Chapter 56 Friendly Exchange [VIP]
A police officer directing traffic at an intersection, a construction crew building a new railway, a tour guide waving a flag leading a group of tourists on a tour, a shop assistant soliciting customers on the street...
Each of them is working, but without the numb feeling of "working just to make a living and having no hope for the future".
As he passed by them, Shanks could feel that each of them loved their work and life, and was very satisfied with the current situation and full of hope for the future.
Having lived on the sea since he was a child, Shanks has seen all kinds of people and various different islands.
He knew very well that this world not only had lawless islands like Beehive Island, but also had islands like the former white town of Frevans that were as beautiful as fairyland and had prosperous people.
Although all of that was built on an illusion—the amber-lead ore powder that brought prosperity to the country was poisonous—before the illusion was exposed, Frefans was a paradise on earth that was even better than here.
With the example of Frevans as a precedent and the information about Yale as a reference, Shanks looked at the residents on the street who greeted Yale enthusiastically. There was no emotion in his eyes, only a deep fear.
Yale didn't care about the other party's confused thoughts.
He accepted everyone's bows and greetings very accustomed to it and took it for granted.
It was not until they arrived at the port and boarded the Red Hair Pirates' pirate ship that the warm greetings disappeared, and were replaced by the pirates who stayed on the ship feeling as if they were facing a great enemy.
If Captain Shanks had not been there, they would have thought that Yale had already dealt with the cadres who landed on the island and was now here to deal with them.
"Don't be nervous, Mr. Yale is a guest I invited to the ship."
Shanks waved his hand, signaling the crew to go about their business, and he took Yale into the cabin.
"To be honest, the current situation of these disappeared islands is something I had never imagined before."
Shanks then began to answer Yale's previous question, but Yale already knew the answer to his question.
It's just the same old stuff.
Like Smoker and the others, Shanks felt that everything before him was based on Yale's mind control.
He can control them for a while, but can he control them for a lifetime?
When the mind control is lifted, will these people still live here well and will they spontaneously uphold the rules set by Yale?
"Why do you think not?" Yale stopped in the corridor, narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Shanks who turned around and looked back at him, and smiled meaningfully.
"Why do you think I'm still controlling them?"
Throwing aside this frivolous question, Yale took the initiative and walked towards the depths of the cabin, leaving Shanks with a look of astonishment.
He found the storage room where the devil fruits were stored as if he had been here before and was familiar with the place.
The door opened automatically as he approached, and the box's lid popped open as he walked through the door.
Devil fruits floated up, each with a different shape and color. The only thing they had in common was that they all had spiral patterns and carried more or less energy.
but……
Yale looked at one of the fruits with suspicion, took it in his hand, looked at it with disgust, and threw it to Shanks who followed him in.
Shanks caught the fruit and couldn't help but laugh after seeing its appearance.
"It seems that you really don't like this man-made devil fruit."
Artificial devil fruits exist in this world.
Vegapunk has studied this and never given up.
However, the artificial devil fruit in his hand was not made by Vegapunk.
Instead, he bought it from Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, through underground means such as the black market.
Fortunately, I bought it early.
Now that Doflamingo has been stripped of his position as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and is being hunted by the navy, he has no time to take care of the artificial fruit business for the time being.
Yale snorted. Fortunately, the remaining devil fruits were normal, so he was not too angry.
After putting five of them away, Yale took one in his hand, sat back on the metal chair that was assembled out of thin air, opened his mouth and took a big bite.
"You still owe me a devil fruit. Prepare it as soon as possible, otherwise I will take away all the islands occupied by your pirate group, hahahaha."
There was almost no sense of threat when he said harsh words, just like when he laughed heartily when he assured people during the live broadcast that he could bring equality and order to people, making people feel that he was just joking and not reliable at all.
But he did keep his promise and did have the ability to take the island away.
Shanks suddenly felt curious.
"If it's convenient, how old are you?"
Yale was stunned for a moment, but he was not offended by the question. He just didn't know the answer and didn't care.
"You know that stars shine, right?" This almost idiotic question made Shanks a little confused.
Shanks nodded.
"Isn't this a matter of course?"
"To be precise, it is the stars that emit their own light. Planets emit light by reflecting or scattering the light of the stars, but this is not important."
Yale raised his finger, and a three-dimensional star map appeared before him. "Have you ever thought about how long ago the light from the stars you see now was emitted?"
