Amidst a chaotic situation, the wheel of history rolls forward.
At the beginning of the year 1512 in the Haiyuan calendar, Tsugokuni Yoshiichi's new navy, led by a group of powerful men, fought everywhere. After more than a year of hard work, the new navy, like a towering tree, finally extended its roots to all parts of the new world.
In the past, people called him the "Emperor of the Sea" out of fear of his strength, but now, Yoriichi and his new navy have truly lived up to this title.
Over the past year or so, no one knows how many pirates have fallen under the knife of the New Navy. The name of the New Navy has become even more famous after being stained with blood.
The reputation of the New Navy is overwhelming, but over the years, countless pirates have continued to flock to the New World.
Although the threat of death is terrifying, "death" is far away. It is the suffering in front of us that people are eager to escape.
In this world, is there any faster way to escape poverty than going out to sea as a pirate?
When it comes to money and power, there are still countless people who don't mind taking a chance, even at the risk of death.
It is precisely for this reason that the pressure on Fishman Island where Jinbei is stationed has increased dramatically.
In recent years, there are too many pirates who have tried to cross Fish-man Island and enter the New World. As a new navy rear admiral-level officer, Jinbe is responsible for commanding the Fish-man Island branch, and the burden on his shoulders is very heavy.
There is no strict affiliation between Fish-man Island and the New Navy. Only the thousands of Fish-man Navy led by Jinbei are part of the New Navy's "organization."
The problem of inconsistent military and political leadership systems also began to emerge over time.
Princess Otohime of Fishman Island's biggest dream is to live in peace with the humans on the sea. She hopes that one day, the people of Fishman Island will be able to live freely under the sun, without having to rely on the Sun Tree to live on the small piece of land of Fishman Island.
But ideals are full, and reality is skinny.
It has to be said that Princess Otohime was a great person, but no matter how great the ideas are, once they are divorced from reality, they will bring disaster to the people.
As long as the human trade on land is not completely cut off, "mermaid girls" are "goods" at sea that are far more valuable than gold.
Princess Otohime wants to live in peace with humans. In recent years, she has tried to accept some merchant groups coming to Fish-man Island and has also made some policies to open up trade on Fish-man Island.
But the final result was that incidents of missing persons began to occur intermittently on Fishman Island.
Commerce? What other business venture could be more profitable than trafficking mermaid girls?!
A large number of those missing were merman girls, and a small number were young merman men.
Everyone in Dragon Palace, from King Neptune to ordinary guards, knew about this matter. However, King Neptune spent a lot of effort to find the murderer but failed to catch the group of human traffickers.
King Neptune even asked Jinbe to help investigate this matter, but their new navy returned empty-handed after investigating for a while.
As the number of missing cases gradually increased, public pressure on Fishman Island also accumulated and fermented.
Fishman Island, Ryugu Castle.
Many high-ranking officials of Fishman Island gathered together. In addition to King Neptune and his wife, their three sons also came to the Golden Palace today to participate in this internal "small meeting".
"Otohime, there were two cases of missing persons last month."
"Since Fishman Island opened up to foreign trade at the beginning of last year, there have been 51 disappearances."
"We at Ryugu Castle have also been investigating, and Jinbei has even taken time out of his busy schedule to help us track down the murderer."
"But you know the result. So far, we haven't found that group of people."
"This morning, a large number of people gathered in Fishman Street to oppose our policy of mutual trade with the Sabaody Archipelago and other Grand Line islands."
"People think the disappearances are caused by those humans!"
"The impact of this incident is getting worse and worse."
In the golden palace of Ryugu Castle, King Neptune sat on the throne and spoke with a heavy face to Princess Otohime who was standing beside him.
Hearing Neptune's words, the kindhearted Princess Otohime couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat. She felt sad for the missing people and looked at Neptune anxiously, saying:
"This kind of thing must never happen again!"
"If the missing cases can't be completely eliminated, the prejudice between us Fishman Island and humans will never disappear!"
"You must think of a way to plug this hole!"
Princess Otohime's focus was a bit off, or rather, she was worried about the safety of the people and did not think deeply about Neptune's words.
"Well"
"Otohime, there is a way, of course."
"I have discussed this with the Right Minister."
"It's not like there haven't been cases of missing persons on Fishman Island in the past."
"The perpetrators of those cases, without exception, are all pirates or human trafficking gangs that sneaked into Fishman Island."
"Currently, the new navy under Jinbei's charge has been diligently shouldering the task of clearing out pirates."
