The Hogyoku Wielder Who Just Wants to be a Seven Warlord

Chapter 1: The New World Is The Four Emperors’ New World
Grand Line, New World.
Bikahi Island.
This is the largest of the twenty-seven islands under the Eckmond Kingdom, and also the island where the kingdom capital Arabica is located.
Eckmond Kingdom, known as the “Kingdom of Coffee,” can satisfy one-tenth of the Grand Line’s market demand just with the coffee beans produced from Bikahi Island alone, and the coffee beans produced from all twenty-seven islands nationwide occupy nearly a quarter of the Grand Line’s market.
The kingdom’s capital, Arabica, is even renowned as the Coffee City.
On the hill directly north of this Coffee City, the royal palace built of white marble remains brightly lit in the night, illuminating the entire hill as bright as daylight, shining in harmony with the bright moon in the sky.
Contrary to the citizens’ guesses that the royal family is enjoying a life of lavish feasts, wine, and revelry, the entire royal palace is now immersed in a chillingly oppressive atmosphere.
The maids shrink to the sides of the corridor like quails, scared to even breathe, for fear of disturbing His Majesty the King who is in a rage in the study.
Until,
“Da da da—” light yet steady footsteps came from the other end of the corridor.
That oppressive, heavy atmosphere suddenly showed signs of loosening.
His Highness Elus.
Seeing the man striding over, the head maid quickly went up to greet him.
His black short hair was neatly styled, his emerald green eyes as clear as top-grade jade, his handsome features without a single flaw, and at 205 centimeters tall, he wasn’t a giant in this world, just not short.
Sokachio Elus.
He is the first crown prince of the Eckmond Kingdom, vice commander of the Imperial Guard, and vice minister of foreign affairs of the kingdom.
Seeing the Crown Prince appear, the terrified maids in the corridor all breathed a collective sigh of relief; as the most soft-hearted member of the Sokachio Family, Elus has always been regarded by the servants in the royal palace as a lifesaving elixir.
In this royal palace, there are naturally more than one person who can soothe the king’s anger, but whether it is the queen, the ministers, or even the second prince who is only seven years old, and the little princess who is not yet six, none of them care much about the lives of the servants—or rather, if using the servants’ heads could quell the king’s anger, it would probably be a good thing.
Everything fears comparison; with enough contrasts, Elus naturally became the savior in the eyes of the servants.
“Gloria, didn’t I tell you? When Father is angry, stay far away and go find Mother or the ministers.”
Elus slowed his steps, glanced at the head maid who was bowing, the fresh bruise on her forehead clearly from being hit by a hard object, no more than an hour old.
“Leaving your post without permission is not allowed.”
Head Maid Gloria remained stubborn as ever, rigidly adhering to the maid code that was said to be passed down through generations within the Sokachio royal family; whether it was truly passed down generation after generation, Elus didn’t know, but that yellowed paper maid code definitely had over two hundred years of history and could be considered an antique.
“Go find the doctor and get some medicine! That’s an order.”
As he spoke, Elus quickened his pace again and pushed open the tightly closed door of the study.
As soon as the door opened,
Thick white smoke like clouds surged out.
“Smoking too much is bad for the body; you’re not a Smoke Fruit ability user, so don’t waste your lungs like that.” All the windows of the study were opened, cold sea wind poured into the room, quickly dispersing the pervasive smoke.
“El, you’re back.”
The man sitting behind the desk coughed twice, snuffed out the half-smoked cigar, looked at Elus standing by the window, a smile appeared on his face which was seventy to eighty percent similar to Elus’s, the previously surging cold killing intent suppressed back into the depths of his eyes, leaving only genuine pleasure in his emerald green eyes.
As the sixth king of the Eckmond Kingdom, Sokachio Berville’s greatest pride in this life is having a son far superior to himself by a hundredfold.
“Any changes with the Whitebeard Pirates?”
“Second Division Commander ‘Blue Horn’ Gyo is probably about to die, terminal illness, beyond hope, also, Whitebeard’s body isn’t doing well, First Division Commander ‘Immortal Bird’ Marco isn’t on the Moby Dick, heard he went to find medicinal herbs, now handling things are Third Division Commander ‘Diamond’ Jozu and Fifth Division Commander ‘Rapier’ Vista…”
This time Elus went out to the Whitebeard Pirates to pay the protection fee for borrowing their flag.
