“Nereland, long time no see!”
Before long, Gancho arrived on the surface surrounded by a crowd of Tontatta Tribe members.
“Land” was a special honorific used by their tribe, closely tied to the “Liar” Noland. Many years ago, the Tontatta Tribe had once been helped by Noland.
After that, Noland was revered as a great hero of the tribe, and others who helped them were sometimes given this honorific as well.
When he heard that Nereus had asked them to help cultivate these few seeds, Gancho patted his chest and declared that the Tontatta Tribe would spare no effort to ensure the seeds sprouted and grew smoothly.
“It doesn’t matter if it fails. These are experimental samples to begin with, there’s no guarantee of success. There’s only one tree like this in the entire world anyway. If these don’t work, maybe I’ll send some new seeds in a few years.”
“No, Nereland, you don’t understand our Tontatta Tribe well enough. It is a living seed. When a seed like this comes into our hands, we naturally have ways to awaken it from its slumber.”
Perceiving plants—even the life or death of a single seed—was an innate racial ability of the Dwarves. As for how exactly it was done, only the Dwarves themselves knew.
And only with their size could they accomplish things in the miniature world that the larger races could not.
After exchanging a few simple pleasantries, Nereus declined Gancho’s invitation and left Green Bit Island.
The Dwarves were enthusiastic, but they were simply too small.
A single Giant’s daily food intake was enough to cover the entire Tontatta Kingdom’s expenses for a day. Letting them host guests would be no small burden for them.
“I’ve already arranged something with Doldo. We’ll talk next time.”
“Mm, that makes sense. You came so suddenly, we didn’t have time to prepare anything. Once this seed sprouts, we’ll contact you again.”
At the same time, in the Royal Palace of Dressrosa, Nanamo had already made her way to the banquet hall with practiced ease. She even took charge of handing over the pirates from the ship, ready to be exchanged for bounties, to the royal army of Dressrosa.
“Scarlett, this is your gift, a natural deep-sea coral tree. Just like your hair, it’s pink.”
“Thank you… but why does it feel kind of damp?”
“Well… Dressrosa is a Summer Island. The weather’s been a bit humid lately, so it’s normal for some moisture to build up on the coral.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course!”
It really was a coral tree from the deep sea—just not as deep as Fishman Island’s waters. Scarlett was still quite young, and hearing Nanamo speak so confidently, she didn’t suspect anything further.
“Nanamo, is that the gift you prepared?”
As Scarlett and the Royal Palace guards carried the coral tree away, Nereus appeared beside Nanamo.
“Why do I feel like it was just hauled out of the sea not long ago? And that base, isn’t it the ship’s desk clock? Being able to put those together like that, your hands-on skills are pretty impressive.”
“Dad, you saw through it but don’t say it out loud. I just… forgot, okay? Next time I’ll make it up to her with an even better one…”
Nereus said nothing as he watched Scarlett leave. In truth, the surprising thing to him was that Scarlett was already seven or eight years old.
After all, by the standards of the original timeline, Scarlett shouldn’t even have been born yet.
His appearance had subtly changed quite a few things. Perhaps it was because the battle in the Colosseum had made Doldo leave earlier than before, leading him to marry and have children sooner.
In the banquet hall, Nereus and Doldo chatted about the state of the seas and some major changes happening in various countries.
Nanamo, meanwhile, was introducing others to Scarlett, such as Luna, who was a Mink.
Luna only waved her hand, though. She didn’t have time to respond to anyone else for the moment, her mouth completely stuffed with food.
“By the way… does this bandaged young lady need a doctor?”
Looking at Amphitrite, who still had a mummy-like appearance, Doldo asked tentatively.
“She isn’t injured. It’s just a personal habit, no need to worry about it.”
“I see. The seas really are full of all kinds of styles… The guest rooms have already been prepared. I’ve also contacted the nearby Marine branch, they’ll send people to take custody of these pirates, and the bounties will be delivered along with them.
It’ll only take a day or two. If there’s nothing urgent, let’s wait for the time being.”
After all, Dressrosa was one of the affiliated nations. There was a Marine base nearby, and not just one.
Both the G-1 and G-5 branches were relatively close. With multiple Marine branch warships patrolling the area, Dressrosa wasn’t plagued by any serious pirate problems.
The next day, on the seas near Dressrosa, an empty transport ship carrying a large sum of Berries was making its way toward the island.
Dressrosa had often exchanged pirates for bounties in the past, so the Marines were no strangers to this kind of task. However, midway through the journey, they were stopped by a ship flying the World Government’s cross flag.
“You’re the ship heading to Dressrosa to take custody of pirates, correct?”
“Yes. Why are you intercepting us? What do you want?”
Seeing that the other ship was filled entirely with agents in suits, the Marine Vice Admiral in command spoke impatiently. Though they both answered to the World Government, the Marines and Cipher Pol belonged to two different systems.
Under normal circumstances, if Cipher Pol agents needed Marine assistance, the World Government would issue an order, which would then be passed down from headquarters.
Being stopped like this without warning felt rather disrespectful.
“Please don’t misunderstand, Vice Admiral. We also have a mission to go there. Someone has reported sighting a suspected Lunarian in Dressrosa.
We need Marine manpower to assist with the investigation. We ask for your cooperation. As for the merits, you will also receive a share.”
A man in a white suit stepped out from the World Government ship. It was obvious that he belonged to CP0.
Although it was only a suspicion, because it involved a suspected Lunarian, they had decided to send people to take a look.
The reason they temporarily requested Marine assistance was simply to increase their search manpower. Dressrosa was large, and a single ship of agents didn’t have the capability to seal off the entire island.
“Very well. We’ll assist you.”
Within the Marines, the rank with the greatest disparity was that of Vice Admiral. There were many Vice Admirals, but the paths by which they reached that rank varied greatly.
Some were promoted through years of accumulated military merit, others advanced early once their strength reached the required standard. Still others had declined promotion, or found the Admiral positions already filled, leaving them with no path upward and temporarily classified as Vice Admirals.
As a result, the combat strength within the Vice Admiral rank varied enormously.
Put in xuanhuan-novel terms, you could divide them into nine different realms, with stages like “half-step to Great Perfection” and so on. [TN: Cultivation realms in Chinese xuanhuan novels.]
The Vice Admiral escorting this transport ship had risen through military merit and valued merit highly.
Tempted by the promise of merits, he quickly agreed to cooperate with the CP0 agents before him.
After all, no matter which path they took to become Vice Admiral, they were still high-ranking Marine officers, and when carrying out missions in the field, they possessed a certain degree of autonomous decision-making authority.
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