“What do you mean by… a change of environment?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. I recognize your professional abilities, but I’m planning to have you work somewhere else. Sabaody Archipelago or Fishman Island, perhaps even Water 7. Our development over there has been progressing quite quickly lately.”
At present, the tracks for the first Sea Train line had already been completed, and the results could only be described as exceptionally good. The convenience of a fixed railway had greatly improved Water 7’s commercial environment.
The remaining railway lines were also being laid at full speed.
As business recovered, Water 7’s business environment was changing as well.
Fishman Island had already made arrangements there. Before things such as land prices rose, they had begun acquiring properties and were now recruiting people to help manage their businesses.
“The environment is safe. No matter where it is, as long as it’s our territory, we have the ability to protect the local employees. To be frank, the Grand Line really isn’t as peaceful as the Four Seas, but that depends on who you have backing you.
Over there, things won’t be any more turbulent than they are for you in North Blue.”
“That isn’t a problem, but I also have a younger sister…”
“Bring her with you. We’ll make proper arrangements. The salary we provide is enough for one person to support a family of three.”
Tesoro spoke with Monet for a while longer and successfully signed an employment agreement with her.
Following the purge in North Blue, Fishman Island also made changes to its personnel assignments.
Otohime continued working in North Blue, but Jinbe was no longer responsible for North Blue’s defense work and received orders to return to Fishman Island.
North Blue’s military affairs would instead be handled by the newly dispatched Namur, who would become Otohime’s new partner after Jinbe.
Monet left North Blue together with her younger sister Sugar and Tesoro, eventually taking a position as secretary in a newly established department in Water 7.
The chaos in North Blue had been suppressed, but it had not disappeared completely. The source of the chaos was still there, and in corners no one noticed, shadows continued to grow. They simply could not raise their heads again anytime soon.
As the executor of the purge, the Ryugu Kingdom held the initiative in many matters and had managed to establish stable freight routes throughout North Blue.
Using the excellent ports of Flevance and the Deul Kingdom, combined with its own powerful maritime shipping capabilities, it distributed goods from all over the world throughout North Blue.
The world seemed to be moving forward in a relatively steady manner. The number of pirates had not decreased, yet it still conformed to the “balance” envisioned by the World Government. Everything appeared to be developing within a range they could accept.
Several months later, in the year 1529 of the Sea Circle Calendar, East Blue.
Although both were regions being developed by the Ryugu Kingdom, East Blue and North Blue presented two entirely different pictures.
North Blue had begun developing earlier, and through the new trade routes established during the purge, it had built something more akin to a commercial empire.
East Blue had started developing later, but the Ryugu Park constructed by Arlong had proven to be a successful project.
Nearly a year had passed since it officially opened, and it had already become a household name in East Blue as a premier entertainment destination. It could be said that Arlong really had built a unique “entertainment empire.”
At this moment, Arlong was also studying the orders sent over from Fishman Island.
It wasn’t that there was anything difficult to understand in what was written. Rather, Arlong was pondering something else.
Amusement parks and concerts had both been uniformly categorized under the entertainment industry. Since matters like concerts had originally been managed by Nanamo, affairs concerning Ryugu Park had likewise been assigned to Nanamo.
In other words, Nanamo was now technically Arlong’s direct superior.
Such a simple personnel reassignment should not have been a major matter, but Arlong could never forget Shyarly’s prophecy.
Because he believed in divination, no matter what happened, Arlong would always try to fit it into the prophecy himself. Once he did, he would feel that the accuracy of the fortune-telling had become even higher, thus beginning another cycle.
If there was anything unexpected, it was Jack.
Since there hadn’t been any armed conflict before, Arlong had at most thought Jack was a little simple-minded.
But as Ryugu Park’s fame continued to grow, some pirates naturally set their sights on the place as well.
There weren’t many pirates in East Blue as knowledgeable as Buggy. Some came over simply intending to make a quick fortune by robbing the place.
And then…
Jack, who was on duty, sounded the alarm before heading straight toward the enemy pirate ship by himself.
Instead of using the safest tactic of destroying the ship from underwater, Jack approached the pirate ship, boarded it directly, and charged in alone.
By the time reinforcements arrived, Jack had already taken care of everyone by himself, and he was barely even breathing hard. In his eyes, a battle of this scale could only be considered a warm-up at best.
