"It seems you really don't know anything about this place."
Madam Emily looked at the Straw Hats with some surprise and sighed. "Shuraiya, please help me explain it to them."
"No problem, Madam Emily." The brown-haired young man wearing a fedora nodded, cleared his throat, and spoke slowly to the group:
"This sea area centered around Hannabal used to be a lawless zone outside the World Government's jurisdiction, and it was extremely chaotic. Later, the Oswald Family made Hannabal their branch base for the first half of the Grand Line. To make it easier to govern, they introduced a membership system."
"When a trading company purchases a Penguin membership and becomes a registered company, they enjoy the protection of the Oswald Family. When a registered company's merchant ship is plundered by pirates, they only need to hand over at most half of their cargo or the equivalent value in Berries. At the same time, the pirates are forbidden from harming the ship's crew, or they will be hunted down by the Oswald Family. Furthermore, the pirate crew responsible for the raid is obligated to escort the convoy safely to its destination, protecting the merchant ship from being plundered by other pirates."
"It sounds... it actually sounds pretty good," Usopp muttered, stroking his chin. "That way, a merchant ship will only lose half of its cargo at most whenever it sets sail."
"Mm-hmm." Nami nodded in agreement. "And most importantly, there's no need to worry about being killed by those vicious pirates. By the way, Sherlock, as a former president of a trading company yourself, what do you think?"
Madam Emily subconsciously turned her gaze toward the sorcerer who had been sitting quietly to the side. But when her sea-blue eyes met those deep, dark eyes behind his lenses, her heart skipped a beat, and her already pale cheeks turned even whiter.
(An escort? Is that your true objective?)
Keenly noticing the beautiful lady's slight unease, Sherlock withdrew his gaze and gently pushed up his glasses.
"It's hard to judge. After all, pirates in the East Blue are nowhere near as rampant as those in the Grand Line. Besides, I'm not in the habit of seeing someone else's mark on my things."
Saying this, Sherlock smiled slightly at Madam Emily. "However, becoming a Penguin member surely isn't an easy task."
"Yes, registered companies must pay an exorbitant annual membership fee to the Oswalds."
Madam Emily gave a helpless smile. Combined with her fragile, delicate appearance, it made her look utterly pitiable. "But if you don't become a registered company, it's impossible to survive in these waters."
"It's all because of those registered pirates," Shuraiya said solemnly. "Once pirates register as Penguin members, they also receive the protection of the Oswald Family. As long as they are within the waters under Penguin's jurisdiction, the Marines cannot arrest pirates flying the Penguin flag!"
"What?!" everyone exclaimed in shock.
"Legalized piracy?" Sanji lit a cigarette. "Why does that sound exactly like the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"
"You're exactly right," Shuraiya nodded. "As long as the registered pirates follow the rules set by Penguin and pay their dues on time, they are essentially the Warlords of these waters!"
"Why would they do that? Doesn't that make it even harder to control?" Nami found this completely baffling. "Without the Marines, who is supposed to keep these pirates in check?"
"No, no, no, you're overlooking something, Miss Navigator." The corners of Robin's mouth curled up elegantly as she took a calm sip of her coffee.
"Without the Marines..." Sherlock gently pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting two sharp, brilliant flashes of white light. "...then why not just let pirates govern pirates?"
"Huh? Pirates governing pirates???" the rest of the crew chimed in unison, their faces totally blank with confusion.
"Yes, using pirates to govern pirates." The glasses-wearing man nodded. The sorcerer felt a sincere sense of admiration for whoever had conceived and implemented this scheme.
"Just as shadows exist wherever there is light, the pirates on this ocean can never be completely eradicated. Since that's the case, it's better to control a fraction of the more obedient pirates and grant them privileges—namely, the so-called Penguin membership."
Sherlock continued to explain to everyone, "As a result, whether it's trading companies or pirate crews, any pirates who haven't paid for a Penguin membership will naturally be phased out over time. The ones remaining will all be registered pirates—meaning, the obedient ones."
"Once these pirates get a taste of the benefits of legalized plundering, they won't easily leave these waters. However, if they wish to expand, they will inevitably clash with other registered pirates, trapping them in an endless cycle of infighting. Moreover the rule requiring them to escort any merchant ship they raid only intensifies this conflict."
