Chapter 871 - 872: You Are Guilty

It took a full several dozen seconds before Vivi's figure finally landed in the very center of the street.

Not far away, Crocodile's shock had already reached an indescribable level.

He desperately rolled his eyes, trying to move even a little, but it was all futile.

The key point was, this was very strange.

Fine, he couldn't move, but why could those few members of the Straw Hat crew move? They could even talk to each other freely.

Was it because the World Government's crown prince was standing beside them, so they had immunity?

But after spending these ten days together, no matter how Crocodile looked at him, it was simply impossible to connect that ordinary cook with the identity of the World Government's crown prince.

Compared to Vivi descending from the sky, that cook who only knew how to cook was nowhere near him, okay?

Tap!

Vivi's delicate leather shoes made a crisp sound as they lightly touched the bloodstained stone pavement.

Her calm eyes swept indifferently over the bald man pointing a gun at the guards, as though she were looking at two ants.

"You are guilty."

Vivi's ethereal voice, without the slightest trace of worldly emotion, slowly rang out over the silent royal city, yet every word struck everyone's hearts like thunder.

"According to Article 519 of the Arabasta Criminal Code, any civilian who uses a weapon to threaten or commit violence against royal guards carrying out their duties shall be executed immediately without trial. The same applies to attempted offenses."

The instant her voice fell.

No one saw Vivi make any unnecessary movement.

Buzz!

A beam of light a hundred times more dazzling than the sun descended without warning, precisely enveloping the armed civilian.

There was no scream.

No struggle.

Not even the slightest resistance or smell of something burning.

Under everyone's eyes, accompanied by Luffy's stunned, widening pupils, the man's body began to burn silently beneath this utterly sacred light.

First, his skin peeled away piece by piece like withered leaves being rapidly weathered.

Next, his red flesh and internal organs instantly vaporized and rose into the air under the extreme heat.

Finally, even the stark white bones that symbolized the traces of his existence silently collapsed in the light, turning into a wisp of fine ash that scattered with the wind.

In just two seconds, a living person had been completely erased from this world before everyone's eyes, without leaving even a drop of blood behind.

What frightened the others even more was that although a living man had been literally vaporized, the gun in his hand had not been affected at all.

Clang!

The musket that had lost its owner fell onto the stone pavement, making a crisp sound.

This scene left everyone present completely stunned.

Even after Vivi withdrew the pressure suppressing the entire area, allowing everyone to move again, the hundreds and thousands of protesters filling the long street, along with the guards lying on the ground, remained like petrified statues. Not a single person dared to move even an inch.

It was simply because the ease with which she had erased a life was too horrifying, too terrifying.

The protesting civilians who had been shouting about resisting for the sake of bloodline rights just moments ago were now completely terrified out of their wits.

Countless people's legs were trembling uncontrollably, and the anger in their eyes had long since been replaced by despair and fear.

"Hey! Hey... She's way too strong... That's a little unreasonable."

Zoro's hand around his sword hilt was sweating, and his eyes remained fixed on Vivi before him.

"So this is the strength of Queen Vivi, the person who rules the laws of the sea... No matter how many times I see it, it's still shocking."

The bearded owner muttered to himself beside them, his eyes filled with fervent admiration.

It was precisely because he had once seen Vivi conduct a legal judgment in his hometown that he had resolutely come to Arabasta.

The rules and benefits here had indeed made him long for this place.

Unfortunately, he had not been born in Arabasta, so he could not enjoy the benefits reserved for native Arabastans.

But he had already met the requirements for skilled immigration, and he would soon be able to obtain permanent residency in Arabasta as well.

By then, he would also be able to bring his wife and children here, and the benefits they received would not be bad either.

Amid the deathly silence.

"What the hell are you doing?"

A deafening roar suddenly tore through the oppressive air.

Luffy's eyes were bloodshot. His face, which normally always wore a smile, was now completely twisted with rage.

He didn't care whether the person flying in the sky was a god or not, nor did he care about status or position.

In his eyes, what had just happened was simply completely unreasonable.

A living person had been burned to ash because of a trigger that hadn't even been pulled.

Every muscle in Luffy's body tensed. His rubber legs suddenly compressed, and he was about to shoot into the sky like a cannonball and punch Vivi away.