Arlong was also convinced that even if Jack ate a Devil Fruit, it wouldn’t have much impact on his fighting style.
Despite being a Fish-Man, he preferred fighting on land and hardly made use of his natural underwater advantages.
Thinking of this, Arlong walked over to the window, picked up binoculars, and looked toward the distant sky. A black dot seemed to be diving downward.
“Hachi! Are there pirates again?”
“Nyuuuuu, how did you know, Boss Arlong? I was just about to report it to you. But those pirates only have a combined bounty of three million Berry. Jack already rushed over, so he should be able to handle it.”
“Get the cleanup team ready. If that brat gets carried away and sinks to the bottom again, remember to fish him out.”
Arlong rubbed his eyebrows, looking somewhat helpless.
Although they were stationed in East Blue, they would sometimes venture near the first half of the Grand Line and operate in the waters around Alabasta.
Recently, a figure codenamed Joker had appeared in the Underworld of the first half of the Grand Line.
Arlong didn’t know who Joker was, but he heard that a group of pirates was going to trade a Devil Fruit with him, so he led some men over and robbed them of the fruit.
After comparing it with information in several Devil Fruit encyclopedias, he handed it over to Jack.
In a certain sense, that fruit suited Jack’s needs perfectly.
The ability to fly, membrane-like wings similar to a bat’s, and the power to further enhance Jack’s physique.
Zoan-type—Ancient Zoan—Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Pteranodon.
Because of a certain lingering obsession deep in his heart, Jack’s Human-Beast Form was completely different from King’s in the original timeline. Aside from his limbs becoming bestial, the wings emerged from his back.
However, due to the biological characteristics of a pteranodon, transforming like this gave Jack the feeling of having “four arms.”
As for why Arlong had Hachi arrange for a cleanup team to be ready to fish him out, the reason was simple—Jack’s fighting habits.
At this moment, Jack was diving from high altitude at tremendous speed in his Beast Form. His own massive build made the Pteranodon he transformed into extraordinarily huge, like a giant transport aircraft hurtling straight downward, using his own body as a bomb.
Zoan transformations already increased one’s size, and the pirate ship itself wasn’t particularly large. The pteranodon Jack had transformed into was actually even bigger than the enemy pirate ship. Jack crashed down headfirst and took out both the ship and everyone aboard in a single blow.
The price was that the tremendous momentum sent him plunging straight into the sea, where the cleanup team promptly fished him out.
Even a Fish-Man would lose all strength after eating a Devil Fruit and sinking into the sea. Although they could still breathe and didn’t have to worry about suffocating, they would still have to rely on their companions.
“Jack, I know you really like your Devil Fruit ability, but don’t forget about the weaknesses of ability users. You’re a grouper Fish-Man, not His Majesty Nereus.
What are you going to do if you dive headfirst into the sea like that when there aren’t any of your people nearby?”
“But you guys are here, aren’t you?”
“That’s still no good! Once a fighting habit becomes ingrained, it’s troublesome to fix. Against trash like these East Blue pirates, you can fight however you want.
But your stage isn’t here. As a talented young man, your future stage is on the Grand Line! At His Majesty’s side! When you’re fighting those real monsters, this habit of yours is going to get you into trouble!”
Arlong greatly appreciated Jack’s regard for his fellow Fish-Men and companions, but he still objected to Jack’s fighting habits. Yet Jack’s next words made Arlong question everything all over again.
“It’s fine. Besides, doing it this way lets the cleanup team share in the collective military merits too. Otherwise, if I handled everything by myself, that wouldn’t be right.”
A pair of wings popped out from Jack’s back. After a running start, he caught the wind and flew back into the sky.
“Hachi, do you think this kid’s stupidity… is actually an act?”
Arlong considered himself quite good at reading people. Whether someone was greedy, whether the words they spoke were sincere—he could usually tell.
Jack alone was impossible for him to figure out. Arlong simply couldn’t understand the way his mind worked.
Why was he sometimes absurdly straightforward, yet at other times displayed remarkable political intelligence?
“Nyuuuuu, Boss Arlong, I don’t understand either.”
“Forget it. Let him do what he wants. He’s one of us anyway.”
Arlong turned his attention back to the amusement park project. He understood very well that an amusement park needed innovation. It couldn’t rely on the same old attractions forever; every so often, something new had to be added.
That was why plenty of room for expansion had been reserved when it was originally built, leaving a great deal of flexibility.
