Thud!
Gilman's legs went weak, and he dropped to the ground again.
This time, it wasn't Higuma's Emperor Engine that stunned him.
It was the sheer scale of his ambition.
In the world of pirates, the Celestial Dragons had been packaged as the descendants of the creators—as if they weren't even the same species as commoners.
To ordinary people, the idea of resisting them didn't even exist.
And Higuma's goal… wasn't merely "resisting" the Celestial Dragons.
It was to completely overthrow the Celestial Dragon families entrenched in Mary Geoise, the Holy Land.
"This is a man so dangerous he wants to overturn the entire world…"
Gilman suddenly remembered that brief exchange on the mountain road a few days ago.
Back then, standing before Higuma, he'd bragged about having "grand ambition."
That so-called ambition had amounted to nothing more than ruling the East Blue and becoming the so-called King of Bandits in the East Blue.
"Higuma… I finally understand where the gap between us is…"
Gilman murmured.
Strength.
Presence.
Vision.
In every single category, the difference was a bottomless abyss.
When Gilman still had his eyes fixed on the East Blue and thought that made him far-sighted, Higuma's gaze had already climbed to the summit of the world.
"This… is the true bearing of a King of Bandits!"
"To be allowed under the banner of the King of Bandits… is my honor!"
Gilman declared with absolute conviction.
The bald bandit nodded as if he'd expected nothing less, his eyes shifting toward another distant ridge.
"Then… come with me."
"We're going to the next mountain."
....
Higuma's bandit crew, and Gilman's group, were both among the strongest bandit forces in the area.
Now that Gilman had bowed his head, Higuma's crew swelled overnight into a dominant local power.
But neither Gilman nor the bald bandit had any intention of slowing down.
Every day, they went from mountain to mountain paying "respects," visiting towns as they went.
Day by day, time passed.
Before anyone realized it, Higuma's bandit crew had grown like a rolling snowball, their numbers climbing fast.
And a bandit crew waving the banner of "kingship" inevitably drew the attention of many hidden observers.
.....
Goa Kingdom, Royal Capital Palace.
At that moment, the king had gathered his ministers in the great hall to discuss affairs.
"Recently, in the lawless zone of the Gray Terminal… there's someone calling himself the King of Bandits, very active…"
One minister brought up Higuma's movements.
Someone immediately snorted with disdain.
"A mere bandit dares call himself king?"
"A bandit in the lawless zone isn't worth discussing. So what if he's active?"
Goa Kingdom was praised as the most beautiful nation in the East Blue—so long as you stayed inside the city.
It was a country built on segregation. The noble district, the commoner district, and the lawless zone were nearly sealed off from one another.
The city's garbage was dumped beyond the high walls, forming mountains of trash known as Gray Terminal.
And it wasn't just refuse. Gray Terminal was also where many poor people ended up.
Foosha Village—where Luffy lived—sat in a remote corner of the commoner district.
But Gray Terminal, and the mountain ranges beyond it, were the true lawless zone.
Goa Kingdom had always pretended that part of the country didn't exist. They didn't govern it at all. They built high walls to sever the city completely from the lawless zone.
To most nobles, bandits in the lawless zone could riot all they wanted—it didn't matter.
Most nobles would never step into the lawless zone in their entire lives.
So when someone mentioned "King of Bandits Higuma," nobody cared.
"N-No… Higuma must be taken seriously! According to our intelligence, Higuma is gathering surrounding forces for the purpose of raiding the royal capital!"
"What?"
"A mere bandit is targeting the royal capital of Goa Kingdom?"
"How outrageous—arrogant to the point of madness!"
The ministers were shaken, and beneath their anger was a growing unease.
They knew exactly how much strength the Goa Kingdom army truly had.
After the walls were built, the kingdom's army had basically become city guards. Their opponents were usually just thugs and hooligans. They rarely ever saw blood.
The truly vicious criminals were tossed into the lawless zone—kept outside the walls.
"More than that, the timing is far too sensitive. Goa Kingdom absolutely cannot sit back and watch!"
"Otherwise, this bandit force could obstruct our upcoming Great Cleansing plan!"
That suggestion made the nobles fall silent for a moment, then nod along.
"Fair point."
"We must eliminate this lingering disease of Goa Kingdom before the Celestial Dragons arrive."
"The honor of Goa Kingdom cannot be stained by some mere bandit!"
The nobles were filled with righteous fury, genuinely enraged.
A Celestial Dragon visit was an enormous opportunity and honor for a remote East Blue nation like Goa Kingdom—something that could not be allowed to go wrong.
"Then… we act. We will suppress this so-called King of Bandits."
The king made his decision.
"However… most of our kingdom forces are tied up maintaining order in the city. The bandits are growing too strong. To push deep into the lawless zone and wipe out a bandit who dares claim kingship… will be extremely difficult…"
"Then we submit an application to the World Government and request Navy intervention. This concerns the Celestial Dragons' visit—there's no way the World Government will ignore it."
"Agreed."
"Seconded."
"Seconded…"
.....
A small town somewhere in Goa Kingdom.
"Dragon, why are we spending precious intelligence resources on some mere bandits?"
"Intelligence resources are valuable. The entire East Blue—and the Grand Line—are full of things that deserve our attention!"
The Revolutionary Army's commander, Emporio Ivankov, questioned Dragon.
Ivankov's appearance was startling: a face so huge it was almost scary, an exaggerated purple explosion of hair, long lashes, dramatic dark eyeshadow, and bold lipstick.
The Revolutionary Army already had plans in the East Blue, but Dragon had suddenly decided to tilt the East Blue branch of their intel network toward Goa Kingdom.
The Revolutionary Army wasn't large yet. Every scrap of intelligence power was precious. To many officers, focusing on bandits really did seem like a waste.
"Higuma isn't an ordinary bandit," Dragon replied simply, his expression unmoving.
"True—he's not ordinary… According to the intelligence we just received, Higuma is calling himself the King of Bandits. Recently he's been extremely active in the mountains of the lawless zone, and he's basically become a major force there!"
"The actions of this King of Bandits, Higuma, have already drawn Goa Kingdom's attention…"
A nearby Revolutionary officer placed a thick stack of documents onto Dragon's desk.
(End of Chapter)
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