As a nation that has stood firm in the New World for two hundred years, the Eckmond Kingdom naturally has corresponding strength.
However,
In the current New World, there is a widely circulated saying: “The New World is the Four Emperors’ New World,” no one knows where it originated, but in a very short time, this phrase gained heartfelt agreement from all the powerful figures in the New World.
That’s right!
The so-called New World is the Four Emperors’ New World.
To continue surviving in the New World, without the banner of a Four Emperor, it’s impossible; the Eckmond Kingdom isn’t afraid of invasions by great pirates with bounties over 100 million, the kingdom’s army is sufficient to sweep away these arrogant pirates, however, this doesn’t include the Four Emperors.
Facing the Four Emperors who rule the New World, the Eckmond Kingdom has no choice but to lower its proud head and choose to ally with one of them.
Only by becoming the vassal of one emperor can it greatly reduce the possibility of attacks from the other emperors; after all, in this New World, only the Four Emperors can check the Four Emperors, even this colossal Navy cannot contend with the Four Emperors in the New World today.
Four Pirate Emperors.
Whitebeard, Beasts, Red-Haired, BIG·MOM.
The first to be ruled out is BIG·MOM—Charlotte Linlin; as the only female Pirate Emperor, she gave birth to an entire pirate crew by herself, she only trusts her original partners and children, other external vassals have no status whatsoever, and if BIG·MOM takes a liking to someone and makes them her husband, wouldn’t that be fatal?
Next is Beasts—Kaido; this talent-loving, strong-person-recruiting suicide maniac obsessed with building an army of pure Zoan Devil Fruit ability users is actually not a bad choice, as long as you’re strong enough, you can gain corresponding status in the Beasts Pirates.
Unfortunately, when the Eckmond Kingdom began seeking a protector, Kaido was still in Wano Country doing who knows what, not yet ascended to the Pirate Emperor throne; at that time, the New World had only two Pirate Emperors, Whitebeard and BIG·MOM, as for Red-Haired, his rise was even later, no chance to choose even if wanted.
The final choice goes without saying,
The Whitebeard Pirates’ flag flies high at the port, declaring to the outside world that the Eckmond Kingdom nominally belongs to Whitebeard’s territory.
“Whitebeard is getting old too!”
Berville sighed softly; he is forty-three this year, in his prime, he personally witnessed and heard how the “more terrifying than a demon” Whitebeard step by step carved a path through the New World bloodbath grinder, the first to ascend to the Pirate Emperor throne, like a towering mountain pressing down on everyone’s heads.
Yet, even such a formidable figure ultimately cannot withstand the erosion of time…
“What’s the deal with the Amento Kingdom’s declaration of war? Have the Neubri family gone mad?” Elus dragged a swivel chair to the desk, sat down, and unceremoniously flipped through the scattered documents and letters on the table.
Amento Kingdom is a neighboring country to the Eckmond Kingdom and also one of the forces under the protection of the Whitebeard Pirates’ flag; the Neubri family is the royal family of Amento Kingdom. Although there has always been friction between the two countries, it hasn’t reached the point of direct war.
But the Amento Kingdom did just that, unilaterally declaring war and brazenly firing on the Eckmond Kingdom, igniting war between the two nations.
Elus, who was originally returning unhurriedly, had to speed up and rush back hastily.
“It’s Umit; he’s set his sights on our family’s coffee plantation.”
Berville stated bluntly.
“Umit… Deep Sea Torrent, King of Maritime Transport?” Elus looked down at the document in his hand; this was the Amento Kingdom’s declaration of war, with wording extremely resolute, leaving no room for negotiation or ceasefire, fully expressing an all-or-nothing attitude. “From the looks of it, the Neubri family has probably all been controlled by Umit?”
“More than a month ago, we lost contact with the spy we planted in the Neubri family; before that, the Neubri family recruited a batch of pirates willing to pledge allegiance, the problem likely lies with that group of pirates.” Berville licked his lips, killing intent surging again in his emerald green eyes.
