Chapter 41: Rejection

New World, Prodance Kingdom, Cafe.

"What about the information gathering?" Sabo asked calmly to Kola who was currently sitting in front of him drinking the drinks they ordered.

"I couldn't find any detailed information regarding the Fortis Kingdom" Koala shook her head, "I've gone to several bars to ask for information and also asked some of the residents here. Information about. They don't know the detailed information of the Fortis Kingdom and the information they have is only what we have." Koala paused and asked, "What about you?"

Sabo sighed, "Same. Me, too. I also did not get detailed information about this kingdom. I even had a chance to talk to some troops from the Prodance Kingdom. The information I got is only general information." Sabo paused and continued, "However, I can tell that the people of this kingdom really love the Fortis Kingdom. As long as I ask them. They explained very passionately about the Fortis Kingdom."

"I think it's because the Kingdom of Fortis is willing to help in resolving the war that is happening in this kingdom. With their help, the current kingdom is no longer involved in war problems. They are also currently getting protection. It can be said that their lives are currently in good condition" Koala said calmly.

Sabo nodded.

The two of them ate quietly while continuing the conversation. After the two of them finished eating, the two strolled around the city awaiting the return arrival of the Prodance King and the others who were currently in the Fortis Kingdom. When the two of them walked towards the port, they both saw a ship sailing towards the port.

"Sabo. That ship…" Koalas were immediately excited to see the ship.

"Yes. It was a ship from the Prodance Kingdom. The king of the prodance kingdom has finally returned…" Sabo's gaze immediately became excited, "Besides, on that ship there is a very powerful existence there…"

"A very powerful existence. is that…"

"Yes. It's possible that person was Hashirama Senju. He may have received an assignment from King Fortis to carry out an escort for King Prodence and the others." Sabo said with a smile, "Instead of us having to talk to the King of Prodance, it's better if we talk directly to the higher-ups of the kingdom"

The koala nodded excitedly and the two of them immediately rushed to near where the boat had stopped.

The Prodance Kingdom's ship finally stopped right at the harbor.

"King of Prodance, my work here is done. Then, I'll go first." Hashirama said with a smile.

"Yes. Thank you for protecting us." Elizabello II nodded.

At that time Hashirama would immediately go back to do the task assigned to him. Suddenly a scream was heard.

"Please wait a moment, Mr Hashirama!" Sabo shouted loudly when he saw Hashirama was about to leave.

Hashirama immediately stopped his actions and turned to look at the two people who were sailing towards the ship currently being used by Elizabello II and the others.

"Stop!" The Prodance Kingdom troops immediately shouted and aimed their weapons at Sabo and Koala directly.

This action immediately stopped the movement of Sabo and Koala.

"We are not bad people" Koala immediately said calmly, "We just wanted to meet Mr. Hashirama and talk to him about something"

"Talk to me?" Hashirama asked confusedly, "I bet we don't know each other, do we?"

"Of course, Mr Hashirama" Koala nodded, "There are some things we want to talk to you about. Can you spare some time?"

Hashirama thought for a moment and continued, "Okay." Hashirama nodded.

Hearing this answer from Hashirama, the troops who had previously pointed their weapons at Sabo and Koala immediately lowered their weapons. Hashirama immediately descended in front of Sabo and Koala then said, "Well, before that. Who are you two?"

"How about we talk somewhere else , Mr Hashirama? I think we better talk while sitting down" Sabo suddenly said.

"It doesn't matter. We can talk here." Hashirama said quickly, "I have now received an assignment from His Majesty. I must return immediately to complete the task. You can say what you want to talk about here."

"This…" Koala hesitated a bit after hearing this.

"We are from the Revolutionary Army" Sabo suddenly said seriously.

"Revolutionary Army?" Hashirama raised his brow.

Meanwhile Elizabello II and the others were still there because they wanted to hear the conversation.

"I'm sure Mr Hashirama knows about us, right?" Sabo asked again.

"Yes. I do know." Hashirama nodded and continued, "So what did you guys want to talk to me about? Does this have anything to do with cooperation to overthrow the World Government?" Ask Hashirama

Koala and Sabo were immediately delighted to hear this.