"I think we may have to cooperate with their actions."
Fishman Island's military and political policies aren't uniformly issued by Ryugugu. Ryugugu has a strong sense of autonomy, and its position of authority is often higher than Jinbe's.
The new navy commanded by Jinbe is under the jurisdiction of the Wan Guo Headquarters. They only target pirates and have no way to interfere in the internal affairs of Ryugu Castle.
There is no need to say much about Ji Kuniyoshi's attitude towards pirates. The most important purpose of him setting up a branch in Ryugu Castle is to block the routes of the front and back sections of the Grand Line.
In the past few years, although Jinbei's work was heavy, his goals were extremely clear.
However, the situation has been somewhat different in recent years. Under the leadership of Princess Otohime, Fishman Island rashly opened up to foreign trade. This gave the pirates an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
The pirates disguised themselves as merchants and landed on Fishman Island openly.
The new navy has almost no control over the four seas. It has no idea what pirates are roaming around in the four seas. God knows whether those merchants who come to the island are real merchants.
It is also because of this reason that the security environment in Fishman Island has become more chaotic in recent years than before.
Not all places are like the Ten Thousand Kingdoms, where humans, merpeople, and mermaids can live in harmony.
But the terrible thing happened again. The public security on the island was actually a "point of contention" between the new navy and the Dragon Palace City where power was intertwined.
Normally, it is the navy's job to arrest criminals, but in reality, Ryugu Castle has its own guards responsible for maintaining law and order on the island.
Jinbei is a smart man. He knows how to avoid unnecessary conflicts. Therefore, when it comes to security on the island, if Neptune doesn't say anything, he won't take the initiative to take care of it. If his people really encounter someone, they can only arrest him and send him to the guards.
Amidst the military and political chaos, Fishman Island was like a pool with a hole in it. Jinbe kept patching the hole, but the faucet above the pool was never turned off, and there was no way to patch the hole.
By now, Neptune had obviously realized what was happening and told Princess Otohime about it.
Seeing that Princess Otohime didn't seem to understand his intention, King Neptune simply made his point clear and continued:
"Otohime, I plan to seal off Fishman Island."
"Restrict all caravans from coming and going."
Neptune spoke with a sullen face, informing Princess Otohime of the policy he and the Right Minister had come up with.
"How can this be possible?!"
"If we don't interact with humans, when will the grudges between our two races be completely resolved?!"
After hearing what King Neptune said, Princess Otohime was horrified and couldn't help but scream.
"Neptune, there are good and bad people among humans, right?"
"What you said is indeed possible, but if we kill all the caravans with one stick..."
"Aren't we just the same as before?"
Princess Otohime clutched Neptune's arm tightly, her face filled with reluctance. She knew that if this policy was truly implemented, Fishman Island would return to its closed-off state.
"Otohime, I know what you're thinking. You're right, it's for the good of Fishman Island."
“But the actual situation is different from the ideal situation!”
"We on Fishman Island don't have the ability to identify incoming and outgoing merchant ships!"
"Not to mention us, even the new navy would have a hard time doing this."
"Right now, this is the only way to stop this!"
King Neptune patted Princess Otohime's hand and offered solace in a concerned tone. However, it was hard to say how much of his words Otohime would actually take in.
Otohime fell silent, and with her silence, the atmosphere in the hall became oppressive.
It is true that Neptune is the king, but in fact, he is a henpecked husband. Otohime's attitude can directly affect King Neptune's attitude.
Just as everyone was waiting for Princess Otohime's answer, a sturdy guard suddenly hurried into the hall. After entering the hall, he knelt on the ground, saluted towards the royal family, and reported loudly:
"Your Highness, there are invaders on Fishman Island!"
"The other party has entered Geelong Cord Square!"
"The guards are heading over there, the new navy has already taken action!"
After the guard entered the hall, he reported to King Neptune in a calm tone.
Invasion
The bubble that envelops Fishman Island has the power to isolate the seawater and filter oxygen, but the bubble is not a shield, it is not the same thing.
The so-called invasion means that foreign ships do not go through the ports officially set up by Fish-Man Island, but directly invade Fish-Man Island illegally from the dome at great risk.
Such incidents have occurred repeatedly in recent years, and usually they are caused by pirates who are ignorant of the world.
These invaders were usually dealt with by the New Navy.
Dragon Palace City will also send guards to assist in handling such emergencies.
In the Golden Palace, King Neptune glanced at the reporting guard, nodded, raised his right hand, and said:
"Captain Hodie Jones, please get up."
