When Gojo's ship was about fifty to sixty meters away from the shore of the Conomi Islands, he suddenly noticed movement along the coastline. One by one, the villagers of Cocoyashi Village began to appear, gathering at the shore and waving their hands as they called out their goodbyes.
Gojo glanced back and thought, It seems Nojiko informed everyone about my departure. He didn't dwell on it for long. Raising his hand, he waved back in return. Slowly, the distance grew wider, and before long, his ship faded into the horizon, disappearing from the sight of the Cocoyashi villagers.
As they continued to stare at the empty sea where the ship had vanished, Genzo spoke quietly, "With his presence on the sea, things will definitely become quite lively out there. And if my intuition isn't wrong, we'll be seeing a lot about him in the newspapers."
Standing beside him, Nojiko nodded. She shared the same feeling, an unspoken certainty that this was not the last time the world would hear of Gojo.
…
On Gojo's ship, the voyage continued smoothly. He sailed with ease for about four to five hours, the sound of waves brushing against the hull filling the quiet air. By evening, he should be able to reach the next island—one that had a Marine base where he could submit Arlong's body and claim the bounty.
Still, a doubt lingered in his mind. The Marines' narrative mattered. If they had already declared Arlong dead or spun the incident in some other way, then claiming the bounty might not be possible at all.
As he sailed on, Gojo tilted his head up and looked at the sky, watching the clouds drift lazily. "Where the hell is today's newspaper?" he muttered. "I want to see it. There has to be news about all this."
Almost as if it had heard his voice, a News Coo soon appeared in the sky, flying toward his ship with a newspaper tucked securely on its gear. Gojo gestured for it to come closer, and the bird descended without hesitation. He paid the required money, took the newspaper from it, and after a brief moment, the News Coo flapped its wings and flew away, leaving Gojo alone with the fresh headlines in his hands.
Gojo opened the newspaper, and just as he had expected, his news was printed clearly on the front. Along with it was the news of him supposedly killing the Marines of the Conomi Islands regional base. As he read through the article, Gojo suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha! What a World Government," he scoffed. "What Marines."
He read the entire report carefully, and the more he read, the more absurd it became. In summary, the newspaper claimed that Gojo Satoru and the Arlong Pirates were planning to form an alliance and increase their tyranny over the people of the Conomi Islands. According to the article, at the critical moment, Captain Nezumi of the Conomi Islands Marine base arrived. Displaying great bravery, he fought against both parties and was killed in the process.
The story went on to say that later, due to some kind of internal disagreement, Gojo and the Arlong Pirates turned on each other. In the clash that followed, Gojo emerged victorious, while Arlong managed to flee—escaping by swimming away into the sea. The rest of the Arlong Pirates, the paper declared, were killed by Gojo.
Gojo shook his head and tossed the newspaper aside, letting it slide across the deck. Only then did he focus on his bounty poster. The photo had been taken around the time he had killed the Krieg Pirates, capturing him in a moment frozen in time. Considering his supposed strength and "crimes," the World Government had immediately placed a bounty of fifty million berries on his head.
Looking at the number beneath his face, Gojo let out a small chuckle. "Well," he said, "for a starting bounty, it's not that bad."
Gojo didn't care about what was written about him in the newspaper. What mattered to him was how Arlong's status had been described, and it was exactly as he had wanted—Arlong was reported to have escaped. That alone was enough. With this narrative in place, he could claim Arlong's bounty without any issue.
"Anyway," Gojo muttered, folding the newspaper, "it'll take quite a while before I reach the next island. Why not go and plant that orange tree Nojiko gave me?" The thought settled easily in his mind, and he moved without hesitation.
He changed into simple, casual clothes—a plain white shirt, half pants, and ordinary slippers—then went up to the upper deck. There, under the open sky and the steady rhythm of the waves, he carefully began planting the orange tree, pressing the soil down around its base and making sure it stood firm.
Four hours later, as evening began to set in, Gojo finally reached the island he had been heading toward. He docked his ship at an isolated, unfamiliar corner of the island, deliberately avoiding the main harbor. He didn't want the Marines to know that he had arrived here.
After stepping ashore, Gojo retrieved Arlong's body from the ship and set off. He walked along the shoreline, where the town lay close to the sea. As he moved, he quietly observed the people nearby, scanning their faces and behaviour. He was looking for someone who seemed honest and in need of money.
After nearly half an hour of observation, he finally noticed a middle-aged man who had just docked his small boat at the shore. The man looked sincere, and there was a clear sadness on his face. It was obvious he hadn't managed to catch any good fish that day. Gojo was certain—this man was a fisherman who had gone out to sea and returned empty-handed.
Gojo watched the man closely. The fisherman was carrying a net with only a few fish caught in it, the weight far lighter than it should have been. As the middle-aged man walked along the shore, his thoughts were clearly elsewhere—on the problems waiting for him at home, on his family, and on the money he needed for his wife's treatment.
Suddenly, a young man appeared in front of him, blocking his path. He wore sunglasses and looked quite handsome, dressed in clean, well-kept clothes. From the way the young man carried himself, the fisherman immediately assumed he must be someone important.
"Sir, do you need something from me?" the fisherman asked cautiously.
Gojo looked at the net and then back at the man. "It seems you weren't able to catch many fish and have returned quite empty-handed."
The middle-aged man let out a small, helpless sigh. "Yes, that's the case. These days, I'm not able to find the amount of fish I used to before."
Gojo nodded lightly. "You look like someone who's in need of money. If you want, I can give you a chance to earn some."
For a brief moment, the fisherman's face brightened with hope. But almost immediately, that expression faltered. An unknown man appearing out of nowhere and offering money—work like that was rarely clean. The thought of his sick wife flashed through his mind.
"I'm sorry," the fisherman said firmly, shaking his head. "I can't do your work. My wife is sick, and I need to return home as soon as possible."
After hearing the fisherman's words, Gojo became certain of his judgment. If the man had accepted the offer without hesitation, then either he was truly desperate or simply not a good person. But this man, despite clearly needing money, had remained cautious and calm. Someone who could do that, even while struggling, was definitely an honest man.
Gojo spoke again, his voice steady. "I know exactly what you're thinking—that I'm about to ask you to do something impossible, or something that goes against your conscience. I'm not going to ask you to do anything like that."
With that, Gojo reached down and dropped a large body bag onto the ground between them. The dull thud drew the fisherman's eyes to it. "Inside this," Gojo continued, "is the body of Arlong. The captain of the Arlong Pirates—the one who supposedly escaped yesterday." He paused briefly, then added, "To be precise, he was killed by me."
The fisherman froze, his eyes widening.
"I want you to take this body," Gojo said calmly, "and claim that you were the one who captured him dead—or that you found his body—and then claim the bounty at the Marine base." He looked the man straight in the eyes. "For doing that, I will give you one million berries."
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