Limitless Pirates:
Having completed her mission, Rhea immediately ordered the Limitless Pirates to return at full speed for dinner.
If asked where the food was best, even Rhea, who had eaten throughout the Four Seas, had to admit that only the food at her own home was the most delicious.
It was because her Father had recruited many famous chefs from all over the World to the Limitless Pirates, and the meals at home were almost all meticulously prepared by those chefs.
Moreover, after the meals were prepared, they were secretly transported back home through the Mirror World, perfectly ensuring the freshness of the food. This also meant the chefs didn't have to be tied down at home just for cooking; they could do what they wanted and continue to improve their culinary skills.
"Wow, it smells so good, I'm back just in time!"
Nox, Shakky, Athena, Lesley, Asuna, and others were just starting to eat when Rhea arrived home.
"Go wash your hands!"
Seeing so much delicious food, Rhea immediately wanted to sit down and eat, but she was glared at by Shakky.
"Alright, Mama, I'm going now!"
With that glare from Shakky, Rhea had no choice but to obediently go wash her hands before eating.
"Rhea, did you bring back those two Devil Fruits?"
Nox asked while eating.
"I brought them back, Father. I'll give them to you after dinner."
Rhea replied while wolfing down her food.
"You child, no one is fighting you for it, eat slower!"
Shakky saw some grease flowing from the corner of Rhea's mouth, picked up a handkerchief, and wiped it clean for her.
"Mama, this food is too delicious, I can't slow down."
Although her Mama said that, Rhea still had no intention of slowing down.
Looking at her food-loving daughter, Shakky was helpless. Her daughter was good in every way, except she loved to eat, especially loved to eat!
"Just in time for your return, tomorrow you will accompany Marcus on a trip to the Mink Tribe's ancestral land!"
"I will have Marcus go and subdue the Mink Tribe. You won't need to take action then, just follow along."
Nox said.
"Ah? I just finished one mission, and now there's another one? Father, can someone else go instead?"
When Rhea heard her Father's words, her appetite for the food instantly vanished.
"No, you'll go. Anyway, you don't need to do anything; you're just going there with him. Marcus will handle everything else."
Nox knew his daughter's personality well; besides loving to eat, she loved to be lazy.
This kind of thing could actually be handled by other Executive Officers, but Nox wanted to give Rhea some experience and let her interact and communicate more with other Executive Officers of the Limitless Pirates. After all, Rhea would be developing within the Limitless Pirates in the future, and accumulating some fame and prestige would be beneficial.
As a member of the Mink Tribe and now an Executive Officer of the Limitless Pirates, Marcus's strength was sufficient, which is why Nox arranged for Marcus to subdue the Mink Tribe.
No matter what, the Mink Tribe was a special race. Everyone possessed powerful electro abilities, making them a race of warriors. After being subdued, they could provide a large number of low and mid-level combatants for the Limitless Pirates.
"Alright then, I'll go tomorrow!"
Since her Father had said so, Rhea could only continue to eat frantically, even wanting to eat all the food she wouldn't be able to eat at home for the next few days!
The next day, Rhea and Marcus departed from the Limitless Pirates aboard a five-hundred-meter-long steel battleship, followed by five three-hundred-meter-long ships, heading towards the Mink Tribe's ancestral land, Zou!
"Princess Rhea, after arriving at Zou, you can just stand back and support me. There's no need to interfere with the matters between me and the Mink Tribe. I will successfully subdue the Mink Tribe!"
Marcus said to Rhea.
He was loyal to Nox, and naturally respected Nox's daughter, Rhea. Even more so, he had fought Rhea before and lost, which made him respect her even more.
After all, strong individuals were worthy of awe, let alone the daughter of his own Captain!
"Don't worry, Marcus, do your best. I won't interfere with you."
For this kind of thing, Rhea was happy to take it easy. If she didn't have to lift a finger, she didn't want to do anything extra.
Zou was located on the back of a giant elephant that had lived for a thousand years. This giant elephant was immensely massive, its limbs submerged in the Sea. The depth of the Sea could not even submerge half of its limbs, making it arguably the largest creature in the Pirate World!
