The weather is sunny and the sky is clear.
At the Dressrosa harbor, people were busy and bustling, creating a bustling scene. Dressrosa was already a great power in the New World, and the king who once ruled Dressrosa was even one of the 20 people who "created the world."
Before the New Navy arrived, this was already a vast and prestigious kingdom. After the New Navy came to power, it opened up shipping routes to the surrounding waters of Dressrosa, making it the largest and most prosperous commercial environment in the New World.
With its favorable geographical location, safe maritime environment, prosperous business, and favorable people and conditions, Dressrosa has clearly improved its national strength by several levels after years of development.
The original seaside town by the port has now developed into a prosperous city. The roads on the ground are paved with bluestone slabs. Shops are lined up on both sides of the streets, and the shelves are filled with a wide variety of goods.
Some products are produced locally in Dressrosa, and some goods are shipped from other islands thousands of miles away. In Dressrosa, as long as you have money, all the legal goods you can imagine can be bought.
"oh--"
"Mr. Cyrus!"
At one end of the street, a vendor shouted in surprise, and his voice also made the shop owners along the street stick their heads out and look in the direction of the sound.
In the middle of the street, Cyrus was patrolling with a team of navy officers. Cyrus now held several positions. Besides being a high-ranking vice admiral of the New Navy, he was also the crown prince of Dressrosa and the commander-in-chief of the Kingdom Army.
Although Cyrus was born into a peasant family, King Reku III was quite satisfied with his son-in-law. Not only did he marry his daughter to Cyrus, he also handed over some of the kingdom's military and political affairs to Cyrus, and trained Cyrus as his successor.
Although he was in a high position, Cyrus always took time out of his busy schedule to personally lead the team to do basic tasks like patrolling.
Cyrus climbed up step by step from the bottom, and he knew very well where filth was most likely to hide.
Today, Dressrosa's maritime trade is developed, and protecting maritime security, maintaining commercial street security, and combating smuggling have become the main parts of the new navy's daily work.
Any failure in any of these three items could potentially shake the commercial foundation of Dressrosa, and no mistakes are allowed.
If King Riku wants to improve the living standards of his people, he needs a certain level of infrastructure, and infrastructure requires money. Dressrosa's business is directly correlated with national development, so Cyrus will do everything himself.
He must live up to King Riku's trust in him, set a good example for his daughter Rebecca, and let his family live in a safe and prosperous country.
Cyrus enjoyed a high prestige among the people. He led his subordinates through the streets, and shopkeepers and pedestrians greeted Cyrus enthusiastically. These people were calm and composed, without any sign of restraint at all, as if Cyrus was not the crown prince, but their neighbor.
"Good morning!"
“Business is booming.”
Cyrus was not at all arrogant. He smiled and greeted the people passing by. It took him a long time to cross the streets and arrive at the harbor.
When they arrived here, there were obviously fewer people greeting Cyrus. The strongmen all had heavy physical work to do, and they had long been accustomed to Cyrus's presence and were still busy with their own things.
Cyrus stood on the shore, looking at the harbor that was now densely packed with merchant ships, and asked the people around him:
“How many ships have requested port entry today?”
"Have any strange ships appeared? Has anything unusual happened recently?"
As he was speaking, a soldier in armor came to Cyrus with a document in his hand and reported:
"Last night, 174 ships were allowed to enter the port, including 27 unfamiliar ships that had never been recorded."
"According to the records, the origins of these strange ships are all islands in the New World. We have also carefully inspected the cargo on board, and there are no problems."
"Commercial vessels have also started submitting applications to enter the port today. So far, there are 17 of them."
"Here is the relevant ship information."
After the sergeant gave a quick report, he quickly took out a stack of information from the file bag at hand and handed it to Cyrus.
After receiving the information, Cyrus glanced at it casually and handed it back to his subordinate, saying:
"Just continue to inspect and approve these ships according to the procedures."
"I came here today to see the merchant ships that have been approved to enter the port."
Hearing Cyrus' words, several of his soldiers were not surprised. This was also a small habit of Cyrus when inspecting ships. He would randomly select some ships that had passed the inspection and inspect them personally.
