Chapter 40: Then Let's Go Rob!
Marika was the Royal Chef of the Deep Forest Kingdom, possessing the power to transform simple ingredients into ultimate delicacies.
If she wanted wealth and nobility, of course, she should stay in the Deep Forest Kingdom. Taxes wouldn't hinder her. In fact, with her skills, the king wouldn't even ask her for taxes.
But she still came here.
The people driven to Shallow Sand Kingdom also had to pay money. Besides the rent, they had nothing when they arrived. They weren't even allowed to bring tools.
If they wanted to survive in this place, how could they not need tools? But this place was too barren, with nothing but sand.
But if they wanted to use tools, they had to pay money, to rent from the Deep Forest Kingdom...
Yes, not buy, still rent.
And the rent of Shallow Sand Kingdom itself was a kind of protection fee. This part of the money was paid by their families in the kingdom, which was less than taxes, but overall it was still not a small amount.
If they used other things, then the amount of money would be too high. So the people here would use sand to build homes. Without tools, they would use the natural stones and shells here as tools.
Not taking anything from the Deep Forest Kingdom, barely maintaining their lives.
But in such a barren place, even eating was a problem. Not everyone could find ingredients from this, and not everyone had the ability to make such crude ingredients delicious.
Before Marika came, the people here couldn't even survive until they were sent to Bridge-Top Kingdom. Many people starved to death.
Even if they wanted to go, the Deep Forest Kingdom wouldn't allow it, because if people were here, they could still receive a sum of rent...
This part of the money, even if people died, they still had to get it!
After Marika came, the situation here improved. At least people could start to eat their fill.
"No matter how harsh the conditions, people have the right to eat well and be full. I always believe this. If people can't even eat their fill because of taxes... such a world is too pathetic."
She looked at the people under the storm, her words were plain, but they carried an extremely firm will. "Everyone has the right to eat their fill. What I do is to let people eat their fill!"
She couldn't change the kingdom's decisions, but she could do her best, in a small way, to let the people here have a full meal before their final fate arrived.
"So, thank you very much for your invitation, but I..."
"Let's go! Marika-sama!"
Before she could finish speaking, the others interrupted her. A woman said, "Marika-sama, we have no way, but you are not. You can leave!"
"Marika-sama, we are destined to go to Bridge-Top Kingdom. You have dragged it out for two years here, it's enough. If you continue like this, you will also go there. No one who has gone to Bridge-Top Kingdom... has ever returned."
"Marika-sama, go to sea! We are already like this, we can't drag you down anymore. In these two years, we have barely survived because of you, and we have eaten a lot of delicious food that we couldn't eat. It's already enough."
A group of people spoke one after another. Whether it was a woman holding a child or a thin old man, although there was reluctance in their expressions, they could see a firm determination.
An old man stepped forward and said firmly, "It's enough, Marika-sama. We are ultimately unable to escape the fate of going to Bridge-Top Kingdom. In that case..."
"In that case, let's go rob the king."
A voice interrupted his words. Everyone looked over and saw Sag stroking his chin, looking at the jungle outside the beach. "He's collecting so many taxes in various ways, he must be very rich... worth robbing."
"Captain, no, the kingdom has a lot of soldiers. We don't even have tools..."
The old man looked at the fallen soldiers on the ground, thought for a moment, and then said, "Even if we succeed, the subsequent revenge, we can't bear it."
"Oh, that kind of thing has nothing to do with me. I'm not doing it for you."
Sag faced Marika and said, "Two choices. First, I'll rob you and then rob the king. Second, as my subordinate, I'll help you kill the king, break the gates of the country, and let these people re-enter."
"Captain, that's really domineering." Marika was stunned.
Sag chuckled, "Of course, I'm a pirate. I just take what I want."
Since he became a pirate, his positioning of himself has always been very accurate.
He hadn't robbed a kingdom before, and besides, the king's wealth was much more. Why not rob it?
Could the Celestial Dragons rob it? Why couldn't he?
He was much better than the Celestial Dragons. At least he wouldn't rob the poor!
Marika stared at Sag for a while and said, "I don't seem to have any other choice."
She could feel that even if she refused, it would be useless. This guy seemed to have a way to make her unable to even die.
"Not really. If you were determined to fight me to the end, and we had no grudges, I might throw you into the sea, or I might let you go. After all, I don't like disobedient people. But..."
Sag walked forward, stepped over the fallen soldiers, kicked away the head on the beach, "Anyway, you're all choosing a place to live. Why not try me? Instead of wasting away in one place, it's better to see more of the world. That way, you'll have more choices. After all, pirates are very free creatures."
Marika was stunned, murmuring, "Freedom..."
She hadn't thought about this issue. She just wanted to let people eat their fill. The previous ships that came only wanted to take the people here to Bridge-Top Kingdom. No one had said such words.
"Lads, it's time to rob!"
Sag laughed loudly, "That country has a lot of treasure. Rob them!"
"Oooooh!!"
A dozen or so pirates raised their weapons and shouted, following Sag and heading towards the jungle outside the beach.
Are we really going to rob?
Marika looked blankly at those pirates. She didn't think it was a bluff. This man with a seventy million bounty was definitely someone who could do it.
So...
Why not give it a try?
Break away from the kingdom, go find a way to let everyone eat their fill without being restricted by the environment!
In that case, everyone's food would be sufficient, and they could study better cuisine. And cuisine... could comfort people's hearts!
"If you can do it..."
Marika took a deep breath, her eyes firm, and followed. "Please take me with you. I know the way to the royal city!"
With Marika's movement, the remaining people looked at each other, showing hesitant expressions.
They could bear the bitter fruit themselves, and they could choose not to drag down Marika-sama, but if they directly resisted the kingdom, that was really rebellion...
They really couldn't bear the consequences.
But...
Everyone looked at the shallow beach that was pushed by the waves and sunk, and the extremely small place where they were standing...
"Fight!"
A fisherman threw the net in his hand forcefully and ran towards Sag and the others, shouting, "I don't want to go to Bridge-Top Kingdom to be a slave, and I don't want to starve here! Anyway, the result is no different, so let the king see our determination!"
With his words, it was like igniting a fuse. The eyes of the remaining people sank, revealing a determined meaning, and they followed.
They were already like this, so... they might as well try!
If they failed, it was just being a slave earlier. There was nothing to lose!
...
The royal city of the Deep Forest Kingdom was in a place densely covered with jungle, a large green town.
"It's going to rain... the rain clouds are coming."
The guard on the city wall looked at the gradually approaching dark clouds in the sky and sighed. "Seriously, my house hasn't been repaired yet, and it's raining at this time."
"I'm worse off. I don't know what to do about my child's taxes. Even eating has become a problem."
Another guard also sighed. "I miss when Marika-sama was here. At that time, everyone could eat their fill. Even the scraps of ingredients, she could make into very delicious dishes."
"Yes, Marika-sama... Marika-sama!"
The guard was about to say something when he suddenly froze, looking outside the city wall. There, Marika suddenly appeared, with a very familiar gentle smile.
Boom!!
Then, a cannonball shot from behind, directly blasting a hole in the city gate.
"Yes!"
Renettia turned the cannon barrel into a tool hammer and clenched her small fist. "Captain, it's open!"
"Good job."
Sag walked into the hole, looking at the wide street and the stone-built royal city at the end of the street, which looked like ruins, and grinned. "Let's have a good robbery!"
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