"Do what you want to do, boy!"
Tom laughed loudly. His figure slowly faded like a shadow dissolving into mist. Just before he completely disappeared, he raised a thumb toward Franky and grinned.
"A man must not only trust the ship he builds, he must also trust himself! I believe in your choice! Go for it!"
...
"Tom!!!"
Franky shouted and abruptly opened his eyes.
Instead of the open sea he expected, he found himself lying in a dim and damp basement. The air smelled faintly of rust and oil.
"King! You're awake?"
Several small boys surrounded him. Each of them had rusty mechanical gears attached to their chests like crude decorations. Their faces were bright with excitement.
"Are you feeling better?" one of them asked eagerly. "Rex is amazing! He found the hidden switch on your body and replaced your cola!"
A boy standing nearby wore a polished golden gear on his chest. His eyes shone with admiration as he looked at Franky.
"King, will you knight me as your Mechanical Knight? I want to follow you forever!"
Franky blinked a few times, the fog from his dream fading. Reality quickly returned.
"Awooo! So it was you little guys who saved me?"
He stood up and stretched his mechanical body. The familiar surge of cola energy flowed through him again, filling him with strength. Franky looked down at the children and laughed.
"You brats are pretty impressive! Thanks for the help!"
Then he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"But listen, I'm not your King. And sorry, I can't knight anyone as a Mechanical Knight."
The boys stared at him in disbelief.
"You're not the King? That can't be true!" Rex said in shock. "You are our King!"
He pointed toward the ceiling as if the entire island could hear him.
"Everyone in the country knows it! You saved us from the tyrant and became the King of this nation!"
The other boys immediately joined in.
"That's right!"
"You saved us!"
"That tyrant wanted to ignite the island and blow everything up! The adults all said you are the rightful King!"
Franky rubbed his chin helplessly and spread his hands.
"Awooo, boy. You need to understand something."
He spoke casually, as if explaining something trivial.
"Saving your country was just something I did on the way. I'm a perverted man after all."
The boys froze.
Franky continued without embarrassment.
"I had been flying in the sky for almost two days. I held it in the whole time and didn't relieve myself in the air."
He sighed dramatically.
"When I finally landed on your island, I seriously couldn't hold it anymore. So I just let it all out in front of everyone."
He waved his hand dismissively.
"As for putting out that fuse and stopping the explosion, that part was just accidental. No need to praise me."
The basement fell completely silent.
The boys looked utterly stunned.
This was not the story they imagined at all.
In their minds, the King should have been a heroic figure who happened to witness their suffering and descended from the sky like a savior.
But according to Franky, he was just a traveler who stopped here by coincidence and accidentally saved the country.
"That doesn't make sense!" Rex protested stubbornly.
"But you defeated the tyrant's Mechanical Soldiers! Those monsters were incredibly strong! Even a hundred ordinary people couldn't beat them!"
"Oh, those guys?"
Franky laughed with obvious disdain.
"You mean those soldiers with cheap machinery installed in them?"
He struck a proud pose.
"They were ridiculously weak. Even the weakest member of our crew could easily defeat a hundred of them!"
Behind him, Usopp wiped cold sweat from his forehead.
I didn't say that. I definitely can't do that. Please don't drag me into this.
"Wow! As expected of our King!"
The boys shouted excitedly again, their admiration growing even stronger.
Franky's eyes sparkled.
"Beep beep! Activating Super Franky Mode!"
He suddenly shrieked and gently pressed his nose.
Click.
His head instantly expanded and his iconic red afro burst outward like a blooming flower.
"SUPER Franky!!!"
Franky twisted into an extremely strange pose, his hips sticking out dramatically.
The boys gasped.
"Wow! That's so cool!"
Their eyes shone with envy.
A few girls nearby stared blankly for a moment before quietly stepping back with expressions of pure disgust.
"Is that supposed to be cool?"
Franky straightened up again and clapped his hands loudly.
"Alright boys, listen carefully!"
His tone became more serious.
"This country is free now. That tyrant is gone, and it doesn't need an outsider like me to rule it."
He pointed at the group of children in front of him.
"Among you, there will definitely be someone more suitable to become the King of this country than I ever could."
The boys looked at each other uncertainly.
"Us?"
Their voices lacked confidence.
Since childhood, no one had ever told them such a thing was possible.
All they had ever learned was that this country worshipped machinery. If they failed to study and create useful mechanical products, they would become worthless people.
And worthless people would eventually be placed on ships by the King and expelled from the island.
But now the man everyone called their new King was telling them something completely different.
"You can become King."
The idea felt impossible.
"Of course you can!"
Franky grinned and scratched his chin as he remembered something.
"One of my powerful companions once told us some stories during a late night conversation."
He was thinking about Shirogai.
Shirogai had once shared strange tales from distant lands.
Stories where common people rose to rule entire nations.
A beggar who eventually became an emperor.
A humble straw sandal seller who restored the glory of his family with the help of loyal brothers.
And a reckless young man who often cheated others, yet somehow became the final victor in the struggle for power.
Franky did not know how true those stories were, but the meaning behind them stuck in his mind.
"As long as you keep moving toward your goal, anyone has the chance to succeed."
His expression became unusually serious.
"A King is not someone born with a special surname."
"If an ordinary person gains the trust and support of the entire country, then that person can naturally become King."
He shrugged.
"Honestly, becoming King isn't the hardest part."
Franky raised a finger.
"The real challenge begins after that."
"If you become King, you must make the country better. You must allow your people to live good lives."
The boys listened in complete silence.
These ideas were so shocking that they felt almost forbidden.
Yet they could not stop listening.
Franky had no idea that years later, when the world began to change after the discovery of the Great Treasure, several of the boys standing before him would truly rise to power.
They would lead their people, build nations, and shape the future of the world.
And the seed of that ambition began with Franky's careless words in this basement.
Suddenly loud shouting erupted outside.
Panicked voices filled the streets.
"Oh no!"
"The tyrant has returned!"
Franky's speech was abruptly interrupted.
He frowned slightly.
"The tyrant came back?"
Franky was genuinely surprised. The former ruler had fled in complete disgrace earlier. He never expected the coward to gather the courage to return.
More terrified voices echoed from outside.
"He brought a Marine Admiral!"
"Admiral Green Bull has already defeated the Mechanical Beasts guarding the dock!"
"They have landed on the island again!"
Franky's expression finally turned serious.
"Green Bull..."
His eyes narrowed.
"So that guy found a powerful backer."
Franky cracked his knuckles and grinned slightly.
"No wonder he suddenly gained the courage to come back."
===
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