Especially those merchant ships that frequently come to the island, these are his main targets. On the contrary, Cyrus will be relatively less strict in investigating unfamiliar ships.
Cyrus was deeply concerned about his troops being corrupted by profit, and he kept a tight rein on this aspect. Six months ago, a responsible individual was caught in an incident where Cyrus discovered a large quantity of restricted weapons on an approved ship. The incident caused a major uproar, resulting in the arrest and prosecution of numerous individuals.
Cyrus was a very methodical person. He was serious and ruthless when working, and his subordinates were in awe of him.
Upon learning that Cyrus was coming to inspect the ships in person, the person in charge of the port also hurried over and followed Cyrus to inspect some ships.
The result of the ship inspection also made the person in charge breathe a sigh of relief. Cyrus did not find anything unusual. After encouraging the other party for a few words, he prepared to leave.
"boom--"
But before the group left the port, a loud noise was heard from the inner harbor.
Intense flames rose from the sea, and a loud roar pierced everyone's ears. Then, waves rose on the sea, and a hurricane swept towards the coast.
"call--"
Amidst the howling wind, several of Cyrus' subordinates bent down with shocked expressions.
Cyrus also narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the sea.
The explosion occurred on a large merchant ship docked in the inner harbor. The life and death of the people on the deck were unknown. In the sight of Cyrus and others, they could see people with their clothes on fire falling into the sea with screams.
The sudden changes at sea also caused people on the shore to stop what they were doing and look towards the sea.
"I'm Zachsitz Bull."
"Quick, go see what's going on!"
"Hello? Did you hear that? Speak back!"
Behind Cyrus, a middle-aged man who looked like an official quickly took out a Den Den Mushi, grabbed the receiver and shouted urgent orders to the person on the other end of the phone, but there was no response for a long time.
Just when the people on the shore were curious about why the ship exploded, the merchant ship engulfed in flames was suddenly pushed away by another ship.
“Bang!!!”
A large ship used its ram to push away the wreckage of the merchant ship and quickly sailed towards the port. Under the gaze of the people, the large ship actually raised its sails, and a pirate flag appeared in the people's field of vision.
"Sea Pirates?!"
"Pirate ship, it's a pirate ship!!!"
The next moment, there was chaos in the port of Dressrosa. The foreign merchants were terrified and did not care about their ships and cargoes, and quickly fled from the port.
On the contrary, the local residents of Dressrosa were calmer. After seeing the pirate ship enter the port, they began to contact the guards stationed at the port.
However, what surprised people was that they were unable to contact the guards stationed in Hong Kong at this time.
"Something's wrong"
On the coast, Cyrus looked at the pirate ship rapidly approaching the coast and was the first to smell something unusual.
Pirate ship. The pirate ship was discovered only after it entered the inner harbor? How could the guards stationed at the harbor be so negligent in their duties?
Looking back at Zaksiz Bull who was anxiously communicating with his subordinates, Cyrus's face darkened slightly and he said in a low voice:
"Stop shouting, I'm afraid no one will answer you."
"Go, sound the alarm, and let the people in the harbor take shelter."
"Gather the troops and prepare to resist the pirates."
"By the way, please ask Colonel Irene stationed in Dressrosa."
Cyrus looked calm as he gave orders to his subordinates around him.
The New Navy's original naval base in Dressrosa had long been taken over by the city defense forces. Now the New Navy only had one liaison station here with only a dozen sailors, led by Captain Irene from the Ten Thousand Nations.
For some unknown reason, the city defense troops that were supposed to guard the port could not be contacted. Cyrus was not sure of the enemy's strength, so he did not dare to take it lightly.
Although he didn't know who was so bold as to attack Dressrosa, Cyrus had a vague feeling that the enemy had some plan, and since the other party dared to target Dressrosa, he thought they had something to rely on.
Upon hearing Cyrus' order, Zaksiz Bull and others left in a hurry and did not stay in the harbor for long.
Cyrus also walked to the shore silently, took off the long sword on his back and held it in his hand.
No matter who the enemy is, as the crown prince of Dressrosa, Cyrus has no intention of leaving.
