One Piece: Blue Scale Admiral

The sound was so soft that even the soldier's colleague standing opposite him didn't hear it.

The soldier, whipped by the long whip, had a moment of dazedness in his eyes, and a satisfied smile gradually appeared on his face, his mouth stretched open, making him look somewhat foolish.

"Hehehe, Master, please whip me as much as you like~"

He began to mutter to himself in a low voice, as if in a trance.

The soldier opposite him was taken aback. "What did you say?"

I said…

The soldier who had been whipped stepped forward, a satisfied smile on his face, and abruptly presented his spear to his colleague.

puff!

The sharp spearhead pierced through his colleague's neck.

"I will obey all of my master's orders without hesitation."

The soldier on the right reached out and pushed his dying comrade across the chest, sending him tumbling off the stone bridge, which was dozens of meters high.

He finished doing all this with a smile, then turned around and watched as a dozen or so furtive figures jumped up from under the stone bridge.

Leading the group was a graceful peacock.

She slowly rose from her squatting position, extending her fair fingers to pull down the rolled-up hem of her skirt, covering a dazzling expanse of white.

Behind the peacock, a white bear dressed in clothes had its cheeks flushed red, and two streams of blood were flowing from its nose.

Beside the polar bear, Luo's two subordinates, Pekin and Shaki, had flushed faces and were breathing heavily through their nostrils.

The two people and the bear stared intently at the peacock's graceful back, muttering to themselves, "We want to be whipped too..."

Pekin and Xia Qi were taken aback, turned to look at the polar bear, and said strangely, "Aren't you a bear? You should be interested in the female bear."

"Oh? I'm sorry."

Bepo lowered his furry head, and the entire bear instantly slumped down.

"What a spineless coward. He loses his composure so easily in the face of mere beauty. No wonder he's a pirate."

"Exactly, their character still needs a lot of tempering."

The officers from headquarters who jumped up behind them casually wiped away their nosebleeds and slipped into the main hall as if nothing had happened.

“Master~”

The soldier who had killed his comrade knelt down, a foolish smile on his face, and looked up at the peacock.

"Tell me, where is Prince Grus imprisoned? Where is Prince Ilya now?"

The peacock looked down at the soldier and slowly curled up its long black whip.

The soldier mumbled as if in a daze, "Prince Grus is imprisoned in the King's Palace, and Prince Ilya seems to have just gone that way."

"Very good, where is the king's bedroom?"

The peacock gave a sweet smile, which made the soldier's mouth water.

"In...in the attic at the top of this great hall, from where you can overlook the entire Prince City."

"Oh, I see. Thank you so much."

The peacock stretched out its fair fingers, bent down slightly, and stroked the soldier's cheek.

The soldier's face showed a look of fascination.

Click.

His neck was snapped by five pale fingers, and then his body was thrown off the stone bridge.

"You few, hide near the main hall entrance to prevent anyone from approaching, do you hear me?"

Peacock rose gracefully, walked over to Bepo and the others whose foreheads were starting to smoke, a seductive smile playing on his lips, and reached out to pat Bepo's fluffy head.

"Yes...yes, Master~."

Bepo's cheeks were flushed, and he slumped down as if he were drunk, grinning foolishly.

The peacock vanished from the entrance of the main hall in a flash, heading in the direction the soldier pointed.

Behind them came the frantic mutterings of Pekin and his companion.

"Ugh, damn it, it's always like this! Why are we less attractive than a bear?! We want to be petted on the head by a beautiful woman too! This is outrageous!"

...

...

At the top of the main hall of the palace, inside the huge onion-shaped sleeping chamber.

The floor was covered with a large red carpet with gold trim, and flames flickered in the fireplace on the wall.

Prince Ilya sat casually on the soft bearskin sofa and poured a glass of red wine for his younger brother.

Opposite him sat a tall, thin young man with curly hair, wearing a white feather cloak.

The young man's eyes were obscured by his curly hair, and his wrists, resting on his lap, were handcuffed with heavy sea stone handcuffs.

This made him feel listless and slumped on the sofa.

“Brother, are you sure you want to do this? Actually, I have absolutely no interest in the throne that Father has entrusted to me. You know that I am not suited to be the ruler of a country.”

Gross's voice sounded weak and listless.

The eldest prince, Ilya, sitting opposite him, did not speak, but simply swirled the wine in his goblet, watching the amber liquid sloshing inside.

