Lulusia Kingdom, Port Town. On a secluded stretch of coast, a two-masted sailboat with a white wolf's head figurehead and a black Pirates flag flying, slowly docked.
"Great! We're finally ashore!" Yamato cheered, resting her club on her shoulder.
With a light leap, she jumped from the sailboat's deck onto the shore and excitedly ran towards the Port Town in the distance.
Kuina and the others were already used to this and didn't try to stop her.
Instead, they began discussing their own plans.
Kozuki Hiyori, wearing a pink kimono-style short dress, turned to look at Perona, who was floating in mid-air wearing a long black gothic lolita dress. She instructed: "Recently, the Marines have been watching us closely, so we need to be cautious. Perona, please create a few more ghosts to guard the ship."
"Okay! No problem," Perona replied.
She snapped her fingers, and twenty white ghosts floated out from her. Ten of them were Negative Hollows, and ten were Bomb Hollows.
If any strangers approached the sailboat, they would be attacked by the Negative Hollows and fall into a state of negativity. If that didn't work, the Bomb Hollows would directly launch explosive attacks. Perona would sense it no matter which was triggered. With these twenty ghosts guarding the ship, they could handle most people with malicious intentions towards the sailboat. If even this couldn't handle them, then even if Perona herself guarded the ship, she might not be able to stop them...
Kuina, wearing blue jeans and a purple long-sleeved top, with her blue hair tied up behind her head, asked everyone, "I'm going to find a sword shop to maintain the wado ichimonji. What about you...?"
Iska, wearing a white T-shirt and blue denim shorts, with her orange-red hair casually spread over her shoulders, looked at the white Saber in its sheath in her hand and nodded slightly: "Hmm!? My Ame no Habakiri needs maintenance too. Let's go together!"
Perona hooked her arm through Kozuki Hiyori's and said with a smile, "I want to buy new clothes. Sister, what about you? Do you want to come with me?"
Hearing this, Kozuki Hiyori immediately agreed with a smile and suggested, "Alright! Lulusia Kingdom's perfume seems quite famous. Let's stop by a perfume shop too!"
After their discussion, the four got off the ship and walked towards the Port Town. Upon arriving in the town and finding out where the shops they wanted to visit were located, they split up.
Port Town, Central Square. Yamato, wearing a white sleeveless fitted kimono and with her club strapped to her back, was wandering aimlessly on the wide street.
As her gaze scanned around, she saw the layers of people gathered in the center of the square. Driven by curiosity, she involuntarily stepped towards them.
But... What made Yamato feel a bit uncomfortable was that the atmosphere among the crowd was incredibly oppressive and quiet.
Suddenly!
"His Majesty the King, please spare our family! Please give us a little more time, we will definitely gather the tenryuubito tribute..." A man's heart-wrenching cry and a girl's sobbing suddenly reached Yamato's ears.
Immediately after, as if a spark had ignited a powder keg, more and more cries and pleas for mercy erupted from the center of the square.
"His Majesty the King, I don't want to die!"
"Spare me!"
"Our family really has no money left to pay the tenryuubito tribute..."
... Yamato pushed aside the crowd blocking her way with her hands and squeezed to the front. Immediately, she was blocked by a line of Lulusia Kingdom soldiers holding rifles. She looked closely and saw a large pile of dry firewood soaked in kerosene in the center of the square.
Thirty-five people were tied to wooden stakes with ropes. Among them were men and women, old and young. Clearly, this was a public execution...
Yamato, feeling extremely confused, forcefully suppressed the impulse in her heart and wanted to ask a stranger nearby for the reason.
Just then.
Not far away, on a high platform, a man wearing luxurious purple clothing, a black cloak, and with two fangs protruding from his mouth, sat in a large chair, looking indifferently at the thirty-five people below who were begging for mercy. He was the King of the Lulusia Kingdom, named Guan Ji.
The thirty-five people tied to the wooden stakes, about to be executed by fire, were Lulusia citizens who could not afford to pay the tenryuubito tribute. His Majesty the King was preparing to publicly execute these people by burning them alive!
