I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

Only a few attacks aimed at his face were dodged by him turning his head to avoid ruining his clown makeup.

"Don't retreat, the God King is right behind us!"

"Don't let your guard down! He hasn't used his second ability yet!"

"His second ability, which he hasn't used yet, might be the key, his trump card!"

"Be on guard!"

Happy's primary ability is the Dark-Dark Fruit, while his secondary ability remains a mystery even to the gods of the divine realm who have fought against him for a long time.

"My second ability..." The cacophony of shouts from the gods drowned out his senses, and the clown's consciousness began to waver slightly.

He suddenly closed his eyes.

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

In the dressing room one night ten years ago.

Happy sat at his dressing table, removing his makeup in front of the mirror. In the mirror, a diamond-shaped divine emblem on the back of his neck glowed faintly in the night.

"I made a hasty escape tonight and made a mistake in the rush. I forgot to cover up the family crest. Luckily, I wasn't discovered."

Just then, a sound came from behind.

Happy turned around and saw a clown push open the door and enter. His gaze fell on the emblem on his back, and the clown's painted face showed undisguised astonishment and shock.

“Jock, listen to me—” Happy called out his partner’s name.

The Joker, who had been partnered with Happy for months, was terrified by the sight and slammed the door shut as he fled.

Everyone in the Kingdom of Gods knows that the emblem represents the divine king family above all gods.

While other divine family emblems might be counterfeited by audacious individuals, the emblem of the God-King family is absolutely unforgivable.

His partner of several months, Happy, who introduced him to this line of work, is actually a god prince above all the gods in the divine realm...

The clown ran aimlessly through the moonlit streets, overwhelmed by a myriad of thoughts swirling in his mind.

It was Happy that initially told him he had the talent of a clown and led him into the profession.

At first, Jock's performance was terrible; his smile could scare the children in the front row to tears, and he almost got fired by the circus.

"If you had a legitimate job, who would want to be a clown?"

"I just want to settle down and establish myself in the capital..."

"Who wants to play the clown and be laughed at? I also want a decent job so I can live with dignity! To be able to tell others with pride what I do!"

The new Joker, Jock, just wanted to make money from this and had considered quitting.

But Harpinis told him:

A clown is someone who makes others smile.

Although both of them are clowns standing on the same stage for people's amusement, Happy seems to be standing alone in the sunlight, his smile as warm as the sun.

Jock was touched by that smile and changed his mind.

The two partners quickly became familiar with each other and their performance gradually improved.

They are similar in height and build, and sometimes they even wear the same makeup. They debuted as the Twin Jokers, like two sides of a mirror.

But today, he saw the truth.

Two clowns who perform together on the same stage and have a great rapport. But offstage, they are strangers from vastly different backgrounds.

The prince of God is of high status and has no worries about food and clothing. He plays the clown only out of interest. He is detached from worldly affairs, so it can be said that the clown is someone who brings joy to people.

But what Jock saw was the hardship and exhaustion behind the clown mask, and the meager salary.

The two of them were never the same.

The Joker, it turns out, has always been just himself.

The clown fled in panic under the moonlight.

In his panic, he bumped into several young citizens and was dragged into an alley and beaten.

The clown huddled on the ground in the corner of the alley, his hands covering his head as before, biting his lip and remaining silent.

The people of the gods are just ordinary members of the divine race, but to the common people, they are noble children who are high above and difficult to resist.

"stop!"

At this moment, Harpinis appeared. He covered the emblem on the back of his neck with a scarf, and in the moonlight, his face had for the first time an imposing and dignified air, which even stunned the few gods.

Five minutes later.

The two clowns lay bruised and battered in the alley.

"Why did this person suddenly jump out?"

"Turns out he was just a show-off. He probably thought it was a hero saving a damsel in distress... no, a hero saving a clown."

"Hilarious, he looks like a clown."

The gods strode away, but Happy, lying on the ground, suddenly burst into tears of laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Jock asked.

