I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

Sig's gaze swept past King Riku and looked into the distance. In the direction of the arena, a few gladiators began to run towards them, and among them, one could also be seen the figure of a one-legged toy soldier.

King Riku is, in the end, Violet's father.

He initially planned to use the F2A strategy, but he didn't expect that Doflamingo's subordinates had no intention of fighting back. If he continued fighting, it would almost turn into the Dressrosa War of Annihilation.

“There’s no point in getting entangled here,” Sieg muttered to himself.

"Don't look down on me!" King Riku's voice came from inside his helmet, muffled but full of anger.

The old swordsman brandished his longsword and accelerated his sprint.

As he ran at breakneck speed, the pent-up anger of the past decade was also burning fiercely.

It's been ten years.

Ten years ago, the notorious pirate Doflamingo appeared, claiming he would leave if someone handed over 10 billion berries. King Riku, realizing he was no match for him, didn't directly resist but instead sought loans from the public...

This time, he faces an even stronger pirate invasion, but he will not repeat the same mistakes.

"Pirates!" the old king growled in a low voice.

"This time, we won't let you do whatever you want!"

The old king raced past, a burning rage raging in his chest. He ran faster and faster, leaping over the "corpses" lying on the battlefield, heading straight for the man whose figure resembled a demon.

He unleashed a furious sword strike, as if to extinguish all the resentment that had accumulated in his heart over the past ten years; the sharp sword light pierced through the air!

"Finger gun," a deep, indifferent voice uttered.

The man's voice seemed to possess a magical quality. As soon as he spoke, the air in front of him suddenly became turbulent, as if he had crashed into an invisible wall of air. His sword, which he had been wielding with all his might, veered slightly, and the speed of his downward strike slowed down.

The same moment.

The demon, who was over three meters tall and whose muscles were like steel, unlike any mortal, bent his finger and touched the blade of King Riku's sword. The pitch-black Armament Haki on his finger quietly covered it, turning his fingertip black.

With a crisp clang.

The longsword in King Riku's hand emitted a crisp ringing sound. King Riku felt a tremendous force transmitted through the blade to his wrist. The blade trembled and flew out of his hand, causing his tiger's mouth to crack and bleed.

"Earth roll".

Before King Riku could grip his sword again, the ground beneath his feet seemed to come alive, suddenly surging up like waves, enveloping King Riku, and rapidly piling up into a small mountain that stretched across the ground.

When the dust settled, King Riku was buried beneath the small hill, with only his head sticking out. This hill not only trapped King Riku but also separated him from the gladiators running towards him from afar.

King Riku's longsword spun as it fell from the sky, disappearing into the soil in front of him with a whoosh, its tip trembling incessantly.

"It failed----"

King Riku stared wide-eyed as Sig turned his back and walked away.

Sig looked at Stussy behind him and said in a low voice, "Let's go straight to the palace. Since Doflamingo's men aren't here to fight, they must be hiding in the palace."

"If you want to go, just go. It'll save you some time." Stusi's red lips curved into a slight smile.

She simply waved her hand in front of her, and a portal three or four meters in diameter quietly opened in the air.

Just as Sieg was about to step inside, he suddenly remembered something. In a flash, a spare white metal glove appeared in his hand and he put it on his right Armament Haki glove.

Imagine Breaker has a side effect: if his palms are exposed, Sigurd cannot enter Stussy's Door-Door Fruit dimension.

Once the card is removed, the Fantasy Killer's trait will cause a one-hour cooldown period for card equipment.

The Armament Haki glove had cracked slightly during the battle, so just in case, Sieg put on a second spare glove.

After making preparations, Sig had the bald man lead the bandits back to the port area. Instead of launching another attack, they besieged the port to prevent Doflamingo's men from escaping.

Then, Sieg himself led several people into the air portal and disappeared from the spot.

...............

A few minutes ago.

"What's going on?"

In the distance, several warships cut through the waves. Zephyr and Fujitora stood side by side at the bow, gazing at the scene on the island of Dressrosa in the distance.

The giant warship Dushan docked at the shore, and bandits swarmed out, while the civilians fled in panic.

"The Dushan, that's undoubtedly a Siegfried ship. Is it attacking this country?"

Zefa gazed into the distance, then hesitated for a moment.

"The bandits are attacking the member states... General Zephyr, we cannot stand idly by!"

"Admiral Zephyr, we followed you out of the Navy so that we could no longer act with our hands tied!"

Some volunteered for the mission, while others expressed disbelief:

"Impossible! Admiral Higuma, who faced the Celestial Dragons without flinching and brazenly liberated slaves, is now attacking a country?"

The vast majority of these NEO Navy members came from the former NEO Legion, and some had participated in the previous slave emancipation movement.

