"Ahahahaha, so you were here to save us," Camie said, scratching her head. "I thought you'd been captured too."
This whole thing was so awkward.
Meiser shook his head helplessly at her words, then turned to the mermaid beside her and asked, "Is this your friend?"
"Yeah, her name is Milan." Camie proudly wrapped her arm around Milan's, saying, "We're really good friends~"
Meiser was speechless.
Of course you're good friends, good enough to get eaten by a Sea Beast together.
"You... Hello..." Milan said, looking at Meiser with a hint of fear.
"You seem a little afraid of me?"
Milan flinched before saying, "No!"
Still saying no... You're already having a stress reaction.
"Don't worry, I'm not like those human traffickers. I won't do anything to you," Meiser said.
"Milan, Meiser is my friend. He's different from other humans; he won't hurt us," Camie said.
Hearing Camie's words, Milan fell silent for a moment before nodding, her body gradually relaxing.
Since he was Camie's friend, he probably wouldn't harm them.
Thinking this, Milan lowered her head and said, "Thank you so much for saving us."
"It was nothing."
After speaking, Meiser glanced at Camie and said, "Alright, spill it. Why did you get eaten by a Sea Beast again?"
"Ehehe~"
"Ehehe your head!" Meiser's eyes widened. "Believe it or not, I'll beat you up to teach you a lesson!"
If he hadn't happened to run into her this time, she would have been taken to Mary Geoise!
Once there... a nightmare would have awaited them!
"Let's not do that," Camie said, shaking her head.
Meiser's punches could make even Luffy cry out in pain, let alone her, so it was better to pass.
"Then tell me what happened!" Meiser demanded. "And why wasn't Hachi with you this time?"
Usually, whenever Camie got into trouble, wasn't it Hachi who came to the rescue? Why was there no sign of him this time?
"Hachi went to deal with matters in the Fish-Man District," Camie explained. "As for why the two of us are here..."
"We mainly came out to look for some fresh shellfish, but we didn't expect to be eaten by a Sea Beast."
"Ehehe~"
Meiser was speechless.
Looking at Camie, who still hadn't realized the gravity of the situation, Meiser paused for a moment before flicking her on the forehead twice.
Thump!
Thump!
"Ow, that hurts!" Camie cried, clutching her head.
"Why... why did I get hit too?" Milan said, also holding her slightly reddened forehead.
"To make you both learn your lesson," Meiser said irritably. "So you don't get caught again in the future."
"But..."
"But what?"
Meiser's expression grew serious as he pointed towards the distant Red Earth Continent. "If I hadn't happened to run into you, you would have been sent there!"
"Once you enter Mary Geoise, you'll be kept as pets by the Celestial Dragons. Whether you can even survive will be a question!"
Hearing Meiser's words, both of their faces turned pale.
Especially Camie, who had experienced the auction incident, began to tremble.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to get caught either..." Camie said with her head down. "But I never thought I'd be eaten by a Sea Beast. Who would have thought that moving around thousands of meters deep in the sea would get you brought to the surface?"
Meiser fell silent for a moment, then rubbed his brow. "From now on, don't leave Fish-Man Island. Just stay and run the Octopus Dumplings shop with Hachi."
He felt that Camie's luck was a bit problematic, so it was better for her not to leave Fish-Man Island.
"Okay, I get it. I won't leave Fish-Man Island again," Camie nodded.
After this incident, she wouldn't take a single step out of Fish-Man Island!
"Good," Meiser nodded.
It was good that she could learn her lesson.
Then, Meiser asked, "By the way... do you have to leave Fish-Man Island to find shellfish?"
Fish-Man Island was an island, after all. Didn't it have a place for foraging by the sea?
"We didn't need to before, because our Fish-Man Island has a bay where we can find shellfish," Camie said. "But ever since that great man passed away, more pirates have come to our island, and the bay has become more dangerous than before."
"So... we can only choose to go into deeper waters to find shellfish."
Only by going into the deep sea could they prevent those pirates from catching them. This was also why Camie and Milan had to leave Fish-Man Island.