On the high platform, Guan Ji stood up from his chair. With an utterly indifferent gaze, he looked down at the commoners gathered in the square. A look of mockery appeared on his face, and he said coldly:
"Everyone, paying the tenryuubito tribute and the kingdom's taxes is the duty of every citizen of the Lulusia Kingdom.
Only by paying taxes can you have the rights of being a person, and only then will the World Government dispatch the Marine to protect our country, keeping us safe from Pirates, and allowing all the people of the entire country to have human rights... However... Some people, due to their own laziness and neglect, have failed to gather the required tenryuubito tribute and taxes... This is an absolutely unforgivable act!"
Hearing this, among the thirty-five people, the man who had first cried out immediately begged loudly:
"His Majesty the King, we are truly working hard to earn money every day!
"But a while ago, my daughter fell seriously ill, and I spent a lot of money to treat her, which is why I don't have the money to pay the tenryuubito tribute and taxes. My relatives and friends nearby also have no spare money at all due to the heavy taxes, living a life where they eat one meal but don't know where the next will come from. Please, please give our family a little more time!"
Hearing these words, Guan Ji's eyes flashed with a fierce glint, and his face twisted. He said coldly, "Hmph! I don't want to hear any of your excuses!"
"Since you want to live in this world, you should work hard to earn money. People who cannot earn money have no right to live in this world at all! Today, I will use your lives to serve as a warning to all the citizens of this country... Execute them immediately!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier standing next to the pile of firewood immediately threw the torch in his hand.
The next moment, the flames from the torch quickly spread across the pile of firewood. Thick black smoke rose, and the flames surrounded the thirty-five commoners.
Out of fear of death, the thirty-five people tied to the wooden stakes and surrounded by the pile of firewood cried out, their voices heart-wrenching.
Standing among the crowd, blocked from the execution ground by soldiers, Yamato listened to their cries. She couldn't help but clench her fists, grit her teeth, and her pupils trembled violently. After understanding the cause of the matter, her heart was torn between struggle and hesitation.
The man on the high platform was the King of the Lulusia Kingdom, exercising his power to punish the citizens under his rule. What did this have to do with her, a pirate? She only needed to do what she felt was right!
"Stop!!!" Yamato roared, pulling out the club strapped to her waist. With a flash, she instantly broke through the outer soldiers' defenses and appeared beside the fiercely burning pile of firewood. Everyone saw her raise the club and quickly swing it in a horizontal sweep.
The next moment, swish! A bone-chilling cold air swept across the square, extinguishing the flames and covering the pile of firewood with a thick layer of ice crystals.
Seeing this, Guan Ji immediately raised his right index finger and angrily shouted at Yamato, "Damn it! Who exactly are you!? How dare you disrupt a public execution? Do you know what you're doing...?"
Hearing this, Yamato turned to look at Guan Ji on the high platform and said with dignity, "My name is Yamato, the Captain of the Yamato Pirates. I am doing what I feel is right!"
"Pirates!?"
After hearing Yamato introduce herself from below the square, Guan Ji couldn't help but let out a cold laugh:
"Mere Pirates dare to disrupt the public execution of the Lulusia Kingdom... Truly courting death! Kill her along with those lowlifes who couldn't pay taxes!... Fire!"
As the man's words fell, hundreds of soldiers surrounding the square to maintain order raised their rifles, aiming at Yamato and the thirty-five commoners. Then...
Boom!
Streaks of violent, dark red lightning flashed in the void. A vast and powerful Conqueror's Haki suddenly erupted from Yamato.
Under the deterrence of her Haoshoku, hundreds of soldiers holding firearms all fell to the ground, one after another. They rolled their eyes, lost consciousness, and collapsed. Because Yamato's Conqueror's Haki was released regionally, causing a mental shock to people within a certain range indiscriminately, the commoners tied to the wooden stakes were also knocked unconscious by this Conqueror's Haki...