Gross sighed, laboriously placed the chain on his wrist onto the coffee table in front of him, and leaned back into the sofa.

“I’ve always known that you, brother, are the most talented person in the Kingdom of Prince. You’ve always been better than me, ever since we were little.”

"Whether it's the culture, history, language, customs, and etiquette that nobles need to learn, or the swordsmanship and physical skills that guards are trained in, you master them much faster than I do."

"I have admired your talent, your eloquence, and your courage since I was a child."

“I know that even without resorting to those dirty tricks, with your talent, you can lead the entire Kingdom of Prince to prosperity and revival at any time, if you so wish.”

Splash!

The chains dragged, and Gross leaned forward, his face, whose eyes were hidden, facing his brother.

"So, brother, stop now."

"There's no need to do that. Establishing a pirate nation will only lead this country to complete destruction. The centuries-old heritage of our Prince Kingdom will be destroyed, and countless people will perish under the swords of pirates."

"You still have time to save everything before the World Government's authorization arrives!"

"Brother! I don't know what turned you into this. But in my heart, you've never been such a cruel person. So, what exactly do you want to do?"

Gross spoke earnestly, his voice even trembling.

Ilya took a sip of amber-colored red wine, raised his head slightly, and looked at the ancient paintings carved on the dome of the palace.

“Grus…”

"I'm looking for an answer."

Chapter 48 What is Dominating the World?

In the luxurious and historic royal bedroom, the flickering firelight from the fireplace cast dappled shadows on the two brothers' profiles.

"Answer?"

Gross was stunned by his brother's answer.

Yes, one answer.

Ilya leaned back on the sofa, holding a wine glass in his right hand, staring blankly at the amber liquid swirling within.

“When we were very young, I noticed that our father favored you more.”

"No matter how hard I try or how well I perform, I can't get a single word of praise from my father with a smile. But you, even if you do something wrong, your father will pat your head and smile and say it's okay."

"Brother, I..."

Gross opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped by Ilya's raised hand gesture.

Ilya continued speaking.

“I used to think that I wasn’t good enough. I thought that as long as I was good enough to help my father, I could get the praise I wanted.”

"So, I used my sleep time at night to study the history of the kingdom and delve into etiquette and language. I endured my injuries and practiced swordsmanship with the guards to strengthen my physique."

"Finally, at the age of 15, I used my excellent eloquence to secure a trade cooperation order from the Kingdom of Lubnilu for the kingdom, which brought enormous wealth to the Prince royal family."

Ilya's gaze shifted from the murals on the dome to Grus's face.

"During that time, I saw a bright smile on the face of every member of the royal family. I was praised by everyone for this, and the royal nobles called me the Star of the Kingdom of Prince."

"I walked into the palace with a sense of pride and asked to see my father, expecting a word of praise from him. But to my surprise, I was met with a loud slap."

Ilya wore a half-smile, picked up the glass of red wine in his hand and drank it all in one gulp, then poured himself another half glass.

A deep sense of apology appeared on Gross's face. "Brother, I'm sorry, Father..."

"My father scolded me as a scheming bastard, saying that all I did was to gain the support of the people and nobles so that I could oust you, the rightful heir to the throne."

“He said my plot would never succeed, because the throne of the Kingdom of Prince would not be given to a bastard born of a lowly maid.”

Ilya chuckled softly. "Ridiculous. I never intended to seize the throne from you. My wish is simple: just a word of praise from my father, a smile, a look of satisfaction."

“Even when my mother, who was still working as a maid after giving birth to the noble eldest prince, died, I was still trying to gain my father’s approval.”

“Until my father was dying, when I heard him say on his deathbed that he would pass the throne to you, I did not feel the slightest bit of anger.”

Ilya stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window. From there, he looked down at the entire Prince City and saw several plumes of smoke rising in the distance.

“Ignoring the guards’ attempts to stop me, I rushed to the bedside and told them all about my efforts and struggles over the years, then humbly begged for a word of recognition from him.”

“My father didn’t speak, but I got the answer from his eyes.”

Ilya turned around with his hands behind his back. "His answer was...bloodline."

He spread his arms wide. "In my father's eyes, the most important thing in this world is the royal bloodline. Only those with legitimate royal blood can inherit the throne. It's not about how much you look like him, as some people say."

"It's only because your mother is a recognized princess, while my mother was a lowly maid."