Everyone present heard Prince Arthur's words.
Only then did they come back to their senses.
"That's right. Our country is already gone."
"We're refugees now. We don't even have a country of our own anymore..."
"Your Majesty..."
Everyone's spirits immediately sank.
Faced with their current situation,
they could only accept Prince Arthur's arrangements for them.
Standing where he was,
Arthur watched their dejected backs. His face remained expressionless, but inwardly, his spirits inevitably sank just as theirs had.
At that moment, the white-haired old man still had not left.
"Prince Arthur, allow me to introduce myself."
"My name is Alfred. I was the captain of King Noah's secret guard."
"Under King Noah's orders, I was to protect Your Highness in secret."
As Alfred introduced himself,
Arthur was surprised to discover that Alfred's bearing had suddenly changed.
He stood straight, his eyes bright and alert.
There was no trace of the trembling, frightened old man he had been before!
Arthur could not help feeling surprised.
A smile appeared on Alfred's deeply wrinkled face.
"I didn't reveal myself earlier because I couldn't determine the situation with the enemies aboard the ship, nor could I guarantee Your Highness's safety with complete certainty."
"That was why I intended to feign weakness and bide my time."
At this point,
a hint of embarrassment appeared on Alfred's face.
"But I never expected Your Highness to be a Devil Fruit User, much less to have mastered your Devil Fruit powers to such a degree."
Alfred felt ashamed as he spoke.
King Noah had originally ordered him to protect Prince Arthur.
Yet, to his surprise,
he, the captain of the guard, had ended up being protected by Prince Arthur.
Hearing this,
Arthur understood why Alfred was here.
He had never imagined that the father in the original owner's memories would send someone to secretly safeguard his life at the very last moment before the kingdom's destruction.
At that thought,
Arthur felt an even greater tightness in his chest.
At the same time, he vaguely realized something.
Perhaps the World Government's destruction of the kingdom was not as simple as it appeared...
King, just what secret were you hiding...? Arthur could not help wondering. He had instinctively sensed something unusual about the kingdom's destruction.
However, none of that needed to be considered right now.
Looking at Arthur, Alfred continued:
"Prince Arthur, from now on, I will protect you."
"I will not disappoint the late king!"
Alfred's expression was solemn and serious.
Clearly, he took this promise very seriously. He was willing to sacrifice even his own life, so long as he could keep Prince Arthur safe.
Hearing this, Arthur smiled.
"Alfred."
"Once we reach our destination, we'll be nobodies. I won't be your prince, and you won't be my guard captain. Live a peaceful life from now on."
"You've already given too much for the country."
"The country already owes you too much."
"Now, you're free."
As Arthur spoke,
Alfred interrupted him.
"No!"
"I already swore to the late king that I would do everything."
"And..."
At this point, Alfred cautiously glanced at Arthur, then lowered his voice. "And, Prince Arthur, don't you want to restore the kingdom?"
From his earlier observations of Prince Arthur,
and the power Prince Arthur possessed,
Alfred knew very well
that Prince Arthur was not someone content with a quiet life,
nor, even more so, someone who would leave a grudge unavenged.
Hearing those words,
Arthur's expression abruptly darkened.
"Restore the kingdom..."
"Yes, restore the kingdom."
He murmured softly.
He had inherited the original owner's memories.
Although Arthur, who had transmigrated here, had never thought of possessing a country,
that was merely his own way of thinking.
Without the World Government, he should now have been the sole heir to a kingdom.
He might not have wanted it, but others had no right to forcibly strip it from him.
So, of course, Arthur wanted to restore the kingdom too.
However, he also knew that, since the World Government had acted to erase his father's kingdom, coupled with the hint of something unusual he had noticed earlier...
Restoring the kingdom might seem easy with his current strength.
In reality, however, it would be quite difficult.
Until he understood why the World Government had erased his kingdom,
and possessed the strength to stand against the World Government,
the idea of restoring the kingdom
could only remain buried deep in his heart.
After only a moment's thought,
Arthur reined in all his emotions.
"Alfred, you must never speak of such things again. Do you understand?" Arthur glanced at Alfred and spoke gravely, warning him with his eyes.
At this, Alfred froze.
He suddenly understood.
Prince Arthur did indeed harbor that intention.
However, given their current circumstances and strength, restoring the kingdom was something they could only plan for in the long term.
Alfred understood immediately.
Then he nodded solemnly.