Marcus had once lived on Zou. Out of curiosity about the outside World, he secretly left Zou. Later, he was captured by slave traders, became a slave, and was eventually rescued by Nox, staying by Nox's side.
Almost twenty years had passed, and now, he was finally going back!
Under Marcus's guidance, three days passed, and they finally found Zou, finding the giant elephant drifting on the Sea!
"Wow, what a huge elephant, has this elephant really lived for over a thousand years?"
Rhea looked at the giant elephant before her, which surpassed her imagination, and her eyes lit up instantly. Seeing was believing.
With such a massive creature, she really wondered how long it would last if roasted and eaten, and whether it would be delicious!
As she thought about it, Rhea's mouth almost started watering.
"All the Mink Tribe members and Princess Rhea will go up with me, the others stay here!"
Marcus had no idea what terrible things Rhea was thinking about at this moment. He led his twenty Mink Tribe subordinates and climbed directly up the elephant's leg.
These twenty Mink Tribe members were all found on the Sea. Many of them were formerly slaves who were rescued by the Limitless Pirates and subsequently placed under Marcus's command.
"Moonwalk: Cursed Shadow!"
Rhea's thoughts of eating the elephant were interrupted by Marcus's words. Compared to Marcus and the others climbing, Rhea directly flew up using Moonwalk.
After climbing onto the elephant, Marcus led everyone directly towards the town. As a member of the Mink Tribe, even though almost twenty years had passed, he hadn't forgotten the route here.
"Did you return to our Zou from the Sea?"
After Marcus and the others arrived in the small town, a group of Mink Tribe musketeers blocked their way.
"That's right, I am Marcus. I left Zou twenty years ago and am now officially returning to Zou!"
"I found other tribesmen on the Sea and brought them back as well!"
Marcus said excitedly upon seeing his fellow Mink Tribe members. After all, they were all from the same tribe, and seeing so many of his own kind made Marcus happy from the bottom of his heart.
"Welcome home, Marcus. I will report your situation to the King and everyone. I think everyone will be very happy that you've returned!"
Anande of the musketeers was also very happy after hearing Marcus's words. She was a very warm-hearted person and very tolerant towards her own tribe.
With the guidance of the musketeers, Marcus and the others quickly integrated into the Mink Tribe. After all, they were all from the same tribe.
The Mink Tribe population was inherently small, and there was great trust among tribesmen. Especially after hearing that Marcus had rescued twenty fellow tribesmen who had become slaves on the Sea and brought them all back, Marcus gained the recognition of most of the Mink Tribe!
After hearing about Marcus's arrival, the current King of the Mink Tribe, Abedo, also rushed over upon hearing the news.
"King, this is Marcus,"
Anande of the musketeers introduced Marcus to Abedo.
"King, I am Marcus. I officially return to Zou today!"
Marcus said respectfully after seeing Abedo.
He was a member of the Mink Tribe, and Abedo was the King of the Mink Tribe. Although he was confident that his strength was greater than Abedo's, as the King of the Mink Tribe, he was worthy of his respect!
"What is the purpose of your return?"
After seeing Marcus, Abedo felt a strong sense of threat from him. It was an instinctive threat that others couldn't feel because their strength wasn't great enough.
As the King of the Mink Tribe, he had been in office for thirty years and was over fifty years old himself. Naturally, he wouldn't be as naive as other Mink Tribe members and believe that Marcus, possessing such strength, returned to Zou without a purpose.
As soon as Abedo spoke, the surroundings instantly fell silent. As the King of the Mink Tribe, Abedo's prestige was naturally very high. If he said Marcus returned with a purpose, then there must be a purpose!
"King, Marcus shouldn't have any purpose, right? After all, he saved twenty of our tribesmen!"
"Marcus, quickly explain to the King!"
Seeing this, Anande immediately and anxiously tried to mediate.
"King, since you asked, I will be direct. I have returned this time to challenge you and become the King of the Mink Tribe!"
Seeing the situation, Marcus laid his cards on the table. If he wanted to become the King of the Mink Tribe, he naturally had to openly challenge the current King, who was Abedo right in front of him!
