Only long after Cleveland left did the king's guards dare open the palace gates and come outside.
When they finally saw that the one lying on the ground was truly the demon, they erupted into deafening cheers.
"Wonderful! That demon is finally dead!"
"I want to see what he really looks like!"
"How is it him? Cavendish?!"
"So it was Cavendish! No wonder we could never find the demon. Who would have thought he had hidden himself so deeply?"
As the royal guards shouted, every resident in the capital who heard the news came out to celebrate.
No one knew how they had endured such a long period of suffering and fear.
Accompanied by the captain of the guards, the king also came to Cavendish's corpse.
He frowned as he looked down at the body.
"Since Cavendish is dead, hang his corpse up and let the residents vent their anger."
As for Cavendish's identity?
What a joke.
Cavendish had committed such terrible crimes.
At a time like this, even his father would not dare come forward.
...
On a small island in the South Blue.
This place had once been used as a base by a group of pirates who committed every evil imaginable.
Later, the Revolutionary Army, still in its development stage, happened to encounter them and wiped them out in passing.
The Revolutionary Army reestablished order for the residents of this island, allowing their lives to return to normal and gradually improve.
Overall, the Revolutionary Army's arrival had brought more benefits than harm to the island's residents.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Namely, the small street gangs that had managed to develop here.
Because of the Revolutionary Army's rules, everyone on the island had thrown themselves into the revolutionary cause.
As a result, those gangs could no longer obtain the same influence they had held before.
Nor could they resist the vast power of the Revolutionary Army.
The leaders of several gangs gathered together to discuss their options and prepared to go out to sea as pirates.
This was the earliest form of the Kid Pirates.
At this moment, Kid had already eaten a Devil Fruit and become an ability user with a special power.
After gaining strength, Kid could no longer feel satisfied with life on a small island.
He longed for fame, he longed to be feared by the world.
The Revolutionary Army was not his choice.
The Marines were not his choice either.
So he could only choose to become a pirate.
Together with Killer and several other core members, Kid and the others began discussing their plan to set sail.
Enel silently appeared on a nearby boulder. His Mantra activated, listening in on Kid and the others' plans.
"Killer, you go find a ship. The rest of us will gather the gang's money and weapons."
"Also, I'm warning everyone again, do not run your mouths. Members we can trust may be brought along, but anyone with suspicious ties to the Revolutionary Army must be left behind."
The corner of Killer's mouth twitched.
"Kid, your proposal is not bad, but I want to say something. Every ship on the island is controlled by the Revolutionary Army. If we want to go out to sea, we can only obtain a ship from them."
"Also, since we are forming a pirate crew, we need to decide who will be captain and who will be vice captain. How about this? Whoever gets us a ship becomes captain."
Although Kid was an ability user, he had only obtained his power recently. His control over it was still extremely shallow.
But the young and hot-blooded Kid feared rules less than anything else.
"Then we will just kill all those Revolutionary Army bastards. Since we have decided to become pirates, we cannot be soft-hearted."
"Tonight, all of you prepare everything. I will take care of the Revolutionary soldiers, seize one of their ships, and head out to sea. How does that sound?"
It had to be said that Kid was already beginning to show the boldness of a pirate captain.
He took on the task of opposing the Revolutionary Army soldiers entirely by himself, not caring in the slightest that he was still only a teenager.
In truth, there was no other way.
Before the Revolutionary Army came, they had relied on their own methods to move freely between the island and the pirates.
But ever since the Revolutionary Army arrived, the people's lives had become better and better, while theirs had only grown worse.
If they had not been unable to defeat the Revolutionary Army, they would not have thought of going out to sea as pirates.
At around three-thirty in the morning, the sky was gray and dim. This was the hour when people were most deeply asleep.
Most people were sleeping at this time and would not notice anything abnormal.
After the tidal pull of the moon had passed, the sea had returned to a calm state. It seemed like a good time to set sail.
Among the Revolutionary Army soldiers stationed here, aside from a few on duty, the rest were resting in the camp.
At an inconspicuous corner of the harbor, several small heads popped out.
Kid was the first to come out of the corner.
He cautiously watched the surroundings, observing for a long while before gesturing for Killer and the others to come out.
Originally, Kid had wanted to do exactly as he had bragged: kill the Revolutionary Army soldiers, seize a large ship, and leave.
But after scouting the area at night, he lost his nerve.
There was simply no chance.
There were too many Revolutionary Army soldiers on the island!
With Kid's current ability, even in a sneak attack, killing five Revolutionary soldiers would already be impressive.
So after discussing it with Killer and the others, they ultimately chose the safer method.
While the guards were not paying attention, they would steal a ship and go out to sea.
Each of them carried large and small bags, then swam toward a small ship in the corner.
Kid lay on the ground like a cat, fully focused as he controlled several blades, aiming them at the Revolutionary Army soldiers on watch.
As soon as the Revolutionary soldiers noticed anything strange, Kid would immediately make a move and buy time for his companions!
...
Enel sat on the Ark Maxim, half-asleep and half-awake as he enjoyed watching this little show.
Splash… splash…
The quiet sounds of water did not draw the attention of the Revolutionary soldiers.
Killer and the others climbed onto the ship like raccoons and untied the ropes securing it.
"Great. Let it drift slowly like this and wait for Kid to come aboard."
Several of them panted heavily. After resting for a short while, they placed their things inside the cabin, then took turns slowly steering the ship forward.
Coo, coo, coo.
This was the signal Kid and Killer had agreed on beforehand. It meant that Killer had succeeded.
At the same time, the birdcall caught the attention of the Revolutionary Army soldiers.
When they saw a ship leaving its original position, they immediately understood everything.
"Someone is stealing a ship!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several gunshots rang out, waking the sleeping Revolutionary Army soldiers. The entire camp became lively at once.
Kid cursed angrily, then quickly controlled the blades and sent them flying toward the Revolutionary soldiers.
"There is another brat here!"
"Shoot! Shoot!"
Kid knew his strength was nowhere near enough to fight every Revolutionary Army soldier on the island.
So after launching his attack, he immediately rushed toward the harbor.
The bullets fired by the Revolutionary soldiers behind him posed no threat to him, because his ability allowed him to control metal.
By the time Kid reached the harbor, Killer had already been waiting with the ship for a while.
A thick rope was thrown onto the shore by Killer.
"Hurry, Kid!"
Kid grabbed the rope, kicked off hard with both feet, and sailed away under the eyes of the Revolutionary Army soldiers.
"Hahahahaha! Idiots! I will come back sooner or later!"
After half a night of sailing, it was already around seven or eight in the morning when Kid and his group finally lay down on the deck to rest.
"Right, we still have not raised our pirate flag."
Kid took the newly drawn pirate flag from one of the crew members and solemnly fastened it to the highest point of the mast.
"Today, the Kid Pirates are officially founded."
As Kid's voice fell, an incomparably dazzling bolt of lightning struck down from the sky!
After the blinding white light faded, a tall Marine officer in a Marine uniform stood on the deck, smiling as he asked.
"You said you are pirates, correct?"