Chapter 95: Tesoro teaches you the real art of shifting blame...
"Island Master, Island Master, your letter."
"letter?"
Violet took the snow-white envelope from Chopper and looked at the beautiful wax seal on it with some confusion.
Who will write to her?
R'lyeh had never been included in the work scope of the World Economic News's delivery birds. Before Marco made the decision to help her get a Den Den Mushi, R'lyeh could almost be considered a closed paradise without any channels of communication with the outside world.
Just as Lu Qi was about to go to the fish farm to collect fish, he heard this and grabbed Kaku, who was walking beside him, and led him into the bushes not far away to hide and carefully eavesdrop.
Kaku, who was almost pulled down by Lucci: "..."
Kaku: "Actually, I think it's fine if we just go and listen."
The island owner has always been very outgoing, sometimes even to the point that he is a little scared.
This caused Ku, who had accidentally overheard some information, to think to himself, "He can listen to this kind of thing? Will he be silenced after listening?"
However, after a while, Kaku gradually realized that what he was worried about would not happen.
Unlike the World Government training camps where one must be extremely careful and think carefully before doing anything or even saying anything, the overall atmosphere in R'lyeh is exceptionally relaxed and pleasant.
There's no need to worry about going hungry if you don't finish training, nor is there any need to worry about being scolded or punished for not doing things well.
Kaku vividly remembers when he first started working in the fields, he made a mistake in the order of fertilizing because he was unfamiliar with the crops. When he discovered this, he was so frightened that his hands and feet went cold and his whole body stiffened.
Kaku felt that he was a useless prisoner to begin with, and now he was doomed.
When Ginny found out about this, she simply nodded to indicate that she knew, and then told him to go rest and share the cake left by the island lord with Chopper.
Kaku sat down in a daze, looking at Chopper who was enjoying his meal, and couldn't help but ask why he hadn't been punished or scolded. What he got in return was Chopper's complete bewilderment.
Why would I scold you for something so trivial?
So what if the wrong fertilizer was used? It's just a little waste of something worthless. What's the big deal?
If the island owner is scolded for this, wouldn't he be doomed if he suddenly comes up with a new recipe but the result is almost always an inedible "failed dish"?
Even during the most difficult times in R'lyeh, when the farm hadn't even been developed yet, Violet never cared about these trivial matters. If time was wasted, she could do it again the next day; if resources were wasted, she could just go fishing a few more times and fight a few more monsters. The sky wasn't going to fall.
Kaku carefully folded the suit he had taken off to make farm work easier and placed it at the bottom of his own trunk. Now, Kaku was dressed entirely in shorts and a floral shirt, prioritizing convenience above all else.
How long has it been since he last thought of that suit that represented the world government, the order, the rules, and the unbreakable hierarchical hierarchy?
Sometimes, looking at his reflection in the sea and the obvious marks left by the brim of his straw hat on his face, Kaku would feel as if he were just an ordinary farmer, and that the World Government agent and the terrifying training in the training camp were just his fantasies.
"Kaku".
Lucci's deep, cold voice jolted Kaku from his reverie. Kaku looked up and saw Lucci's dark eyes. His scrutinizing gaze was like a cold, sharp blade, cutting through his skin to reveal a soul like a weed swaying in the winds of freedom.
Just when Kaku thought Lucci would definitely warn him, Lucci, contrary to his usual behavior, turned his head back and ignored him, instead focusing on eavesdropping on Wilt and Chopper's conversation.
Kaku: ?
Kaku, whose brutal training had not yet been completely erased by the comfortable atmosphere of R'lyeh, keenly sensed something was wrong—could Lucci have also wavered?
Lucci didn't think so.
The reason he didn't bring it up directly was simply because, being in the enemy's stronghold, Kaku was one of the few people he could command and utilize.
Right now, he wasn't concerned about R'lyeh's future development, but rather about not wasting any opportunity to gather intelligence.
On the other side, with a puzzled look, Violet opened the letter and was greeted by rather beautiful and elegant cursive handwriting.