However, before he could exert himself and jump...

Bang!

A long leg wrapped in black suit trousers swept across without warning with a gust of force, pressing firmly against Luffy's shoulder.

Immediately afterward, a hand clamped around Luffy's rubbery neck like an iron vise, forcibly dragging him down and pinning him back to the ground.

"Let go of me! Sanji! Why are you stopping me?"

Luffy struggled wildly like an enraged little lion.

"Shut up, you idiot! Do you want to die?"

Sanji desperately restrained Luffy's outburst, veins even bulging on his forehead from the effort.

The cigarette in his mouth had been bitten out of shape, but his eyes were more serious than ever.

This wasn't a joke.

If Luffy were really allowed to charge up there now, Sanji had no doubt that Luffy would be finished.

His little sister, who had completely entered the role of an enforcer, would absolutely sentence Luffy on the grounds that he had violated World Government law by using violence in public against the ruler of a member nation and the Minister of Justice, directly bringing down divine punishment.

More deadly still, Sanji knew very well that with Luffy's current strength, there was no way he could withstand Vivi's power.

If the absurd rumor circulating outside claimed that the Rubber Fruit Luffy had eaten was the Ancient Weapon being falsely advertised, then Sanji genuinely felt that the Devil Fruit Vivi possessed in the sky was the one that truly deserved the title of Ancient Weapon.

Zoan-Type, Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Jehovah Form!

It was an overpowered Devil Fruit forcefully manifested by Rosse through the power of the world, personally tailor-made for Vivi.

It was simply unreasonable.

Its various abilities were practically on the level of a Creator.

If they really fought, even Sanji felt that he might not be Vivi's match.

In terms of overall strength and combat experience alone, he might be a few points stronger.

But his current strength was simply incapable of ignoring the enhancement brought by the Devil Fruit.

After all, his own fruit was merely the ordinary Door-Door Fruit.

"LET GO OF ME!"

Although Luffy was pinned to the ground, his furious roar still rang throughout the entire area, "How can she just kill people whenever she wants? That old man hadn't even fired his gun! And everyone saw that those guards fired first! Even if that old man had fired back, that would've been self-defense!"

Faced with Luffy's heart-wrenching accusation, filled with a sense of justice, Vivi floating in midair didn't even raise her eyelids much.

She didn't even look directly at the straw-hatted boy below, as if the person who had just been angrily cursed at wasn't her at all.

She merely looked down from above with an extremely indifferent gaze, without the slightest emotional fluctuation, calmly addressing the trembling protesters below, "According to your protest gathering today, you did not submit any application in advance to the Public Security and Administrative Office at the Rainbase Port. It therefore constitutes an illegal demonstration."

"According to Article 916 of the current Arabasta Civil Code, organizers of illegal demonstrations will have their Arabasta citizenship revoked, all social benefits confiscated, and be sentenced to three years in prison. Participants who blindly follow along will be sentenced to fifteen days of administrative detention."

Vivi tilted her head slightly, her pure face filled with the coldness of simply carrying out official duties, "Do any of you have any objections to this ruling?"

The question, like the Grim Reaper reviewing a register of life and death, made the crowd below feel as though they had fallen into an icy pit.

Objections? Who would dare object?

Everyone tightly covered their mouths. Even those who had been frightened enough to wet their pants desperately nodded.

They were terrified that if they said one word of disagreement, even if they merely cried out that they had been wronged, those fifteen days of detention would instantly be upgraded to a death sentence and carried out, just like what had happened to the bald man moments ago.

That bald man had been the organizer of their demonstration this time.

"I have an objection!"

Just as the atmosphere reached its most oppressive point, a sudden, loud male voice came from the far end of the street.

Everyone followed the voice and saw a young man wearing a dark trench coat and sporting short blond hair walking into the scene against the flow of the crowd.

He raised his head, his eyes fixed on Vivi, and shouted, "If people aren't even free to demonstrate to express their demands, and have to apply for approval from the very people they're protesting against, then what the hell kind of demonstration is that? That's a dictatorship!"

Tsk! Tsk!

Under the table, Usopp looked at the blond young man who had suddenly appeared and couldn't help muttering quietly:

"Who the hell is this reckless guy? He actually dares to step out in a situation like this. He sure looks brave!"

