It only took a single day to obliterate the Vodka Kingdom's military and capture its royal leadership.
However, it took a full three days to systematically eliminate the corrupt nobility, tear down their sprawling estates, and transport the sheer, staggering volume of their hoarded wealth to the capital. This extended timeline was required even with the logistical efficiency of using Stussy's Mirror World to shorten the transport distance.
Three days later.
Kaido arrived at the Royal Capital, marching at the head of a small, intimidating detachment of towering Oni tribesmen he had successfully subjugated and recruited from the mountains. Dragon returned from the right flank, his eyes cold and hardened, having finished the grim work of executing the nobles. York, meanwhile, had regrouped the thousands of pirates who had sacked the city.
The Vodka Kingdom soldiers who had been captured and bound at the coastal fortress also arrived, marched into the city under the heavy guard of Stussy, Shakky, and Ivankov.
Everyone converged on the massive square in front of the Royal Palace gates. The surrounding buildings had been razed to create a massive clearing, making room for a literal, mountainous pile of wealth gathered at the foot of the castle walls.
York stood high up on the castle battlements, the wind catching his coat. He looked down at the two massive, neatly arranged formations below: the captive kingdom soldiers on one side, and his blood-soaked pirates on the other.
"You have all seen it with your own eyes!" York's voice boomed across the silent square, echoing off the stone walls. He pointed down at the towering mountain of gold, jewels, and bundled cash. "This wealth! It is all plunder seized entirely from the Royal Palace treasury and the estates of your nobility!"
York leaned over the battlements, his eyes burning with a terrifying intensity.
"Do you know exactly how much money is sitting in this square?!" York roared. "**Three Hundred Billion Berries!!!**"
The collective gasp from the thousands of men below sounded like a sudden gale.
Everyone gathered in front of the castle—not just the Vodka Kingdom soldiers, but the veterans of the Crimson Harvest Pirates as well—felt their eyes turn completely bloodshot. Their breathing grew heavy, panting like starving beasts. The captive Vodka Kingdom soldiers clenched their fists so tightly that their fingernails dug into their palms, drawing blood.
York continued his speech, directing his voice squarely at the broken soldiers of the kingdom.
"Every single year, you bravely sacrifice yourselves! You defy death! For the sake of this country, you march into foreign lands, bleed in the mud, and plunder other nations!" York shouted, his words hitting them like physical blows. "You have lost countless brothers, sons, and fathers to these endless wars!"
"And what were you told?! You were told it was all to pay the Heavenly Tribute! You were told your blood bought the right to exist under the World Government!"
York sneered, his voice dropping into a lethal, mocking growl.
"But what is the truth?! Yes, the Heavenly Tribute was paid! But far, far more wealth was secretly funneled directly into the private pockets of your King and his sycophantic nobles!"
York slammed his fist against the stone wall.
"It's not that they couldn't afford to pay the Heavenly Tribute from their own treasuries! It's that they were unwilling to part with their luxury! They couldn't bear to spend their own gold!" York roared. "They would rather let you suffer catastrophic casualties, and force you to massacre other nations, than take a single Berry out of their own overflowing pockets!!"
York turned around. With a brutal backhand, he grabbed the beaten, terrified King of the Vodka Kingdom by the scruff of his neck, lifting the monarch up like a pathetic chick and dangling him over the edge of the battlements for all to see.
"Faced with a King like this! Faced with nobles who drank your blood to hoard this gold! I ask you... ARE YOU STILL WILLING TO DIE TO PROTECT HIM?!"
"NO!!!"
From the moment they had laid eyes on the 300 Billion Berries, the Vodka Kingdom soldiers' suppressed grief and rage had been boiling. Now, it erupted completely.
Ten thousand soldiers let out a hysterical, deafening shout. Their skin flushed with fury, their veins bulging against their necks. In that moment, they truly wished they could tear the King they had served for years into a thousand bloody pieces with their bare hands.
York did not make them wait for justice.
With a casual flick of his wrist, York threw the weeping King off the battlements.
Kaido stepped forward, catching the monarch mid-air. The towering Oni dragged the King to a makeshift wooden execution block that had been erected in the center of the square.
Without a word, Kaido drew a massive, broad-bladed executioner's saber. He coated the steel in dense, black Armament Haki. With a single, forceful, devastating swing, the blade cleaved through flesh and bone.
THUD.
The King's crowned head rolled across the cobblestones. A geyser of crimson blood erupted from the severed neck, staining the execution block.
The captive Vodka Kingdom soldiers below erupted into thunderous, fanatic cheers.
"WELL KILLED!!"
"BEAUTIFULLY KILLED!!"
"THE KING WAS THE TRUE TRAITOR!!"
"WOOOOOOOO!!!"
York waited patiently on the wall. After the furious cheers of the kingdom's soldiers gradually subsided, he softened his tone slightly and turned his gaze toward the thousands of Crimson Harvest pirates.
