At present, the royal treasury of the entire Tru Kingdom held less than 200 million Beli.
For Nero, that amount of money was only enough to ensure the kingdom’s food supply.
As a result, no matter how much he wanted to increase his strength, he had no intention of touching the treasury’s funds.
After studying the treasure map for a long time, Nero found himself somewhat surprised.
The place names marked on it were clearly within the borders of his own kingdom.
The problem was that since his birth, he had never left the capital, let alone explored the rest of the country.
After sitting in his room and thinking for a while, Nero stood up, picked up Muramasa, and walked outside.
“Have Junhe come see me.
Tell him I have something to ask.”
Nero instructed the maid standing guard outside his room.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Since all the clues pointed toward the treasure map, there was no reason to delay.
After all, it wasn’t as if he had any urgent matters requiring his attention at the moment.
About half an hour later, Junhe arrived.
The moment he entered, he respectfully greeted him.
“Your Majesty, I heard you were looking for me?”
“Yes.”
Nero nodded.
“Do you know of a place called Zhiwu Mountain within our kingdom?”
Junhe thought for a moment before shaking his head.
“I’ve never heard of such a place, Your Majesty.
Why do you ask?”
Without hiding anything, Nero took out the treasure map left behind by the old king and handed it over.
Junhe examined it carefully.
Then his expression became strange.
“Your Majesty, if I’m not mistaken, this location should be near Baterilla, the area closest to the Roya Kingdom within our territory.”
“Is it far from here?”
Nero asked.
“Not particularly.
Our kingdom isn’t that large.”
Junhe replied.
“But it would still take at least a day to reach it.”
Nero nodded.
For some reason, the name Baterilla sounded vaguely familiar.
Yet no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t remember where he had heard it before.
“Come see me tomorrow morning.”
Nero put away the map.
“We’ll head there together.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Despite making these plans, Nero’s daily training never stopped.
The ten-kilometer run, five hundred push-ups, and one thousand frog jumps that had accompanied him for years could now be completed in less than half an hour.
A ten-kilometer run alone would take him no more than two minutes if he used his full strength.
Even so, he never treated the training casually.
Anything related to improving his strength deserved his full effort.
The next morning, before dawn had fully broken, they had already set sail.
This was Nero’s first time leaving the capital since arriving in this world.
Although he appeared calm on the surface, excitement was already stirring within him.
After all, in the world of pirates, countless people dreamed of freedom.
Whether that freedom truly existed was another matter entirely.
Throughout the journey, they sailed along the coastline.
This gave Nero a chance to observe the living conditions of the people throughout the kingdom.
Everywhere he looked, poverty was evident.
The people’s lives were difficult.
That was precisely why he wanted to change the kingdom’s future.
The vessel they were traveling on was one of the pirate ships captured earlier.
It was enormous, capable of carrying three to five hundred people without difficulty.
Most importantly, after replacing the pirate flag, the ship looked far more imposing.
As for its former crew, they were now performing labor throughout the kingdom.
“The sea feels nice.”
Standing at the bow, Nero gazed across the water.
“Once everything here is settled, I’d like to travel the world properly.”
“Your Majesty will definitely achieve that.”
A maid standing behind him smiled.
“We all believe in you.
The future of the kingdom is in your hands.”
Nero turned and smiled at her.
“I appreciate the confidence, but the kingdom’s future belongs to all of us.
If everything depended on me alone, I wouldn’t accomplish much.”
“Even so, Lingna feels honored to serve at Your Majesty’s side.”
“I only hope things turn out as we imagine.”
Nero looked back toward the horizon.
“If they do, we won’t have to worry so much about the future.”
This time, about fifty people accompanied him.
Everyone had their own assigned duties.
Nero had no intention of making the trip overly conspicuous.
Keeping a low profile was enough.
Unfortunately, things rarely went exactly as planned.
Even in the relatively peaceful South Blue, unexpected events still occurred.
Before they had even reached the halfway point of their journey, a Marine warship appeared ahead.
The seagull insignia flew prominently above its mast.
Even from a great distance, it was impossible to miss.
What truly caught Nero’s attention, however, wasn’t the flag.
It was the shape of the warship itself.
The familiar dog-head figurehead instantly gave away its owner.
“Your Majesty, there’s a Marine warship ahead.
What should we do?”
Junhe hurried over and asked.
“Nothing.”
Nero answered calmly.
“Just remember one thing.
No matter what happens, none of you are allowed to reveal your abilities.”
Junhe frowned slightly.
He had wanted to ask about that for years.
Despite training them personally, Nero had never explained why.
Nero kept his eyes fixed on the warship roughly a kilometer away.
The dog-head prow left no room for doubt.
“I didn’t expect it to be Garp.”
He muttered quietly.
“To meet the Navy’s Iron Fist Vice Admiral in South Blue is quite surprising.”
