“Join you?”
“That’s right. The Ryugu Kingdom recruits exceptional talent from all over the world. You’re a natural-born Navigator, so of course we need someone like you.
Besides, don’t you want to draw a sea chart of the entire world? Only the Fish-Men and Merfolk can truly help you realize that dream.
There are certain sea currents whose flow you’ll never figure out without our help.”
Arlong had trained Nami precisely because he hoped she would serve the Ryugu Kingdom. Now that she was beginning to show promise, he naturally extended an invitation.
“Taking such a young child away to another country isn’t very appropriate, Mr. Arlong.”
“Belle-mère? Don’t make it sound so unpleasant. This isn’t kidnapping. If nothing else, our country ranks first in the world when it comes to combating human trafficking.
I’m merely recruiting talent. Your daughter’s gift is no small thing.
Are you sure you won’t consider joining us? The salary is generous, the benefits are excellent, and there are even allowances for family members.”
A monetary offensive remained Arlong’s favored tactic. Rather than making empty promises, Arlong preferred to discuss salary cleanly and directly.
“We can talk about that in the future. Compared to the dangers of the Grand Line, this peaceful little village in East Blue is pretty nice!”
A battle in East Blue had nearly cost Belle-mère her life. Even though she had never visited the Grand Line, she could imagine how dangerous it was, so naturally she did not want Nami going to such a place.
Arlong merely smiled without saying anything. Nami was still young, so Belle-mère could keep her under control for now, but what about in the future?
It was perfectly normal for young people to leave their hometowns in pursuit of their dreams.
At worst, he could simply treat Nami’s place as an outsourced studio, bringing her surveyed data and having her draw the sea charts.
Alternatively, he could bring some people along with Nami on the occasional field assignment. Either option would solve the problem.
Since Shyarly’s divination had yielded a favorable result, everything would definitely work out as long as he did not court death by pulling any bizarre stunts!
For someone like Belle-mère, whose life was relatively stable, moving to an unfamiliar country was not an attractive choice.
But for those whose living conditions were so terrible that even survival was a problem, immigration was quite common.
Water 7, in the first half of the Grand Line.
The city had long since cast off the depression of years past. With the Ryugu Kingdom’s assistance, Tom’s Sea Train project progressed much faster.
The first phase, consisting of four routes, was completed earlier than in the original timeline, enabling many surrounding islands to exchange goods and resources with one another.
With resources being exchanged and replenished, the shipyards on the verge of collapse were revived. Furthermore, with the rise of the Great Pirate Era, many pirates passing through also purchased new ships.
Of course, some pirates had no intention of paying and simply wanted to swindle ships from the shipyards.
But the people of Water 7 were quite formidable nowadays.
Back when they had been struggling to survive, shipyards constantly fought one another for business, and armed brawls were commonplace. The shipwrights themselves were also respectable fighters and had their own methods of collecting debts.
Naturally, not every shipyard possessed that kind of muscle, which created a new line of business for Fishman Island.
The moment the Sea Train began operating, a commercial company named Ryugu Insurance opened its doors on Water 7’s main street.
Monet, who had been recruited by Tesoro two years ago, was also assigned here by him after immigrating.
Although she was not his personal secretary, Tesoro himself had started out in the insurance business and built his new life step by step from there.
Therefore, many people saw this as proof that Tesoro held Monet in high regard.
Insurance naturally offered different policies for different circumstances. Given Water 7’s environment, various forms of ship insurance were created.
However, the insurance here did not simply compensate a shipbuilding company whenever pirates refused to pay the balance they owed.
If that happened, people from Fishman Island would collect the debt on their behalf. Only if they proved unable to deal with the pirates would the shipbuilding company receive compensation.
Compared to the stability of North Blue and East Blue, battles occurred here far more frequently.
Fishman Island currently had two people in charge here: Kawamatsu and Sasaki. Kawamatsu was the leader, while Sasaki served as his deputy.
In the original timeline, Oden’s retainer and one of Kaido’s Tobiroppo had instead become colleagues here.
More unusually, both Kawamatsu and Sasaki were swordsmen, and Sasaki also had relatives here.
Kokoro and Sasaki were related, but Kokoro had left Fishman Island relatively early, so they had not interacted much and could only be considered distant relatives who barely knew each other.
At the moment, however, Kawamatsu and Sasaki were fighting, each wielding a wooden sword as they tested their swordsmanship against the other.
There was no personal grudge between them. Sasaki merely wanted to prove that he was stronger than Kawamatsu and capable of taking charge on his own instead of serving as the deputy.
Sasaki was currently bare-chested, gripping the wooden sword with both hands, while Kawamatsu had sheathed his weapon at his waist, seemingly preparing for an Iai strike.
Swish!
Their figures crossed, and the wooden sword in Sasaki’s hands snapped with a sharp crack. In terms of technique, Kawamatsu seemed to have the upper hand.
“Looks like I won, Sasaki.”
“Let’s keep going, Kawamatsu. This won’t prove anything. Let’s get a little more serious. I’ve recently figured out something new.”
“I don’t mind experiencing it for myself, but we should still show some restraint. After all, we have a mission here.”
“I know.”
The moment he finished speaking, Sasaki’s body began to transform. His skin grew rough, his frame became even larger, and a ring of bony plates appeared behind his head.
As a bluespine unicornfish Fish-Man, Sasaki already had a pair of long, slender horns on his head. Those horns now grew tremendously thick, while a new horn sprouted from his nose.
Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Zoan, Model: Triceratops.
Kawamatsu knew that Sasaki was a Devil Fruit user and had seen his transformed appearance before. Like Jack, Sasaki did not particularly care about losing the ability to swim.
“My dream is actually to join His Majesty Nereus’s royal guards, but I’m not a flying fish-type Fish-Man, so I don’t meet the recruitment requirements.
That’s why I want to find another way to stand at His Majesty Nereus’s side.”
Kawamatsu had originally assumed Sasaki had transformed merely to fight more effectively, but the next moment, Sasaki did something completely unexpected.
The bony frill around Sasaki’s head began spinning rapidly in defiance of all reason. Just as Kawamatsu stared in shock at the fact that a Triceratops’s frill could spin, Sasaki rose into the air like a helicopter.
His thick tail also spun intermittently behind him to maintain his balance.
“Why… can a Triceratops fly?!”
“Who said… a Triceratops can’t fly?”
“It’s not like I’ve never been to a Prehistoric Island! What kind of Triceratops are you?! This is ridiculous!”
“This is the effort I’ve put in so I can better stand beside His Majesty Nereus! If you can’t understand that, it means there’s something wrong with your thinking!”
…
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