"His name is Koza."

Kuro pushed up his glasses and quickly added the information he had collected beforehand, "Arabasta's current nominal leader of the opposition and the leader of the civilian revolutionary army. However, he's also currently serving in the Arabasta government as the legitimate Minister of Environment."

"Huh?"

Nami's red lips opened wide when she heard this, her face full of disbelief, "The head of the rebel army is serving as a minister in the government?"

She turned her head to look at the unreachable queen in the sky and murmured, "This Queen Vivi actually lets someone who leads rebellions every day manage the environmental ministry of an entire country? Looks like Her Majesty isn't just absurdly powerful. She really is broad-minded and kind..."

If it were a normal person, Koza would've been dealt with long ago.

"Maybe it's because although Koza causes trouble, he hasn't violated Arabasta's laws. After all, Arabasta acts according to the law."

Kuro shrugged.

In midair, Vivi finally turned her gaze.

She looked at Koza standing below, his eyes filled with defiance.

The two could hardly be considered very familiar with each other. Most of her attention was devoted to the Ministry of Justice, while her involvement with Arabasta was merely something she handled on the side.

She knew Koza. He could be considered a typical example of someone she deliberately tolerated.

After all, without conflict, this show wouldn't be interesting.

"This is the law of Arabasta. This system of operation has brought prosperity to this country, and it has also brought about the current situation in which all of you can eat well and dress warmly."

Vivi's voice was ethereal and calm, "If you are unwilling to abide by it, or feel that you are not free, you may leave on your own."

"Anyone who voluntarily gives up their Arabasta citizenship and becomes a free citizen will, according to the Welfare Act, receive a ten-thousand-Berry renunciation and resettlement payment from the government's administrative office. This money is enough for you to take a ship to anywhere on this sea where you believe you can find freedom."

"But as long as you are still standing on this desert, in Arabasta, you must follow my rules."

Vivi withdrew her gaze and recited a set of figures as though reading from a reference, "Since the day I was born, a total of 825 legal demonstrations have taken place throughout Arabasta. Of those, 823 were approved and had their order maintained by the guards. Only two were rejected."

"And the reason those two were rejected was that the organizers had caused serious incidents involving violence, property destruction, and bloodshed at gatherings they had held in the past. Only then did the administrative office reject their applications according to the law."

"You're changing the subject!"

Koza gritted his teeth, pointing at Vivi and shouting furiously, "Those two serious incidents were precisely anti-monarchy demonstrations organized by civilians to denounce you and question your bloodline! And you yourself were present when those clashes happened! Who can guarantee that you weren't secretly ordering people to cause the destruction? You're simply afraid of the power of the people!"

"Demonstrations that disturb innocent shops and the lives of ordinary residents should naturally be punished according to the law. Isn't refusing to approve them only reasonable? Of those 825 demonstrations, 127 were related to this, and I was present at 42 of them. But I didn't do anything," Vivi casually fired back.

But immediately afterward, her tone suddenly changed.

Vivi looked at Koza's face full of doubt, slightly raised her fair chin, and the corners of her mouth curled into a cold, mocking smile, "As for you, and all of you who make a fuss every day, acting like clowns and shouting for that truth you keep demanding..."

"Originally, you weren't worthy of hearing it. But I'm in a good mood today, so I'll simply clarify it here, officially, in front of everyone."

Hearing this, the civilians filling the street, Koza, and even Crocodile in the distance all pricked up their ears, their hearts pounding.

She was actually going to address the bloodline issue here?

Wasn't she afraid that Arabasta would really descend into turmoil?

Cobra had been dead for nearly twenty years, and the younger generation no longer remembered that former king.

But there were still quite a few elderly people alive today.

Those people did not recognize the World Government.

"Listen carefully."

Vivi's voice, amplified by her Devil Fruit ability, was like a god's whisper, spreading to every corner of the entire Rainbase Port city.

"My full name is Jaygarcia Vivi. I take my father's surname, not my mother's."

"My mother, Titi, possesses the pure bloodline of the Arabasta royal family. Because only my mother and I remain of the Arabasta royal family."

"According to Arabasta's royal succession law, the daughter of Titi, the queen dowager who possesses the closest royal bloodline, in other words, I am currently Arabasta's only heir."