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"Weiss! Get me a pen."
"Yes, Captain!"
Within moments, Weiss returned from within the royal chamber carrying a feather quill and a parchment scroll.
"Write," Aero ordered, turning to the king. "You're going to make a public address tomorrow. I'll handle the rest nationwide Den Den Mushi broadcast. The people will be thrilled to hear about your abdication."
He dropped the quill and paper to the floor, then tossed the trembling old king beside it.
"Lassi! Weiss! Watch him, Weiss!... Weiss! Stop staring at the woman, Haven't you ever seen one before?"
"Sorry, Captain! I swear I'm focusing… just not on her… uh—never mind!" Weiss stammered, glancing away with a flushed face.
Aero ignored him and pulled out a miniature Den Den Mushi.
"Buru buru buru… click! Captain?"
"Dylan. Is Eddie still with you?"
"Eddie? Yeah, he's here."
"Put him on."
"…Captain! To what do I owe this glorious honor?" came Eddie's exaggerated voice as he grabbed the snail.
"Eddie. Do you have dirt on King Mance something nasty enough to make the people furious?"
"King Mance?" Eddie paused. "You mean the Mance? Old freak in the gold box? Oh, I've got dirt. Plenty."
"Hold on," Aero said, walking over to where the king was kneeling on the floor, still scribbling his abdication speech with shaky hands.
"Start talking," he said into the snail.
"You're seriously interested in this?" Eddie replied. "Mance never crossed us directly."
"Yeah? He's kneeling right in front of me."
There was a beat of silence on the line. Aero didn't even flinch, but the king's pen did the quill tip snapped under his grip, and his blanket slipped off again. Weiss quickly turned away, groaning in disgust and fumbling around for clothes.
"I—Captain, you went to the palace?! We're coming right now!" Dylan's voice came through urgently.
"No. Not yet," Aero said. "There's something I need you and Eddie to do."
"Go ahead, I'm listening," Eddie said smoothly.
"Mance once forced a hundred boys and a hundred girls onto a ship," Eddie began. "Said it was part of some old ritual to 'gain a true heir.' He had his men light the ship on fire at sea. Every one of those kids was conscripted under royal decree. To this day, their families think they were brought to the palace for elite training."
Aero's eyes darkened.
"There's more," Eddie continued. "Three months ago, he started a bride selection campaign. His top officers raided four nearby islands, abducting any woman they deemed beautiful married or not. At least twenty husbands were murdered during the process, but the deaths were ruled 'accidents.'"
Aero stood silent.
He didn't need to embellish a thing. Mance had painted his own noose.
"…Good," Aero finally said. "Now exaggerate it."
"How dirty do you want it?"
"As filthy as it gets. I want it printed in tomorrow's paper."
"And the byline?"
Aero paused, then smirked. "…Bugsy."
A fake hero for a real lie. The story would paint Bugsy as the lone voice of justice who had tried to fight the king but failed, forced to expose the truth through journalism.
He'd be crowned a national hero.
Add a resignation letter with a king's recommendation… and suddenly Bugsy becomes the people's choice for the next ruler.
The only problem?
It wouldn't be Aero sitting on the throne.
But that was a price he had to accept.
The World Government would never tolerate a pirate wearing a crown in East Blue. But Bugsy? A loudmouth casino boss with no ambition for war? He'd be the perfect cover.
"Captain… are you sure Bugsy can be trusted?" Dylan asked.
"Trust doesn't matter. What matters is debt. Bugsy knows who's putting him on that throne. He won't dare turn his back on us and even if did then I will replace him"
"…What do you need from us?"
"Find the scum Eddie mentioned. The ones who carried out those abductions. Tomorrow, bring them to the center of Rubber Island. Execute them publicly."
Aero hung up.
He turned to King Mance, who had stopped writing.
"I'm not going to kill you," he said quietly. "I'm not even doing this for revenge. But those people deserved better than to be born in your kingdom."
Just then, Lassi rushed back to the room.
"Captain, movement guards are approaching!"
Aero looked at Mance and smiled coldly.
"You know what to do."
"I—I understand…" Mance muttered. He threw on a robe and staggered to the door.
The moment it opened, he shouted at the top of his lungs:
"PIRATES! INTRUDERS!"
The palace guards, who had been searching for the missing sentries, rushed toward the commotion. They surrounded the king, shielding him with drawn spears.
One guard captain reached for his Den Den Mushionly to find it plucked from his hand by a black-robed figure.
In the blink of an eye, every single guard dropped to the floor, unconscious.
The captain tried to draw his blade, but Aero was already beside him. A single chop to the neck, and he crumpled.
Mance stared, wide-eyed.
Aero stepped forward and smiled.
"Let's get something straight," he said.
"You're not the king…"
His voice dropped.
"…and neither am I."
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