Meiser fell silent for a moment, his expression complicated. "You mean old man Whitebeard..."
He remembered Jimbei once mentioning that Whitebeard had lent his flag to Fish-Man Island to deter troublemakers and keep them from targeting the island.
But now that old man Whitebeard was dead, his flag...
It seems that without a top-tier powerhouse, others no longer take the Whitebeard Pirates seriously, Meiser mused to himself.
He wondered how those guys were doing now.
"It was indeed Lord Whitebeard," Milan said sadly. "It was because of that great man's Pirate Flag that our Fish-Man Island could be peaceful for so long. Otherwise, we might have been..."
"Human traffickers..."
Understanding Milan's meaning, Meiser subconsciously glanced at the flag hanging high above.
"Yes, human traffickers."
Milan continued, "I heard before that some of our sisters were captured in the bay. I don't know how they are now."
They were very lucky to be saved by Camie's friend, but what about the other sisters?
At this thought, tears welled up in Milan's eyes.
Meiser glanced at the equally sad-looking Camie, then turned his head to look at the distant Red Earth Continent, his eyes slowly narrowing.
The Fish-Man race, considered a 'high-quality commodity' by traffickers, would probably be taken to Mary Geoise, Meiser thought.
Perhaps...
As if he had thought of something, a glint appeared in Meiser's eyes.
Then, Meiser turned to Camie and asked, "Has that guy Jimbei returned to Fish-Man Island?"
"Has he come up with any solution to the current predicament?"
"Boss Jimbei said he would find a way to solve this matter," Camie nodded. "But I don't know the specific solution."
Meiser stroked his chin. "Is that so..."
Given the Whitebeard Pirates' current situation, they could no longer deter other pirates. So... the best solution would be to find another powerful backer. That would solve the current problem!
He just didn't know who Fish-Man Island would turn to.
The BIG MOM Pirates?
Or perhaps the Beasts Pirates?
Or maybe the Red Hair Pirates?
Any one of them could deter the other pirates.
As for the World Government...
Don't be ridiculous. Those guys would love for someone to supply the Celestial Dragons with Fish-Man race slaves. Why would they protect Fish-Man Island?
So Meiser wouldn't even consider the World Government.
Just then, Camie asked, "By the way, Meiser, why don't I see Luffy and Merry?"
She remembered those two were with Meiser.
"Them? They're both training," Meiser said.
Merry was training with Granny Nyon, while Luffy was training with old man Rayleigh.
By now... those two should have already reached that special island and started their training.
"Training?"
Camie was stunned. Why were they training?
Shouldn't they be waiting at the Sabaody Archipelago for Nami and the others?
However, Meiser didn't explain this time. Instead, he pointed to the sea beside them and said, "Alright, you two should hurry back to Fish-Man Island, just in case anything else happens."
"Okay..."
Camie obediently hopped to the side of the ship. Then, as if remembering something, she turned to Meiser and said, "Meiser, do you want to come to Fish-Man Island with us?"
"I have a Coral Bubble here."
As she spoke, Camie took out a Coral Bubble from her clothes, indicating that he could use it to go to Fish-Man Island with them.
At the same time, she said, "Master Pappag is really looking forward to you visiting his shop."
Ever since she returned to Fish-Man Island, her master Pappag had been talking about Meiser every day, almost to the point of going out to sea to find him.
"No, I have more important things to do." Meiser turned to look in the direction of Mary Geoise and said, "So I don't have time to go to Fish-Man Island with you."
"As for visiting... we can talk about that later."
"I see..."
"Don't worry, once our crewmates gather, we will go to Fish-Man Island," Meiser said.
"Okay!"
With that, Camie said no more, jumped up, and dove into the sea.
Milan, on the other hand, thanked Meiser once more before plunging into the ocean below.
"Have a safe trip!"
"Okay!"
The two waved at Meiser from the water's surface, then turned and swam into the depths of the sea at an extremely fast speed.
