"Stop right there! You must be Lynn, the king of the Sypher Kingdom!"
A booming voice echoed from the top of the tall tower, overflowing with tyrannical might, tearing through the surrounding silence like a command.
Standing against the light at the apex of the tower, the figure was tall and imposing, his rugged silhouette glowing in the sunlight like a martial deity carved of stone.
He wore a deep red cloak, a golden medal glinted on his chest, and both hands tightly gripped a pair of gleaming broadswords, their sharp edges as majestic as the teeth of a lion.
"Lord William II! It's Vice Commander Lord William II!"
The noblewomen on the street shrieked with joy the moment they laid eyes on him, their voices trembling with excitement.
Instantly, from within the buildings lining both sides of the street, nobles poked their heads out, their faces radiant with excitement and fanaticism.
Almost everyone began scrambling to pour into the center of the street, the light of hope gleaming in their eyes as if they were looking upon a savior.
"Lord William II, you've finally appeared! It's this brat. I don't know what kind of ability he used to force the king to abdicate and even withdraw from the World Government Affiliated Nation! As far as I know, many ministers have been killed!"
"That's right! Exactly! Palace ministers and envoys from other countries have all been slaughtered! And your father, Army Commander William I, was killed as well! Only you can avenge us!"
"Lynn is nothing more than an outsider, a tyrant unworthy of sitting on the throne! Lord William II, you must make him pay for Goa's humiliation!"
An extravagantly dressed noblewoman with flowing long hair had tears gleaming in her eyes as she tightly gripped her fan in excitement, seemingly unable to control herself.
Her hair was woven into exquisite braids with gold threads, and her jewelry sparkled with dazzling brilliance, yet her face was now twisted with anger and excitement. "Lord William II! Let the three-thousand-strong Kingdom Army under your command trample Lynn's body into dust! The Goa Kingdom cannot lose the protection of the World Government Affiliated Nation! If you are victorious, I will represent the August family in supporting you as the new king!"
The nobles on both sides of the street nodded in agreement, the hatred and humiliation in their eyes nearly overflowing, as if their very lives were pinned on William II.
Every face was etched with a deep hatred for Lynn, and their words were filled with undisguised malice and fury.
An elderly nobleman with white hair pointed a trembling finger at Lynn, his voice choked with emotion: "That king of the Sypher Kingdom... he's just some punk from the countryside! I don't know where he found a bunch of freaks with red eyes, it's so disturbing—kill them all right now!"
William II stood atop the tower.
Hearing the roar of the crowd clamoring for him, his spirits soared, and he burst into wild laughter.
"The Sypher Kingdom, heh~ a dump of a country with just a few small boats managed to cause such a commotion. The Goa Kingdom really has been isolated for too long, growing too comfortable. Once I become king, not only will I restore our status as an affiliated nation, but I will also build a mighty army to wage wars of conquest abroad! We'll let the nobles of our country enjoy endless resources!"
Just as William II finished speaking.
The cobblestone pavement of High Town began to tremble.
From three wide streets, thirty thousand fully armored soldiers surged forth. In the front ranks were spearmen, in the middle were charging pikemen, and in the rear were broadsword infantry.
They surrounded Lynn and his group of seventeen so tightly not even a drop of water could leak through.
Lynn raised a brow slightly, feeling the intense hostility and surging emotions coming from these men.
Yet he was not shaken by their clamor; instead, he smiled calmly, a trace of coldness flashing in his eyes.
He said in a deep voice:
"If you strip away your identity as soldiers right now, you can go home to trade, farm, and live a warm life with your wives and children. There's no need to risk your lives for these rotting nobles. Under my rule in the future, there will be no nobles, and all commoners will be able to lead prosperous lives. You now have three seconds to drop the weapons in your hands."
Faced with Lynn's empty promises, this army of thirty thousand didn't care in the least.
How could a country without nobles possibly exist in this world?
You're a mere seventeen people—what do you have to compare against our army of thirty thousand?
"Young man, your ideology is very dangerous!" Veins throbbed on William II's forehead atop the tower.
With a wave of his broadsword, the front-row spearmen across the three streets dropped to one knee and took aim at Lynn and his group.
The watching nobles looked on with fanatical expressions.
"Shisui, protect His Majesty. Leave these people to us," Itachi commanded calmly.
The next instant.
While the spearmen fired, Itachi and the fourteen other Jonin split into groups of five and sprinted rapidly toward the front lines of the three streets. Utilizing the Sharingan, the fifteen of them almost completely bypassed the tedious steps of hand signs.
Pressing their fingers to their mouths, they shouted in unison:
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
The fifteen Jonin activated the ninjutsu almost simultaneously.
Instantly, the surrounding airflow seemed distorted by some invisible force, whipping up dust from the ground as if foretelling the arrival of a disaster.
Following that, fifteen massive fire dragons violently erupted from their mouths, the flames blasting fiercely through the street like a torrent of blazing magma rushing toward the enemy ahead.
Those colossal fire dragons bore terrifying roars, resembling demon beasts pouring forth from the abyss, and the flames spewed from their jaws were hot enough to incinerate any living thing.
The incoming bullets were utterly useless!
Huge pillars of fire swallowed the front-row spearmen. Those standing in the vanguard had no time to react before they were engulfed by the flames and reduced to ashes, not even managing a single cry of agony!
The ferocious fire instantly threw the army of thirty thousand into utter disarray, sending them fleeing in all directions.
