It only took one day to defeat the Vodka Kingdom's army and capture the leaders of the royal family.
But the subsequent elimination of the Vodka Kingdom's nobles, and collecting and transporting their wealth, took a full three days.
And this was with Stussy using the Mirror World to shorten the transportation distance.
Three days later.
Kaido arrived at the royal capital with his Oni compatriots. Dragon finished his work of eliminating the nobles. York also regathered the pirates who had caused chaos in the capital.
The Vodka Kingdom soldiers captured at the port in the very beginning were also brought here by Stussy and the others.
Everyone gathered in the square in front of the royal palace. The surrounding buildings had been leveled, and truly mountainous piles of wealth were gathered at the base of the castle walls.
York stood on the castle wall, looking down at the two neatly arranged formations below.
He first shouted to the warriors of the Vodka Kingdom: "You all saw it with your own eyes! This wealth! It was all plundered from the royal treasury and the noble estates!!"
"Do you know how much money is here?!"
"300 billion Berries!!!"
York shouted this particularly loudly.
Everyone gathered in front of the castle, not just the soldiers of the Vodka Kingdom but also the Red Flag pirates, had their eyes turn completely red.
Their breathing was heavy like beasts, and the Vodka Kingdom soldiers clenched their fists tightly, nails digging into their flesh and drawing blood.
York continued speaking, still shouting at the soldiers of the Vodka Kingdom.
"Every year! Fearless of sacrifice! Fearless of death! You invaded other countries and plundered wealth for your nation!"
"Countless of your younger brothers, older brothers, and fathers died!"
"Just to pay the Heavenly Tribute that guarantees your human rights!!"
"But! What is the truth!!"
"The Heavenly Tribute was indeed paid!!"
"But even more wealth! Went into the pockets of the King and the nobles!!"
"It's not that they couldn't afford the Heavenly Tribute! It's that they were unwilling! Unwilling to part with it!!"
"They would rather let you suffer countless casualties to seize more wealth from other countries to pay the Heavenly Tribute! Than take a single gold coin out of their own pockets!!"
York reached back and grabbed the King of the Vodka Kingdom, holding him up like a chick for all to see.
"Facing such a King! Such nobles! Are you still willing to protect them?!"
"No!!"
From the moment they saw the countless wealth, the emotions of the Vodka Kingdom soldiers, which had been suppressed, finally erupted completely.
They let out hysterical shouts, skin flushed, fists clenched, veins bulging, wishing they could cut the King they had served loyally for years into a thousand pieces.
York didn't make them wait long. He threw the King of the Vodka Kingdom to Kaido, who escorted the King onto an execution platform built nearby.
Holding a large blade wrapped in Armament Haki, Kaido swung down forcefully, and the King's head rolled off in response.
Blood spurted from the severed neck.
The Vodka Kingdom soldiers below shouted in approval.
"Good kill!!"
"Beautifully done!!"
"The King is the traitor to our country!!"
"Oooooh!!"
...
Wait until the shouts of the Vodka Kingdom soldiers gradually subsided, York softened his tone slightly and turned to look at the Red Flag pirates.
"Brothers, you haven't followed me for long, but you've fought countless battles with me!"
"Now, it's time to reap the fruits of victory!"
"The distribution rules are the same as before!"
"I take 30%! The officers share 20%, and the remaining 50% is all yours!"
As soon as these words came out, the pirates also burst into high-pitched shouts.
"Long live Captain York!!"
"Long live the Red Flag Pirates!!"
...
Waiting once again for the pirates' shouts to subside, York's tone suddenly changed.
"Before the rewards are officially distributed, I have some unpleasant words to tell you in advance!!"
Pausing slightly, the pirates below seemed to think of something and couldn't help swallowing.
Seeing they were mentally prepared, York officially spoke: "The distribution rules for this reward! Will be the last time!"
"Because from now on, we will no longer be thieves!"
"I plan to establish the Red Flag Empire based on the Vodka Kingdom!!"
"In the future, you will all be the empire's army!!"
"As an army! You need to obey discipline! All loot goes to the public! Rewards will be distributed uniformly!!"
"I will establish comprehensive laws! To tell you the new way of distributing spoils!!"
"So, after this reward distribution is complete, if anyone doesn't want to continue following me, you can actively apply to me to withdraw from the army or the pirate crew and go home to be a rich man!!"
Upon hearing this, silence fell over the pirates below.
Clearly, many of them didn't quite like York's decision.
After all, having enjoyed the unrestrained, free, and lawless life of a pirate, it was difficult to make them return to a proper life as a soldier or civilian.
It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but hard to go from extravagance to frugality; that's the logic.
Of course, York didn't force everyone to do as he required.
What he was doing now was a screening.
To screen out those who were obedient, ambitious, willing to be loyal to him, and who also agreed with his philosophy.
Such people would become the core of the entire Red Flag Pirates in the future.
York would inevitably cultivate them as his core team.
Perhaps their current strength was average, but don't forget!
Vegapunk was now York's subordinate!
Vegapunk could even copy Kaido's Azure Dragon Fruit, so wouldn't other Zoan fruits be a piece of cake?
Even without expecting mass production of Ancient or Mythical Zoans, mass production of regular Zoans would be enough for York to cultivate a group of officers with Vice-Admiral-level combat power.
His gaze swept below.
While York waited, Maga, the Supernova with the title of "The Serpent" recruited earlier on Sabaody, took a step forward on his own initiative.
"I will follow Captain York to the death!!"
Led by him, many pirates who were still hesitating stopped hesitating.
One after another, they stepped forward and shouted loudly: "Follow Captain York to the death!!"
However, although the number of responders wasn't small, compared to the entire Red Flag Pirates, it wasn't as many as imagined.
York roughly counted; there weren't even 200 people, only 180.
Keep in mind that although the Red Flag Pirates suffered many casualties in the battle with the Vodka Kingdom, the total number was still over 4,000.
180 people; that wasn't even one-twentieth.
However, even so, York was still very gratified.
Because his original estimate was only 100 people. 180 people far exceeded his expectations.
And York also noticed that these 180 people were all those who had perfectly obeyed his captain's orders before.
It could be said that they truly and perfectly met his requirements.
<><><><><><>
Read Advanced Chapters on: patreon.com/Anna_N1
~Every 150 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]