章節 133: Setting the Stage
Cherry dropped the now former chef off near the city and instructed him that it would be wise to lay low until it was safe.
"How will I know when it is safe?" The man asked, trying to cling onto the one who saved him from a gruesome fate.
"You'll know, it'll be fairly obvious." Cherry spoke cryptically and left him there.
Cherry returned to the castle and poked around to fill in some holes in her information, before rendezvousing with the other three at the agreed upon time.
Compiling all the information they had gathered gave a pretty clear picture of the kingdom's current state.
"Well, kidnapping Wapol will be pretty easy. He's constantly breaking his itinerary making it nearly impossible to properly guard him even within the castle." Cherry said.
"It's a miracle he hasn't already been kidnapped, really." Robin concurred.
"It would be prudent to acquire this brother of his as well, Musshuru. He's just as cruel and though this particular line of royalty has only just started with Wapol, his brother may technically be able to take the throne should Wapol go missing." Cherry said.
They discussed some ideas on how to undermine the authority of the royal regime before splitting up once again.
This time, Perona came along with Cherry to the castle where Cherry prepared a sealed off hiding place for her to safely project a spectral version of herself from.
"Alright, follow me and give me one of your ghosts when I tell you to." Cherry instructed.
"Hmph!" Perona harrumphed, but complied nonetheless.
Night has fallen on the Black Drum Kingdom, making it that much simpler to navigate the castle unseen.
King Wapol was always early to bed and late to wake, so he was found within his bed chambers. Naturally his wife and queen, Kinderella, was on the other side of the castle in her own bed chambers and thus not present.
Cherry sneaked into Wapol's bed chambers where he loudly snored and casually chewed on any furniture within reach in his sleep.
Cherry motioned for Perona to produce a ghost, which Cherry then grabbed with a haki coated hand. She brought it over to the sleeping form of Wapol and jammed the ghost into his body, promptly activating her devil fruit power in an attempt to fuse the ghost inside him.
Wapol awoke, but he did not notice Cherry or the apparition of Perona as he was immediately filled with an enormous sense of dread. All his undeserved confidence and bravado drained away and for the first time in his life he felt worthless.
"I… I…" Wapol stuttered. "I'm slightly less than perfect!"
Wapol began to weep as the realization of his own inadequacy.
Meanwhile Cherry and Perona were dumbfounded.
"Just how arrogant is he?" Perona muttered. It was strange enough to meet someone who was too negative to be affected by her ghosts like Usopp, but for someone to have such an enormously overinflated opinion of themselves that they only feel "slightly less than perfect"?
At the very least, the depression aspect seemed to be working normally, which was a relief.
"Well it worked out in any case." Cherry shrugged and placed her hands on Wapol's back and began sealing his devil fruit powers. She had worked on the technique a bit since she used it on Serene, so she had cut down the time it takes to about half an hour.
Now that Wapol was dealt with, they moved to go meet with his brother Musshuru, leaving Wapol in his bed chambers for the time being. He wasn't going anywhere in that pseudo-permanent depressed state.
"Mushushushushu!" Menacing laughter was heard from the bed chambers of Musshuru.
It was good that he was awake, though they didn't know why he was cackling like a madman alone in his room.
Cherry simply waltzed in and made herself known to him.
"Who goes there?!" Musshuru spun around to see an individual whose appearance would suggest a potential assassin.
"Why hello!" Cherry said in her disguised voice. "It is an honor to meet the most illustrious brother of the king, Musshuru!"
Musshuru was on his guard, but seeing he was not yet attacked decided to see what this was about.
"You didn't answer my question. Name yourself or perish!" Musshuru demanded loudly.
"I am a friend of course. One who doesn't wish to see your eminence waste away while your less than ideal brother sits on the throne. I would like to provide an opportunity for you to rise in your station, if you're interested." Cherry offered.
"Deal!" Musshuru answered instantly. In his mind it was a win-win situation.
Either this mysterious figure succeeded in what they insinuated and he became king. Or they failed and he denied all involvement. The best part is that he didn't have to lift a finger for it.
"I see that I was correct in my view of you, KING Musshuru. All you need to do is take over when the morning comes, I trust you'll know what to do." Cherry said, feeding his ego.
Musshuru was pleased to hear it. He was the one who ought to have been king from the start, not his younger brother. It was his right as the eldest to be heir to the throne. Just look at how his brother completely lost control over the Drum Kingdom. If not for his dumb luck with his devil fruit, he would still be eating trash out of a gutter somewhere.
"Off you go then! As far as anyone knows I have no connection to you!" Musshuru shooed the figure away.
Musshuru started to giggle to himself once again as he imagined taking his brother's beautiful wife for himself as well.
Now that the stage was set, Cherry would let the fool ruin himself.
As for what Robin and Cabernet were up to at this time?
They were spreading rumors to the people. Rumors that the king's brother Musshuru was planning a coup d'etat. Rumors that Musshuru would be a hundred times crueler than Wapol ever was.
They implanted the idea that Musshuru's regime would be illegitimate in the World Government's eyes, and as such the World Government would not intervene if the people rose up against Musshuru's regime.
This was actually true, as the kingdom had only recently been granted to Wapol directly by the world nobles. Stealing the crown from him, especially so soon after it was given to Wapol, was essentially a slap in the face to the world nobles.
Robin had a certain way with words that enabled her to manipulate the emotions of her listeners, a talent she picked up over her many years on the run.
Cabernet simply went to the people she had been helping as they trusted her somewhat. While not necessarily convinced by the words of a stranger, it was enough to keep her words in mind.
The fears of the people of Black Drum Kingdom were confirmed the following morning.
The king's brother Musshuru announced that his brother had become too ill to rule properly and as such Musshuru would be taking over his duties as the monarch.
Those who witnessed the announcement noted the disgusted look on the face of Wapol's wife as she stood to Musshuru's side. This in and of itself suggested some sort of foul play behind the scenes, as she had not previously been known to be on bad terms with Musshuru.
A new proclamation was sent down by Musshuru, that he was to be provided with a citizen every day. This stirred the imaginations of the people, and with the rumors of Musshuru's cruelty making the rounds they had a stark vision of their futures.
Thus, the flames of rebellion quickly grew from within the populace.
Over the next few days, as the people who were brought to the castle were not heard from again, the rage of the people grew that much fiercer.
Emboldened by the rumors that there would be no World Government crackdown, soon there would be revolution.
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