Chapter 119: Vivi VS Koza
The chubby Toto rushed forward, terrified when he saw his son showing such disrespect to the king.
He grabbed Koza by the head and forced him into a bow, bending over with him again and again as he apologized frantically.
However, Cobra truly deserved his reputation as one of the kindest kings in the One Piece world, a ruler as benevolent as King Riku.
He treated commoners with genuine warmth and never placed himself above them.
He did not blame Toto or Koza at all. Instead, he praised Kohza's compassion and sense of justice, and soothed father and son with a few kind words.
Koza, still sniffling, turned and bolted out of the audience chamber.
He sprinted down the corridor and ran toward the palace gates.
At the corner of a wall, a little girl in a clean white dress leaned there quietly.
Princess Vivi.
She absentmindedly rubbed the head of the small duck at her side. The duck, Karoo, tilted his head and stared blankly into the distance.
She glanced sideways when she heard hurried footsteps.
A boy ran past, tears streaming down his face.
Vivi curled her lip in disdain.
"What is that? Crybaby."
Koza stopped abruptly, spun around, and glared back at her.
He wiped his face with the back of his hand.
"Who are you calling a Crybaby?"
Koza, you are truly fearless.
In another country, somewhere like the Goa Kingdom, he would already have died twice.
First he had clashed with the king.
Now he was talking back to the little princess.
"Hm?"
Princess Vivi's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Not long after, the scene inside the palace courtyard had completely changed.
Princess Vivi now had tissue stuffed up her nose to stop the bleeding. Her long blue hair was an utter mess.
She stood at the doorway, covered in dust and dirt, hands clasped behind her back as she squinted and pouted in righteous anger, stubbornly avoiding her father's gaze.
A dazed Karoo waddled along at her side, faithfully following his princess.
That spoiled, temperamental princess of Alabasta had just gotten into a full on brawl with a street brat.
The captain of the guard, Igaram, was so furious that the veins on his forehead were bulging. He was one second away from charging in himself and beating the boy who had dared to hit Princess Vivi.
Cobra was so startled that he quickly grabbed Igaram to stop him.
The reason Igaram wanted to explode was simple.
The princess had lost.
And he could not accept that.
Toto ran in soon after, pale with terror and shaking with rage, a knife clenched in his hands.
He shouted that he would take responsibility with his life, and that he would kill himself right there as an apology to the royal family.
"Idiots, all of you stop it right now!"
Cobra roared, his temper finally snapping.
He delivered two sharp chops that knocked both the rampaging Igaram and the suicidal Toto flat onto the floor.
"Fools, it is just a bunch of children fooling around!"
This king really was not bad at all.
Koza, on the other hand, was simply too young and too reckless.
Alabasta had been plagued by drought for generations. Now the drought was worse than ever, and the kingdom was stretched thin, lacking water, manpower, and resources.
Cobra had already decided to cut his own personal expenses to relieve the disaster.
And Koza, in the future, would still cause trouble and end up as the leader of a rebellion.
What a walking disaster.
...
Several days later.
The capital of Alabasta.
"Oh, come and see, imported watermelons, bananas, and all kinds of fruits. Rare goods from overseas, all sold at a low price!"
The stall owner shouted at the top of his lungs. His fruit stand sold nothing that belonged in a desert country.
In short, everything on that stall screamed luxury.
Sold cheap?
Cheap, my foot.
Each watermelon cost more than a premium watermelon in Japan.
But Roy was very rich.
Right now, on the street, he wore desert style clothes and held a massive watermelon in his arms.
He took big, satisfying bites out of it.
Comfort. Pure, juicy comfort.
"Ten servings of barbecue, please," Hancock said calmly.
She paid, then took ten skewers of meat from the vendor.
She walked back and began feeding Roy one piece at a time.
She had three happiest moments every day.
First, when she finished training and could lean against him and talk.
Second, when they trained together.
Third, times like this, when she fed him.
Roy's appetite was monstrous.
Even after all these years, Hancock still had not figured out exactly how much he could eat.
Not far away, a crowd had gathered at a street corner. Adults stood on the outside, craning their necks. A circle of children in the middle jumped and shouted, cheering wildly.
"Want to go see what is going on?" Hancock asked, smiling.
"Sure, let us take a look," Roy said, chewing on a skewer as he munched watermelon and glanced toward the crowd.
The two of them walked over together.
Roy gently pushed his way through the wall of onlookers.
No matter how sturdy the adults were, when they felt that overwhelming strength radiating from him, they did not react like idiots from some wish fulfillment story.
They simply stepped aside and even adjusted their positions to get a better view from behind him.
Roy easily brought Hancock into the center, where they had a clear, front row view.
"Looks like there is a fight," Roy said.
"Fight, fight," some of the kids yelled, laughing.
Hehe.
In the distance, another group of children came running when they heard the noise, waving their arms and shouting as they joined the spectators.
They were all brimming with excitement.
Roy pursed his lips and took another bite of grilled meat.
This kind of scene was completely normal in the world of One Piece.
Whether it was Elbaf, the place he once called home.
Amazon Lily, Hancock's birthplace.
Or any other island he had visited.
The people who lived on the sea were all tough in their own way. If they were not, they would have been swallowed up by pirates long ago.
Even if they were not strong enough to win, many dreamed of becoming stronger from a young age and respected strength from the bottom of their hearts.
"So what if she is a princess? Hit her, Koza!"
"Yeah, knock that arrogant princess down!"
A cluster of snot nosed brats howled their support for the boy named Koza.
Everyone seemed to want him to beat up Princess Vivi.
Roy glanced at the girl in the circle and raised his eyebrows.
So that is her. Nefertari Vivi.
Then he looked back at the little punks and his eyes instantly turned cold and dangerous.
"Shut it. If you are going to watch, then watch quietly. If anyone yells again, I will throw you onto the roof."
Silence.
The group of boys who had been so loud a moment earlier froze.
A chill ran down their backs.
Roy had killed pirates before, and the murderous edge in his gaze cut through the air like a blade.
His gentle aura shattered in an instant.
The children trembled and shut their mouths.
"Pfft."
Vivi, who had been facing Koza and getting ready to throw down, could not help laughing.
What a bunch of cowards.
Hancock looked up at Roy, both helpless and amused.
This man.
How had she not noticed before that he had such a scheming side to him?
She tightened her arm around his.
Her eyes went back to the little princess.
Hancock, who had once been willing to give up a throne for love, could not help being curious.
What was he looking at in this little princess's fighting spirit that interested him so much?
Then the shouts changed.
"Go, Vivi!"
A whole group of little girls suddenly became fired up, cheering for Vivi as if someone had injected them with pure courage.
With a handsome older brother backing them up, they were no longer afraid of the loudmouthed boys.
"Vivi, knock that jerk Koza down!" the girls yelled.
"If I beat you, then I get to be the leader," Vivi said, looking at Koza with serious eyes and clenching her small fists.
"No way I am losing to a brat like you!" Koza jabbed a finger at her, completely rude and utterly confident.
Roy's eyes lit up.
Who said he was a typical straight man?
Compared to him, this Koza was the biggest idiot among all straight men.
What an absolute blockhead.
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