Chapter 326: The Spark That Ignites the Seas

Meanwhile, after years with the Revolutionary Army, Dragon finally understood every aspect of the organization and officially set his plan in motion.

“For freedom!”

“For freedom!”

Hundreds, even thousands, of core members marched in step with Dragon as they spread out across the Four Seas.

Unlike before, this time they assembled full-fledged military formations, stirring up rebellions on every front.

Their intention was total war—not just a few scattered sparks but a sweeping blaze.

“Where does he even find books like these?”

“The content is incredible.”

Dragon was poring over a set of Red Doctrine books just sent by fax.

The entire set contained all 108 volumes.

“Speed up printing. Every team heading to the Four Seas needs to bring several sets with them.”

“I believe that a single spark can set the whole prairie ablaze.”

“Yes, sir.”

The soldier in charge of printing saluted and rushed to accelerate the work.

“Home, I’m back again.”

Dragon personally led his team into the East Blue.

One team began spreading the red message throughout oppressed nations.

Another group followed Dragon straight to the Kingdom of Vilja.

Vilja had no special resources to speak of; the entire kingdom was desperately poor.

King Dica was eager to change that reality.

So, after the Navy took control of the Four Seas, he began secretly trafficking people to bring in a wave of illegal profits for his kingdom.

That brought in a substantial amount of gold.

With all that wealth, Vilja easily became an affiliate nation of the World Government—making human trafficking a public, legitimate business.

Unfortunately, there simply weren’t many people available for trafficking across the East Blue.

So King Dica turned his gaze on his own people.

Posing as recruitment drives or training programs, he funneled huge numbers of citizens into the trade and sent them out to the wider sea.

At the same time, they began recruiting refugees from outside. Anyone who arrived would be given a place to live and fertile land to farm.

As a result, thousands of people migrated to the island every day—sometimes more.

None of them suspected that they were stepping into a nightmare. After relocating here, many simply vanished without a trace.

A handful managed to escape and passed this information to the Navy.

But in the end, those people were simply sent back to the island.

That’s how Dragon received a tip-off from his intelligence team.

He immediately fixed his sights on Vilja—the newest member of the World Government—as the first target for overthrow.

The Kingdom of Vilja covered 30,000 square kilometers.

Over these years, by constantly taking in the displaced, its population had swelled to 3.7 million.

And to keep his grip on power, King Dica amassed a military force of 500,000.

Even if the troops looked weak, sheer numbers alone could scare off most pirates thinking of raiding the island.

“Chief, we’ve arrived!”

As twilight descended, Dragon and his group reached the Vilja harbor.

The port bustled with people, dozens of ships coming and going—their own vessel barely noticed.

Next to the harbor, a massive town had sprung up, built to house a hundred thousand residents.

Everywhere you looked, crowds moved about—busy, bustling, full of life.

At first glance, it seemed like everyone wore a cheerful smile.

But if you truly looked closer, you’d spot the difference: the smiling ones were all newcomers to the island.

They still found everything here strange and unfamiliar.

The ones with blank faces or bitter expressions were those who’d lived here for some time.

Only they fully understood just how terrifying this place could be.

“Once we dock, spread out and gather intel.”

“Contact the resistance inside the city. It’s time to stir the calm waters of this sea into a raging storm.”

Dragon knew their covert arrival wouldn’t alert Vilja’s rulers.

At first, they’d fight as resistance fighters so the World Government would think it was just a local rebellion.

He’d chosen this moment to strike because his agreement with Karl left him less than three years.

Early on, they couldn’t risk revealing their true strength.

So during these three years, they had to keep growing the resistance throughout the Four Seas.

When the moment finally arrived, they’d rise up all at once.

By the time the World Government realized what was happening, it would be too late.

“Understood, Chief.”

When the ship docked, everyone but the essential crew fanned out to infiltrate the entire island.

After landing, Dragon simply followed his instincts.

He soon found himself in an unfamiliar part of the island.

It must have been the heart of Vilja. Right where he stood was a prison on the kingdom’s outskirts.

Normally a prison would be full of criminals, but this one held nothing but ordinary people—even many women and children.

Sweeping his Observation Haki across the complex, Dragon mapped the whole prison’s layout in his mind.

“Human trafficking, huh?”

“No such thing should ever exist in history.”

Having read through the Red Doctrine, Dragon refused to allow slavery or trafficking to ever take root.

Everyone had the right to pursue freedom.

No one was born just to become a slave.

Back when Karl left to train, he already distributed all the Devil Fruits he had.

As the final confrontation drew near, it was better to send those powerful fruits into the world and win more allies.

Of course, he kept two Devil Fruits for himself: the Energy Fruit and the Earth-Earth Fruit.

Dragon walked toward the prison gate. Right away, two guards shouted, “Stop! Who are you? Don’t you know this is a military zone?”

Dragon answered mockingly, “A military zone? Looks to me like everyone locked up in there is innocent.”

One guard froze on the spot.

They both knew all too well who was inside.

But to protect themselves, they could only play along.

The other guard—a tall, skinny man—watched as Dragon kept approaching and raised his spear.

“One more step and that’s your warning.”

His voice wavered with fear.

Just to say those words, the guard had already defied his superiors’ cruelty.

Dragon pressed forward, exuding an overwhelming presence.

“If you help tyrants, you’re no better than them.”

A flash of golden light—and both guards lost their heads in an instant.

Dragon’s concealed right hand glowed with the luster of gold.

He tugged his cloak tighter as the sky began to drizzle.

Five minutes later, Dragon was gone.

Behind him, hundreds, then thousands, of ordinary people poured out of the prison.

“We’re finally free!”

“Yeah, I can only hope my family hasn’t been worrying too much.”

“Hurry, let’s get out of here! If we wait, they’ll catch us again!”

The crowd surged and scattered, vanishing in an instant.

High atop a tower, Dragon looked out at the glowing lights of Vilja’s royal palace in the distance.

“Let you enjoy your arrogance for a few more years.”

“Because I’ll be the one to bring you down myself.”