"Jiexi," he spoke.
"Here!" Jiexi stepped forward.
"I appoint you as the Grand Marshal of Soldiers and Horses, in command of the nation's entire military. You have three months to enforce discipline and weed out the useless.
In three months, I want to see a true army."
"As you command!"
"Jieming."
"Here!" Jieming stood up straight, excited.
"I appoint you as the Commander of the Imperial Guards, responsible for the safety of the palace."
"As you command! I pledge my life to serve Your Majesty!"
Raiver nodded, his gaze shifting to the crowd kneeling below the platform:
"Prime Minister."
The old Prime Minister trembled all over, almost crawling forward: "Y-Your old servant is here!"
"To celebrate my ascension to the throne, I decree—a nationwide tax exemption for three years.
You are responsible for this. Proclaim it to the world, and ensure every subject knows."
The Prime Minister froze, thinking he had misheard.
Tax exemption... for three years?
"Your Majesty... this..."
"Is there a problem?"
"N-No, none!" The Prime Minister hurriedly kowtowed: "Your old servant obeys the decree! Your Majesty is benevolent! A blessing to all the people!"
The officials below exchanged glances.
They had expected the new king to be even more tyrannical than the old one, but his first decree was actually—a tax exemption?
"And one more thing," Raiver continued:
"I plan to renovate the palace, turning it into the most luxurious place in the world.
Additionally, on the east side of the imperial garden, build a new royal residence—my residence must be the most extravagant, most lavish palace in the world."
He looked at the Minister of Finance: "You are in charge of this. Jieming will oversee it."
The Minister of Finance scrambled forward, but his face was full of distress:
"Your Majesty... the national treasury is empty now, and taxes have been exempted.
Even if Your Majesty were to take everything your old servant owns, it... it still wouldn't..."
"Money is not a problem."
Raiver raised his hand, lightly drawing a line in the air with his index finger.
A Spatial Rift unfolded.
Then, gold poured out.
Countless gold bricks, gold coins, and gold artifacts cascaded from the rift, crashing onto the palace floor with a pleasant clinking sound.
Following closely were gems of all colors, pearls, jewelry...
Clatter, clatter, clatter—
The speed at which the treasure piled up was astonishing.
In just a minute, a mountain of gold had formed in the center of the hall.
The officials were dumbfounded.
Some even rubbed their eyes, doubting if they were hallucinating.
"Is this enough?" Raiver asked.
The Minister of Finance's jaw nearly dropped to the floor: "Enough... more than enough..."
"If it's not enough, I'll just go out and plunder some more," Raiver said casually:
"Remember, my residence must be the most luxurious palace in the world.
Use the best materials, hire the best craftsmen, design it to be the best—money is not a problem."
He said this with absolute confidence.
He could let anyone suffer, but never himself—that was his life motto.
After experiencing so many life-and-death struggles, now was the time to enjoy.
He considered himself just an ordinary man, without any passionate dreams of saving the world. His philosophy was to enjoy blessings when they came, and force them when they didn't.
As the officials present snapped out of their shock and took a closer look at the treasure, many of their mouths began to twitch.
Because they recognized it.
Among those treasures were many that they had previously offered as tribute to the Old King.
The Old King had stored the treasures in the national treasury, Raiver had plundered the treasury, and now, after going around in circles, these treasures had returned to their original place.
Only the owner had changed.
"I... obey Your Majesty's decree!" The Minister of Finance kowtowed, his voice trembling with excitement.
With this much money, building one luxurious palace was more than enough—they could build ten!
In the following days, the entire Kingdom of Xituna underwent earth-shattering changes.
Notices announcing a three-year tax exemption were posted in every town and village across the nation.
At first, the people couldn't believe it, especially since the previous king had just announced a tax increase.
But when the first month passed without any tax collectors showing up, cheers erupted in every corner of the kingdom.
"Long live the New King!!!"
"His Majesty is benevolent!!!"
"Finally, we can eat our fill!!!"
For the common people, it didn't matter who became king—what mattered was whether they could bring happiness to the people.
Jiexi reorganized the military with an iron fist.
Officers who had risen through connections were purged, and generals who embezzled soldiers' pay or oppressed their subordinates were publicly executed.
Following the methods Raiver had taught him, he established a selection standard and, within just one month, built an elite force of five thousand soldiers.
The combat power of this unit far surpassed that of the previous 100,000-strong "paper army."
Jieming rigorously screened the royal guards, ultimately retaining only three hundred individuals, all elites whose loyalty and strength had been thoroughly tested.
Meanwhile, the palace renovation project was in full swing.
However, such "good days" did not last long.
When the World Government finally recovered from the aftermath of the God Valley incident and learned that the pirate Raiver had become the king of the Kingdom of Xituna—
The power center of Mary Geoise was utterly enraged.
"Absurd! Outrageous!!" roared one of the Five Elders, a bald old man holding a sword, as he slammed the report onto the floor:
"A pirate! A murderer who slaughtered hundreds of World Nobles! Has openly become the king of a Member State?!
This is a slap in the face to the World Government! A slap in the face to all of us!!"