"What? Marcus, what are you talking about? How can you provoke the King like that!"
After hearing Marcus's words, the surrounding Mink Tribe members, and even Anande, had a very bad impression of Marcus. The King was someone all the Mink Tribe respected, and Marcus's words were undoubtedly a provocation to the King's authority!
"Hahahaha, Marcus, you want to challenge me. So, if you become the King of the Mink Tribe, what do you want to do? Or rather, what is your true purpose?"
Abedo wasn't angry at Marcus's words; instead, he laughed heartily and asked.
He had been King for over thirty years and naturally wanted to find a successor, but throughout the entire Mink Tribe, there was no one he was satisfied with.
Now that he saw Marcus, he naturally listed Marcus as a potential candidate.
He had also ventured out into the Sea for adventure in the past, so he naturally knew the importance of great strength and how dangerous it was beneath the Sea.
And for Marcus to be able to live under the Sea for over twenty years and still give him a sense of threat, his strength was naturally beyond question.
Since Marcus could save twenty of his enslaved fellow tribesmen, his character was naturally also qualified.
So, what remained was his true purpose moving forward.
"I am currently an Executive Officer of the Limitless Pirates. If I become the King of the Mink Tribe, I will lead a portion of those willing to venture into the Sea to join the Limitless Pirates. I might even take out an island from beneath the Sea and build it into another homeland for our Mink Tribe!"
"In this Sea, strength is the most important thing. Our Mink Tribe lacks sufficient strength, which is why we become targets for slave traders on the Sea. They often capture our tribesmen and sell them as slaves!"
"Therefore, our Mink Tribe must possess its own powerful strength to make our entire race strong."
"And the Limitless Pirates, as the strongest Pirate Crew on the Sea today, possess enough power to protect our Mink Tribe. They also have many training systems that can make every member of our tribe strong. The Limitless Pirates also possess powerful medical skills that can allow our newborn child to survive, unlike now where two-thirds of our newborn child die due to various issues!!"
"To lead our entire Mink Tribe to become stronger, strong enough to gain a foothold on the Sea, strong enough for our Mink Tribe to procreate and thrive with more tribesmen in the future – this is the purpose of my return!"
Marcus said loudly and with a clear conscience.
This was his truest thought. Although the Captain asked him to subdue the Mink Tribe, he didn't require him to move the entire Mink Tribe to the Limitless Sea. He merely asked him to recruit a group of Mink Tribe members to join the Limitless Pirates based on his own inner thoughts.
Marcus understood the Captain's character very well. The Captain wasn't like those other brutal Pirates who wantonly exploited their subordinates. This could be seen from the various benefits and rules of the Limitless Pirates.
Therefore, the words he spoke were sincere. He genuinely wanted the Mink Tribe to rely on the Limitless Pirates to become stronger, to be able to have their own territory on the Sea like the Giant Race, instead of constantly living on the elephant and hiding here.
The reason for the sparse population of the Mink Tribe was not only due to frequent captures but also the low infant survival rate caused by various diseases. These factors could all be resolved by joining the Limitless Pirates, thanks to the powerful medical skills of the Captain's wife, Lesley!...
Hearing Marcus's words, whether it was Abedo, the King, or the surrounding Mink Tribe members who thought Marcus was provoking the King, they all fell silent.
Indeed, just as Marcus said, the problems of the Mink Tribe that Marcus mentioned were the issues they were most concerned about. If Marcus could truly achieve this, it would be a historical success for the entire Mink Tribe!
"Marcus, what you said is based on the premise that you can defeat me and become the true King!"
Abedo said seriously. He had already recognized Marcus's ideal, but between the ideal and reality, there was a gap called strength.
"Bring it on, I will definitely win!"
Marcus said confidently.
Immediately, Marcus and Abedo went to an open area to prepare for a duel!
"The King is actually going to duel with Marcus, who just returned, and it's a duel to compete for the throne, this is just too..."
The duel between Marcus and Abedo spread quickly by word of mouth. Soon, the entire Mink Tribe knew about it, which led most of the Mink Tribe to come and watch the duel between the two.