"Well, I haven't exactly been looking to pick a fight with the Navy lately. I'll be on my way now — these marines are all yours," Rosinante said casually.

For now, the Gray Kingdom was still enjoying its "honeymoon period" with the World Government, and Rosinante had plans to stay on the Sabaody Archipelago for a while. Unless absolutely necessary, he really didn't want to clash with the Navy — that could reignite a major conflict, which would be disastrous for the Gray Kingdom's development.

That didn't mean he was someone who would just sit there and take a beating. In the past, he hadn't fought back simply because he lacked the strength to do so.

But now? Now neither he nor his entire organization could afford to appear weak. Taking a hit without retaliating would ruin his prestige.

And in the world of One Piece, prestige is everything.

You can be overbearing, tyrannical, even downright cruel — but you cannot afford to lose your dignity.

Lose that, and no one will follow you. In a world where strength is law, no one will side with a coward. The moment a powerful leader loses their aura of authority, their subordinates start questioning them — and that's how an empire crumbles.

"Oi, that's kinda heartless of you, don't you think?" Lucky Roo grumbled unhappily at Rosinante's words.

"Haha, don't be so dramatic. If the mighty Dragon King ends up owing me a favor, I'd say I've come out ahead," Shanks said with a grin, raising a hand to quiet Lucky Roo.

"You sure know how to flatter yourself. Fine, I'll owe you one," Rosinante replied with a light chuckle.

"I didn't come to Sabaody looking for trouble. If I can avoid clashing with the Navy, I'd rather not waste my time — what a headache. Ryan, let's go."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Ryan replied, bowing.

But just as Rosinante turned to leave, somewhere at the port of Sabaody Archipelago…

"Buru buru buru…" The ringing of a Den Den Mushi echoed.

Onboard a Navy warship sat a man in a yellow pinstriped suit, Marine coat draped over his shoulders, a perpetually sleazy, lazy look on his face — Vice Admiral Borsalino, one of the three Marine monsters.

"Moshi moshi, this is Borsalino," he said as he lazily picked up the Den Den Mushi.

But the snail didn't stop ringing.

Borsalino blinked at it. "Moshi moshi… strange, isn't it?" he muttered curiously.

"You've got the wrong one, Vice Admiral," a nearby rear admiral said matter-of-factly, clearly used to this routine.

"Ah, so that's it." Borsalino fished around his coat pockets until he produced several more Den Den Mushi, finally finding the right one.

"Moshi moshi, this is Borsalino. Have you located the Red-Hair Pirates and the Flathead Pirates yet?"

"Yes, Vice Admiral! We've found both the Red-Hair Pirates and Bratt the Mad-Dog from the Flathead Pirates in Sector 36! But… something unexpected happened — Dragon King Rosinante has appeared on the scene!" came the panicked voice from the other side.

The bridge of the warship went dead silent. The faces of every officer turned grim.

The lazy smile slipped right off Borsalino's face.

"Until I get there, don't let a single one of them escape," he said flatly, hanging up the call.

"Well, well… looks like a big shot really is on Sabaody. I'll go on ahead — you all follow as fast as you can," he said, standing up.

Before the rear admiral could even answer, Borsalino's body turned into pure light, shooting into the sky and streaking toward Sabaody at blinding speed.

Meanwhile, Rosinante and his group were heading toward where their car was parked, but they were quickly intercepted by a line of marines.

Their orders were clear: no one leaves.

Especially not when Rosinante's group was carrying their primary target — Bratt the Mad-Dog.

Dozens of rifles were raised, barrels pointed directly at Rosinante's group.

But they didn't fire.

"You do know, don't you? The moment you point a gun at me, you're declaring war. Are you ready for a full-scale war?" Rosinante said quietly, his voice cold.

The marines glanced nervously at each other. By now, they all knew exactly who they were standing in front of.

"We have no intention of provoking you," one marine officer finally said. "But Bratt attacked a government ship and assaulted a Marine base. The Fleet Admiral himself has ordered his capture. If you leave Bratt with us, we won't stop you from going."

"You're putting me in a tough spot here," Rosinante said with a slow smile. "You see, I just decided to make him my subordinate."

As he spoke, an overwhelming wave of power radiated from him.

Conqueror's Haki.

It washed over the marines like a crashing tide, and one by one, they collapsed to the ground, unconscious — all except for the officer who had spoken.

"C-C-Conqueror's Haki!" The officer was drenched in cold sweat as he watched his entire unit crumple around him.

"Seems your soldiers already know better than to make things difficult for me — so they've taken a little nap. Now, why don't you just pretend you didn't see anything, and let me take him away, hm?" Rosinante said with a cheerful grin.

"Fweee~ so cool," Shanks whistled, clearly impressed.

The officer was still in shock, too rattled to even form a proper reply.

Rosinante didn't bother waiting. He turned to leave — but suddenly stopped, glancing toward the horizon.

"Seems getting this favor from me won't be as easy as you thought," he said, smiling at Shanks.

"Yeah… looks like it," Shanks replied with a wry smile of his own, though his expression quickly turned serious.

"I didn't expect it to be him," he said, his usual carefree tone now gone.

Even as they spoke, a blazing streak of light tore through the sky, slamming into the ground nearby.

"BOOM!" The impact exploded in a blinding flash, the shockwave shaking the ground.

"Ara~ra~ra~ well, this is unexpected," came a lazy, drawling voice from within the light. "Running into you here on Sabaody, huh? You've gotten pretty famous, you know. I've been missing you these past two years, Dragon King Rosinante."

Borsalino's lecherous, mocking tone drifted out of the smoke and dust.