Chapter 21 Collusion! Navy and Pirates!
After reading the letter, Koushirou squinted his eyes into a slit.
Ichiro Tsuchimon was puzzled, wondering what the contents of the letter had made even the usually gentle and kind Koushirou angry.
Koushirou carefully put away the letter and said calmly, "I understand. Give it to him!"
Ichiro Tsuchiya looked completely bewildered. What did that mean?
"Where's Zoro?" Koushirou asked.
"ha?"
Suddenly remembering that Zoro had run off in the wrong direction carrying the Boar King, Ichiro Tsuchiya quickly said, "That idiot, I'll go find him!"
Merchant ships are docked on the coast.
"Captain Brandy, who are we waiting for here?"
"Ah, well, I don't know either. Anyway, Mrs. Sieg instructed us to wait for that person to board the ship and then follow his orders."
"Hey, ship, captain, there's someone coming towards us! So fast, wait, it looks like he's jumping in the air."
"Wow, it's true! That's amazing!"
Amid the crew's exclamations, Captain Brandy turned his head and saw a figure flash before his eyes. In the blink of an eye, a young man wearing a light gray shirt and blue knee-length shorts appeared on the ship.
He was tall and slender, nearly two meters high, with short black hair. Having not been exposed to the wind and sun at sea for two years, his skin was much fairer than before. What was most striking about him were his black eyes, calm as the ocean and deep as an abyss.
"Who is Brandy?" Lister's gaze swept across the crowd and landed on the blond middle-aged man.
"I, I am!" Captain Brandy said quickly.
"Politaya asked you to wait for me, didn't she? Time is of the essence, let's set sail!"
"Yes, yes!"
Captain Brandy immediately ordered the crew to anchor, hoist the sails, and set sail. He wasn't worried about mistaking someone, because being able to call out the name "Politaya" was proof of his identity. After all, Politaya was the most distinguished woman in Shells, and people mostly called her "Mrs. Sieg" or "Colonel's wife."
"Sir, um, may I ask our course..."
"Sea area under the jurisdiction of the 16th Naval Division."
"Huh?" Captain Brandy hesitated, then said, "Sir, I heard that a group of vicious pirates has come to that area..."
Before he could finish speaking, his body trembled, because the young man was looking at him, and that look put immense pressure on him. He quickly said, "Yes, I will obey your orders, sir."
The East China Sea is quite vast and has numerous islands. In order to effectively manage the ocean and curb pirate raids, the World Government has established a navy with nearly two hundred branches in the East China Sea.
Starting from the island closest to the Red Line's Reverse Mountain, the numbers radiate outwards. The lower the number, the closer it is to the Grand Line, and the stronger the overall strength of the navy.
Each branch governs a sea area of varying sizes, but at least ten islands, some with one village per island, and others with several villages per island.
The current supreme commander of the 16th Naval Division is Colonel Rat.
Colonel Rat was wearing a hoodie-like jacket with two round ears on the hood. His face under the brim looked very much like a rat. He was counting a stack of Berries with a lewd smile on his face. Opposite him sat a tall, blue-skinned fishman.
Colonel Rat said in a sinister voice, "One million Berries? We agreed on 30%, and the cargo on that ship is worth at least 10 million Berries, right, Arlong?"
"Hahaha!"
Arlong laughed loudly, then stopped abruptly. He pressed his arm against his thigh, leaned forward, looked at Colonel Rat, and said, "The information you provided is wrong. There was a human on that ship who injured more than ten of my comrades. If we hadn't cooperated for a while, I would have suspected you were doing it on purpose! How dare a mere human defy the great Fish-man warrior! My people are furious, Colonel Rat!"
Under the oppressive aura of Arlong, Colonel Rat was covered in sweat and hurriedly said, "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, it's definitely a misunderstanding."
"I believe this is a misunderstanding, so I'm personally delivering the money to you. It's only 20%, I need to appease my people!"
"Of course, of course!" Colonel Rat forced a forced smile.
"I hope there will be fewer misunderstandings like this, so as not to affect our friendship. If the intelligence is accurate next time, there will still be a 30% chance. If another accident occurs, my angry clansmen will definitely tear you to pieces."
The Colonel Rat was trembling with fear.
Arlong stood up, utterly disdainful of Colonel Rat's behavior, and turned around to say, "Humans are so fragile!"
He stepped out of the house, where stood the executives of the Arlong Pirates: the Soft-Bone Fishman Kuroobi and the Kissing Fishman Chu.
Arlong glanced at the trembling marines holding their guns, completely unconcerned, and said, "Let's go!"
They went from the cabin to the deck and jumped into the sea.
As the marines breathed a sigh of relief, shame made them lower their heads.
boom!
The sea trembled, and the distant reefs that had emerged from the sea crumbled, sending waves soaring seven or eight meters high.
"Ah, so this is a Fish-man! What terrifying power!"
"Fighting them in the sea, you have no chance of winning, right?"
"snort!"
Colonel Rat appeared on the deck at some point and said, "Arlong, from the Grand Line, with a bounty of 20 million Berries, has replaced Red-Leg Zeff, the captain of the Chef Pirates who went to the Grand Line, becoming the highest-bounty pirate in the East Blue. He was originally a member of the Sun Pirates, now the New Sun Pirates, and is a crewmate of Jinbe, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. This guy has the legal right to plunder granted by the World Government. In other words, what we're doing is permitted by the World Government, do you understand? Hehehe..."
"But what they robbed was clearly…" a marine couldn't help but say.
"Um?"
Colonel Rat looked at him.
"Yes, I understand!"
"I know you all have a heart for justice, but, won't you die? Fighting these Fish-man that even headquarters can't handle, won't you die? Think about it, your parents and children will be left all alone and miserable. Since the World Government condones their existence, why should we invite trouble upon ourselves?"
Colonel Rat pulled out the stack of Berries and handed it to his adjutant: "Take this and distribute it to everyone!"
The marines cheered as they received the money.
"Hehehe..." Colonel Rat chuckled sinisterly.
Arlong and his group returned to the Shark Spab. He stood at the bow of the ship and looked out at the seaside buildings under construction.
"Jinbe, I'm right. Humans are just an inferior race, born to be ruled by fish-men. Humans rebelling against fish-men is tantamount to defying the laws of nature!"
Arlong, brimming with confidence, rampaged through the weakest of the four seas, the East Sea, dreaming of the day he would establish the "Evil Dragon Empire".
"Brother Long, Hachi is back!"
Arlong turned around, and Octopus Hachi boarded the ship.
"Brother Arlong!"
"Hey, Hachi, where's that woman?" Kuroobi asked, arms crossed.
Hachi has six arms, a mouth shaped like a trumpet, and multiple strands of silver-gray hair that resemble a five-pointed starfish. He also has the sun symbol, representing the "Sun Pirates," tattooed in the center of his forehead.
"woman?"
"Didn't Brother Arlong tell you to go find that woman?" Chu said.
Hachi scratched his head: "Ah, I remember now, I couldn't find it!"
"You clearly didn't go looking for it!" Kuroobi and Chu shouted, pointing at Hachi.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I fell asleep because I was too sleepy." Hachi said with an honest face.
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