Chapter 235: I May Be Bad at Fighting, But You're Bad at Making Money
"Mr. Tom, all the required lumber is here. Whether it's the specialized hardwoods, driftwoods, or even the materials from the Treasure Tree Adam, everything is accounted for.
"Mr. Den has already inspected the materials back home.
"There are also some specialized alloys—I can't even begin to explain what they are, but the quantity is definitely correct. Here is the manifest; please verify it yourself."
Arlong maintained a strictly professional demeanor as he handed over the receipt. Once Tom signed off on it, Arlong would have to submit it upon his return.
Harvesting this kind of lumber wasn't as simple as just chopping down a random tree. Some of this premium wood was worth its weight in gold; without genuine capability, it was impossible to secure.
Currently, the supply lines for many of Water 7's shipbuilding company presidents had been utterly decimated by pirates. Consequently, if someone brought their own premium lumber to commission a ship right now, the discount offered would be staggeringly high.
Water 7 was historically renowned for its shipbuilding, but that reputation was currently crumbling.
Due to the advent of the Great Pirate Era and the devastating impact of the Aqua Laguna, the city was teetering on the absolute brink of destruction.
In the original timeline, it was Tom's construction of the Sea Train that salvaged the island. Right now, the Sea Train still only existed as blueprints; naturally, Water 7's current outlook was incredibly bleak.
Although it was Arlong handling the handover with Tom, that was only because they had already made landfall. The true commanders of this escort mission were Jinbe and Kawamatsu.
With Nereus's intervention, these individuals had generally grown far faster than in their original timelines. Compared to Arlong, both Jinbe and Kawamatsu had already fully mastered both forms of Haki—the foundational step toward achieving a qualitative leap in true strength.
As they were now, they were fully capable of handling any trouble that might arise in the first half of the Grand Line.
"Much obliged with a DON!"
Tom accepted the manifest. Glancing over the listed materials, he realized it was significantly more than he had requested.
Even though Tom possessed immense, monstrous physical strength, he alone couldn't resolve the issue of severed trade routes. At the end of the day, he wasn't a frontline combatant; he was just a shipwright with extraordinary muscles.
Compared to Jinbe and the others, Arlong—though he rarely spoke of it—harbored a much deeper yearning for human society. During his rotation stationed at the Sabaody Archipelago, Arlong had been a frequent, enthusiastic visitor to Sabaody Park.
Thus, after completing the handover, Arlong didn't immediately return to the ship. Instead, he began leisurely strolling around Water 7 until someone finally tracked him down.
"Well, well. If it isn't 'Shyarly's older brother.' You seem to be having quite a bit of fun here."
Jinbe, who was currently still sporting his youthful blond hair, suddenly appeared before Arlong. That specific title caused Arlong's foot to slip, nearly sending him tumbling to the ground.
Arlong genuinely felt that Fish-Man Island's traditional culture had ruined his life.
The culture of fortune-telling had always held an incredibly high, respected status on Fish-Man Island. Especially for fortune-tellers with a high degree of accuracy; they even possessed enough prestige to speak directly before the royal family.
After Nereus ascended to the throne, the status of fortune-tellers didn't drop significantly.
Although Nereus himself didn't rely on such things, it didn't stop him from weaponizing divination as a potent political tool. Before initiating any military campaign, he would broadcast overwhelmingly positive divination results to massively boost troop morale.
After all, the citizens of Fish-Man Island inherently believed in it. Moreover, Fish-Man Island's divination couldn't strictly be considered feudal superstition; it genuinely possessed a tangible, predictive function.
Major historical events or catastrophic disasters could truly be foreseen.
Because of this, the genius young fortune-teller Shyarly held a remarkably high status. And Arlong—sandwiched between highly renowned seniors, vastly superior peers, and utterly monstrous juniors—appeared incredibly mediocre by comparison.
This resulted in the title "Shyarly's older brother" becoming an inescapable label, practically manifesting as Arlong's personal psychological trauma.
Now a fully grown adult, things were fine among the new recruits. His attitude toward his fellow Fish-Men was actually quite good; if someone came to him with a problem and he could help, he would never refuse.
In the eyes of most new recruits, he was a solid, reliable senior, and he had even gathered a few loyal confidants of his own.
But the veterans? They still occasionally referred to him as "Shyarly's older brother." This was especially true for his close friends like Jinbe, who seemed to have almost entirely forgotten his actual name.
His yearning for the outside world, combined with the annoyance stemming from that moniker, spurred Arlong to actively join the Neptune Army's external deployment forces.
Although he lacked specialized abilities like invisibility, electricity generation, or flight, as a Sawshark Fish-Man, his baseline physical constitution and razor-sharp teeth made him an elite among ordinary soldiers. Deployed to the Four Blues, he could easily hold the rank of an officer.
With a few more years of growth, he certainly wouldn't remain a nameless nobody. At the very least, spurred on by the burning desire to reclaim his own name, he was currently working incredibly hard.
"Don't spout nonsense," Arlong shot back. "I am currently conducting an investigation into Water 7's economic situation, researching how His Majesty Nereus's grand policies can be implemented in this city."
"..."
While Jinbe strongly suspected Arlong was spouting absolute nonsense—especially considering his outfit clearly screamed 'tourist'—Arlong's words were laced with so much Fish-Man Island political correctness that Jinbe found it hard to refute him.
"As long as we can prove that we can safely transport lumber here, those shipyards will be begging on their knees to hand their business over to us!"
Jinbe's intuition was, in a sense, completely correct. Arlong was indeed spending money here.
Water 7's current economy was severely depressed, and the locals were struggling to get by.
Although Arlong's Fish-Man appearance was highly distinct, thanks to Tom's long-standing presence, Water 7 didn't harbor the intense xenophobia toward Fish-Men found elsewhere.
More importantly, Arlong had absolutely nowhere to spend his accumulated Neptune Army salary over the past few years. He originally intended to give some to Shyarly, only to discover that Shyarly was infinitely richer than him and had even recently bought out a storefront, preparing for her grand opening.
This resulted in Arlong being highly welcomed here—or rather, the Berries in his pocket were highly welcomed.
And through this process, Arlong had figured a few things out. When it came to fighting, he was admittedly inferior to Jinbe and the others.
But when it came to making money? Jinbe and the rest were completely clueless.
"The lumber for Mr. Tom hasn't been officially unloaded yet, right? You and Kawamatsu take that lumber and parade it around the outer waters and the inner canals a few times. Make sure everyone in this city sees it before you put it in the warehouse.
"Leave the rest to me. I've reviewed the Neptune Army's nautical charts; this area falls within our insurance service zone. This will not only increase our financial revenue but also expand our diplomatic contact with humans."
The Neptune Army units deployed externally inherently possessed mandates for this exact purpose: making appropriate contact with friendly nations and providing aid to shipwrecked vessels.
"You really should have waited to report for duty when Princess Nanamo was recruiting her Royal Guard," Jinbe sighed. "I'm absolutely certain the Princess would have valued you highly."
"I think you make an excellent point," Arlong replied seriously. "But unfortunately, Princess Nanamo doesn't recruit personal guards.
"Besides, I have other ambitions.
"Once I save up enough money, I'm going to lease a plot of land in Fish-Man Island's newly developed zone and build our very own Sabaody Park! When that day comes, all our brethren will be able to play there freely!"
"That's a rather wonderful dream," Jinbe smiled. "Though I feel like if you asked your sister for help, you might just—"
"SHUT UP! The amusement park is going to be named 'Arlong Park'! Not 'Shyarly Park'! I'd rather work myself to death than ask her for help!"
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