"Alright, let's talk! What's on your mind?"
Kong Tai leaned back in his chair and looked at Bada.
Bada, carrying his wine flask, returned to his original seat and sat down.
He first uncorked the flask.
Gulp, gulp, glug!
"Cough, cough, cough!"
"Hahahaha! It's been a long time since I've drunk like this. Sorry about that, boss."
Bada, his face flushed, put down the flask and chuckled at Kong Tai.
"It's nothing much, really. I was wondering if you could lend us your pirate flag after I rescue our citizens."
"You want our protection?"
Kong Tai raised his flask and took a drink.
"But our reputation isn't enough to shield a kingdom!"
"I believe in you. I believe in you."
Bada stared at Kong Tai with a serious expression. "I believe you'll become the top pirate crew in the world."
"Oh..."
Kong Tai looked at Bada, a smile playing on his lips.
Being affirmed was inherently a pleasant feeling.
He didn't know that Bada's Observation Haki had sensed Kong Tai's aura of invincibility.
This aura was so powerful that if someone like him couldn't succeed, no one could.
"Hahahaha!"
"I thought it was something more serious!"
Gulp!
Kong Tai put down his flask and looked at Bada, speaking earnestly. "Alright, I can agree to that!"
"Phew~"
Just as Bada let out a sigh of relief and relaxed,
Kong Tai spoke again.
"However..."
Bada quickly looked up and asked, "However what?"
"I can accept any conditions. Even if the Bass Kingdom has little left to offer you, please believe that Bass's future..."
"It's not about conditions!"
Kong Tai patted the wine flask. "The reward... didn't you already give it to me?"
"Hahahaha!"
Kong Tai laughed heartily, resting his head on his hands on the table and leaning forward, staring at Bada.
"What I mean is, the future of the Bass Kingdom can only be in your hands!"
"Me?"
Bada blinked in surprise and looked down at his chest. "But me! I can barely suppress the bullet in my chest anymore!"
"After I rescue our citizens, it will likely be my time to die."
"I'm not afraid of death itself, but I'm afraid that after I'm gone, there will be no strong protector for our citizens..."
"I said the future of the Bass Kingdom has you, and it will have you."
Kong Tai looked at Bada and chuckled lightly. "Isn't it just a bullet?"
"While this might be insurmountable for most people in this world, for me, it's child's play."
Kong Tai waved his hand dismissively, in a very Versailles manner.
"What?"
Hearing Kong Tai's words, Bada's head shot up, his eyes wide with excitement as he stared at Kong Tai.
"Boss, you... you mean you can help me remove the bullet."
He finished speaking, looking at Kong Tai with anticipation.
Although he had prepared himself for death, who wouldn't want to live?
He still wanted to personally rebuild Bass, personally watch these children grow up, and personally accompany Liya!
"Mhm!"
Kong Tai didn't keep Bada waiting, nodding with certainty.
"Hahahaha!"
Upon seeing Kong Tai's nod, Bada could no longer contain himself and burst into laughter.
As he laughed, he began to cry, like a child.
No one knew how much he had longed to personally end the lives of the pirates on Bass Island over the years.
No one knew how much he had longed to bring back the citizens of Bass.
Even fewer knew how he had endured countless nights.
He endured humiliation, he acted cowardly, he was extremely afraid of death, and he had knelt more than once.
All for a bite of food, enough to sustain the hundreds of frail children and the hundreds of elders in this endless dark cave.
"Ah..."
As he cried, he raised his wine flask and drank deeply.
He drank not just wine, but tears, and the helplessness of a king for Bass.
Kong Tai watched Bada quietly and smiled.
This man... ever since he first met him, he had a sense of death clinging to him.
Like a person with a terminal illness.
On the surface, he seemed fine, but inwardly, he was already decaying.
To make this man shine again, not only must his expectation of death be broken,
Kong Tai leaned back and looked at the lights on the ceiling.
"We also need to break the shackles of the Celestial Dragons and the World Government!"
This world, for most people, was just like this.
Neither glamorous nor fun, but filled with cruelty.
He hadn't expected that their first island in the Grand Line would be such a tragic nation.
From what was known.
The Celestial Dragons had taken a liking to Bada's daughter, "Bass Liya," and abducted her.
And Bada's wife, while trying to stop them, was killed by one of the Celestial Dragon's subordinates.
When Bada received the news, the Celestial Dragon had already departed.
He had no choice but to temporarily abandon his wife's funeral and set out to pursue the Celestial Dragon.
Although he eventually caught up and rescued his daughter, but...
But his daughter had already been branded with the slave mark of a Celestial Dragon.
Yet, for Bada, this pain was only the beginning.
What plunged him into despair was that when he returned to Bass with his scarred daughter, Bass had already been breached by the Marines and the World Government. The entire kingdom was engulfed in flames and ruins.
Bada had no time for grief; he could only join the battle. Unfortunately, he was no match for them, was defeated by the World Government's spy organization CPO, and sustained a fatal wound that threatened his life.
Watching the flames engulf Bass,
Severely wounded, Bada had to use his ability to make himself disappear, so that the enemy couldn't find him.
From then on, the Bass Kingdom was destroyed, and Bass Bada vanished from people's memories forever, as if he had never existed.
Kong Tai turned to look at the children laughing and playing in the distance, his heavy heart recovering.
The world was like this.
Where there is light, there is darkness.
And darkness, often, is not meant to be seen.
To protect these weak people, they must all live in the spotlight.
The World Government, after all, had a reputation to uphold.
He had already figured out how to help this nation.
With his mood improved, Kong Tai grabbed the wine flask on the table and drank it down.
Bang!
Kong Tai put down the flask and looked at Bada, chuckling, "Alright, alright, stop crying. You're a grown man, don't be ashamed."
To save the Bass Kingdom, he had to first save the admirable King of Bass before him.
"I'm not crying!"
Bada wiped his tears and stubbornly retorted, "It's just that some sand got into my eyes."
"Hahahaha! Yes, yes, you're not crying, not crying."
"Hahahaha..."
"Mhm!"
"We all know, this underground space is full of flying sand!"
Ah Hua pushed up his glasses, his face flushed as he stared at Bada with utmost seriousness. "Look, even I'm tearing up."
"Hahahaha!"
As he spoke, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Their laughter, like a gust of wind, swept through the entire underground space, filling it with joy.
Everyone erupted into laughter.
These people, who had never given up hope even in the abyss of despair, deserved to laugh joyfully, not to grieve.