In the castle's open-air plaza, Marquis Bashar, clad in a luxurious silver-gray robe, wore a solemn expression. He tightly gripped his black cane, the veins on his sallow, spotted hands bulging, indicating the immense pressure he was exerting on it.
Around him, several hundred Royal Guard soldiers, torches in hand, controlled key strategic points: the city gates, arrow towers, and passages.
"First Consul, Queen Andali's loyal guards have occupied the treasury and driven our men out!" A general in black armor jogged over, reporting in a deep voice.
"What a forceful woman... But no matter, withdraw the soldiers then!" Marquis Bashar's expression remained unchanged as he said indifferently.
"Understood!" The black-armored general bowed respectfully, then turned and left.
Just then, a young knight in silver plate armor hurried over, his expression conflicted. "First Consul, the nobles in the castle hall are clamoring to see you!"
Marquis Bashar frowned, gently tapping the gray flagstone floor with his black cane. He muttered to himself, "Troublesome lot, but... they do need to be appeased. There are still many of our noble faction members inside!"
At this point, Marquis Bashar paused, his grim gaze softening slightly as he smiled and looked at the young knight before him. "Lead me there. After all, we'll need them to stabilize the kingdom's internal situation later!"
"Please follow me!" The young knight's expression was respectful as he turned to lead the way.
Marquis Bashar leaned on his black cane and walked slowly forward. The dozen or so Royal Guard soldiers behind and around him also followed, all armed with shields and spears, protecting the First Regent in their midst.
Before long, the group arrived at the main hall of the royal castle. However, as soon as Marquis Bashar reached the hall entrance, he heard a clamor of shouts from within.
"Let me see Marquis Mankervis now!"
"I'm also from the noble faction! I want to see Marquis Bashar!"
"Why are you holding me? Not only am I from the noble faction, but my sister is also Marquis Bashar's thirteenth mistress!"
"I'm good friends with Viscount Solmen! I'm also from the noble faction!"
"..."
Listening to the many familiar voices from inside, Marquis Bashar's face darkened. From the hall entrance, he saw many noble faction members arguing loudly, interspersed with some fence-sitters from the neutral and royalist factions.
Due to certain factors, Mankervis and Bashar had only utilized a few trusted confidants and the recently defected but highly reliable Viscount Solmen to maintain the secrecy and suddenness of tonight's coup. Thus, the vast majority of the noble faction had not been informed.
But precisely because of this, the noble faction's coup was highly successful. Especially with the defection of Viscount Solmen and the Royal Palace Guard, along with the cooperation of Queen Andali, the coup was completed with lightning speed, successfully confining most of the nobles and wealthy merchants within Doma City.
They had, however, underestimated the young Marine sent by the Marines, who had, against all odds, rescued Duke Attawa and Countess Shanna, prompting Viscount Solmen and Marquis Mankervis to personally give chase.
But in Marquis Bashar's view, with the entire royal castle in the hands of the noble faction, that Marine had no chance of escaping their inescapable net.
Similarly, on the other side, outside the city, the Roberts Legion, with the cooperation of Mankervis and Bashar's trusted subordinates, successfully opened Doma City's gates, catching the Kingdom's army off guard.
While this coup was successful, it didn't mean that their noble faction had completely seized control of the Bion Kingdom.
As the First Consul of the Bion Kingdom, Marquis Bashar naturally understood one thing: pirates were not to be trusted.
Although the Roberts Legion was an ally of the noble faction, they harbored malicious intentions. If the noble faction, after seizing power in the Bion Kingdom, couldn't stabilize the situation and quickly integrate the nation's forces, they would inevitably suffer a backlash from the pirates.
Fortunately, after the Roberts Legion entered the city, General Hebrass and Prince Lavishur reacted quickly, swiftly mobilizing troops to intercept them within the city. The two sides were now locked in fierce battles at various locations within the city, constantly depleting each other's strength, which secretly delighted Bashar. He wished the two sides would fight as fiercely as possible.
Of course, Marquis Bashar hadn't forgotten that there was another force within the Bion Kingdom: nearly twenty thousand elite Marines, which could be considered a dangerous bombshell. If not handled properly, it could blow up all of them.
Thinking this, Marquis Bashar straightened his luxurious robe slightly, coughed lightly, and stepped inside.
However, upon seeing Marquis Bashar's appearance, the previously noisy castle hall immediately fell silent. Everyone stared intently at him, their eyes filled with a mixture of panic, dissatisfaction, longing, and various other emotions.
"Argue! Why aren't you arguing anymore?"
Marquis Bashar's gaze swept coldly over everyone present. He said coldly, "Tonight, the overall situation is decided! Although there have been some minor setbacks, they will be resolved quickly. So I hope some of you better think clearly about what you should and shouldn't do!"
After a warning, he searched through the crowd for a moment and said, "Count Yorkt, Viscount Dambus, Sir Gidar..." Marquis Bashar called out over a dozen trustworthy noble faction members, asking them to step forward and assist him. As for the rest, they remained confined in the castle hall.
However, Bashar didn't mistreat the others. He merely had those noble faction members whose names weren't called, along with over a hundred Royal Guard soldiers, guard all the royalist and neutral faction members until the kingdom's situation was completely stable before deciding their fate.
On the other side, Cross, hearing Countess Shanna's warning, couldn't help but frown deeply, muttering to himself, "Extreme destructive power... What kind of ability is this? Is it similar to Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit's destructive power, or Kaido's various peculiar abilities similar to the Azure Dragon Fruit?"
"Bitch!"
However, Marquis Mankervis, in his Mushussu form, had fierce eyes and let out an unclear, angry growl from his throat. He suddenly exerted force and closed his mouth, effortlessly biting off several of Scáthach's fingers.
Scáthach was a shadow, so naturally, she wouldn't be harmed by such an attack. Her severed fingers quickly transformed into tiny shadows, reattaching themselves to her hand as if regenerating.
Whoosh—!
But the next second, a golden, spear-like scorpion tail instantly pierced Scáthach's chest.
"It's useless, I'm a shadow!"
Scáthach's expression was impassive. Her body suddenly transformed into countless bats, instantly engulfing Marquis Mankervis. But what happened next made Scáthath realize her miscalculation.
She watched as Marquis Mankervis gracefully walked forward, letting dozens, even hundreds, of shadow bats gnaw and bite at him, yet they couldn't cause him any harm, nor could they even impede his advance.
Seeing this, Cross's eyelids twitched, sensing trouble.
"Life Return: Lion's Mane Hair!!!"
A low roar.
Cross's silver hair grew wildly and elongated, quickly coiling around Viscount Solmen into a massive meat dumpling before the latter could react.
"Nani?!"
Viscount Solmen paled in alarm and instinctively began to struggle. This struggle, while seemingly harmless, directly snapped more than half of the hair Cross had coiled around him.
Immediately, Cross concentrated his energy and suddenly roared, "Shigan: Revolver!!!"
His fist, hardened with Armament Haki, struck Viscount Solmen's abdomen like a heavy hammer. With a dull thud, a visible shockwave spread out, kicking up a fierce, whistling wind pressure. Cross's fist sank into Viscount Solmen's abdomen, and as if trying to rip a large hole in him, he twisted his fist forcefully to maximize damage.
"Ugh—!"
Instantly, Viscount Solmen's eyes rolled back, and he vomited a large mouthful of blood, spinning as he flew backward.
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