"They say... I'm like a clown." Happy laughed so hard he could barely breathe.

"What's so funny?"

Happy suddenly stood up, climbed onto Jock's back, and dragged the little wings off his back.

"What are you doing?! This is ridiculous!" Jock was furious, clenching his fists as he prepared to retaliate.

But at this time.

Happynice bent down, picked up a broken razor blade from the ground, and slashed it across the back of his neck.

The emblem tattoo on the back of his neck was slashed open with a blade, and the back of his neck was quickly mangled and blood dripped down.

“You-----” Jock was stunned again and stood there dumbfounded.

Happy suddenly reached out and grabbed Jock's hand, their hands mingling with the blood on them.

"Look! I'm just like you, I also have red blood! We're all the same!"

"What...what exactly are you trying to say?"

“Jock, our wings are fake, and the Protoss insignia is just a tattoo, merely decoration. We share the same blood!”

"Jock, there have never been any gods or angels in this country!"

"We are all...human beings! Just a group of people living on a sky island!"

The puddles on the ground vaguely reflected two clowns with bruised and swollen faces. Neither of them had wings, nor the emblem of the gods on the back of their necks.

These are two... people!

The two clowns helped each other to their feet, stepped over the puddle, and dripped blood from their arms, blurring the reflection of the image on the ground.

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

"Hapinis is a pseudonym that means 'hapiness'? That's strange."

"The new magician stole my business, I'm so jealous."

"Come on, let's go take a look!"

"...Damn it, her performance was truly amazing, incredible! So strong."

Two clowns went to see a new magician's performance. The female magician, wearing a white top hat, was like a white rose blooming on the stage.

The two clowns work together to study performance techniques, exploring how to come up with new tricks and how to bring more laughter to the stage.

All of this came to an abrupt end with a single ban.

The two clowns met again a year later.

"The magician is still performing secretly, and he's not worried about the ban at all."

"But there's a five million bounty..."

"What's so special about this? I've heard that bounties of this size are everywhere on the Blue Sea below. Our bounties are nothing special."

"I went to see her performance... and now I think I know why her performance was so wonderful."

"This isn't magic at all, it's ability!"

"This is the Illusion Fruit! It can create brief illusions based on images and photographs. Furthermore, the illusions can mimic actions and tones, and if the user is an ability user, the illusions can even replicate their abilities and reproduce the consciousness of the person being imagined, even if they are dead!"

“Illusions are not all fake.”

"It sounds incredible, but it's true!"

"However... this is very dangerous. The power of the Phantom Fruit is considered extremely magical even among the gods. If her power is discovered, she will surely be killed and the fruit taken back by the gods."

"What? You're saying she's actually from Blue Ocean? And that she sneaked in?"

Two clowns, one magician.

One is a prince of the gods, the other is a mortal, and the other is a mortal with divine abilities.

Three remaining members of the Blue Sky Circus became street performers, secretly performing together on the streets.

The crowd dispersed on the street under the starry sky.

Just as the three actors were catching their breath, they were chased by city management officers who had come after hearing the commotion. The three grabbed props and ran away in the blink of an eye.

The magician used his powers to fool the city management officers. The three of them hid at a street corner, panting heavily, their shadows stretched long in the dim moonlight.

Things will get better.

"Neither us, nor this rigidly class-based nation." The Joker, Happy, looked up at the sky, the starlight shimmering in his eyes.

"I hope that one day we can return to the stage, and ideally perform for the gods, bringing them joy. Perhaps through our performances, we can gradually reduce the divisions within this country."

“Harpinis, you’re too naive,” Jock sighed.

"I'm content as long as I can continue to live this way."

The magician, meanwhile, chuckled softly.

"Harpinis, in my hometown, there once lived a strange doctor. He was mediocre in his medical skills, but he wanted to save the ailing country with the miraculous medicine he had been developing for many years."