Gently stroking the sword in his hand, Cyrus gazed into the distance.
On the deck of the pirate ship, Weeble looked at the prosperous town in the distance with excitement. After so many years of sailing, it was the first time that Weeble saw such a prosperous country.
Even someone like Weeble couldn't help but get excited at the thought of living in such a place in the future.
"Hehehe, what a great place! What a great place!"
"No wonder Wang Zhi fell in love with this place, no wonder!"
"Weeble! Charge forward and wipe out all resistance on the island. From now on, this is our territory!!"
"The New Navy, hahahaha, without Tsugikuni Yoriichi, the New Navy will soon be destroyed!"
Above Weeble's head, Bakin excitedly patted her son's shoulder, her eyes filled with anticipation and enthusiasm. A streak of blood still clung to the corner of Bakin's mouth.
The bandages on both of them have been removed, and the burns that almost took the lives of the mother and son have now turned into red scars.
Some have healed, leaving only pink scars, while others have not yet healed and are still dark brown scabs.
Although covered by clothes, the mother and son looked like evil spirits from hell, ugly and terrifying.
"boom!!!"
"boom!!!"
Next to Weevil's hand, there are rows of pitch-black cannonballs. When there is a merchant ship blocking the way in front of the pirate ship, Weevil will pick up a cannonball and throw it directly at the merchant ship blocking the way.
The shells streaked across the sky, emitting a shrill sound, and then landed on the merchant ship and exploded.
In an instant, seven or eight merchant ships docked on the coast were engulfed in flames, and the flames were imprinted on Cyrus' face.
“These guys!”
Cyrus' original intention was to wait for reinforcements to arrive before taking action. He was in awe of the sea and did not act rashly.
But at this time, seeing the other side wantonly destroying merchant ships, the hot-blooded Cyrus could not stand it anymore and could no longer bear it.
Even after so many years, his personality and character have not changed much.
After cursing softly, Cyrus grasped the sword with both hands, leaped up, and rushed towards the pirate ship which was less than 200 meters away from the port using moon steps.
"Mom, what is that?"
Both Weevil and Bakin on the pirate ship noticed the figure rushing towards their ship. Weevil pointed and asked with some confusion.
"Stupid son, it's a human being!"
"It's the enemy!"
Bakin tapped his son's head gently, pointed at Cyrus in the air, and directly encouraged him:
"Son, kill him!"
"No matter who they are, they can't resist you!"
"You are Whitebeard's son, and you are destined to become the Pirate King. Anyone who resists you must be killed."
Bakin always reminded his son how to be a good person. When Weevil heard this, he was directly irritated by words like "Whitebeard's son" and "Pirate King".
With a grin, Weevil grabbed the knife with both hands and swung it directly at the black shadow in the air. A slash shot directly towards Cyrus. The terrifying power even made the ship under his feet vibrate. Layers of waves quickly rolled around from the pirate ship.
"Buzz—"
The low humming sound alerted Cyrus the moment it sounded.
Cyrus, who was walking on the moon steps, suddenly felt his hair stand on end. Without thinking, he retracted his strength and fell directly from the air. The next second after he left his original position, a knife slashed through the air, almost sticking to Cyrus's scalp, and shot towards the sky.
The sword struck the clouds, and as the white clouds rolled, a long cloud mark appeared on the clouds, which looked like a crack in the sky.
"Great Swordsman?!"
Cyrus narrowly avoided the fatal blow, turned his head slightly and quickly glanced at the sky behind him, and exclaimed in surprise.
Everyone who can be called a great swordsman is a truly strong man.
Cyrus himself also uses a sword, but he never calls himself a great swordsman. He thinks his strength is not enough to be called a great swordsman.
However, Cyrus was able to give such a title to the attacker without thinking, which shows how powerful the opponent was. Even a knowledgeable person like Cyrus was afraid of him.
Cyrus, who was falling rapidly, raised his foot and stomped hard in the air, continuing to rush towards the pirate ship, but the calm expression on his face was no longer there.
This was one of the most powerful enemies he had ever faced. Cyrus knew that if he was not careful enough, he might not be able to go back to be with his daughter today.
(End of this chapter)
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