He had no desire to clash with the man.
In fact, he didn’t even want to meet him.
There was no way of knowing what might happen.
Nor did he know why Garp had come to South Blue in the first place.
As the two ships approached one another, Nero ordered their vessel to gradually change course.
The massive ship slowly veered aside.
The two vessels narrowly passed each other.
Everyone was beginning to relax when a figure suddenly appeared aboard Nero’s ship.
A middle-aged man wearing a Marine coat emblazoned with the word Justice stood casually on the deck.
His muscular build and square face made him instantly recognizable.
There was no doubt.
It was Vice Admiral Garp.
“Wahahaha!”
Garp burst into laughter.
“So this isn’t a pirate ship after all.
I almost smashed it apart with one punch earlier.
Good thing I didn’t!”
Nero was speechless.
Still, he stepped forward and greeted him politely.
“Vice Admiral Garp, I never expected to meet the famous Iron Fist here in South Blue.
It’s truly an honor.”
Garp looked at him curiously.
“Oh?
You know who I am?”
“Of course.”
Nero smiled.
“You may not know me, but I’m Nero, King of the Tru Kingdom.
When I was young, my father often spoke about you.
I never imagined I’d meet you in person.”
At first, Junhe and the others had become extremely vigilant.
After hearing the conversation, however, they gradually relaxed.
Garp’s curiosity only deepened.
“A king at such a young age?”
He laughed.
“Looks like you’re carrying quite a burden.
Your kingdom isn’t doing very well these days, is it?”
“Thank you for your concern, Vice Admiral.”
Nero remained composed.
“I believe the Tru Kingdom will improve in the years to come.”
“Wahaha!
Garp grinned.
“How about joining the Marines and working under me?”
Nero nearly rolled his eyes.
The man was openly trying to recruit him.
“Vice Admiral Garp, if I weren’t the King of the Tru Kingdom, I’d gladly consider it.”
He smiled.
“But as you can see, there are many people depending on me.
I can’t abandon them.”
“Well… that’s true.”
Garp nodded.
“Your kingdom really is poor.
Still, if you ever get tired of being king, come find me in the Marines.
I’ll make sure there’s a good position waiting for you.”
“Thank you, Vice Admiral.
If the opportunity arises someday, I’ll certainly consider it.”
Garp laughed loudly.
“Where are you headed?
If we’re going the same way, I can protect you for a while.”
Before Nero could answer, Junhe stepped forward.
“Thank you for your concern, Vice Admiral.
His Majesty is simply touring the kingdom to inspect conditions and determine how best to address local issues.”
For a brief moment, Garp’s gaze sharpened.
His eyes locked onto Junhe.
The pressure lasted only an instant before disappearing.
His cheerful smile returned.
After observing everyone aboard for a while, he said,
“In that case, I’ll be leaving.
I have a feeling we’ll meet again someday.”
The others still couldn’t understand why Garp had come aboard in the first place.
Had he really crossed over just to exchange a few words?
Then, before anyone could react, Garp stepped into the air.
Using Moonwalk, he sprinted through the sky toward his warship.
Only then did Junhe finally understand why Nero had forbidden them from revealing their abilities.
If his guess was correct, everything they had learned originated from the Marines.
Back aboard the warship, Garp sat down in a chair.
Immediately, an impatient voice sounded behind him.
“Garp, next time you’re going somewhere, can you at least tell me beforehand?”
The speaker was Tsuru.
“Don’t be so tense.”
Garp laughed.
“I just went over to take a look.”
“Did you discover something?”
Tsuru asked seriously.
Judging from Garp’s expression, the other ship clearly wasn’t as simple as it appeared.
Garp nodded.
“The people aboard that ship aren’t ordinary.
I didn’t expect a small kingdom like Tru to possess that kind of combat power.”
Tsuru frowned.
“What do you mean?
Are they Devil Fruit users?”
“No.”
Garp shook his head.
“I simply noticed that their physical training is exceptionally advanced.
Comparable to the best soldiers in the Marines.”
Tsuru immediately lost interest.
“So that’s all?
Anyone can achieve that with proper training.
What’s so surprising about it?”
“You wouldn’t understand even if I explained it.”
Garp smiled.
“Still, that kid is interesting.
I think we’ll meet again someday.”
After saying that, he stopped discussing the matter.
To an outsider, Tsuru’s argument made perfect sense.
With sufficient training, many people could reach a high level of physical ability.
Yet Garp wasn’t entirely convinced.
That was precisely why he had personally gone aboard the ship to investigate.
The result had largely confirmed his suspicions.
Still, he had no intention of looking into it further.
As long as they weren’t pirates, a country’s military strength wasn’t the Marines’ concern.
After all, Garp understood better than most that without powerful fighters, a nation stood little chance against the countless pirates roaming the seas.