"Yes, Prince Arthur."
After several hours at sea,
the large ship carrying Arthur and the others sailed into the island's harbor.
Under Arthur's orders,
everyone sold everything aboard that could fetch Beli, then divided the money equally, each taking their own share.
Then they disbanded on the spot.
The final remnant of the Noah Kingdom
thus vanished into the currents of history.
Standing on the harbor pier,
Arthur watched the people of the Noah Kingdom board merchant ships bound for the places where they wished to settle, and finally felt relieved.
They were all merely ordinary people.
The best outcome for them now would be to find a peaceful, tranquil town and spend the rest of their lives in peace.
"Prince Arthur, what should we do next?"
At that moment, the white-haired Alfred, standing behind Arthur, suddenly asked.
Arthur did not turn around.
His gaze remained fixed on the distant horizon.
The setting sun cast an orange-red glow, staining the entire expanse of blue sky in the distance red as it slowly sank into the boundless, rolling ocean.
"We need to find somewhere to stay for now."
Arthur said.
He needed to fully master Godzilla's power as quickly as possible.
He had to develop the Godzilla Fruit's abilities as deeply as he could.
Only by mastering greater power
would he be qualified to do what he needed to do next.
Meanwhile.
North Blue, the Donquixote Family's branch.
The entire island was under the Donquixote Family's control.
Because
this was both the Donquixote Family's North Blue branch and the starting point of all Doflamingo's enterprises. He had built his beginnings in North Blue.
And now,
Jeffrey's slave ship
had been out of contact with them for several hours.
According to the usual arrangements, Jeffrey and his men should have delivered a shipload of slaves to the trading location, but the buyer at the other end of the deal
had never seen Jeffrey arrive.
"What the hell is that idiot doing...?" Diamante, sitting in the castle, could not help cursing.
He was one of the Donquixote Family's core officers,
and someone who had supported Doflamingo's rise from the very beginning. He held an influential position in the Donquixote Family that no one could shake.
Originally, he had been managing the Donquixote Family in the New World.
But because of some recent matters,
he had personally returned to the North Blue branch.
Just then, a subordinate entered the hall and handed him the latest investigation report.
Diamante opened it and took a look.
His expression instantly darkened further.
"What?!"
"That bastard Jeffrey was killed?"
"An entire shipload of slaves escaped? And we lost over twenty million Beli's worth of goods?!"
Diamante's expression turned ugly as he cursed.
Meanwhile, the subordinate who had delivered the information before him
was trembling with fear.
Diamante paid no attention to the man. Nor was he angry because they had lost tens of millions of Beli. That amount of Beli was beneath his notice.
The reason he had suddenly become angry
was, of course,
that someone had actually dared to disregard the Donquixote Family's authority!
After all,
before the young master had shifted the entire focus of his operations to the Grand Line, North Blue had been completely under Doflamingo's reign of terror!
Anyone, anything,
even any kingdom!
As long as they heard the Donquixote Family's name,
they would certainly feel fear.
Much less would anyone in North Blue dare lay a hand on anything belonging to the Donquixote Family.
Diamante continued reading.
Soon, he saw the central figure in this incident-Arthur D. Dragonier!
That was right!
With the Donquixote Family deeply entrenched in the North Blue,
they had established a vast intelligence-gathering network there.
In only a short time, they had investigated what had happened aboard the slave ship and pinpointed Arthur as the one responsible.
That was what made a Shichibukai so terrifying,
or rather, what made Doflamingo so terrifying!
"To think it was just some brat from a fallen kingdom..."
Diamante could not help feeling surprised as he looked at Arthur's photograph.
A prince of a fallen kingdom,
yet he could still do something like this...
It seems this prince of a fallen kingdom is a little out of the ordinary.
That was what Diamante thought.
Then he said:
"Go invite that brat to join the Donquixote Family first."
Hearing this, the subordinate standing before him nodded.
Then a possibility occurred to him,
and he asked:
"What if that brat refuses to join us?"
"Refuses?"
A sinister smile curled at the corners of Diamante's mouth. "If that brat refuses, make it quick and clean. Kill him outright."
No one could keep living after treating the Donquixote Family like that.
"Also, if that brat refuses, kill all the escaped slaves you can find while you're at it!" Diamante said grimly.
To him,
killing, or even slaughter,
was nothing more than a matter of issuing a few orders.
"Yes!" The subordinate before him immediately nodded in acknowledgment.
Before you continue