Recruiting pirates is not uncommon in the New World.
The New World is the endpoint of the Grand Line, the destination all pirates rush toward, and also a massive grave for countless pirates; this sea area teeming with strong persons can be called the nightmare of those naive dreaming pirates, countless spirited pirate rookies crash and bleed in the New World, their unrealistic fantasies crushed by this cruel reality.
Even many pirates grow weary of this life adrift at sea, but burdened with high bounties, they can’t return to their hometowns and can only find ways to scrape by in this chaotic New World, thus, pledging to local powers is the best choice.
As for why not choose the Four Emperors but instead second-rate or weaker powers.
The reasons are complex: some due to the insistence of being a chicken head rather than a phoenix tail, some simply can’t get close to the Four Emperors, others for repaying kindness… and so on.
This time, the Neubri family unfortunately fell victim to the King of Maritime Transport Umit’s scheme.
“The protection fee to the Whitebeard Pirates is indeed worth it.”
Elus tossed the declaration back onto the desk and said thoughtfully.
“The New World is the Four Emperors’ New World… this isn’t empty talk; even the magnates of the underworld must lower their big heads before the Four Emperors.” Berville imparted his life insights to his eldest son.
“Back then, the old man made me go to the Whitebeard Pirates to spend money buying their flag; at that time, there were no Four Emperors yet, only two emperors, Whitebeard and BIG·MOM, Beasts was still in Wano Country… I had just ascended the throne not long, young and vigorous, not very willing, so the old man came back from the Red Line and hung me up for a good beating.”
The old man refers to Elus’s grandfather, the former king of the Eckmond Kingdom; this retired His Majesty the King is still hale and hearty, serving as a high official at the World Government headquarters on the Red Line, living quite leisurely, and not long ago found Berville a stepmother said to be under twenty.
This matter…
Just thinking about it is upsetting; good thing he’s on the Red Line—if he came back to Arabica, who knows what to do; in any case, Elus absolutely couldn’t call a woman younger than himself grandmother.
Berville seemed to recall this vexing matter too, his expression worsening a bit as he quickly ended the topic, “Anyway, remember this: spending money to buy the Whitebeard Pirates’ flag is absolutely not a loss; as long as Whitebeard doesn’t fall, no matter how much it costs, keep flying that flag.”
Umit, as an underworld magnate known as the King of Maritime Transport, has set his sights on the Eckmond Kingdom’s foundation, yet instead of directly warring with the Eckmond Kingdom, he circuitously uses the Amento Kingdom to take the lead; the reason for such elaborate effort is that Whitebeard pirate flag.
Umit doesn’t dare directly attack the Eckmond Kingdom.
Because that would be a provocation to the Whitebeard Pirates.
The consequences would absolutely be something Umit cannot bear; even with his vast connections, powerful network and influence in the New World, and being a guest at one of the Four Emperors, BIG·MOM’s table, all of it together still can’t resist the pressure from the “world’s strongest man.”
Fortunately, difficulties are static, methods are dynamic; as long as your thinking doesn’t slip, there will always be more solutions than difficulties.
After the King of Maritime Transport’s careful scheming, the Amento Kingdom, also under Whitebeard’s flag protection, has declared war on the Eckmond Kingdom!
This is internal strife among Whitebeard’s vassal forces; as long as there’s no clear evidence of third-party manipulation, the Whitebeard Pirates won’t interfere in such struggles—regardless of who wins or loses, the protection fee must still be paid.
Even if Umit successfully seizes the Eckmond Kingdom, he absolutely won’t reduce the protection fee to the Whitebeard Pirates; he might even proactively increase it.
“Cough cough, back to the main matter.”
Berville cleared his throat and continued: “Umit has set his sights on our family’s coffee plantation this time, and dares to control the Amento Kingdom at the risk of offending the Whitebeard Pirates, so there must be a tough battle ahead, El!”
Berville looked at his eldest son, whom he was so proud of.
“Step down from the vice minister of foreign affairs position! Go be the vice Navy minister; this war will be hosted by you.”