At the end of the year 1522 of the Sea Circle Calendar, Tiger’s ship approached Foolshout Island. Nearly a year and a half after Koala had been abducted, they had successfully brought her back near her hometown.
Foolshout Island had a relatively arid climate. Enormous cacti and strangely shaped rocks covered the island, and Koala’s hometown was a village located there.
“Come down. Do you still remember where your village is? I’ll take you to the entrance.”
“Over there!”
Tiger placed Koala on his shoulder and had her point out the direction. Behind them, on the ship, a group of Fish-Men were saying goodbye to her.
“Goodbye, kid!”
“Be careful, and don’t get kidnapped again!”
“You can come visit Fishman Island when you grow up! Mention our names at the office when you arrive!”
After spending several months together, they had grown quite fond of the child and gotten along very well with her.
“I’ll tell everyone in the village! There are lots of kind people among the Fish-Men! Goodbye!”
Tiger had never become wanted, Koala had not been sold to the Celestial Dragons, and the people in Koala’s village had not made some sort of deal with the Marines to persuade the Celestial Dragons to abandon their pursuit of Koala.
After delivering Koala to the village, Tiger received the gratitude of her relatives. Although quite a few people still gave him strange looks because of his appearance, Tiger paid no attention to it.
After spending so many years abroad, Tiger had witnessed all kinds of human nature. Some people madly persecuted their own compatriots to please others, while others were willing to risk their lives to help complete strangers, merely to uphold their own ideals.
Discrimination and equality—in North Blue, Tiger had witnessed even more facets of human nature.
In terms of faction, Tiger could be considered a dove on Fishman Island. Although Nereus’s intervention had strengthened him, he still advocated the principle of not actively causing slaughter. [TN: A dove faction (or simply “doves”) refers to a political, diplomatic, or economic group that advocates for peace, negotiation, conciliation, and diplomacy to resolve conflicts. The term is used in contrast to a “hawk” faction, which leans toward aggression, militarism, or strict monetary measures.]
It was precisely because of this philosophy that he had been sent to North Blue.
It was not exile. Rather, the situation in the Deul Kingdom at the time required someone like him to handle the aftermath.
Among the older generation, many people’s beliefs were deeply rooted and difficult to change.
Letting children like Koala see the truth and changing the prejudices of the next generation was exactly what Tiger now hoped to accomplish.
Koala was merely one example. As more people like her gradually appeared, the situation would also improve.
“I really want to see that wonderful future as soon as possible. Unfortunately… there are always some filthy parasites…”
Tiger stopped walking, his gaze continuously sweeping over the enormous cacti around him.
“Come out.”
Before he had even finished speaking, Tiger swung his fist at a cactus not far away. Cacti naturally stored a great deal of water inside them, and under the influence of Fish-Man Karate, the cactus exploded like a bomb.
The flying needles injured quite a few people and also exposed those hiding behind the cactus.
Tiger simply does not advocate slaughter; he does not believe in a non-violent non-cooperation where one takes a beating without fighting back.
“Cipher Pol agents and Marines. That’s quite a rare combination. What are you trying to do?”
Tiger could not tell which Cipher Pol branch the men in black suits belonged to, and he did not see any familiar high-ranking officers among the Marines. His Observation Haki even told him that all of them were extremely weak.
This only made Tiger even more confused about what these people intended to do.
Could a child as young as Koala really warrant a joint operation between the Marines and a Cipher Pol branch?
The leader of the Cipher Pol agents and the Rear Admiral leading the Marines did not answer Tiger’s question, mainly because their current situation made it rather difficult to respond.
The reason they had appeared here truly was related to Koala.
The slave ship’s final destination had been Mariejois, and before Tiger sank it, the ship had transmitted a distress signal. That was where the problem began.
Tiger and the others had used traditional tactics—an underwater surprise attack. This caused the slave ship to believe that it had struck a reef and damaged its hull.
By the time they discovered the truth that it was an attack by Fish-Men, it was already too late to send a new signal. Therefore, that group of slaves had been recorded as having disappeared in an accident.
Those slaves had already been carefully selected and were considered high-quality merchandise. To sell them for higher prices, records were also kept of the countries where they had previously lived.
The people behind the slave traders were still alive. Under the influence of their money, nearby Marine units and Cipher Pol branches would occasionally investigate those places based on the information, hoping to find traces of the missing slaves and make some extra money.
Strictly speaking, this was not something the Marines or Cipher Pol branches were supposed to do, but in this era, nothing they did was particularly surprising.
However, it was only now that they discovered the matter was connected to the Fish-Men.
They had landed on the island from a different direction than Tiger and had just happened to miss him. When they attempted to quietly withdraw, Tiger discovered them.
“I’ve seen that guy’s file… He’s Fishman Island’s representative in North Blue…”
The Marine Rear Admiral quietly recited Tiger’s information, while the Cipher Pol leader merely nodded without saying anything.
As an official who had spent years navigating the World Government bureaucracy, his combat ability might not compare to a Marine’s, but when it came to shifting blame, the Marines could not compare to him.
He did not even want to touch ordinary Fish-Men. Fewer agents than Marines had died at Nereus’s hands, but proportionally speaking, the Cipher Pol branches had suffered similarly devastating losses.
According to the Marines, this Fish-Man was also an important figure in the Ryugu Kingdom. If something happened here and turned into a major diplomatic incident…
If Nereus merely wanted to negotiate, that would be one thing. But if he attacked Mariejois again, then the person who had personally handed Nereus a justification for doing so might meet an unimaginably terrible end.
“We’re merely passing through.”
“Passing through?”
“That’s right. We received intelligence that a group of pirates will soon pass by this place. This is a joint operation targeting pirates and has nothing to do with you.”
Within a few seconds, the leader of the agents had fabricated an excuse. Out of the corner of his eye, he also happened to spot an inconspicuous ship sailing past on the horizon.
“That’s the ship! I clearly saw its pirate flag! After them!”
With that, he stopped paying Tiger any further attention and sprinted toward the shore on the other side at a speed even faster than someone fleeing for his life. The Marines were briefly stunned before hurriedly following the agents, leaving only Tiger standing there, questioning everything.
“I couldn’t even make out that flag… Could it be… I underestimated these guys?”
Tiger felt that something was very wrong, but he had no evidence.
He knew these people were not afraid of him, but of Nereus. Whether it was his absurd personal strength or his agreement with the World Government, both were enough to make them wary of the consequences.
Yet no matter how Tiger thought about it, their behavior was extremely abnormal.
After pondering for a moment, he turned back toward Koala’s village and left behind a Den Den Mushi.
“Something might be wrong. If any trouble occurs, use this to contact me.”
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