The font has an aristocratic elegance, but the strokes are exceptionally sharp, like a sword drawn from its sheath.
A pair of hawk-like eyes flashed through Violet's mind. Her gaze fell on the end of the envelope, and sure enough, she saw a familiar name.
[Jorakoel Mihawk]
The letter had two main parts. In the first part, Mihawk, as Law's inexpensive teacher, inquired about Law's swordsmanship training progress and recommended that Law look for practical training within the Navy. Thanks to their relatively professional training system, the Navy mass-produces a large number of affordable, high-level swordsmen.
Vera: ...
So here's the question: how did Mihawk, a pirate, know so much about the Navy's situation?
Well, in her heart, Violet silently made the sign of the cross, and mourned for the Navy for a second.
In the latter part of the letter, Mihawk tells Violet that he has found a suitable island to settle on and that he planted the various seeds Violet gave him half a month ago, and is taking care of the farmland according to Violet's instructions.
Judging from the germination and growth of the seeds, these plants have returned to their normal growth rate after leaving the [Advanced Farm] created by Vil. Mihawk is currently observing and recording carefully to see if these seeds, after leaving R'lyeh, can still produce giant crops if properly cared for, as Vil said.
The back also features a hand-drawn potato seedling by Mihawk, along with a nautical chart of Kraicana Island, where Mihawk currently resides.
Violet summoned Sabo, who looked at the sea chart and compared it with his memory, then confirmed, "It should be an island located on the Grand Line."
Wouldn't that make it much easier to visit the farmland that Mihawk is taking care of in the future? I just don't know how Mihawk got the messenger bird to find R'lyeh. Honestly, why didn't Mihawk leave her a Den Den Mushi's contact information so they could communicate about the crop's growth in real time?
Blue blue blue...
The sound of a Den Den Mushi?
Ginny walked over, holding a Den Den Mushi: "It's Mr. Namur on the phone."
That's right?
Is it a change in Mr. Edward's condition, or something about Fishman Island?
Vera took the phone from Ginny: "What about Muir?"
"Vie, Violet!" Miu's bewildered and panicked voice came from the Den Den Mushi, "Do you still remember the evil dragon?"
Evil dragon? Ah, right, the guy who was a former member of the Sun Pirates, the one who scared her so much that she had to use a precious [Eye Gun].
Although later when Violet explored the map, she found the swamp and wiped out a wave of [One-Eyed Mudskippers], reaping a lot of [Eye Guns], the feeling of having to count the amount of resources on her fingers when they were scarce was irreplaceable.
The feeling of wasting precious resources is hard to forget, which is why, even though the dragon is a minor NPC with few appearances, Violet still has a deep impression of him.
What's wrong with him?
Could it be that he was attacked by the "eye gun" back then, and only now, after so long, has he realized what happened and is trying to get compensation from her? Even a staged accident wouldn't be done like this!
“He, he…” Namuel’s tone was strange, “He seems to have gone mad?”
Violet: ?
"ah?"
——
To be precise, it wasn't just Arlong who went mad; it was the fishmen who left the Sun Pirates and Fishman Town to follow Arlong and join his crew—three-fifths of them went insane.
"It was Haku who told me about this."
"Haku?"
Ginny blinked and mouthed to Vera, "Revolutionary Army."
How come the revolutionary army is involved here?!
Namur sighed and told Vera the whole story.
This matter is simple in some ways, and complex in others.
The Sun Pirates that Violet encountered earlier landed on that island to deliver a human girl named Koala, but they didn't expect their whereabouts to be exposed, which led to Strawberry leading the Marines to ambush them there in advance. If Violet hadn't intervened at that time, Tiger, who was the main target of their attacks, would have been in grave danger.
Knowing all this, Kella cannot accept that her savior was betrayed by her neighbor and even her mother.
The little girl, wanting to make amends, couldn't find any trace of the Sun Pirates. Recalling her experience working odd jobs on the ship, Koala boldly decided to cross the sea in search of Tiger using only a small raft.