"He must be erased," another Five Elder, a blond with a short beard, said coldly:
"Launch a Buster Call immediately. The Kingdom of Xituna no longer needs to exist."
"Mobilize the Marines' highest combat power," decided a long-bearded Elder:
"Have Kong personally command it. Admirals Qiongqi and Zhu Yan, Vice Admiral Zephyr—four top-tier combatants and thirty warships.
I want that arrogant pirate to understand the consequences of defying the World Government."
The order was swiftly relayed to Marine Headquarters.
Three days later, a massive fleet set sail from Marineford.
Thirty warships advanced majestically toward the New World.
Marine Headquarters was highly confident in this operation—with four top-tier combatants, dealing with Raiver seemed like an overwhelming victory.
The Marine fleet finally arrived in the waters of the Kingdom of Xituna.
And then, the war broke out.
Admiral Zhu Yan fell—decapitated by a single slash from Raiver, his body plunging into the sea.
Kong was severely wounded, a wound from Space Severance on his chest that refused to heal.
Admiral Qiongqi was gravely injured, his right arm torn completely off.
Zephyr suffered critical internal injuries, remaining unconscious for three days before waking.
All thirty warships were sunk, with less than one percent of the crew surviving.
If not for Garp and Sengoku leading reinforcements to arrive in time, forcibly rescuing the three severely injured individuals, this Buster Call operation would have ended in total annihilation.
The news spread, causing an uproar across the world.
"A pirate... defeated the Fleet Admiral and two Admirals?!"
"Raiver... just how strong is he?!"
"The World Government has suffered a massive loss of face this time..."
As word spread among the people, Raiver gained a new title—
"The World's Strongest Man."
From then on, the World Government and Marine Headquarters chose to turn a blind eye to all of Raiver's actions.
As long as he didn't attack the Holy Land Mariejois or Marine Headquarters, they basically paid no attention.
Even when Raiver annexed several surrounding countries, including one that was a World Government Member State, the World Government didn't utter a single word of protest.
The Five Elders secretly sought an audience with Imu, requesting this "god" to take action and eliminate Raiver.
But Imu refused.
"Mu cannot kill him." She only said this one sentence, her tone calm, yet it sent an unprecedented chill down the spines of the Five Elders.
Even Lady Imu cannot kill him... then what exactly is Raiver?
And so, Raiver did as he pleased in the New World.
His sphere of influence continued to expand, eventually encompassing seven islands and three kingdoms, forming a vast "empire."
He thus earned another title—
"Emperor of the Sea."
...
Three months later, in the newly completed bedchamber of the Kingdom of Situna.
This palace was named "Sky Palace," living up to its name.
The main structure stood nine stories tall, entirely constructed of white marble and gold.
The interior was the epitome of luxury:
The floors were covered with Floating Cloud Carpets from Skypiea, and the walls were inlaid with luminous pearls for lighting.
All the furniture was carved from thousand-year-old rosewood, and even the doorknobs were made of pure gold.
Behind the palace was a massive hot spring pool, fed by natural hot springs heated by an undersea volcano.
The poolside was planted with exotic flowers and rare herbs, some of which were even extinct species.
At this moment, Raiver was soaking in the hot spring, resting with his eyes closed.
Jieming stood by the pool, reporting respectfully:
"Your Majesty, today another seventeen nobles have sent congratulatory gifts, including thirty chests of treasure and twenty beautiful women.
As per custom, the treasure has been stored. As for the beautiful women... how should they be handled?"
"Are they good-looking?" Raiver didn't even open his eyes.
"Uh... they, they are all stunning beauties."
"Then keep them."
"As you command."
After Jieming withdrew, Raiver rose from the hot spring.
Immediately, four maidservants stepped forward to drape a silk robe over him.
These maidservants were all tributes from nobles across various lands, each with looks and figures that were one in ten thousand.
Raiver walked into the main hall.
A banquet was already prepared here—a long table stretching twenty meters, laden with all kinds of delicacies:
Crab roe from deep-sea king crabs, the specialty Cloud Fruit from Skypiea, Rainbow Coral Wine from Fish-Man Island... each dish was worth a fortune.
Twelve dancing girls were performing in the hall.
They wore sheer gauze, their figures graceful, their dance steps like drifting clouds.
Singers played soothing music, and the air was filled with the scent of incense and delicious food.
Raiver took his seat at the head of the table, accepted a wine glass handed to him by a maidservant, and took a sip.
The wine was a century-old vintage, mellow on the palate with an endless aftertaste.
Leaning back in the soft chair, he watched the scene of revelry before him and suddenly laughed.
"What kind of hard life was I living before..."
Indeed, compared to his current life, those days of fighting and killing, exposed to the elements, were simply hell.
He had lived here for three months, spending each day eating, drinking, and having fun.
Listening to music, watching dances, soaking in hot springs, savoring delicious food, and occasionally giving Jiexi and Jieming some pointers in their cultivation.
When bored, he would wander around the various towns of the kingdom to observe the lives of the commoners after the tax exemption.
Things had indeed improved a lot; at least, everyone had smiles on their faces.
Sometimes he would wonder: Is this the life I want?
The answer: At least for now, it is.
As for the future... who knows?