Simultaneously, countless glass panes shattered in the buildings lining both sides of the street.
The nobles who had mocked Lynn scrambled back into their homes in terror, though the scorching heat made things exceptionally unbearable for them!
Wooden doors and windows were swallowed in an instant, and brick-and-stone walls cracked apart instantly under the intense heat.
The flames roasted the air, illuminating the entire street and sending a spreading sea of fire visible even from afar!
"Help! Demons! The Sypher Kingdom are devils!"
"Lord Lynn! I'll never resist again! Spare my life!"
"Ahhhh! Damn it! My house is on fire! My treasures! Where's the water? Someone get water!"
"Run! These guys are Devil Fruit users! I've seen them when I went out to sea—these people are simply superhumans! We can't beat them!"
The nobles wailed in terror inside their respective homes.
Atop the tower.
William II, who had moments ago looked so imposing, watched the blazing street below, the soldiers reduced to ashes, and the massive routing army. His jaw dropped, his eyes bulged in horror, a long trail of snot hung from his nose, and he stood frozen in place as if struck by lightning.
Damn it, are they *all* Devil Fruit users?!
How is anyone supposed to fight this?!
It's completely absurd!
"Shisui, bring him over."
Lynn, standing in the middle of the street, pointed toward the tower peak.
Beside him, Shisui used the Body Flicker Technique and instantly appeared atop the tower.
His small frame and the large figure of William II formed a sharp contrast.
William II didn't even have time to react.
Shisui struck the back of William II's sturdy neck hard with the hilt of his katana, sending him plunging straight down to the ground.
Shisui flickered down to the street, kicked away the two broadswords in the fallen man's hands, and planted a single foot squarely on William II's head, looking down at his defeated foe with his Sharingan active and a smug little expression on his face.
"Your Majesty, how should we deal with this guy?" Shisui turned his head and asked with a grin, looking as if he were fishing for praise.
Meanwhile, Itachi and the other fifteen had routed the army of thirty thousand, and were now herding a good number of captured nobles and routed soldiers out of the noble buildings and dragging them before Lynn.
None of these nobles retained a shred of their former arrogance.
Every single one of them shrank back, trembling in terror, not daring to lift their eyes to look directly at Lynn.
"King, please spare our lives! I know how to do business! You definitely need my talents!"
"Your Majesty! I know how to drink, gamble, and whore—there isn't a good spot in the entire East Blue I don't know! Spare my life!"
"Your Majesty, I have three 15-year-old daughters! They are breathtakingly beautiful! They're right here, take a look, please spare my life~"
Several middle-aged noblemen said anything and everything to stay alive.
Yet at that moment, among the group of routed soldiers, a grey-haired warrior said in a deep voice:
"Just kill us. Hopefully, make it quick."
The routed soldiers all closed their eyes and waited, not uttering a single plea for mercy—forming a sharp contrast to the begging nobles.
Lynn smiled calmly.
If a destitute pauper died, death was his greatest dignity and a form of release.
But for these nobles, having enjoyed the luxuries of life and knowing how wonderful the world could be, naturally they were unwilling to die.
"I won't kill you. I will let you see a completely new world," Lynn smiled calmly. "You veterans go back and rally your old units. I am in dire need of personnel right now. Those willing to overthrow noble rule and live a life of equality among all people—learn my ideology, inherit my will, and become my soldiers!"
When the veterans finished listening to Lynn's speech, they all opened their despairing eyes wide.
Their pupils quivered in disbelief!
A kingdom of equality? No rule by nobles? The temptation of this was simply too massive for people at the very bottom like them!
"Now, I issue the first decree of the Sypher Kingdom!"
"All former nobles of the Goa Kingdom are stripped of their status and reduced to commoners, and their property shall be confiscated into the national treasury. Anyone in this country who dares to style themselves a noble henceforth will be executed without mercy!"
As soon as these words fell, the veterans were dumbfounded, shocked, and thrilled!
The nobles were dumbfounded, furious, and driven mad!
"Kill us! Damn it! You might as well just kill us outright! This world cannot exist without nobles! Do you have any idea what kind of impact abolishing the nobility will have on this world?!"
"You want me to live as a commoner? I'd rather die!"
"Lynn! You better remember this! The Goa Kingdom is a World Government Affiliated Nation. Even if the old king was threatened by you to publicly announce our withdrawal, the World Government has surely already sent people to investigate! Do you dare make an enemy of the World Government? Hahahahaha—I'll wait for you down below!" An elderly noble went mad, picked up a broadsword from the ground, and slit his own throat.
Frightening the rest of the nobles into terrified silence.
*We were just talking big—you actually went and died?!*
At that moment, far away in Central Street, within the commoner residential district, a large wave of injured, routed soldiers flooded into the area, causing widespread panic among the populace.
Garp, wearing a floral aloha shirt and flip-flops, cradled young Sabo with one hand and hurried toward High Town.
"Little brat, I'll just drop you right here. Your parents belong to the old king's faction, right? If I run into them, I'll save them."
Realizing the enemy's firepower was ferocious, Garp immediately dropped Sabo.
Sabo landed steadily on his feet, clutching a metal pipe.
*Who's worried about my parents?! I have a huge barrel of Berries saved up in my room! That's my funds for going out to sea!* Sabo thought to himself.
Instantly, he took a shortcut and sprinted all the way toward the Royal Palace.