Upon receiving Arthur's orders, Stanley moved immediately.
Although he was shocked that Arthur had openly declared war on the Kingdom of Luss, he did not question the command.
Instead, he carried out every order with lightning speed.
Stanley understood very well—
What Arthur needed was not a commander who constantly questioned his decisions, but a loyal subordinate capable of executing his will without hesitation.
Soon, the call for recruitment spread across the kingdom.
Preparations for war began at full speed.
At the same time, a shocking piece of news spread rapidly from the Kingdom of Zephir.
Luss Kingdom
"What did you just say?!"
Inside the royal hall of the Kingdom of Luss, King Steve Gall sat upon his throne with wide eyes.
His expression was a mixture of anger and amusement.
"You're telling me the King of Zephir has announced that in three days he will launch an attack on us and demands that we surrender immediately—or face severe consequences?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," the intelligence officer replied respectfully.
"Our intelligence department intercepted and verified the information. The message indeed originated from the Kingdom of Zephir."
Even as he spoke, a trace of mockery appeared on his face.
"Hahahaha!!"
King Gall burst into laughter.
The nobles and ministers below the throne also began laughing and whispering among themselves.
To them, Zephir was nothing more than a small country that had simply been lucky.
If the mysterious force that destroyed the Gambino Family had not appeared, Zephir might have already been wiped out.
And now—
This small nation dared to declare war on them and demand their surrender?
Ridiculous.
Utterly ridiculous.
"Sigh… youth truly is reckless," the Prime Minister muttered while shaking his head.
"It seems the young king actually believes that he was the one who destroyed the Gambino Family."
By now, Arthur's ascension to the throne was no longer a secret.
Nearly every force in the West Blue already knew about it.
At that moment, a tall and muscular Legion commander stepped forward with a cold smile.
"Your Majesty, since Zephir is foolish enough to declare war on us, why wait three days?"
"I can lead the fleet immediately and wipe them out."
Gall waved his hand dismissively.
"No need."
"As far as I know, the Kingdom of Zephir has barely five thousand soldiers in total."
"If they want a war, we'll simply wait for them to come."
"A dying nation isn't worth sending our fleet on a long voyage."
"When they arrive, we can eliminate them easily."
Then Gall's expression suddenly turned serious.
"However, there is one matter we must not ignore."
He looked toward the commander.
"That mysterious force that destroyed the Gambino Family has still not been identified."
"To wipe out the Gambino Family without anyone noticing…"
"Their strength must be extraordinary."
"We must remain cautious."
"Have the army closely monitor the movements of all nearby powers."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Across the West Blue
When news spread that Zephir had declared war on Luss, many forces were stunned.
Then they burst into laughter.
No one believed Zephir could defeat Luss.
In fact, most believed that Luss could destroy Zephir effortlessly.
The two nations were simply not on the same level.
When Luss displayed complete indifference toward the declaration, the surrounding countries adopted a spectator's attitude.
They weren't interested in how intense the war would be.
They only wanted to see how badly Zephir would lose.
Within Zephir Kingdom
Inside the kingdom itself, many citizens were initially shocked by Arthur's declaration of war.
But when news of Luss's contemptuous attitude reached them—
Anger spread throughout the country.
Especially among the younger generation.
Young men flooded the recruitment stations, their faces filled with fury.
They swore to make the Kingdom of Luss pay for its arrogance.
Meanwhile, while anger and heated discussions filled the streets—
Inside the royal palace, Arthur simply smiled.
He had seen this situation before.
When the Gambino Family threatened Zephir, everyone believed the kingdom would lose.
But what was the result?
The Gambino Family had been annihilated.
Now history seemed to be repeating itself.
No one believed Zephir could defeat Luss.
But the final outcome…
"...Heh."
Inside the training room, Arthur continued his intense physical training.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
His lavender Rinnegan flickered slightly.
Amid the mocking atmosphere spreading across the entire West Blue—
Three days passed quietly.
Three Days Later
A gentle sea breeze carried the salty scent of the ocean, dispersing the oppressive heat of the day.
In the waters of the Kingdom of Luss, three warships were conducting their routine patrol.
On the main deck, the soldiers stood straight and disciplined like statues.
The fleet commander Beleman walked out of the cabin, yawning lazily.
He glanced at the calm sea and frowned slightly.
"Today is already the third day…"
"Why haven't the people from Zephir appeared yet?"
"Did they lose their nerve?"
Beleman muttered impatiently.
As a senior captain within the royal navy, he found this mission extremely dull.
Lead the fleet and destroy Zephir's navy.
"That mission is laughable."
"With those broken ships Zephir calls a fleet, one volley from our cannons would send them all to the bottom of the sea."
He turned around, preparing to return to the cabin and report the situation.
In his mind, the Zephir fleet must have been too afraid to appear.
After all—
Given the enormous military disparity between the two nations—
Only a madman would choose to walk into certain death.
However—
Just as he was about to enter the cabin—
A sudden shout erupted from the lookout tower atop the mast.
"Alert! All units on guard!"
"There's unusual movement at eleven o'clock!"
"Wait… what is that?!"
"My god…!"
"They're people!"
"Humans running across the sea!!!"
The lookout's shout instantly stirred the three warships into chaos.
Every soldier turned toward the eleven o'clock direction.
From this distance, all they could see on the horizon—
Were countless tiny black dots moving across the ocean.
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