“They’re pirates.”
“Of course we’ve known that for a long time, but so what? We’re a non-affiliated nation. The Marines won’t care whether we live or die, and pirates will plunder us. Out on this sea, the only ones we can rely on are ourselves.
It wasn’t until we raised the flag of the Beasts Pirates that we finally found our own peace. We’ve accepted their protection for fifteen years, and in those fifteen years, the population of our island has doubled! Do you know what that means?”
A stable environment increased the birth rate, improved medical care reduced infant mortality and accidental deaths, and the protection of a pirate flag kept them away from war.
“You Marines claim to stand for justice, so when those World Nobles hunt humans for fun, what are you doing? If I hadn’t gone out fishing that day and run into a storm, I’d already be dead by now.
Your justice is just the justice of those nobles. It has nothing to do with people like us who struggle on the brink of death.”
Another worker beside him chimed in, then continued, “I don’t understand all that big talk. I know what pirates are like, and I know exactly what you Marines are like.
The Beasts Pirates’ flag lets us live well, so we support them. It’s that simple.
If you want to destroy all this, then you’re our enemy!”
“They’re just deceiving you, trying to enslave you better!”
“If you call working eight hours a day, with food and housing provided, triple pay for overtime, free treatment for work injuries, and monthly holidays ‘enslavement,’ then I’m more than willing to be enslaved.”
Physical pain could be endured, but the words of those workers inflicted a deep, indelible wound on Koby at a mental level.
In other seas, people feared pirates and welcomed the Marines.
But that was because those were affiliated nations, territories under Marine jurisdiction. When he came to regions far from the World Government’s rule, the people’s hatred toward the Marines was far greater than the harm caused by pirate attacks.
The grip of the workers on Koby tightened more and more, and Holed’em drew closer and closer. Koby finally stopped hesitating and forcibly broke free from their restraint, but it was already too late.
“I thought you had some kind of trump card hidden, but turns out you’re just a hesitant fool?”
The massive lion paw swiped at Koby’s head, and a surge of freakish strength smashed him directly into a pile of construction debris nearby.
“Waste of time. The Marines really are getting worse with each generation. You lot, your wages are increased fivefold. Go back to work.”
Though they hadn’t played a decisive role, Holed’em was confident he could deal with Koby even if they had done nothing, the fact remained that they had delayed Koby for quite a while. What was due to them had to be given.
Even the officers of the Beasts Pirates didn’t dare break this rule. It was an order established with absolute ironclad measures when the Beasts Pirates were first founded.
“Lord Holed’em, what should we do with this kid? Kill him or send him back to the prison on Onigashima?”
“The Marines’ new hero… he might still have some value. It’d be a waste to kill him like this. Lock him up for now. I’ll report it and see what the higher-ups want to do.”
“Then I’ll go make the arrangements.”
“What arrangements? There aren’t any return ships lately. Is this brat worth sending a ship just for him? Wouldn’t that require manpower? How much would that delay things?
Or do you want to request an air transport just for trash like this?
Lock him up here for now. Once the work is done, we’ll take him back. What kind of trouble could someone this weak possibly cause?”
Using their moves, the Graveler on the island constructed a crude rock prison, and Holed’em’s report was sent back to Wano Country.
“Boss Babanuki, intelligence from Holed’em.”
“Holed’em? Isn’t he busy with construction?”
“He says he’s captured the Marines’ new hero and is holding him there for now. He’ll send him back after everything’s finished.”
“Is that so… Let me think. Given the situation, I’ll report it to Lord Queen.”
After a moment of thought, Babanuki decided which superior to report to. He was also one of the officers not present at the venue.
The Udon mining site was itself a prison, and the warden rarely took leave.
Right now, he was still guiding visitors. He had never expected that anyone would come to tour a place like this.
And the ones who had come here were the father and son, Jabull, who had decided to visit on Scotch’s suggestion.
From the moment they arrived, Babanuki had already guessed who they wanted to see.
“Is that guy a relative of yours?”
Comparing him to Caribou, who was currently mining, Babanuki fell into deep thought. Caribou and the young Jabull in his prime, if not exactly identical, there was practically no difference at all. [TN: Jabull is here Gaburu or Gabull. Since there was no context in previous chapters, I thought it’s an original character. I will be using Gabull in place of Jabull from next chapters.]
At the same time, little Jabull had the same doubt.
“Dad… you don’t happen to have some illegitimate child out there, do you?”