"Yes about that" Koala immediately said, "What do you think, Mr Hashirama? Our leader has the desire to establish a cooperative relationship with your kingdom. With you guys joining forces, our strength will definitely be enough to overthrow—-"

"Forget it" Hashirama cut off Koala's words.

"Forget it? What do you mean, Mr Hashirama?" Sabo asked in confusion.

"If you want to attract us to join your movement. You can forget about that. We have no interest in joining your movement" Hashirama immediately rejected him back in a suppressed tone, "You may have a misunderstanding with us here"

"Misunderstanding?" Koala asked in confusion.

"I'm sure you guys must think that we hate the World Government and want to overthrow them, right? Well, it's true. We do hate it. However, our kingdom has no intention of making moves like you guys do. It's too much trouble for our kingdom. We only want to focus on our kingdom or the kingdom that has a cooperative relationship with our kingdom in terms of building an empire. We don't want to get involved in such complicated matters."

"Why? Why don't you want to join? Do you have the power to do it? Why don't you want to?" Koala asked in a tone full of emotion.

"Master Hashirama. Why don't you want to do it?" Sabo asked in a serious tone.

"I've already said our reasons. We don't want to take care of such a complicated business. The war we are currently having with the World Government because the World Government is the mastermind behind this incident. As long as they do what His Majesty tells them to do. We will put an end to this matter and will not rethink this matter. However, if they don't follow orders. We will only attack them by activating the bombs in Marijoa. That's simple. After that it's done. We will not take care of the previous problem. We only want to focus on developing our kingdom and also the kingdom that builds relationships with our kingdom. We will not take care of world affairs and other matters."

"Are you really not going to be able to help us?" Koala asked with a sad face.

Koalas previously had very high expectations. However, that hope is currently shattered.

"Not. We will not help you. It is the decision of our King. We will not help with matters that are none of our business." Hashirama paused and continued, "If that's all you want to talk about. I will go. Please forget the idea of cooperating with us to overthrow the World Government. Besides that, I hope you guys don't do weird tricks like pitting against each other. Our king hates that very much . If you do that, it won't be the World Government that will be our target but you."

Hashirama without waiting for a long time immediately flew out of the place.

Sabo and Koala instantly fell silent hearing this then their gazes turned to Elizabello II and the others.

"If you guys want to try to establish a cooperative relationship with our kingdom. I am sorry. I will also reject it. Right now our kingdom is still recovering from the war."

"We understand" Koala nodded and didn't really mind it.

The reason given by Elizabello II is also very reasonable because the Kingdom of Prodance is a new kingdom that has gone through a long war and needs restoration.

Elizabello II without waiting long went straight to his palace again to take care of various things.

"We failed…" Sabo muttered under his breath.

"I never thought that they would actually reject us…" Koala smiled wryly while remembering Hashirama's previous refusal.

Sabo immediately took out his den-den mushi and contacted Dragon.

"How was the job there, Sabo? Can they be invited to work together ?" Dragon asked in a hopeful tone.

"I apologize, Dragon-san. They rejected us" Sabo said sadly.

"Reject? Who refused? Did King Fortis do it?" Dragon asked again seriously.

"Not. It wasn't him" Sabo shook his head, "Hashirama Senju rejected him"

"Hashirama Senju..." Dragon's voice sounded quite deep and serious, "We still have a chance"

"Opportunity?" Sabo asked in confusion.

"The one who rejected you was Hashirama Senju and not the King of the Fortis Kingdom directly. As long as we can convince the King of the Fortis Kingdom to establish a cooperative relationship with us. We were able to obtain very strong reinforcements." The Dragon paused and continued, "You two, try to find a way so that we can meet the King of the Fortis Kingdom in person. If you have found the way, you contact me. We will go with all of our higher-ups to convince King Fortis to help us. As long as he helps us. We can definitely overthrow the World Government's regime" Dragon said seriously.

"I understand" Sabo nodded, "I will try various ways for us to meet him"

Some time passed.

