Chapter 3: Cowards Don't Go to Sea
The first thing that rang out was a loud laugh. The leader of the group had the same golden hair as Lily, wore a crown, and was draped in a magnificent cloak. His inner clothing was adorned with jewels, but his entire body was like a round ball, fat and round.
"Hahahaha!"
"Lily, it's been a long time!"
This person's face was covered in thick whiskers, and his skin was rough. When he opened his mouth to laugh, a few of his front teeth were missing, making him look like a lecherous, creepy man, but also a tall, fat, and round lecherous, creepy man.
Sag estimated his height to be at least two and a half meters.
Seeing the newcomer, Lily gritted her teeth, spitting out a few words: "Ennio!!"
The person in front of her was the culprit disrupting the country, the despicable usurper—Biendetta Ennio!
Ennio bared his mouth full of gold teeth: "Finally caught you, Lily. While you were gone, this king was very worried that something might have happened to you..."
"You bastard!"
Lily's eyes reddened, and she was about to rush forward, but as soon as she made this move, the soldiers behind Ennio quickly rushed out, holding their guns and blades against Lily's body, stopping her actions.
Ennio reached out his large hand to touch her face, but Lily backed away, glaring at him angrily.
He continued to reach for Lily's face, asking, "So, since you escaped, why did you come back?"
Lily raised her head, looking directly at that ugly face, and gritted her teeth: "Of course it's to stop you from continuing your misdeeds! This country can't be ruined by you any longer!"
Ennio revealed a look of disdain: "How are you going to stop me? With the amount of your bounty, or with this group of commoners who don't know you? Stop joking. Apart from obediently paying taxes, they have no value."
"But they can choose not to pay!"
Lily gritted her teeth: "As long as they leave the Oykot Kingdom and are not your citizens, they can choose not to pay taxes. Without money to pay the Celestial Tribute, you won't be able to maintain your throne!"
A trace of hidden surprise flashed in Ennio's eyes, but he quickly burst into laughter: "Are you saying they should become bandits? Even bandits are within my territory! Or do you want them to go to sea?"
He didn't even give Lily a chance to react, raising his hand and shouting to the citizens watching from behind: "Hey, go to sea! As long as you go to sea, you don't have to pay heavy taxes. Taxes aren't this heavy in other places. Hurry up and go to sea!"
Heavy taxes, the burden of life, even the citizens were barely maintaining their livelihoods. All the citizens Sag had seen along the way were gaunt. If they could choose to go to sea and change their way of life, then they certainly would...
...not make any move.
The onlookers didn't show the slightest fluctuation. Not only that, but they also took a few steps back in fear.
"Lily, you should understand that this country declined because of the war with the pirates."
Ennio grinned, stroking Lily's cheek, and said in a deep voice: "Go to sea? Even if I, the king, personally ordered it, they wouldn't do it. Why do you think I'm increasing taxes so recklessly? Of course, it's because they're just a bunch of cowards! Cowards aren't qualified to go to sea!"
With that, he shook his head and smiled, seeming to have lost interest, and waved his hand. "Captain Rat..."
A marine wearing a coat similar to a trench coat stepped forward. The marine's hat was connected to the coat, and the hat also had two ears. His whiskers were like a rat's, with three long whiskers on each side, and his face resembled a... rat.
His condition wasn't very good. There were still unhealed bruises on his face, and he was badly battered.
He looked Lily up and down, showing a sly smile: "I am Captain Rat of the 16th Marine Branch. I heard that King Ennio was previously assassinated, so I specially applied to change the local wanted poster to a World Government wanted poster. Now that the person has been found, let's carry out the arrest!"
Ennio said: "Lily, you, the heir, are too troublesome. It's better to hand you over to the World Government. That way, I can still have a source of income, right, Captain Rat?"
Captain Rat's smile grew wider. "Such a beautiful woman, and a princess with a noble status. If she's taken to be a slave, she'll definitely sell for a high price. Maybe she'll even be favored by the Celestial Dragons. They are very willing to spend money."
"Exactly!" Ennio laughed unrestrainedly.
"Um..."
Suddenly, a voice interrupted.
Sag raised his hand and said, "I caught this person. No matter what you want to do, shouldn't the bounty be settled?"
He had been watching here for so long, unable to interject, and he was also very anxious.
"Oh? So you're the one who caught Lily?"
Ennio finally looked at Sag, his eyes narrowed, and he glanced at the white hair, smiling: "Now it's not a kingdom bounty. You have to find the marines for money. However, Captain Rat, white hair is very rare..."
Captain Rat glanced at Sag's white hair and smiled: "Indeed. You're under arrest."
*Tap tap tap!*
With his words, the marines behind him drew their muskets and blades, quickly surrounding Sag.
