It's CP0!" Cold sweat instantly streamed down the Duke's face.
CIPHER POL - AIGIS 0, abbreviated as "CP0," was an organization directly under the Celestial Dragons, the nobles of the world. It was known as "the Celestial Dragons' strongest shield" and "the World's Strongest intelligence agency."
As the strongest shield of the world's nobles, CP0's deployment meant something major was happening.
An ominous premonition rose in the Duke's heart.
"Oh? Interesting." Norton smiled, his eyes growing eager.
He could sense how powerful this CP0 agent was, far stronger than any enemy he had faced.
He just wondered whether someone this strong could withstand his Serious Punch.
"Wait here for now. I'll go speak with him," the Duke said, turning back to Norton and the others.
Norton and the two women nodded and stayed where they were.
The Duke stepped forward, while the CP0 agent remained perfectly still.
Only when the Duke reached him did the CP0 agent speak quietly. "You must be the Duke. Have you brought the White Pearl?"
"Yes, sir."
The Duke paused, then cautiously asked, "His Majesty summoned me. May I go in?"
"Of course." The CP0 agent pointed at Norton and the two women. "Did they come with you?"
"Yes."
"Then please go in."
The Duke returned to Norton and the two women. After a moment's hesitation, he said to Funing, "Funing, perhaps you and Miss Nami should stay outside. Mr. Norton and I can go in alone."
"No, Dad. I'm coming in with you!" Funing shook her head.
She, too, vaguely sensed that something was wrong, and wanted to stand by the Duke no matter what.
"We're already here. Let's go together," Nami added.
The Duke sighed helplessly, but still led all three into the Royal Palace Hall.
The CP0 agent entered as well, following Norton, Nami, the Duke, and Funing along the long red carpet.
With the CP0 agent following them, the Duke grew increasingly nervous. Noticing this, Funing gently linked her arm through his.
Nami also instinctively moved closer to Norton.
Only Norton wore a smile, showing no trace of unease or tension, as though he were strolling through his own back garden after a meal.
The Duke stopped and looked toward the elevated throne. His expression changed drastically, and he pulled Funing down to her knees with him. She had no idea why.
"Your Majesty, I have brought the White Pearl," the Duke said, bowing his head, his voice trembling.
"Excellent!" In front of the throne, the King smiled delightedly. "My loyal subject! Hurry and present the White Pearl to Saint Ari!"
"Don't talk while you're being my mount! It ruins all the fun!"
Saint Ari, the Celestial Dragon wearing a bubble helmet and sitting on the King's back, complained, "Do you still want to qualify to attend the Reverie?"
The King bowed obsequiously. "I understand, Saint Ari! I'll do my best!"
The sight of a nation's ruler groveling on the ground like a dog to please another man shattered everything the Duke believed.
The Duke couldn't believe that this was the King he had served all along.
But what terrified him even more was the Celestial Dragons' power and privilege, which placed them above everything else.
There was no way to oppose them!
The Duke lay prostrate, not daring to straighten his back. Fear made him forget everything.
Norton, however, couldn't care less.
"You're the King, right?"
Norton looked at the King.
"Hm? Who are you?" The King, crawling along the floor, raised his head.
"A king who fawns over a piece of trash like a dog trying to please its master doesn't deserve to know my name..."
"All you need to know," Norton said flatly, "is that the White Pearl belongs to me!"
The moment he spoke, silence fell, and the atmosphere seemed to freeze.
Cold sweat soaked the Duke's back almost instantly!
Even with a hundred times his courage, he would never dare speak to the King like that.
Much less insult one of the world's nobles by calling him trash!
Terrified, the Duke tightened his grip on Funing's hand and pulled her behind him.
Who owned the White Pearl no longer mattered to the Duke. All he wanted was to get out unscathed and keep Funing safe!
Fate... this is fate! The day Funing finishes building a ship, disaster is bound to strike! This is the bad luck brought by the ship she built!
As these thoughts rose in the Duke's mind, he lost all hope.
The recent string of events made the Duke believe in fate without reservation.
The King's expression turned cold. "How dare you! Who let you in here?! Guards! Drag this silver-haired brat away and behead him!"
Saint Ari, the Celestial Dragon perched on the King's head, pointed at Norton with snot dripping from his nose. "You're trying to take my ship?"
"Saint Ari, he also called you trash." The CP0 agent flashed to the Celestial Dragon's side. "Would you like me to deal with him?"
"What? He called me trash too?!" Saint Ari instantly flew into a rage.
"Kill him!"