The document made of parchment bore patterns symbolizing the local royal family, along with the kingdom’s administrative seal. If they wanted to make it even more official, these documents should also have been notarized and filed with the World Government.
When kingdoms traded with one another, they were also happy to let the World Government act as the broker. At least in situations like this, the World Government was still considered trustworthy in the eyes of most people.
However, the World Government was essentially a makeshift organization Imu had put together because they were too lazy to personally deal with too many matters, and its efficiency was extremely low.
When Noland applied for permission to enter the Grand Line, the approval process could be stalled for years. Because of that, the various kingdoms often settled such matters privately.
As long as the Heavenly Tribute was paid in full, the World Government did not care much about what the people below were doing.
“Fifty years?”
Jack stood by the ship’s railing. The bottle of strong liquor he had brought from the Sabaody Archipelago was already empty. He seemed unable to understand why the number was fifty years.
Citizens of Fishman Island who were fourteen or fifteen years old were still considered children by most people, but in reality, these children were already no different from adults. People like Shyarly and Jack were already doing the same things as grown-ups.
Some habits were the same as well, such as the bubble pipe Shyarly had somehow picked up smoking at some point.
Jack did not smoke, but he had quite an interest in strong liquor. Arlong did not mind him drinking, but he would always keep an eye on Jack and prevent him from drinking too much.
For no other reason than that Arlong was worried he would not be able to handle Jack if the boy got drunk and went on a drunken fit.
“Fifty years is enough. Who knows what this place will look like fifty years from now? Our people can leave when the term expires, but by then, we need to make the locals miss us and be reluctant to see us go.
Though by then, I should already be retired.”
Jack said nothing and simply stared at the waves on the sea.
The waters of the Four Seas were completely different from those of the Grand Line. They lacked that savage, violent force. Even on windy days, these waters were extremely calm in the eyes of Fish-Men.
Compared to the massive tsunamis in the New World that could easily destroy everything, these waves were nothing more than children playing house.
After confirming their destination, the group set sail toward their target once their resupply was complete. Some time later, they arrived at the location marked with a circle on the sea chart.
“Nyuuuuu, Boss Arlong, that village… doesn’t look very wealthy.”
In the distance, the faint outline of smoke curling upward from kitchen chimneys gradually appeared, and a village came into view.
Cocoyasi Village, a village with a somewhat tropical climate.
A prosperous port town would not be so easy to operate in. Even bribery would not necessarily be enough to settle everything. But a small village like Cocoyasi was different.
In fact, Arlong had deliberately selected it.
Being poor was actually an advantage under these circumstances. Poverty meant looser order. It meant the kingdom had little control over the area, with only a tax collector visiting once a year.
The residents here also have a much vaguer concept of the kingdom, far from reaching the level of control Nereus has over the Ryugu Kingdom.
What Arlong needed was not the obvious income that a prosperous port could bring, but a stretch of land that was sufficiently barren, sufficiently remote, yet happened to connect to a shipping route.
When the ship docked, the noise on the pier noticeably dropped by several levels.
It was not the panic people showed upon seeing pirates. Rather, the unusual appearances of the crew members made them somewhat frightened.
The fishing nets hanging out to dry were still dripping with water, ropes used to tie up fishing boats lay scattered across the pier, and several porters dressed in coarse linen clothing looked nervously at the people disembarking from the ship.
There was nothing that could be done about it. Appearances like Nereus’s and Jack’s, which were no different from humans, were the minority among Fish-Men. Those like Arlong and Hachi, with distinct features, were actually the majority.
However, Arlong paid no attention to those looks. Appearance did not represent everything. The purpose of their coming here was precisely to dispel the fear brought about by the unknown.
Unlike the Arlong of the original timeline, who simply wanted to display his superiority and gain satisfaction from the weak, the current Arlong had peaceful intentions.
“Don’t be afraid, everyone. We’ll be getting along for a long time from now on. My name is Arlong. I come from the Ryugu Kingdom in the Grand Line.”
At that moment, a man wearing a brown uniform, with a pistol tucked at his waist and a pinwheel stuck on his head, stepped forward.
“Who are you, and what are you doing here?!”
“Hey, hey, hey, that’s pretty rude. Didn’t I already introduce myself to you?”
“My name is Genzo, the sheriff of Cocoyasi Village.”
Only then did Genzo realize that Arlong had already stated where he came from. As a sheriff who happened to share his name with Yamato’s kanabo, Genzo was essentially something like the village chief of Cocoyasi Village, the highest-ranking official this small village could come into contact with. [TN: The Chinese name of Takeru and Genzo is same.]
“Good. If you’re the sheriff, then you should recognize this.”
Arlong stepped forward, took out the signed agreement, and displayed it in front of Genzo.
Looking at the clearly marked royal seal on it, along with the signature of a kingdom minister below, Genzo still found it difficult to believe.
“This…”
“If you think it’s forged, you’re welcome to verify it. But this is already an established fact that cannot be changed. Starting today, this village and the surrounding area will all fall under our jurisdiction.”
As he spoke, Arlong took another coin from his clothes. It was not a Berry coin, but a gold coin minted from gold of fairly high purity.
He spun it in the sunlight. The gold coin traced an arc through the air and landed precisely in the pocket on the left side of Genzo’s chest.
“A little greeting gift. I don’t want anything unpleasant to happen, so you’d better cooperate with us. Please notify everyone in the village. Otherwise, it won’t be good for anyone.
We won’t enter the village today. You have the entire afternoon and all night to let the whole village know about this. But for the time being, the docks belong to us.”
With that, Arlong waved his hand and led Hachi and the others back onto the ship. They began unloading various things and setting up camp by the docks.
An environment like this, right beside the water, suited Fish-Men perfectly.
Looking at the copy of the document Arlong had given him, Genzo was deeply conflicted. As the sheriff here, Genzo had no real connections and had no way to contact any high-ranking officials.
Otherwise, in the original timeline, Genzo would not have been unable even to find a channel through which to report Arlong, leaving him with no choice but to live under Arlong’s rule.
All he could do was call and ask his own superior. As for when he would receive a response, even Genzo had no idea.
Still, low-ranking though he was, Genzo was nevertheless a grassroots official and naturally knew a few methods for distinguishing genuine documents from fake ones. Judging by the methods he knew, there was an eighty- or ninety-percent chance this thing was real.
After posting an account of what had happened on the notice board in the center of the village, and telling some villagers to remember to go take a look, Genzo headed toward the other side, away from the village center.
Behind a small house grew a large number of mikan trees. A pink-haired woman was working in the mikan grove. When Genzo passed the third row of trees, he saw the scissors in the woman’s hand snip through a diseased branch with a crisp click.
“Belle-mère.”
The woman did not turn around. She merely tossed the cut branch into the bamboo basket at her feet. The basket was already full, green and yellow leaves mixed together, giving off the bitter scent of juice.
“What are you doing here at my place in broad daylight?”
Notice: 50% Discount for T5 tier. Available till 7/10. Code: 5DB4A
You can read ahead upto 45 chapters on my patreon and I’ve also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon.