One Piece: Building the Roxas Empire

The next morning, Darius slowly woke up in the soft duvet. His eyes inadvertently fell on the side, and he saw a childish girl sleeping quietly. She should be young. Recalling the banquet last night, Darius remembered that when he returned to the room, the woman was already waiting quietly. He knew that this was carefully arranged by Brother Nan for him.

Looking at the woman next to him, with many red marks on her body, Darius' eyes flashed with pity. He knew very well that this was her first time, but because he drank too much last night, he was a little rough with her.

"Sir, you're awake." At this moment, the woman next to him was also awakened. There was still some fear in her eyes when she looked at Darius, but she had to endure the fear in her heart. After all, she was ordered by Brother Nan to serve Darius well. If she made the sir in front of her unhappy, she would definitely be "dealt with" by Brother Nan.

The woman wanted to get up, but Darius stopped her and said, "Just continue sleeping!" Then Darius got up and put on the clothes next to him.

The woman immediately got up from the bed, completely ignoring her own exposure: "No, sir, the master asked me to serve you. If you don't accept, Brother Nan will definitely not forgive me."

"She won't blame me." Darius said calmly, looking at the girl in front of him and said, "Liuli, this is your name, right?"

"Yes, sir," Liuli said respectfully.

Looking at the red marks on Liuli's body, Darius felt a little guilty and asked, "How old are you?"

"15 years old." Liuli said timidly.

Darius was a little surprised. Although he knew that the other party was not very old, he didn't expect him to be so young!

"I'm going to have breakfast now, do you want to join me?" Darius invited.

"Yes." Liuli put on her clothes immediately after hearing that.

During this time, Darius was a little curious and asked, "By the way, Liuli, why are you here? Where are your parents? Are they also members of the Axe Gang?"

Liuli also showed a sad look when she heard this: "My family is very poor, and my father owed money to the Axe Gang, so..."

Darius listened and continued, "So they sold you to pay off the debt. Why is it always this old-fashioned plot?"

Liuli listened in silence. Darius felt that he had gone too far and said, "Okay, let's go!"

Walking out of the room with Liuli, a uniformed guard stood straight outside, the gun in his hand glowing coldly in the sun. The guards of the manor should not be underestimated, and each guard is equipped with a gun, which is enough to show that Brother Nan attaches great importance to the safety here.

Darius walked towards the restaurant of the manor and saw Chixing already having breakfast there. In addition, there were several Axe Gang cadres whom he had met at the banquet last night. They sat around the table, chatting and laughing. When they saw Darius coming, they greeted him and Darius also exchanged a few words with them.

"Darius, come here, sit here..." Chixing's voice revealed a relaxed and friendly tone, and he waved to Darius. Darius nodded slightly, holding the breakfast in his hand, and walked over calmly, and Liuli followed Darius obediently.

He sat down steadily next to Chixing. Chixing had a playful smile on his face. Looking at Liuli who was sitting next to Darius, he asked in a teasing tone: "Hey, brother, how did you sleep last night?"

Darius put down the cutlery in his hand and replied lightly, "Fortunately, I slept well." There was no emotion in his words, as if he didn't care about Chixing's ridicule. However, Chixing's eyes became complicated at this moment, and his eyes stayed on Darius's face for a moment, as if he was exploring something.

At the banquet last night, Nan had asked Darius about his past, especially which pirate group he had been in. Darius did not hide anything and directly told Nan that he was once a member of the Rocks Pirates. At that moment, the atmosphere in the entire banquet hall froze, and everyone was so shocked by the news that they were speechless.

At this moment, Nan Ge was holding a glass of milk, the sweet smell of milk filled the air, and he walked over with steady steps. He greeted Darius and Chi Xing: "Haha, brother Darius, and Ah Xing, how was your rest last night?"

Darius remained calm and composed, not showing much emotion even when facing the nominal gang leader. He simply responded, "Not bad."

Nan Ge didn't care about Darius's indifferent attitude. Yesterday, after learning that Darius was a member of the Rocks Pirates, Nan Ge knew that the Axe Gang, a small temple, might not be able to accommodate a giant like Darius. Even though Darius was now his nominal younger brother, Nan Ge never dared to truly treat him as his younger brother.

At this moment, Liuli saw Brother Nan coming. She stood up in a panic, lowered her head slightly and said, "Master..."

Nange nodded calmly, and turned his gaze to Darius. He noticed that Darius actually brought Liuli down to eat with him, and he couldn't help but feel satisfied. He said to Liuli gently, "Liuli, from now on, you should concentrate on serving Brother Darius."

Liuli responded respectfully, "Yes, sir." Her voice was full of obedience to the order and respect for Darius.

Brother Nan continued, "Today is the day when the martial arts competition officially begins. Although we cannot go to the preliminaries to watch the competition in person, I am confident in your abilities. I believe that you will be able to pass the preliminaries easily, and I will definitely cheer for you then!"

In the early morning sunshine, Darius and Akahoshi quickly finished their breakfast, and then they headed to the martial arts competition venue together.

When we arrived at the competition venue, it was already full of people, but these people were not spectators, they were all contestants who were going to participate in the preliminaries.

Chixing looked around, his eyes swept over the many contestants, a cynical smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said softly: "It seems that this competition has attracted many masters. Darius, have you heard what the prizes prepared by the Kingdom of Flowers are this time?"

Darius frowned slightly, his curiosity aroused, and asked back, "Oh? Do you know anything?"

Akahoshi approached Darius mysteriously and said in a low voice, "I heard that the prize for this competition is a devil fruit, and it seems that it is not an ordinary devil fruit."

Darius' eyes immediately became hot when he heard the word "devil fruit". Although he was already a superpower, he knew how precious the devil fruit was to pirates. He thought to himself that although he didn't need it now, if he formed a pirate group in the future, this devil fruit would definitely play a huge role.

At this moment, the lights on the stage were focused, and the host's voice was loud, beating the heartstrings of every contestant present like a drumbeat: "Dear distinguished contestants, the preliminaries of the martial arts competition that the Flower Kingdom has been looking forward to every three years are about to kick off! At this moment, the 1089 warriors standing on this stage have solemnly signed a life and death agreement, which means that in the next competition, you will not only fight for honor, but also for survival. Since you have chosen this path, then in this arena, there is only the choice of victory and defeat, life and death."

"The rules of the competition are also very simple: except for the prohibition of using hot weapons, you can freely choose to use any cold weapons, including various weapons that we have carefully prepared for you at the venue. The competition is conducted in a one-on-one format, and each match lasts ten minutes. Within ten minutes, your goal is to knock your opponent off the ring or force the opponent to surrender. If the time runs out and the winner is still not determined, experienced referees will make a fair decision."

"Although we understand that each player has signed a life and death agreement, I still want to emphasize that if we can avoid killing each other during the competition, that is the most ideal result. However, in martial arts competitions, accidents are inevitable. If casualties occur, we will be deeply saddened, but according to the regulations, we will not pursue any legal responsibility. At this moment, I ask for the last time, does anyone want to withdraw from this life and death contest?"

The venue was completely silent, and the contestants' breathing sounds intertwined. Obviously, no one chose to back down.

Seeing this, the host nodded and continued, "Very good, it seems that every warrior has made up his mind to fight for honor and belief. Then, please come to draw lots in order, and we will assign you to your respective competition areas based on the results of the draw. I hope you will show your style in the competition and win glory for yourself, your family, and the Kingdom of Flowers..."