"Since Jinbei has already taken action, you should follow the usual practice and send two teams to help."
"Report any progress to the Right Minister promptly."
As he spoke, Hodi Jones, who was lying on the ground, raised his head and looked at Neptune on the throne and Princess Otohime beside him. After answering, he turned and walked out of the palace.
When he left, Hodie Jones had an inexplicable smile on his face.
Inside the palace, the Right Minister glanced at Hodi Jones's departing figure, his face full of displeasure, and suddenly said:
"Your Highness Neptune, I don't think Captain Hodi Jones is suitable to stay by your side to protect your safety."
"He's brave and good at fighting. I think we can let him go to Jinbei's side and help him protect the safety of our Fishman Island!"
The Right Minister recalled the way Hody Jones looked directly at King Neptune and Princess Otohime, and gave his advice.
As a subordinate, Hody Jones's behavior just now was very rude. If it was an ordinary person who didn't know the rules, it wouldn't matter, but Hody Jones was obviously not that kind of ordinary person who didn't know the rules.
"Um?"
"Right Minister, why are you suddenly saying this?"
"Captain Hodie Jones works diligently and does an outstanding job!"
"As for the new navy, Captain Hody Jones's ambitions are not there."
Neptune obviously did not take what had just happened to heart, and he had never doubted the ministers he had appointed.
"." When the Right Minister heard this, he realized that he had been a little reckless in saying this. He bowed slightly and said no more. However, he had already planned to have a good talk with Hody Jones after a while.
Giron Court Square, Fishman Island.
This is the residential area of Fishman Island, and all the people living here are citizens of Fishman Island.
Foreign merchants basically don't come to such places.
Apart from the port town of Coral Hill, the places with the most merchants or tourists are either the Sea Forest with the most unique natural scenery, or the most prosperous and lively Mermaid Bay and Marin Shopping Center.
But on this day, the tranquility and peace of Geelong's Cord Square was broken by a deafening roar.
"boom--"
A large red ship actually passed through the bubble on the dome of Fishman Island at an angle and fell from a high place onto an open space in the center of Gironcord Square.
With a loud bang, wood chips flew everywhere and thick smoke and dust swept across the street.
Passersby were not paying attention and were knocked down by the sudden hurricane.
The residents were startled by the loud noise and came out of their houses to check what was happening. A large group of fishmen also quickly rushed towards the square.
After a long time, thick smoke and dust settled on the ground, and a large ship with a severely damaged hull appeared in the sight of the people.
This was a large, slender red ship. The broken mast happened to be stuck on the deck and penetrated the hull. The ship was full of wood chips and dust.
The people looked at the huge ship that fell from the sky with astonishment in their eyes.
Soon, the black pirate flag flying on the ship attracted the attention of everyone.
"Sea Pirates!!!"
Someone in the crowd recognized the meaning of the flag, and after a low cry, they turned and fled. The people who had gathered in the square suddenly scattered, and screams filled the town.
"puff--"
“Bah! Bah!!”
"Stupid Shanks, is this the path you were talking about?!"
"I almost died!"
"Didn't you say you've been to Fishman Island before? Didn't you come here this way when you followed Captain Roger?!"
After the crowd fled, a clear complaint was heard from the deck of the damaged ship. Uta's little head popped out from the side of the ship and began to cough violently.
"Hahahaha! Landing successful!"
A hearty laugh sounded from behind Uta. Shanks came to Uta's side with a big laugh, and while helping Uta brush off the dust on her body, he explained shamelessly:
"I'm not lying to you. I really have been to Fishman Island with Captain Roger."
"Isn't this an accident?!"
"If we hadn't wanted to get rid of those fishmen navy, we wouldn't have to go this way."
The group of pirates who invaded Fishman Island were none other than the Red Hair Pirates.
Nearly a year later, they left the East China Sea, crossed the first half of the Grand Line, and arrived at Fishman Island, intending to go to the New World.
Shanks is a thick-skinned pirate. Unlike other pirates, he doesn't hide his identity and disguise himself as a merchant to go to the island. Instead, he wants to enter the port with the pirate flag clearly hung.
At the port, they were intercepted by people like Shi Ping.
Shanks and his crew had no way to compete with a fishman like Jinbe in the sea, so they could only flee in a hurry on the boat. In a panic, they had a "hard landing".
"Boss, can you be more reliable?"
On the deck, the crew members of the Red Hair Pirates leaned over one after another and complained to Shanks.
(End of this chapter)
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