"Brothers! You haven't been sailing under my flag for very long, but you have fought countless, brutal battles for me!" York declared. "Now, it's time to reap the fruits of your victory!"
"The distribution rules remain exactly the same as before! I take thirty percent for the treasury! The cadres divide twenty percent! And the remaining fifty percent—One Hundred and Fifty Billion Berries—belongs entirely to you!"
As soon as those words were spoken, the pirates went absolutely rabid, letting out cheers that shook the city foundations.
"LONG LIVE CAPTAIN YORK!!"
"LONG LIVE THE CRIMSON HARVEST!!"
York raised a hand, demanding silence. Once again, the cheers instantly died down. The pirates looked up at their Captain, waiting eagerly.
But York's tone suddenly shifted, growing cold and authoritative.
"Before the rewards are officially weighed and distributed, I have some harsh words to tell you in advance!"
After a slight pause, the pirates below felt a sudden chill. They swallowed their saliva, mentally preparing themselves for whatever catch was coming.
Seeing that he had their undivided attention, York made his absolute proclamation.
"This reward distribution rule... will be used for the very last time!"
A murmur of confusion rippled through the pirate ranks.
"Because from this day forward, we will no longer be mere thieves of the sea!" York roared, his eyes blazing with ambition. "I intend to establish the Crimson Harvest Empire right here on the soil of the Vodka Kingdom!"
"In the future, all of you will no longer be a loose mob of pirates! You will be the official Standing Army of an Empire!"
York's voice echoed with the weight of a true conqueror.
"As an army, you will obey absolute discipline! All spoils of war will go to the public treasury! Rewards and salaries will be uniformly and fairly distributed based on military rank and merit! I will establish a comprehensive legal system, and you will be its enforcers!"
York looked down at the silent, stunned crew.
"Therefore! After this current pile of gold is distributed, if anyone here does not wish to continue following me under these new, strict rules... you may actively apply to withdraw from the crew. You can take your massive share of this plunder, leave this island, and go home to live the rest of your days as a rich man!"
As soon as York finished speaking, a heavy, suffocating silence fell over the thousands of pirates.
Clearly, many of them were not thrilled by York's decision. They had taken to the sea specifically to escape the law. Having tasted the unconstrained, free, and lawless life of a pirate, the thought of returning to a highly regimented military lifestyle was repulsive to them.
As the saying went: It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but nearly impossible to go from luxury back to frugality. Of course, York wasn't forcing anyone. What he was doing right now was a massive, psychological purge.
He needed to screen out the undisciplined thugs. He wanted only those who were obedient, ambitious, fiercely loyal, and who truly recognized the scope of his grand ideals. Such people would form the unbreakable core of the Crimson Harvest Empire's military.
York would personally cultivate them as his elite vanguard.
Perhaps their baseline strength was currently average, but York wasn't worried. Dr. Vegapunk was now his loyal subordinate. If Vegapunk could eventually replicate Kaido's Mythical Azure Dragon fruit, wouldn't mass-producing ordinary Zoan-type fruits be a piece of cake?
York didn't even need to mass-produce Ancient or Mythical types. Providing an army of loyal, disciplined soldiers with ordinary Zoan enhancements (SMILEs without the defects, or perfect clones) would be more than enough to cultivate a terrifying legion of Vice Admiral-level enforcers.
York's gaze swept over the silent crowd below, waiting patiently.
Suddenly, Magha the Great Serpent—the colossal Supernova York had broken and recruited back on Sabaody—stepped forward from the ranks. He slammed his fist against his chest in a crisp military salute.
"WE SWEAR TO FOLLOW CAPTAIN YORK TO THE DEATH!!" Magha roared.
Led by the towering Ancient Zoan user, the pirates who had been hesitating on the fence made their choice. They stepped forward, breaking away from the main mob, and shouted loudly in unison:
"WE SWEAR TO FOLLOW CAPTAIN YORK TO THE DEATH!!"
However, although the shout was loud, the actual number of responders was stark.
York quickly swept his Observation Haki over the group that had stepped forward. There weren't even 200 people.
Exactly 180 men.
It was a sobering statistic. Even after suffering heavy casualties during the invasion, the total number of Crimson Harvest pirates in the square was over 4,000. 180 loyalists wasn't even one-twentieth of the crew.
Nevertheless, a genuine, highly gratified smile spread across York's face.
His original, cynical expectation had been that only 100 men would accept the strict military lifestyle over lawless piracy. The fact that 180 men had stepped forward far exceeded his calculations.
Furthermore, York's Observation Haki confirmed a crucial detail: these 180 men were the exact same individuals who had perfectly obeyed his strict "Death Order" not to harm the civilians during the sacking of the capital.
They were disciplined. They were ruthless. And they were loyal.
They perfectly met his requirements to become the founding Generals of his new Empire.
.....
.....
.....
Support me and read advance chapters on patreon.com/ImmortalDaoWriter