Shano's words made Jinbe pause slightly, then he revealed a relieved smile.
"I was overthinking. With your magnanimity, you could let go of Ah Long's matter, so how could you even mind those people?
Even if the Charlotte family returns one day, in front of the Endgame, it's like a mantis trying to stop a carriage."
Shano glanced at Jinbe.
This "Sea Hero" still had too high a moral standard; he hadn't expected that the other party would come to apologize in person because of Ah Long's past actions.
Ah Long...
That guy indeed left a deep nightmare in his childhood.
He had once been troubled and restless, unable to eat or sleep well. The pressure couldn't even be compared to the first time he encountered Akainu in the first half of the Grand Line.
But precisely because of that, it forged who he is today.
Otherwise, he might have never left the East Sea and would still be picking oranges in the countryside of Cocoyashi Village.
Anyway, it's all in the past.
"My injuries have healed, and like Katakuri, I'm here to bid you farewell."
Jinbe bowed slightly, his tone sincere and solemn:
"Having received your forgiveness and the fortune to join the Endgame and contribute, I feel much at ease, but I can't stay here long. Otherwise, if the Navy Headquarters pursue the matter, it would be awkward to explain."
"Hmm, be safe on your journey."
Shano nodded, watching Jinbe leave.
Indeed.
In a conversation a few days ago, Jinbe had voluntarily expressed his willingness to lend his strength and officially joined the Endgame, becoming one of the top cadres.
As the strongest sea fighter among the "Seven Warlords of the Sea," Jinbe naturally had the qualification.
However, due to his "Seven Warlords of the Sea" status, after some discussion between Shano and Jinbe, they decided not to publicize his joining the Endgame for the time being.
Instead, he would continue to act as a Warlord, an undercover piece within the Navy for the Endgame.
Should the Navy one day rally the Seven Warlords to face off against the Endgame, Jinbe could switch sides then.
Fortunately.
Jinbe had only intercepted Ryokugyu, who had yet to officially take office, and whose identity was unknown, not listed in the Navy's records.
If he had intercepted one of the Three Great Admirals, he would most likely be kicked out of the Warlords.
Once Jinbe's figure disappeared from view.
Shano turned his gaze toward the castle he was in, sipping his coffee thoughtfully:
"Next, it's time to consider how to utilize that portion of resources from Ten Thousand Nations..."
————
The Endgame controlled Ten Thousand Nations, taking over an overwhelming amount of resources.
The "portion" Shano considered prioritizing was the Devil Fruits collected from Cake Island and how best to distribute them.
Before this.
Since Blackbeard consumed the Fly-Fly Fruit, Shano was left with only three Devil Fruits.
Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Sand-Sand Fruit, and White Tiger Fruit.
And this time.
Just from BIGMOM's castle's treasury alone, they collected six Devil Fruits.
Most were Paramecia-type and could be classified as food-related.
They were:
Butter-Butter Fruit;
Candy-Candy Fruit;
Honey-Honey Fruit;
Cigar-Cigar Fruit;
Pea-Pea Fruit.
The sixth was Zoan-type, Eleph-Eleph Fruit.
This was considered a downgrade of Jack's Mammoth Fruit, something Shano remembered quite well.
The previous owner wielded it as the sword of CP-9 chief Spandam.
Last year, both man and sword were destroyed by him, and unexpectedly, after the fruit's rebirth, it ended up in Ten Thousand Nations.
"A total of nine fruits..." Shano pondered, "How to allocate them to maximize their use?"
Such a headache.
Perhaps it's better to let his subordinates decide for themselves.
The most precious Rumble-Rumble Fruit already had a potential candidate in his heart, so he would hold onto it for now.
The remaining eight would be open for everyone to choose from.
"Hmm?"
Shano looked below the terrace, just as a white bear was passing by, cheerfully greeting, "Hey, Bebo, can I trouble you to call a few people over for me?"
...
An hour later.
The conference room at the Stationed Corps headquarters was bustling with people.
All those who've joined the Endgame post-Shampodi event, and who were without fruit abilities, were nearly all called in.
This included some outstanding cadres from the Stationed Corps and Infrastructure Corps.
After all, several of these Devil Fruits were more suited for domestic production and development rather than combat.
However, there was an exception among those present—
"So it's about distributing Devil Fruits... Why drag me here then?"
Chopper looked at Bebo, full of question marks, "I'm already a Zoan-type ability user!"
"Eh?" Bebo was dumbfounded, turning to Chopper, "Zoan-type ability user? Isn't Chopper a member of the Fur Race?"
"Purebred reindeer, you idiot!"
Chopper exploded in anger, "I thought you were my good friend, but I can't believe this fool doesn't even know I ate the Human-Human Fruit!"
"I'm sorry."
Bebo lowered his head, full of guilt, "I didn't think much of it. I just heard that among the Devil Fruits being distributed there's a Candy-Candy Fruit, so I thought of you right away..."
Hearing this, Chopper's previously puffed-up face suddenly froze, his eyes shining:
"Eh? Candy... Candy-Candy Fruit?"
There's such a good thing?
Is he in Heaven?
Bebo scratched his head with a silly smile: "Yes, I heard that after eating it, you can produce unlimited amounts of cotton candy. I figured Chopper loves eating that..."