The exposure of Sigir and Higuma's identities previously caused a major split within the Navy.

The newly established NEO Marines, many of whom were former members of Higuma's faction, had a more complex attitude towards Higuma.

Zephyr's expression was solemn. He did not make a decision immediately, but turned to look at Fujitora beside him:

"Fujitora, what do you think?"

Fujitora gently shook his head:

"Do you remember the slave emancipation incident in the Sabaody Archipelago? The information given by headquarters was that Admiral Higuma led a team to plunder the slave property of wealthy merchants and nobles without authorization. This is completely different from what Admiral Higuma actually did."

“Although I am blind, I believe that seeing is believing,” Fujitora said in a low voice.

Zefa remained silent for a moment.

Just then, footsteps sounded from behind; it was Ain and Violet approaching.

“Mr. Zephyr… I can explain this. The people of Dressrosa have been misled by Doflamingo…” Violet hurriedly said:

"If... if Sigmund is planning to eliminate Doflamingo's remaining subordinates, he might very well end up fighting the military."

Unlike Zephyr and others, Violet initially did not have much trust in the Navy.

The reason we can trust Zephyr and the others now is because of Higuma's influence back then.

"Is...is that so?" Ain and Zephyr looked at Violet with slightly complicated expressions.

Therefore, everything that is happening now is reasonable—

Before Violet could finish speaking, she suddenly let out a soft "hmm".

She closed her eyes, facing the direction of Dressrosa. Violet possessed the ability to see far and wide, allowing her to see what was happening on the other side of the sea.

Looking from afar, one could see King Riku, wearing a helmet, charging towards Sigurd.

Although she was wearing a helmet, Violet recognized her father at a glance, and her expression immediately changed.

"My father is approaching Old Man Sig, they're going to fight!"

"Oh?" Zephyr's voice suddenly rose several octaves.

"It's alright, King Riku's aura is still present, and Sig will act with restraint," Fujitora said softly with his eyes closed.

Although he doesn't have clairvoyance, his Observation Haki has an extremely wide range, allowing him to sense the situation on the distant battlefield even from a great distance.

"Aion, take a team and bring Violet to stop the fighting and calm the panicked people."

"And me and Yixiao..." Zefa gazed into the distance and said in a deep voice:

"Let's go straight to the palace and resolve this dispute."

Zefa's words exuded a strong sense of confidence.

For Zephyr and Fujitora, even if Doflamingo were still alive, he would never be their match, let alone now.

After giving the order, Zephyr and Fujitora leaped onto the shore.

As Fujitora swung his sword, a huge rock split open beneath his feet, rising into the air and carrying Zephyr and Fujitora towards the palace.

The Gravity-Gravity Fruit allows the user to manipulate the direction of gravity. While it can't compare to Shiki's Float-Float Fruit, which allows for easy changes of direction in mid-air, it's more than enough for straight-line flight.

.............

"Did it fail again?"

King Riku, who had been crushed under the small hill, struggled to raise his head and let out a soft sigh.

Ten years have passed, and he has grown even older, while his enemies have become stronger and even disdainful of killing him.

"King Riku, we meet again." A voice suddenly rang out from the side.

Long strode over, his gaze sweeping over the retreating bandits in the distance, and muttered to himself:

"We're a little late. Has Sig already left?"

Long appeared with Kella and the others, followed by about a hundred people, each wielding a club, sword, or knife.

They were not Long's original subordinates, but rather rebel fighters whom Long had secretly recruited in the area over the past week or so.

There were only about a hundred people in total, not many, and they were mostly middle-aged and elderly men.

King Riku didn't look at the dragon; his gaze fell on the hundred or so people behind the dragon, and he subconsciously lowered his head.

"Is this the kind of reaction?" Long smiled slightly.

"These people are retired royal soldiers from many years ago, your former subordinates... In Dressrosa now, only these elderly people are willing to believe in the old king who once went mad, set fires, and slaughtered civilians."

“You…you don’t need to meddle in other people’s business.” King Riku lowered his head.

Long shook his head secretly.

"In this corrupt and chaotic world, your personal character is beyond reproach. But as a king, even a former king, it is not the right thing to do to face death alone."

Dragon stepped forward, reached out and removed King Riku's helmet, revealing his aged face to the crowd, eliciting gasps of surprise.

He then swung his fist and smashed the small mound, pulling Riku out of it.

King Riku stared blankly at the dragon, somewhat bewildered by the man's actions.

"Who exactly are you?" he asked in a deep voice, catching his breath.

The dragon did not respond to him, but instead stood up and looked in the direction of the palace:

"King Riku, come with me to the palace. This conflict is about to end."