If it weren't for her lucky encounter with Haku, a member of the Revolutionary Army who was active in that area, the little girl would probably have been swallowed by the sea when a big wave came.
Haku, who found Kelra, had a mission to complete and couldn't immediately send her home, so he temporarily placed her on a relatively safe island and entrusted her to the care of a Revolutionary Army informant.
Then, Kerla heard a ghost story that was going around on the island for a while—the Mad Fishman.
"When Haku went back to pick up Kelra, he also heard this story. It was about a mad fishman who only knew how to attack and eat, a fishman covered in black hair, a fishman who could only regain his sanity when the moon was covered by dark clouds at night."
"Haku didn't believe it at all, but after finishing the mission, he just thought of it as playing with a slightly frightened kid. Who would have thought..."
Who would have thought that those outrageous stories were actually true!
When Haku first saw the crazed Arlong and his companions, he thought it was just a simple poisoning incident. He notified Jinbe and Fishman Island while cleaning up the mess they left behind.
Haku discovered something was wrong while sorting through their fleet, which was on the verge of becoming ruins.
As a member of the Revolutionary Army, Haku knew all too well how a ship that only wanted to dock to replenish supplies would behave and a pirate ship that wanted to board and do some illegal things would behave.
The Arlong Pirates were clearly the latter; they wanted to take action against that innocent island, but for some reason, they inexplicably went into a state of madness, and their plan was aborted before it even began.
This is going to be troublesome.
Especially at this crucial moment, Queen Otohime and King Neptune are working hard to bring Fishman Island into contact with the outside world and change people's perception of fishmen and mermaids so that they can gain more support when they migrate to the mainland in the future.
The dragon leading the fishmen to attack the human island at this time is practically committing a crime against the wind.
With ordinary people, fish-men, and the Revolutionary Army all involved, the matter suddenly became extremely complicated.
So Namur called Vera to ask if she had any medicine to restore the dragons to normal.
As Namur spoke, he manipulated the Den Den Mushi to project the image of the evil dragon onto the screen.
Oh, right! When Marco gave her the Den Den Mushi, he seemed to say that it was a very expensive, multi-functional hybrid Den Den Mushi, and that you couldn't get it just by having money and connections.
Vera looked up at the projection of the Den Den Mushi and broke out in a cold sweat.
Isn't this the kind of crazy behavior that happens when you eat too much monster meat and your sanity drops to zero?
In a daze, Violet made an appointment with Namuel to meet him, and the second after hanging up, she dialed Tesoro.
"You sold the monster meat?!"
Given the inherent dangers of monster meat, only Zeff, who is confirmed to be able to process it, is allowed to purchase such products. How could Tesoro sell it to a dragon with absolutely no cooking experience?
In an instant, various food safety issues flashed through Vera's mind.
No! She doesn't want to be on the world's front page in this way!
“Oh, boss, you mean those guys?” Tesoro showed no remorse for being caught. “Those people, disguised as a seaside restaurant, are probably planning to attack some innocent village.”
"In business, harmony is key to making money. It's a pity we couldn't stop them on the spot, but even though it was a bit roundabout, we still managed to stop them in the end, didn't we?"
Judging from Boss Violet's appearance, the effects of those monster meats were even better than he had imagined.
"Don't worry, boss, I know what I'm doing."
"Compared to the unverifiable rumor that 'R'lyeh's collaborator is a pirate in disguise,' it sounds better that 'R'lyeh's collaborator cleverly sabotaged an attack.'"
Tezzolo looked at the mail-delivery seagull that had landed on the dark brown table, smiled, handed it a folded letter, and then leaned back confidently in his executive chair.
"Don't worry, Island Master. Tomorrow morning, the news of the interview with that island and their gratitude for the help from the R'lyeh Fruit and Vegetable Express will spread far and wide."
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Author's Note: Mihawk, we've become pen pals now! [Rabbit head with upright ears]
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