Chapter 12: Our Journey’s Peak is the World’s Summit!

The first day at the mountain hideout passed uneventfully. Sige’s bandits buzzed with restless energy.

“The Boss must have a grand scheme! He’s just waiting for the perfect moment!”

By the sixth day, their fervor had dimmed to embers.

——

“This ends now!”

At dawn, the bald bandit gathered his comrades, revealing three swollen lumps on his scalp. “Don’t you see? Last night, the Boss struck my head three times!”

Blank stares.

“He wants me in his chamber at 3 AM!”

“But… how’s three hits mean 3 o’clock?”

Ignoring the skeptics, the bald zealot pressed on: “I waited outside his door for thirty minutes! Then I heard it—‘The Bandit King title… is mine… Zzzzz…’”

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Silence.

“He was snoring,” a bandit deadpanned.

“Fools!” The bald one’s face flushed crimson. “True masters convey wisdom even in sleep! This is our calling!”

He thrust a fist skyward. “The Boss plans to claim the ultimate throne—not just East Blue, but the world’s Bandit King! Our duty? Pave his path!”

——

Meanwhile, Gilman brooded in his camp, still haunted by his humiliating defeat.

“How… How did I freeze like that? His bounty’s barely higher than mine!”

“Because Sige-sama’s worth transcends berries!”

Gilman jerked upright as the bald bandit materialized with twenty followers. “Join us. Your petty ‘Bandit King’ dream? Child’s play next to his ambition.”

“Ambition?” Gilman snorted. “Even Sige can’t rival the Pirate King!”

The bald zealot’s eyes gleamed. “What if the ‘mountain’ he conquers… is Red Line’s pinnacle?”

Gilman’s mug shattered. “M-Mary Geoise?! The Holy Land?!”

“The only summit worthy of our King!” The bald bandit spread his arms like a prophet. “Imagine—world nobles trembling as we plant our flag atop their sacred peak! The Great Bandit Era will eclipse Roger’s legacy!”

Gilman’s men exchanged terrified glances. Their leader’s hands trembled—not from fear, but dizzying possibility.

——

Back at the hideout, Sige blissfully napped, unaware his “retirement plan” now involved storming the Celestial Dragons’ seat of power. Outside, his men debated supply routes through the Calm Belt.

“We’ll need seastone-coated ships!”

“No—giant eagles to soar over Red Line!”

“Idiots! The Boss will split the continent with a single punch!”