Watching them leave, Meiser said with some emotion, "The Fish-Man race is truly a magical race."
Shaking his head, Meiser used the Shadow Clone Technique and Transformation Technique to restore the personnel to their original state, then his real body came out onto the deck.
After glancing at the items on the ship, Meiser muttered, "How do you sail this thing again?"
Recalling what he had seen on the ship before, Meiser began to operate it step by step, getting the ship moving.
"Heh, I really am a genius!" Meiser grinned.
Then, the ship, flying a special flag, headed towards the distant port.
"It's so strange. Why did the higher-ups suddenly order us to strengthen the defenses?" a man holding a long spear asked his bald companion in confusion. "Could it be that someone is planning to attack the Holy Land?"
"You've got to be kidding."
The cone-headed man next to him rolled his eyes. "How could anyone dare to attack the Holy Land!"
This was the territory of the Celestial Dragons, the territory of the gods of the world!
Who would dare to come to a place like this?
"Didn't that Fish-man from many years ago, what was his name, Fi— Mmph mmph..."
"Shut your mouth!"
The cone-headed man, who had covered his mouth, said with an ugly expression, "If you want to die, don't drag me down with you!"
Was he trying to get himself killed by mentioning that guy's name in a place like this?
If the higher-ups heard them, they might both be casually killed!
Then, he said, "Don't mention that guy's name. Nod if you understand."
"Mmph mmph!"
"Hah... hah..."
The man, now free, immediately gasped for air, then said, "Were you trying to kill me?"
"Hmph, it wouldn't be a problem to kill you right now," the cone-headed man snorted coldly. "At least it would be a quick death for you."
If they were captured by the World Government's interrogators... that would truly be a fate worse than death.
Understanding what the other man meant, the man immediately shut his mouth, then slapped his own head. "Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't have run my mouth."
"Alright, cut the crap. Someone's coming."
Glancing at the large ship gradually approaching, the man immediately fell silent.
A moment later, the ship neared the port and finally came to a steady stop.
"Isn't that Kane?"
Staring at 'Kane' as he disembarked, the man said, "Didn't he just leave two days ago? Why is he back already?"
"Maybe he got some good merchandise," the cone-headed man said.
Then, he walked up to Meiser and said, "Kane, why are you back so soon?"
"Of course, it's because I got some good merchandise," 'Kane' grinned.
"What good merchandise?"
"I got two merfolk!"
"It's actually merfolk?!" The cone-headed man looked at 'Kane' in shock. "I didn't expect you to get a haul like this too."
"Too?"
'Kane' raised an eyebrow. "Has someone else besides me caught members of the Fish-Man race?"
"Of course!"
The cone-headed man laughed. "A lot of people have been catching the Fish-Man race recently!"
"But there are very few merfolk among them; most are fish-men."
Receiving this useful information, 'Kane's' eyes flickered, and he nodded. "Looks like I'm not the only lucky one."
"Your luck is indeed very good," the other man walked over and said. "After all, merfolk are really hard to catch."
Merfolk have the fastest swimming speed in the entire world, so they are widely recognized as difficult to capture.
Someone like 'Kane' who could catch two at once... was indeed a rarity.
Then, he said, "Let's go, I'll take you to the lift."
With that, the man turned and walked towards the ship, signaling for Meiser to follow him.
After glancing at the man's back, Meiser followed without a word.
"That bastard, he's always so eager when there's a benefit to be had," the cone-headed man complained.
Forget it, it's his turn anyway, so let him go.
As for me... I'll just wait for the next person delivering goods!
Soon, Meiser and the man returned to the ship.
The man then made a money-rubbing gesture at Meiser, indicating that it was time for his reward.
Meiser smiled at his words, then looked up at him and said, "Come, look into my eyes."
The man was confused.
He looked at Meiser quizzically, wondering what this guy was up to.
But before he could speak, he saw a pair of blood-red pupils that grew larger and larger.
The man's thoughts screamed.
Damn it... this guy is the Blood-Eyed Ninja the higher-ups are on high alert for!
It's over... it's completely over...
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