"How long ago?" Shanks didn't quite understand.
Yale went into more detail.
"You know, Admiral Kizaru, even though his laser attack is very fast, it still takes time to hit the target."
Shanks understood after hearing this.
The light emitted by the stars takes a certain amount of time to reach their planet, so what then?
"The light you see from a star now is the light it emitted hundreds or even thousands of years ago."
"...thousands of years ago?" Shanks' voice was a little hoarse.
He couldn't imagine how far away the star that emitted light thousands of years ago was from them, and he had no idea how vast and lively the universe outside the planet was.
He was very clear that he was not a scientist, let alone an astronomer.
He doesn't need to worry about these things, nor will they sway his ideas.
Shanks: "What does this have to do with your age? Have you lived for thousands of years?"
"Thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, or even hundreds of millions of years, is possible." Yale smiled frankly.
"I just want to say that it's meaningless to discuss my age. Instead of caring about how old I am, you should think about it carefully - after seeing what I have done, will your position change?"
"My position, what do you think my position is?"
Shanks threw the question back to Yale and found a box to sit on.
He was a little envious of Yale for having a metal chair that could float around.
"As for stances, there are roughly three types: siding with me, siding with the government, or being neutral. But as far as I'm concerned, being neutral doesn't end well for me."
Shanks smiled, thought for a moment, and said calmly, "If you want to destroy the world, then there is no doubt that everyone will stand against you, but you don't want to destroy it, do you?"
He looked out the only round porthole in the storage room. Outside the window was a bustling port where people lived in happiness and peace.
"I used to not understand why you'd spread such propaganda... that people would misunderstand you as a bloody and brutal villain. But after seeing everything on the island today, I suddenly had a guess."
Yale made a gesture of invitation, indicating that he should continue.
Shanks: "You... actually want to use this method to unite us, right?"
After speaking his guess, Shanks stared at Yale's face, trying to catch the possible answer from his expression.
Yale laughed, it was hard to tell whether it was ridicule or joy. He shook his head but did not deny it.
"Perhaps. After all, if humans want to exterminate a colony of ants, it would naturally be more convenient if the ants gather together."
Shanks: "You want to destroy us?"
"That depends on your performance. If you are valuable, then of course there is a need for you to continue to exist. If not..."
Yale looked at his palm. A flip of his palm could easily determine the survival of a civilization. "That's a shame~"
Shanks: "What are your evaluation criteria? Or how good should we be to make you satisfied?"
Yale raised his eyes and said, "You are very perceptive, but it's a pity that the standard is not set by me, but by you."
Leaving behind these meaningful words, the metal chair flew into the corridor with Yale. "We've talked long enough. You can wander around for the rest of the time, or leave with your companions."
"Is there anything else?" Shanks easily caught up with the speed of the metal chair.
"As the host here, why don't you hold a banquet to entertain us?"
"Pay me back the devil fruit you owe me as soon as possible—"
At this point, Yale suddenly paused.
Shanks was also stunned. He looked at Beckman who was standing on the deck and chatting with the remaining pirates. He thought that Yale was stunned because he saw the other party.
"That's my first officer, Ben Beckman," he introduced cheerfully.
Beckman looked over and nodded calmly.
Obviously, he had already heard the news of Yale boarding the ship from other pirates.
Glancing at what Beckman was holding in his hand, Yale smiled and patted Shanks' shoulder in a good mood.
"It suddenly occurred to me that you don't actually owe me a devil fruit anymore."
Shanks suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Isn't your daughter a devil fruit user~" Yale didn't know this before.
After all, only Metal Ball was present at the time, and capturing brain waves would only be effective if he was present in person.
Fortunately, he captured Beckman's brain waves when he reached the deck, otherwise he would have owed the Red Hair Pirates a devil fruit.
In a good mood, Yale teleported away from the spot, leaving behind Shanks who didn't know that the Music Island had been occupied, Beckman who was in deep thought, and a group of nervous pirates.
"Look at this, Shanks." Beckman handed the "Complete Guide to the Islands" to Shanks.
"Music Island has been occupied. Hongo and the others are heading there. What did you talk about with Yale? Shanks, you are not being controlled, right?"
Although the question sounded like an idiot, Beckman still asked it.
The reason is simple. This is just a procedure. If Shanks can be controlled, then none of them can escape.
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