"Rear Admiral Smoker, that was amazing! You captured so many pirates so fast. Our World Economy News will make sure your heroic actions are known far and wide!"
Suddenly, Morgans ran out from a nearby alley with a big grin on his face, snapping photos non-stop with his camera.
Smoker looked at him calmly, but inside, he was pretty surprised.
Why is this guy still here?
Morgans ignored Smoker. He and a few of his assistants ran straight up to the pirates and started taking pictures like crazy.
The pirates were tied up tightly, all with their heads down, not daring to look at Morgans and his crew.
Angela and her troops reached Smoker and his group.
She looked around at the scene in front of her, surprise flashing in her eyes. But she quickly returned to a calm state and said to Smoker, "Rear Admiral Smoker, what happened here? Why are there so many pirates?"
Smoker replied calmly, "I just captured these pirates. They were trying to loot the town, but we arrived in time and stopped them."
Angela nodded, then looked at the pirates.
"You actually became pirates?!" As soon as she recognized their faces, Angela flew into a rage.
Seeing her made Smoker even more confused.
Even though Angela was just a 13-year-old girl, she was still the queen of the Magiatsuka Kingdom. He didn’t dare look down on her, not even a little.
"Your Highness the Princess..."
Kazio, Maruyama, Toth, and the others slowly turned around and lowered their heads toward Angela.
Even though no one could see their expressions clearly, everyone around could hear the deep shame in their voices.
Smoker grew more and more surprised and wondered to himself: Could it be that these pirates knew Angela from before?
Angela stared coldly at the group in front of her, her voice sharp and emotionless as she questioned them: "Speak! Why did you become pirates? Half a year ago when I returned, you promised me..."
Her gaze was like a knife, piercing straight into their hearts, making it impossible to meet her eyes.
The mood was heavy and tense, like the calm right before a storm.
Everyone waited in silence for Kazio and the others to respond, as the air was thick with pressure.
"Hiss~~~" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ ɴovel(ꜰ)ɪre.nᴇt
"This Angela... she really feels like she was born to be an actress..." Ryuen looked toward the harbor, stunned by Angela’s performance.
"She’s really impressive," Kuina said coldly.
If it had been her acting in that scene, she couldn’t have pulled it off the way Angela just did. No one around Angela suspected a thing!
"Mm~ the ones pretending to be pirates acted well too..."
The members of the Dream Team quietly watched everything unfold at the harbor from the hotel rooftop.
"Your Highness, we had no other choice..."
"That’s right, Your Highness. Back then our village was being pushed to the brink by those nobles. We had no choice but to lead our people out to sea, becoming pirates so we could bring back supplies..."
"If we hadn’t gone out to sea, the villagers would’ve..."
"So the village chief came to us to figure something out. But the whole Magiatsuka Kingdom was under noble control at that time. We really had no other way, so we chose to become pirates..."
"Your Highness, we’re sorry. We’ve let you down..."
"We’re sorry, Princess..."
Feeling Angela’s anger, the captains of the four pirate crews stepped forward with honest expressions, starting to confess their wrongs to her.
Just then, all the crew members of the four pirate groups came forward as well.
The marines didn’t stop them.
With tears in their eyes, they spoke to Angela:
"Princess, please don’t blame the captains. We chose this path ourselves."
"We were all just regular fishermen from seaside villages, but the nobles’ greed and cruelty took away the land and boats we depended on."
"They forced heavy taxes on us, stole our things, and even killed our loved ones!"
"We tried to fight back, but all we got in return was even more brutal suppression."
"In the end, we had no choice but to go out to sea and become pirates, just to protect our families and ourselves."
"But we never forgot who we were. We’ve always hoped that one day we could return home and live a peaceful life again."
"We know that being a pirate isn’t something to be proud of, but we had no choice. We even thought about giving up this life, but with everything pressing down on us, we just couldn’t."
"Your Highness, please forgive us! We never meant to hurt anyone. We just wanted to survive!"
After saying this, they all got down on their knees, begging for Angela’s forgiveness.
Morgans and his assistant were very excited. They recorded everything and even captured the whole scene in pictures.
"Rear Admiral Smoker~"
Tashigi walked up beside Smoker, her face full of sadness.
"If that’s the case, then why didn’t you just take out those nobles? Why go out to sea and become pirates instead?" Smoker asked, unable to hold back his serious tone.
"Take out the nobles?"
When they heard that, Kazuo and the others were clearly stunned. The captains looked at each other—then burst into laughter.
"Take out the nobles?"
"Rear Admiral Smoker, do you really think killing those nobles would make our lives any easier?"
"Because the Magiatsuka Kingdom is a member of the World Government. Rear Admiral Smoker, do you know how much our Heavenly Tribute has gone up these past few years?"
"Two billion Berries. Every single year!"
"To pay that tribute—and to keep those nobles living in luxury—our country’s taxes have gone way beyond what ordinary people can handle!"
"If we didn’t go out to sea and become pirates, we wouldn’t even be able to survive!"
"At the end of the day, it’s the damn World Government—they’re the ones who pushed our country into a corner!"
All four pirate crews stepped forward. Their fists clenched, teeth grinding, they spoke with eyes burning in rage and hate—as if they wanted to tear the World Government apart with their bare hands.
Morgans, watching all this, was even more excited. He quickly recorded everything.
But by now, Smoker and the other Marines were completely shocked by what they were hearing—these pirates were openly speaking out against the World Government!
The sound of camera shutters clicking brought Smoker back to his senses.
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