“Let’s add a prehistoric dinosaur section too. People in East Blue have never seen a Prehistoric Island, so it should have plenty of appeal.”
Arlong paid attention to the visitors’ suggestion box and made adjustments to some attractions based on the feedback. Unfortunately, some people still missed the spectacular circus performance from opening day, but after that circus troupe left, it had never returned.
Following the principle that clowns all looked about the same once they put on makeup, Arlong was currently recruiting people and planning to organize another circus troupe to handle entertainment performances.
While Arlong was studying the proposal, a parcel wrapped in a mass of compressed air came flying toward them and landed neatly on an open space that had been prepared in advance.
The paw-shaped marks surrounding it made it obvious that this was the power of the Paw-Paw Fruit. Kuma’s ability was not only suited for combat; it was also extremely versatile in everyday life, and sometimes he could even use it to deliver some extra express packages.
Kuma would periodically return to Fishman Island and send things akin to “express packages” to the Ryugu Kingdom’s territories in the outer seas.
This was the shipment Arlong had ordered. Besides everyday necessities, it also contained more advanced Navigator books. The more he learned, the more Arlong realized that Nami was a treasure.
Learning navigation involved a great deal of geography and mathematics, and combined with her love of money, Nami was also extremely sensitive to numbers and very good at accounting.
Perhaps because of the environment she had grown up in, she was also quite familiar with underhanded tricks and knew a lot about petty theft. Sometimes she could even catch pickpockets in the amusement park.
After all, people in the same line of work often understood the inner workings better than their opponents did.
Once the main construction of the amusement park was complete, there was naturally no longer a need for so many construction workers. However, a large number of staff positions had opened up instead, and most of those hired were locals who could begin work after some basic training.
Genzo, for example, was still Cocoyasi’s sheriff, but he also worked as the amusement park’s head of security, maintaining order on a daily basis.
Because of Nami’s talent, Arlong allowed her and her family to play around the park freely. From time to time, Nami would spot people with dishonest hands.
Kuroobi had even discovered by accident that Nami had some talent for learning Fish-Man Karate.
Her gift for sensing changes in the moisture in the air, once trained, corresponded to the most important foundational aspect of Fish-Man Karate—controlling the moisture in the atmosphere.
However, on the one hand, Nami wasn’t interested, and on the other, Arlong had no need for a human who had mastered Fish-Man Karate.
The Ryugu Kingdom had no shortage of experts in that field. No matter how talented a human was at it, the most they could do was reach roughly the same level as a Fish-Man. That was far less valuable than an exceptionally gifted Navigator, so no one bothered training her in that direction.
Meanwhile, in the mountains behind Foosha Village, not too far from Cocoyasi Village, perhaps through coincidence or perhaps through the choice of the fruit itself, Luffy—who had already eaten the Gum-Gum Fruit not long ago—met Ace and Sabo at Dadan’s hideout.
After going through a number of things together, the three had already sworn brotherhood and begun talking eagerly about setting out to sea. They had even agreed to go to the amusement park together.
In the end, Garp had failed to guide Luffy onto the path of becoming a Marine. Or rather, perhaps that was only natural. With Garp’s teaching methods, not wanting to become a Marine was the normal outcome.
After Red Hair appeared, Luffy had already set foot on the path of pirates.
As the person who had set Luffy on that path, Shanks was currently not in Foosha Village, nor was he even in East Blue.
For the Red-Haired Pirates, Foosha Village had only ever been a base of operations. East Blue, South Blue, and the first half of the Grand Line were all within their range of activity.
Their current destination was Elegia, located in the first half of the Grand Line and known as the joyful Island of Music.
Because Uta loved music, Shanks had deliberately brought her to this country so she could learn more about it.
Although it was called a kingdom, the place felt more like a grand opera troupe. Gordon, as the king, served as the conductor of this orchestra, while the rest of the citizens were its members.
The streets sold all kinds of musical instruments, schools taught various branches of music theory, and the citizens would gather in the same opera house to perform together.
The people were simple and warmhearted, and they were very welcoming toward outsiders. As soon as Uta arrived in Elegia, she began sitting in on music classes there.
While Uta attended her lessons, Shanks wandered around the country. But as he strolled about, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure.
“Miss Nanamo? What are you doing here?”
“Hm? You’re… oh, Red-Haired Shanks. Of course I’m here for… a state visit. What else could it be?”
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