Boom!
These two words, devoid of any fluctuation or emotion, instantly froze all the smiles on Sabo's face!
His entire body's blood ran cold at that moment!
That voice... the nightmare he desperately tried to escape!
He abruptly turned his head, looking through the cracks of the tree hollow.
Outside the tree hollow, stood a middle-aged man dressed in luxurious noble attire, with a stern face and eyes full of arrogance and indifference.
It was his father, Otriluk III!
Behind his father, rows of kingdom guards in armor, holding long spears, had completely surrounded the small clearing!
Their cold armor reflected a chilling glint under the sunlight filtering through the trees.
Every gaze was fixed on the small tree hollow.
A net from heaven and earth!
Sabo's heart sank to the bottom.
The freedom he had just been dreaming of, the dream within his reach... in this instant, it was shattered by reality!
"It's about time you've had enough of your dirty games."
Otriluk III spoke, his voice filled with extreme disgust for this garbage mountain and his son's behavior.
"Look at you now."
His disgusted gaze swept over Sabo's tattered, mud-stained clothes.
"You are simply a disgrace to our family!"
"Now, get out immediately."
His tone was not a discussion, but a command.
"Come home with me."
Home?
Sabo's body trembled violently with anger.
That place... that place full of hypocrisy, full of stench, full of suffocating rules... that was not home at all!
It was a cage ten thousand times more foul than this garbage mountain!
"I'm not going back!"
Sabo let out a suppressed growl from his throat, and for the first time, undisguised hatred appeared in his clear eyes!
"I'd rather die than go back with you!"
"Die?"
Otriluk III sneered, his smile full of contempt.
"You? And your two 'brothers' who are like wild dogs?"
His eyes grew cold.
"Don't force my hand."
"Sabo, I'm saying this one last time."
"Immediately, get out!"
As his voice fell, the guards behind him all took a step forward in unison!
Clang!
The sound of long spears being drawn from their sheaths, uniform and piercing, broke the tranquility of the forest!
The cold blades were aimed at the helpless blond boy in the tree hollow.
Their posture suggested that in the next second, they would smash this small secret base, along with the disobedient child inside, into pieces!
Sabo's lips were bleeding from biting them.
He desperately protected the treasure chest in front of him.
That was the ticket to freedom that he and Ace, and his two brothers, had exchanged with their blood, sweat, and dignity!
He would never allow anyone to take it away!
"I said!"
Sabo grabbed the water pipe he used as a weapon beside him and, with all his strength, let out the most stubborn roar of his life!
"I—am—not—going—back—!"
"Not going back?"
The sneer on Otriluk III's face solidified like frost.
He didn't even get angry at Sabo's roar.
It was the absolute, condescending disdain of a cat watching a mouse.
"Do you think you have the right to say 'no'?"
His voice was very soft, yet it made the surrounding air heavy.
"I said! I'd rather die here than go back to that disgusting cage with you!"
Sabo, with bloodshot eyes, roared with all his might.
His knuckles, gripping the water pipe, turned white from the effort.
However, Otriluk III merely raised his hand slightly.
"Is that so."
His cold gaze passed over Sabo and landed on the broken wooden box filled with treasure.
"For your trash friends? And your ridiculous pirate dream?"
A cruel arc formed at the corner of his mouth.
"I heard you have two 'brothers' here who are inseparable."
"One is named Ace."
"One is named Luffy."
When these two names came out of his mouth, Sabo's pupils suddenly contracted!
An unprecedented, extremely ominous premonition arose in his heart!
"What do you want to do!"
Sabo's voice trembled.
"Me?"
Otriluk III spread his hands, a look of innocence on his face.
"I don't want to do anything."
"I'm just thinking, if a noble of the Goa Kingdom is heartbroken by the loss of his beloved son, then it would be reasonable to send troops to clear out the 'trash' in Styx that caused the tragedy, wouldn't it?"
His gaze, like a venomous snake, fixed tightly on Sabo.
"What do you say?"
"If, by any chance, a fire accidentally breaks out, or... two small, unobservant mice are mistaken for thugs by the guards and accidentally dealt with..."
"That would truly be a pity."
Boom!
Every single word made Sabo's head buzz!
The color drained from his face at a visible speed!
Threat!
Naked, undisguised threat!
He knew!
He knew it all too well!
With his father's power and ruthlessness, he would absolutely do such a thing!
And no one would ever question it!
Who would care about the lives of two wild dogs in the garbage mountain?!
Fear.
Bone-chilling fear gripped his heart!
A fear ten thousand times stronger than facing death!
"You... you bastard!"
Sabo's lips trembled, unable to utter a complete sentence.
He could die.
He could give up his dream.
But he couldn't imagine Ace and Luffy getting into trouble because of him!
"It seems you understand."
Otriluk III looked with satisfaction at his son's face, which was filled with despair.
He knew he had won.
He elegantly adjusted his collar and issued his final ultimatum.
"Now, make your choice."
"Is it your ridiculous, worthless freedom, or the lowly lives of your two wild dog brothers?"
"..."
Dead silence.
Sabo's body trembled violently.
He looked at the treasure chest before him, which held the dreams of the three brothers.
Then he thought of Ace's defiant face.
He thought of Luffy's silly smile.
Plop.
The water pipe he always carried, which never left his side, slipped from his hand and fell to the ground weakly.
Two lines of hot tears burst from his bloodshot eyes.
He lost.
He lost completely.
Sabo slowly raised his head, his clear eyes filled with endless hatred and pain.
With all his strength, he squeezed out the words that made him despair, one by one, through gritted teeth.
"I..."
"... will go back with you."
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