The World Government finally did the two things Ars had ordered. The first thing was that the Gorosei apologized to the King of Prodance live which was broadcast live. The second thing is the release of all slaves in Mariajoa and currently with the help of the Navy. All the slaves were released. The actions taken by the World Government are immediately published and known to the whole world.

The world is in an uproar with the actions taken by the World Government.

New World, Dressrosa Kingdom, Royal Palace.

"Fufufufu~ This is getting more and more interesting" Doflamingo grinned excitedly reading the new newspaper .

"Doffy, I think we could consider establishing a cooperative relationship with the Fortis Kingdom" Diamante said.

"Fufufuf~ I did think of that idea" Doflamingo smirked, "If we can take cover under their banner. This Shichibukai title is no longer needed and we don't need to be afraid of Kaidou anymore. Kaidou definitely would n't dare attack us even if we weren't on time for the delivery of his order. Besides…" Doflamingo's grin deepened, "There must be something interesting in the Fortis Kingdom that the World Government tried various ways to gain control of that kingdom. Fufufuf… I'm interested in what interesting things are there"

Grand Line, Amazon Lily Island, Royal Palace.

"I've decided" Hancock said seriously, "I will quit the Shichibukai. We will establish a cooperative relationship with the Fortis Kingdom."

"If that is your decision, Hebihime-sama. I also support him." Nyomba nodded and felt that it was better for them to take refuge under the banner of the Fortis Kingdom than to take cover under the banner of the World Government.

New World, Fortis Kingdom, Royal Palace, Lounge.

"Oh? Have they done it? Hee~ I think it will take them quite a while to do that" Ars said calmly with a smile.

"Oh yes. King Fortis. Besides that, the World Government has also issued a fugitive against you and Mr Hashirama," said Elizabello II through den-den mushi.

Ars is currently talking to Elizabello II using a den-den mushi.

"Bounty price? Now then, how much is Hashirama and I's bounty worth?" Ars asked with interest.

"The bounty for the two of you is very high for the first time you get a bounty. Hashirama Senju earned the title of Crownless Emperor and had a bounty of 3,976,098,000 berries. As for you, King Fortis. Ars getting the title of King of Fortis has a bounty of 6,223,576,000 berries. You are currently the owner of the highest bounty in the world."

"Wow, 6 billion berries? That's a very high number. Looks like the World Government still has quite a bit of money even though we took it at that time" Ars said casually, "Also, I think Hashirama will be very sad after knowing the bounty he got"

"Hahaha… I thought so too. I'm interested to see the expression"

"You will see it later when Hashirama comes to your kingdom to collect the money that will be sent by the World Government." Ars paused for a moment and continued, "Oh, yes. What about the previous deal? Are you really going to use the 25 billion berries that will be given to you to buy our wood?"

"Sure" Elizabello II nodded, "I will use the wood as capital to build our business"

"Ah, I see" Ars nodded, "Okay. Later if people from the World Government have come to send money. You tell me. I will send the Tenryuubito back to them along with the wood ordered by you."

"I see" Elizabello II.

The communication line was closed again.

"You have become a fugitive, Ars" Jouichirou said with a smile.

"It seems so" Ars smiled, "After all, there's no way they wouldn't give a bounty to someone who attacked their kingdom head-on. It's a natural thing to do." Ars paused and stood up from his seat.

"Where are you going, Ares?" Lowellmina Gin asked with interest.

"I want to go meet Hashirama. I'm interested in his expression when he finds out the number of fugitives he has is less than Whitebeard. Surely Hashirama's expression will be very interesting to see."

"Then I'll come too" Joucihirou immediately stood up from his seat and smirked, "I also want to see Hashirama's expression. It will be very interesting"

"Are you two going together?" Ars asked while looking at Kojiro and Gin.

"I guess it's fine to come along. I also want to take a little walk and see the progress of the work that Hashirama is doing right now" Gin said seriously.

"I'm coming too. I'm interested in Hashirama's expression." Kojiro added.

"Okay. Then, let's go meet him."