What...
What did this have to do with him?
Sag looked around at the marines surrounding him and said, "The Marines have no right to arrest me. I haven't committed any crimes, and I'm not a pirate."
"Look at my wounds!"
Captain Rat pointed to his bruised and swollen face. "You attacked a Marine Branch Captain. I believe you are a pirate, so of course I can arrest you!"
Sag raised his eyebrows, looked at the two people showing lewd smiles, and nodded. "I understand. You want to welch on the deal, right?"
Sure enough, this bad luck was still with him.
He took half a step back. "Consider me unlucky. I'm just a bounty hunter. My goal is to catch the Arlong Pirates. I have no intention of clashing with you."
He didn't want to clash with the Marines. If he ended up with a bounty... the bounty hunter career still had some hope. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to switch to another career.
Upon hearing this, Captain Rat's face darkened, and Ennio laughed even more: "The Arlong Pirates are long gone."
"Who did you say is gone?" Sag was stunned.
"Of course, it's that damned Arlong Pirates!" Captain Rat gritted his teeth. "And that damned Straw Hat kid, who made me lose every single Berry!"
He had been protecting the Arlong Pirates all along, cooperating very happily, and earning a lot of money. As a result, as soon as the Arlong Pirates fell, his protection of the pirate crew was also exposed. Although he hadn't been punished yet, it was only a matter of time.
But fortunately, the Oykot Kingdom was his jurisdiction, and he also knew the situation of this country. Although he was here temporarily to escort the Celestial Tribute, he was also very tempted by Ennio's proposal.
He wanted to consolidate his throne and make the heir disappear, and Captain Rat also needed a suitable person to please his superiors.
Taking away this noble princess, if she could be sent to the Celestial Dragons as a wife, he could not only avoid punishment, but maybe even get promoted.
If not, he could entrust her to someone and put her in the Sabaody Archipelago, which would also earn him a sum of money. This money would be enough for him to avoid punishment.
He was still thinking about how to catch the escaped princess, but the person just appeared in front of him. It saved him a lot of trouble.
As for this white-haired kid, Ennio didn't like him anyway, so he didn't care.
Rare white hair could also be sold for a price.
"Seize him!" Captain Rat shouted.
Just then, Sag suddenly jumped high, directly jumping out of the Marines' encirclement. His agile movements made Ennio subconsciously narrow his eyes.
What a joke!
Sag's face was livid. This was something he had never expected.
He had wanted to catch the Arlong Pirates, but they had already been defeated?
Straw Hat kid... that was Luffy, he knew that.
He just didn't know it would be so fast!
He had just seen Arlong's wanted poster, and now they were gone?
Did hope have to be shattered so quickly!
"Fire!"
*Bang bang bang!*
The marines surrounding him directly raised their guns and pulled the triggers, shooting directly at Sag, who was still in the air.
"Two-Finger Vacuum Palm!"
Facing the incoming bullets, Sag extended two fingers on both hands, turning them into a series of afterimages, quickly catching the bullets, scattering them like a celestial maiden scattering flowers. After landing, he immediately ran.
Farewell!
Even if Arlong was gone, the bounty hunter career had at least shown some promise. He had at least caught a million-Berry bounty. Compared to the completely hopeless careers he had tried before, it was much better.
How could a mere setback defeat him?
*Whoosh!*
"Rankyaku."
But just then, the air around him trembled, and a light blue slash quickly flew over, plowing a fissure in the ground as it rushed towards him.
Sag instinctively dodged, almost grazing past the slash. He said in surprise: "Rankyaku?"
This time, even Lily and Captain Rat looked at Ennio in surprise.
This king had many rumors, a tyrannical tyrant who collected excessive taxes, a money-grubber... but it was never said that he was a powerful figure.
Ennio retracted his leg, glanced at the surprised Lily, and grinned at Sag: "I told you, white hair is very rare. How could I let you go?"
*Whoosh!*
As soon as he finished speaking, his figure disappeared from the spot, instantly appearing in front of Sag. Then, he extended a finger, creating a popping sound in the air, and quickly pointed it at Sag.
*Pa!*
Sag dodged to the side, and a knee strike hit Ennio's elbow, kicking his arm up. He quickly tapped the ground, and his other leg shot out like a spear, piercing Ennio's abdomen.
*Bang!*
The sensation was like hitting steel.
Sag's expression became serious. He used the force to retreat, staring at Ennio, and asked uncertainly: "Rokushiki?"
Although he had forgotten some things, if someone suddenly showed superhuman martial arts in front of him, he could still remember.
If he wasn't mistaken, this guy used Rankyaku, Soru, Shigan, and... Tekkai.