"You're worried about that!"
Hearing Village Chief Martin's words, Ian finally understood why he had been so busy lately, never daring to rest for a moment.
Unlike Village Chief Martin, who looked visibly worried, Ian sat leisurely on the massive rock, angrily saying: "It has already begun, what's the point in worrying?"
"Such a large sum of money, how could I not worry? That's 160 million Belly!"
"Then why don't we just stop building it?"
Ian yawned, unconcerned with Village Chief Martin's flaring temper. "Give me back the rest of the money, and we won't build it. Then you won't have to worry."
"How can that be!"
Village Chief Martin raised his voice at that, but then he realized what was happening and glared at Ian. "You kid... Are you kidding me? That's your money, aren't you worried?"
"Worried about what? Just treat it as spoils taken from pirates."
Ian said nonchalantly. "The ocean may be short of things, but it's not short of pirates."
And honestly, he didn't care about that little money. After all, there was a golden city waiting to be dug up on Skypiea!
If he hadn't been so unsure about riding the Knock Up Stream, he would have gone to Skypiea long ago to search for the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
"You idiot..."
Hearing Ian's words, Village Chief Martin gave a helpless smile and shook his head.
He knew the boy truly didn't care about the small amount of money, but as the village chief of Sibia Village and one of the five permanent village chiefs elected from the eight villages in the Sibia River Archipelago, he couldn't relax.
This was the future of the Sibia River Archipelago!
"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore."
Village Chief Martin also sat down, nudged Ian's shoulder, and then, with that waggling-brow expression again, said: "When are you and Robin planning on having a baby?"
Ian: "..."
When?
To be honest, he wasn't ready yet!
Especially when he saw Village Chief Martin trying to force him to have a baby, Ian, who had grown stronger recently, recalled that feeling.
Especially seeing Village Chief Martin's constant nagging only made Ian, who had grown stronger recently, recall that feeling.
He retired to the countryside to revitalize his hometown, only to be nagged by the village chief to marry and have kids!
Damn it, wasn't this supposed to be the reckless world of One Piece he traveled to?!
"Almost there, almost there!"
Ian perfunctorily brushed him off, and upon noticing that Robin had just finished work and was walking over, he stood up at once and said: "Let's stop talking. Robin's done, and it's time for us to go home."
"Dear! Sorry, I made you..."
Just as he finished, Robin's voice reached over. But before she could continue, Ian took her hand while ignoring Village Chief Martin, who wanted to say something: "Don't worry about whether it'll sell. I've got some connections in the 315th Branch. Worst case, we will sell it to the Marines."
With that, he led Robin toward home.
Village Chief Martin stood there dumbfounded. Only after Ian had walked away did he react and sneer: "You kid, you didn't even tell me you had such a plan beforehand."
But truth be told, hearing that did ease his worries a lot.
Then, as if noticing something, he suddenly turned sharply. Seeing a kid who had stopped working and was picking at his toes, his face instantly darkened.
"Which village is he from? The sun has just set, and he's already slacking off! Get back to work! This is the future of the Sibia River Archipelago! Work for another hour, then we will rest after dark!"
Elsewhere, Ian and Robin, unaware of Village Chief Martin turning into a strict supervisor, hadn't gotten very far.
"Dear, why are you in such a hurry?"
Robin looked at Ian helplessly and said: "I haven't told Village Chief Martin about the upcoming work yet."
"It's the same tomorrow."
Ian said nonchalantly. "Don't worry, with Village Chief Martin watching, nothing will go wrong."
That old man was acting like he was on stimulants these days; if there were really problems, he would've come running long ago.
"Village Chief Martin is just a little afraid, afraid he will let down your goodwill."
Robin smiled at Ian's words, then frowned again.
She tilted her head, supporting her right hand with her left hand, and touched her chin with her right hand. "It's my fault too, not being fully prepared. The Sibia River Archipelago is in a remote sea area. So selling them will be difficult. If we sell to that merchant ship, they will probably suppress the price again."
"Didn't I tell you? If all else fails, sell them to the 315th Branch."
"One branch alone probably can't buy that much wine."
"That's okay. I know a big shot at the headquarters."
Ian added. "I'll have him sell it to headquarters. Okay, forget it. I'm getting hungry."
He picked up his one-handed axe. "We're out of firewood. I'm going to chop some in the yard."
With that, he turned and walked over to the pile of wood in the yard.
Robin smiled helplessly and went inside to prepare dinner. But when Ian wasn't looking, her eyelashes fluttered slightly in the kitchen.
"A baby…?"
She seemed to recall her mother's image.
Will she... Have a child of her own?
...
As time passed, the outlines of the winery and dock gradually took shape.
Looking at the nearly completed winery and dock, the villagers of the Sibia Village grew increasingly expectant and excited.
Every day, many villagers came to watch the two construction sites. In fact, these days, Sibia Village was livelier than Ian's earlier engagement banquet.
As for Ian… The weather warmed, the beasts on the back mountain woke from hibernation and began foraging.
Ian, who trained on the back mountain daily, would occasionally bring back game to supplement meat for the household and the worksite.
To speed up construction, the villagers working on the sites no longer went home for meals but ate together at the sites to finish as quickly as possible.
It must be said that these quiet days, combined with the bustle of the construction site, made Ian's feeling of retiring to his village to help alleviate poverty and revitalize the countryside more and more palpable.
When the time was nearly up, Ian finished his training for the day and carried a deer down the mountain.
However, as soon as he reached the construction site, he sensed a different atmosphere.
Ian hesitated for a moment, then walked toward the crowd gathered together, all wearing angry faces.
Looking at Village Chief Martin, whose face was also dark, he asked: "What's going on? Village Chief Martin, why is everyone gathered here? Are you planning on taking a break today?"
As soon as he finished his words, before Village Chief Martin could say anything else…
"Ian is back!"
"Ian will definitely find a way."
"With Ian here, those damned gangsters won't dare mess with us!"
Excited voices suddenly rang out from all around, startling Ian.
Gangsters?
Just as he was about to ask,
"Everyone, be quiet!"
Village Chief Martin roared in anger, his face darkening. He then looked at Ian with a worried look, hesitated, sighed, and said: "The mafia has come to us."
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