"Dad, are you sure… I should handle it as I see fit?"
Whether it was the Sabaody Archipelago side or New World side, the pirates wanting to pass through were all a source of revenue for Fish-Man Island.
Most pirates in the New World would abide by the rules here. Only after experiencing the cruelty of the New World could one truly understand what terror meant.
Most of the pirates coming to throw their lives away were from Paradise.
If she ignored everything else and looked at it purely from a personal standpoint, Nanamo actually hoped those pirates would be a little crazier. Compared to the hundred-thousand Berry head tax, their bounties themselves were worth far more.
Any pirate who could successfully reach Sabaody Archipelago would have a bounty exceeding ten million, even if they were mediocre in strength.
And after their status as an affiliated nation was established, they no longer needed to exchange bounties with the Marines through Underworld brokers. They could just go directly to the Marines themselves.
Without brokers taking a cut, each and every one of them was basically a walking pile of Berries.
"Telling you to handle it as you see fit doesn't mean letting you mess around."
"I know. If they follow the rules, I'll definitely let them pass. But if I run into troublemakers… how are the bounties divided?"
"The captain's bounty is yours. The rest gets turned in."
"Hmm… that's actually not bad. How long is Uncle Barbell planning to rest?"
In most pirate crews, the captain's bounty would exceed the combined bounties of all the other crew members. That was the norm among pirates—the captain's strength overwhelmingly surpassed everyone else's.
They ruled their subordinates not through loyalty, but through benefits and strength. Fighting favorable battles was fine, but once they encountered a real crisis, the crew would collapse in an instant.
Pirate crews with evenly distributed strength were the minority instead.
Being able to claim the captain's bounty alone was already a considerable share.
Afterward, Nanamo asked how long she would need to fill in for Barbell's work. Although it was a good way to earn extra income, she didn't want to stay in this position forever.
"At most a year. Barbell can't stay idle for long. If he keeps resting, it won't be long before he runs to Ryugu Palace to complain to me."
"Got it. I can let Uncle Barbell rotate back in at any time. My wallet hasn't had any large sums coming in for quite a while."
The last time she had gotten a big influx of money was the "favor fee" Wang Zhi had brought when he came to apologize. Ever since then, Nanamo hadn't had many opportunities to make money.
Besides, working at Sabaody Archipelago was basically working right at Fish-Man Island's doorstep. Even swimming at a leisurely pace, a round trip only took a few hours. If they hurried, it would be even faster.
"No need to rush. Those 'walking Berries' will still need some time before reaching Fish-Man Island. Besides, this can only be considered the warm-up phase for now. The real great era still needs a little more time before it arrives."
The final island now had a new name—Laugh Tale. Roger and his crew had named it the Island of Laughter. Everyone who set foot upon that island would ultimately burst into joyous laughter uncontrollably.
As for the reason behind that laughter, only the Roger Pirates knew.
Compared to those hidden truths, the only thing the world knew was that Roger had become the Pirate King.
The Marines were suffering endless headaches over this. They could already foresee that this title would inevitably inspire even more pirates to set sail.
Even though news of the One Piece had not yet emerged, challenging Roger and surpassing Roger would become the reason many people took to the seas.
Aside from wealth, fame and ambition would likewise drive people toward the seas.
Yet the World Government made almost no special decisions in response. Other than increasing bounties, they took virtually no extraordinary measures. Compared to the appearance of the Pirate King, they devoted far more energy to altering Roger's name.
Erasing the "D" was what truly concerned them.
The Marines could only prepare themselves for the era to come, but the ones who were truly furious were someone else entirely.
Totto Land, Whole Cake Island.
After seeing the news about Roger, Charlotte Linlin was currently in a towering rage.
The Homies inside the royal palace were trembling in fear. Even Zeus and Prometheus didn't dare say a word and stayed far away.
Only Napoleon, being a hat worn atop Charlotte Linlin's head, had nowhere to hide, and could only desperately try to suppress his own presence.
"Mama… Mama~… Pirate King… If he hadn't stolen my things… if it weren't for that b*stard Nereus… how could that guy possibly become king?!"
Boom!
Several cracks spread across the castle walls under the wash of that terrifying aura. Many frosting and cookie crumbs rained onto the floor, and some timid Homies were so frightened that they fainted on the spot.
But before Charlotte Linlin calmed down herself, nobody was willing to approach the area. Provoking her at a time like this was definitely not a good idea.
"Hermes really is smart… He left with Na… with that person and never came back. He's probably living pretty comfortably now."
"Shut up, Zeus, you idiot! If Mama hears that, you're dead!"
The goofy-looking Zeus muttered quietly to himself while imagining how wonderful the outside world must be.
Then Prometheus immediately covered his mouth from the side, terrified that Zeus might say something even more treasonous and attract Charlotte Linlin's wrath.
Compared to Charlotte Linlin's anger, Roger had gained quite a few more fans across the seas. Even some old rivals felt admiration for what Roger had accomplished.
A certain Sky Island, the current base camp of the Golden Lion.
The destruction of the Flying Empire back then had caused the Golden Lion considerable losses. Even though the strength of his main force and himself had not suffered too greatly, it still pained him.
And the naval battle at Edd War had dealt the Golden Lion a severe blow. Not only had the fleet under his command suffered catastrophic losses, but there was also the major issue of the ship's helm lodged in his head.
Whether it was the Golden Lion Pirates' ship doctors or doctors from elsewhere, all of them stated that the helm could not be removed.
As long as the helm wasn't removed, Golden Lion's life could still be guaranteed.
Or rather, the fact that the helm had pierced into Golden Lion and he still hadn't died was already a miracle in itself.
"Unless some renowned doctor eats the legendary Op-Op Fruit, otherwise… I can't think of anyone capable of performing this surgery."
That was the conclusion given by Golden Lion's ship doctor. Although the current Golden Lion was still an overlord of the seas, he could feel that the thing was subtly exerting quite a significant influence on him.
Because of that, after that incident, Golden Lion moved his base camp onto a Sky Island, planning to prepare for a while before plotting his comeback. Unexpectedly, Roger accomplished such a feat first.
"That's more like it! You're a man I've always thought highly of. It's only natural for you to achieve something like this! Jihahahahaha!"
As for Roger himself, after reaching the final island, many of the questions in his heart had finally been answered. Things that had once seemed vague and incomprehensible instantly became clear.
At this moment, he paid no attention to the voices of the outside world, instead drinking with Whitebeard he had coincidentally encountered in the New World.
TN: Will Release An Extra Chapter For Total 10 Reviews. Review Count- 6/10
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