“What nonsense are you talking about? I’ve never even left our island, this is my first time. Even if there really were some connection, it’d be something your grandfather did.”
“Don’t overthink it, you two. I was just saying it casually. There are plenty of lookalikes out at sea. If you sail often, you’ll realize this kind of thing isn’t strange at all.
Scotch probably just wanted you to have a laugh. There’s nothing worth seeing here, go somewhere else.”
With that, Babanuki sent them off. He was an old member of the crew and knew the Jabull father and son.
Though not as familiar as Scotch, exchanging a few words wasn’t a problem.
However, even after the Jabull duo left, Babanuki still hadn’t received a reply from Queen. Not wanting to delay anything, he immediately called over a subordinate and sent him to Onigashima, then turned to look at Caribou.
“What are you staring at? Get back to work!”
Some time later, Onigashima.
“Lord Queen! Lord Queen! There’s a new situation!”
The pirate sent by Babanuki quickly found Queen. Yamato and Kaido were happily engaging in their usual father-and-child “communication,” aiming to smash each other’s heads, while Arceus had just left Onigashima with Shayna aboard Genesis.
With all of them absent, such matters naturally fell under the management of the Calamity-level officers.
King was in the Reverse World, Olga was in charge of transporting guests, so the easiest people to find were Jack and Queen.
There was no point in going to Jack. He could usually only handle fighting, so the matter ultimately fell to Queen.
“Huh? For something this small, couldn’t you have just had that brat Babanuki send a message?”
“He did. You didn’t check it.”
“…Muhahaha! That brat handled it well. Just do it that way. Oh, the new ranking battle is about to begin! This brave warrior is challenging a single-digit officer! Let’s see if he can succeed!”
Queen cleverly changed the subject, turning back to continue livestreaming the match, barely even looking at the contents of the message before approving their decision.
By this time, people on Onigashima had also begun departing one after another. For example, Katakuri.
The upcoming events required Charlotte Linlin’s personal participation, so he had to return to Whole Cake Island before then. After all, their combat strength wasn’t abundant. They weren’t as well-staffed with top-tier fighters as the Beasts Pirates.
“Are they similar to Homies? But they are far more powerful than Homies, and the source of those mysterious ingredients is finally clearer. It really can’t be replicated.”
Information from the seas, what he had seen in Wano Country, and the earlier ceremony; all of it naturally connected in Katakuri’s mind.
As a member of the Big Mom Pirates, he interpreted everything through his own perspective.
Aside from Zeus and the few Homies formed from Charlotte Linlin’s own soul, other Homies required periodic input of lifespan to be maintained. They were dependents that existed by relying on Charlotte Linlin’s power.
But the Pokémon of the Beasts Pirates clearly possessed far greater autonomy, along with far more diverse abilities.
Originally, after Arceus and Kaido had both left, Katakuri had planned to withdraw as well, but the ranking battle here caught his attention.
Earlier, he had witnessed the battle between Yamato and Redfield, but that level of combat had nothing to do with him. This ranking battle, however, showed him the true foundation of the Beasts Pirates.
Double-digit officers were manageable, his brothers and sisters still had people who could deal with them, but once it reached single digits, the skyrocketing strength made even him feel it would be difficult to handle. Most importantly, the lowest-numbered one he had seen take action so far was No. 4.
The Calamity-level officers hadn’t even made a move. Given the current situation, if a conflict were to break out, their top-tier combat power would collapse instantly, because in terms of numbers, they were already at a disadvantage.
Against opponents of the same level, two against one meant an absolute advantage.
“Mama… you really must… stay calm.”
Katakuri rubbed his forehead, deciding that after returning, he would try to persuade Charlotte Linlin properly, urging her not to do anything too outrageous. An alliance was already the most favorable situation for them.
From the current situation, the alliance itself was a decision Kaido made out of old ties and a desire to expand his forces.
But no matter what, he could only advise. Unless he could defeat Charlotte Linlin, she remained the absolute authority within the Big Mom Pirates. Others could only make suggestions, if Charlotte Linlin made up her mind to do something, there was nothing they could do.
After finding Olga, she arranged for the aerial unit of Millennial Dragons to send him back first to the waters of Totto Land.
Everything in Wano Country was generally still proceeding according to plan, but the same could not be said for other forces.
For example, at the Marine G14 branch, when the agreed time arrived and Koby still hadn’t sent back any message, the SWORD team temporarily stationed there all showed troubled expressions.
This could only mean one thing. Koby, who had infiltrated enemy territory, had already encountered danger.
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