At this point, Sherlock suddenly chuckled and turned to Madam Emily. "And if I'm not mistaken, outsider pirates like us must be very unpopular around here."
The president of the Canary Trading Company hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly, "That's correct. To those registered pirates, crews like yours are no different from bounties. They can turn you in directly to the Oswald Family for cash. They are indeed very, very unfriendly toward outsider pirates."
"Hmph, then let's see who can be more unfriendly!" The Pirate Hunter snorted, a fierce battle spirit suddenly igniting within him.
"Hiss—!" Usopp and Chopper shuddered in unison.
"Hey, Nami!" The long-nosed sniper stealthily tugged at the navigator's clothes, whispering, "You'd better think this through carefully. What exactly are we going to do?"
"Don't worry, I still have that much judgment." Nami's smooth forehead was beaded with cold sweat. After listening to everyone's explanations for so long, she had finally sorted out the situation in her head.
Although this whole incident was supposedly a misunderstanding, it could already be classified as a raid by the Straw Hat Pirates on the Canary Trading Company. The Straw Hats could claim half the cargo on the Napo as loot, but the price was that they had to escort this merchant ship back to Hannabal.
And judging by what the glasses-wearer implied, this escort mission would likely be highly dangerous...
(We aren't short on money right now anyway. Sherlock still has 10 billion Berries waiting for me to squander. There's absolutely no need to take unnecessary risks,) Nami thought to herself.
For a notorious money-grubber who usually valued cash over her own life to make such a rational decision was truly a rare miracle.
However, things don't always go according to plan.
"By the way, what exactly is your ship loaded with?" Luffy asked casually while picking his nose, looking at Madam Emily.
Madam Emily smiled faintly. "Beef. Premium beef from the ranches of Xinglu Island."
"Oh? Xinglu Island?" Sanji stroked his chin and murmured, "I heard the shitty old man mention before that Xinglu Island is quite famous in the culinary world."
"The meat and crops produced on that island are top-tier ingredients. Especially their beef—when made into steaks, it's truly... Huh? Nami-san, Usopp, what's wrong with you two?"
The curly-browed cook, cigarette dangling from his mouth, shifted his gaze and was startled to find Nami and Usopp frantically winking at him. Following the direction they were pointing, Sanji looked back and discovered that their foodie captain's chin was already drenched in drool.
"Meat... Steaks..." Luffy's eyes grew completely dazed.
(Oh?) Taking in the expressions of the Straw Hat crew, the corners of Madam Emily's mouth curled upward slightly.
(I suddenly have a really bad feeling about this...) Nami and Usopp both sucked in a breath of cold air simultaneously.
"If you agree to my proposal, accept the compensation, and escort the Napo to Hannabal, then that half-shipment of premium Xinglu Island beef will be all yours~"
"Huh??? Really? Then I agree! Hehehe, you're a great person! Eh? Nami, Usopp, why did you guys fall under the table?"
"Luffy! You... UTTER IDIOT!"
THWACK!!! The sound of a fist heavily colliding with a skull echoed.
"Eek! Nami is so scary!" Chopper quickly hid to the side, instinctively hiding backward as usual.
"Fufu~" Robin held her coffee cup, smiling silently.
"Uh... is it always this lively around here?" Watching the idiot captain get brutally beaten by the demonified navigator, Madam Emily's mouth twitched uncontrollably. Behind her, Shuraiya looked completely dumbfounded, thinking to himself: This is the pirate crew with a total bounty of over 300 million Berries?
A flash of embarrassment crossed Sherlock's face. Just as he was about to reply, a black shadow leaped onto the table.
"Meow~~~~" Bestie stared with a pair of eerie, blood-red cat eyes, curiously sizing up the two strangers.
(A black cat? Just how much do these pirates love keeping pets? Aside from that raccoon dog, they actually have a little black cat too,) Shuraiya silently complained as he looked at the cute little kitten sitting properly on the dining table.
Yet, what happened next was even more unexpected. The moment Madam Emily saw those blood-red cat eyes, she looked as though she had been struck by lightning. Her breathing grew instantly ragged, cold sweat drenched her smooth forehead, and her already pale complexion turned deathly white.
"Blood... blood-red... blood-red eyes..."
Her pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks, the beautiful lady who had just been laughing and talking with the Straw Hats muttered in agony for a moment before fainting dead away under everyone's horrified gazes.
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