I'm Not Interested in Devil Fruits

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In the vast emptiness of the large house, a figure slowly stirred awake, staring blankly at the luxurious, cobweb-covered ceiling for a moment before lifting the thin blanket and getting out of bed.

"..."

Barefoot, she stepped onto the yellowing carpet and made her way to the large floor-to-ceiling window, pulling back the curtains to gaze into the distance.

The view still tightened her chest, just as it always did.

...

"Is that the palace? It looks a bit different from here!" Sandersonia exclaimed, noticing Liam's gaze and following it. "This place looks so desolate; I didn't expect the palace to still look so intact!"

Marigold walked alongside her second sister. "The book said that the 'Tyrant' disappeared after destroying his own country on the Sea... I guess even the 'Tyrant' wouldn't destroy the palace, wouldn't destroy their own home!"

A nearby Kuja warrior chuckled, "Didn't the pirates here even visit the palace?"

The group laughed. If pirates had ransacked the palace, they would have stripped away all the beautiful decorations from its walls— every thief knows you don't leave without taking something.

Robin chimed in, "Generally speaking, most pirates, even if they disturb cities on the island, would never attack the royal city's territory, let alone directly violate the palace..."

Liam picked up her thought with a smile, "Because most of the time, as long as they don't directly provoke the royal family in the royal city, pirates can cause a little ruckus in the smaller cities and towns nearby, and the nobles in the palace will just ignore them, right?"

In the manga, Luffy's three brothers frequently interacted with pirates on their home island. The Goa Kingdom, a member of the World Government's Allied Kingdoms and one of the 50 Levely member states, was still regularly visited by pirates.

Liam mused that this was probably because those pirates didn't attack the royal city or disturb the palace. As for the common people outside the palace, the nobles wouldn't care at all. To them, there was little difference between commoners and pirates— they were both seen as lowly peasants.

Hancock asked curiously, "Wasn't it said that the World Government and the Marines protect the Allied Kingdom Members?"

Amazon Lily is also a nation, and if they were willing to pay Heavenly Tribute to the Celestial Dragons, theoretically, they could join the World Government.

Hancock knew she would likely take over as the Kuja Emperor in a few years, so she had started to pay more attention to these matters than before.

However, it was impossible for the Kuja to join the World Government— after all, they didn't even have a single piece of Belly to offer as tribute. They were a martial pirate nation, and their security was defended by their own fists and bows, not by the World Government or Marines.

But not all nations were as powerful as Amazon Lily.

That book also mentioned that when pirates attacked, the Marines from South Blue came to help the Sobert Kingdom. However, they were later destroyed by the "Tyrant" along with the pirates.

Hearing this, Liam gave Hancock a knowing smile. "You don't think that... the World Government and Marines are really protecting the people of the Allied Kingdom Members, do you?"

Hancock, her two sisters, and the other Kuja warriors froze for a moment.

"Let's assume a more extreme situation— if the people of the Allied Kingdom Members rose up and attacked the royal city, aiming to chop off the heads of the nobles," Liam murmured, "Do you think the Marines would side with the people against the nobles in the palace? Or would they stand in front of the palace, turning their guns against the people?"

Robin stood silently. Being well-versed in history, she could easily recall many countries that were almost overturned in a single night. As for where all those "pirates" who nearly overthrew those countries came from… it wasn't hard to guess. It's just that no one would speak the answer out loud.

"The Marine Admirals protect the Celestial Dragons, and the Marines' lower soldiers protect the minor first-grade nobles," Liam laughed. "It's all pretty neat, don't you think?"

Hancock and the others were likely hearing such remarks for the first time. Upon reflection, they thought— how could something so simple never have occurred to them before?

For Liam, though, it was all quite clear. In all of Earth's thousands of years of civilization, the only truly people-centered army was the one that created the world. As for the Marines? What were they even?

The Marines are the World Government's enforcers.

The World Government is the government of the Nobles.

The Sobert Kingdom now has only the palace left. There are probably no nobles living in the palace, and the Marines wouldn't care whether pirates were raiding the island... 

Otherwise, with so many pirates occupying the sea and numerous pirate groups openly available for hire, why haven't we seen the Marines take action to wipe out the pirates one by one through coordinated efforts?

In extreme cases like Yonko Big Mom or the Whitebeard Pirate Group, why haven't they been eliminated?

The obvious answer is that the islands and nations under the influence of these Yonko pirate groups are not members of the World Government's Allied Kingdoms.

If they're not members of the World Government's Allied Kingdoms, then there are no nobles to protect in those places.

And if there are no nobles to protect, why should the Marines care about how these non-Allied Kingdoms are ravaged by pirates like Yonko Big Mom? They can calmly talk about a "balance of power"... But if these non-Allied Kingdoms suffer, who cares? There won't be any nobles calling them to apply pressure through the World Government.

But if the balance of power between the Yonko is disturbed, then there would be many more smaller pirate groups popping up that might infringe on the territories of the World Government's Allied Kingdoms... And then the Marines would have to worry about those pirates.

...

With a flutter, Sandersonia's wings spread, transforming into the phantom beast form of the flying serpent Ouroboros. She intended to soar into the sky and circle above to scout.

Hancock leaped onto her younger sister's back, which was covered in green scales.

"I sense a gathering of people's presence over there... It's probably the pirates' base on this island."

Liam pointed in the distance, cupped his hands at his sides, and called up to Hancock in mid-air, "I'm planning to take care of them now. Do you want to join me?"

His tone was as casual as if he were saying, "I'm going to the market, do you want to come along?"

"Some small-time pirates? I'm not interested." Hancock shot him a glance and lightly patted her younger sister's cool, smooth snake shoulder. "Sonia, let's go check out the palace."

The flying serpent grinned, "Elder sister, I want to go to the palace too!"

With that, the jade-colored Orochi wings flapped, carrying Hancock as they spun into the air.

(End Of The Chapter)