Half an hour later, Philock VII returned to his ship after bidding farewell to Cobra and Dalmatian with a smile.
Unlike Philock VII, however, Cobra and Dalmatian both looked troubled.
The two exchanged a glance before Dalmatian finally spoke.
"I didn't expect him to be so shrewd, despite that idiotic appearance."
"Mm."
Cobra nodded without saying much, but his mind kept replaying the conversation they had just had.
"I hope that during this Reverie, King Nafirutali and Vice Admiral Dalmatian will say a few words on behalf of the Kingdom of Flevance. I don't particularly care whether those lowly commoners live or die, but if they all die out, then I suppose there wouldn't be much point in me being king anymore..."
...
On the ship of the Kingdom of Flevance.
After returning to the luxurious cabin reserved solely for the king under the protection of two guards, Philock VII, who had looked utterly foolish moments ago, suddenly seemed like a different man.
His expression settled, and his entire demeanor changed as he turned toward Yemu, who had already removed his heavy helmet and revealed his true face.
"Your Excellency the President, do you think King Nafirutali and Vice Admiral Dalmatian will speak for us?"
Dressed in full plate armor and feeling his body stiffly confined, Yemu shifted in discomfort, picked up an apple from the fruit platter beside him, and took a bite as he replied.
"Whether they speak or not, the result won't change. Don't tell me you still have illusions about the World Government."
At Yemu's words, a cruel smile appeared on Philock VII's face. He grabbed at his golden hair and said viciously, "I was willing to give up everything to follow Your Excellency the President, and not because I wanted to play some pirate game. I only have one goal. Revenge..."
As the words left his mouth, the faint pain spreading through his body made Philock VII's face begin to twist.
Seeing this, Yemu looked at him deeply before saying, "Take your medicine first."
Only then did Philock VII pull a bottle of green pills from his chest with trembling hands and swallow them.
A minute or two later, relief finally appeared on Philock VII's face, but the hatred in his heart only burned hotter.
The claim that royals could not get Perlead Disease was a lie.
As long as someone lived in Flevance, no one could escape the torment of Perlead Disease.
The only advantage of being royalty was that they had an endless supply of blood and medicine to slow the disease. But the process of blood transfusion was excruciating, and the pain that seized the entire body during a Perlead Disease flare-up was almost impossible to endure.
Philock VII's father and mother had chosen to end their own lives precisely because they could no longer bear that agony.
Philock VII was by no means a good person. Just as he had said, he did not care whether ordinary people lived or died. He only cared about himself.
Before he saw any hope of survival, all he thought about was how to live without suffering. But now that he had seen that hope, his mind was fixed on something else entirely: revenge.
After becoming King of the Kingdom of Flevance, Philock VII naturally learned many things, including the true source of the Perlead Disease that had tormented him for so long.
There was only one answer: the World Government.
For the several hundred years that the Kingdom of Flevance had existed, Perlead ore had always lain beneath the country's soil, yet Perlead Disease had never appeared back then. It was only after the World Government discovered the value of Perlead and began mining it on a large scale that all these problems gradually emerged.
Of course, the greed of the Kingdom of Flevance's royal family had played its part, but Philock VII would never admit that. He would only place the blame on the World Government, which knew full well what the consequences would be, yet still turned a blind eye, vigorously encouraged the people of Flevance to mine and manufacture Perlead, and eventually even blockaded the entire country. They were the true culprits behind everything.
Philock VII did not care about the lives of ordinary people or the fall of the country, but the pain in his body and the sight of his parents' deaths were things he would never forget.
He was now a madman who wanted only to make the World Government experience the pain he had once endured.
As for the consequences, Yemu had already given him the answer during their first meeting.
"I won't take anything from you. Not your throne, not your wealth. You can continue living in your country as the King of Flevance."
Then what was there to hesitate over?
As for those who wanted to leave, let them leave. He did not care whether those lowly commoners stayed or went.
As long as Yemu and his people could provide him with the medicine called Perlead Antidote and spare him the pain of Perlead, that was enough. In fact, after taking it for a month, he could already clearly feel his body slowly improving, which meant a complete cure might not be impossible.
"Thank you very much, Your Excellency the President. I feel that if I take it for another month, the Perlead in my body will be completely expelled..."
"You don't need to thank me. To me, you were an unexpected surprise. I thought helping Erik and his sister would take far more trouble."
"Your Excellency the President, you overestimate the Philock family. Ever since the World Government blockaded the Kingdom of Flevance, this country no longer belonged to us. We are nothing more than the World Government's puppets... To be honest, I'm looking forward to seeing the Marines and the World Government learn your purpose even more than you are. I want to see them furious and helpless... Yoho..."
"Then, once everything is over, the agreement we made will officially take effect. Aside from the people, all of Flevance's Perlead mines will be handed over to our Rainbow Nation for mining..."
"Of course. I have no problem with that. I have no interest in touching that stuff ever again. As long as Your Excellency the President gives me the agreed thirty percent of the profits, that's enough. If necessary, I can even continue providing you with miners and workers. After all, Flevance already has plenty of them ready."
"That won't be necessary. I already have candidates in mind for the miners and workers needed for Perlead in the future."
As he said this, Yemu looked toward another guard in the room, one clad from head to toe in iron armor, who had not said a single word from beginning to end.
Philock VII, who had already seen the guard's true face, smiled with excitement.
"Then I've spoken out of turn. In that case, may our future cooperation be a pleasant one, Your Excellency the President!"
"A pleasant cooperation."
...
And so, after fourteen days at sea, one day before the Reverie was set to begin, the ships representing the three World Government Member Nations finally arrived under Dalmatian's escort at the port below the Red Line, where the Holy Land of Mary Geoise stood: Red Port...