Chapter 84: What Fish-man Island Should Look Like
"100,000 Berries?! This is robbery!!"
"We are pirates! Since when do pirates pay taxes to pass through?!"
Hearing that the people ahead actually wanted to collect money from them, the pirates on the ship immediately showed dissatisfaction. They shouted through the bubble film at Rachel outside one after another.
100,000 Berries per person. With over a hundred people on their ship, they would have to pay over 10 million Berries.
And the other side did nothing. This money came even faster than them being pirates.
"Roar!"
However, a roar from a Sea Beast immediately sobered up the pirates on the ship.
"Captain! Calm down, 100,000 Berries isn't that much..."
"Yeah, if those two big guys break our ship here, we're all done for..."
Pirates were indeed a trouble, but for Fish-man Island, this trouble also contained opportunity.
As long as they could handle these guys, passing pirates would provide Fish-man Island with a massive source of income.
After all, Fish-man Island was the only path for these pirates to reach the New World.
Even Fish-man Island before Nereus took over relied on this location to make quite a bit of money through some trade.
However, the previous Fish-man Island didn't put much effort into transit taxes. Given their situation, they couldn't even guarantee that pirates wouldn't cause trouble, let alone enforce this.
"Can you... make it cheaper? Round it down?"
"Either pay up or turn around."
Under the intimidation of the Sea Beasts, these pirates finally chose to pay to pass. After receiving a pass token from Rachel, they continued sailing toward the Fish-man Island checkpoint.
Not all pirates were this cooperative. About half an hour later, the second pirate ship they encountered turned a deaf ear to Rachel's words and even chose to attack directly.
Their coating artisan seemed to have decent skills; even after a large number of bullets penetrated the bubble film, the coating didn't break. However, those bullets couldn't exert their proper power after entering the water.
They flew only a few meters in the water before falling toward the deep sea.
Seeing this situation, the Sea Beasts didn't need orders at all; they began to attack the pirate ship ahead, one from the front and one from the back.
The pirates on the ship also knew clearly that if these Sea Beasts were allowed to ram the ship, the result they faced would inevitably be the destruction of the ship and the death of everyone on board.
The person who appeared to be the captain put a bubble ring on his head and rushed into the sea first, seemingly wanting to resolve the opponent in the deep sea.
In this world, there is air in space, and the effect of water pressure on the human body is relatively low. The situation of being directly crushed by water pressure basically doesn't exist.
Although it doesn't sound very physical, nor very natural-geographical, it is very "Oda." After all, the rules of the world are just like this.
"Rachel, be careful!"
Judging by body size, Tiger felt that this human pirate was not someone Rachel could handle.
But the reality was completely different from what he thought.
Underwater, Rachel's movements were extremely agile. After easily dodging the opponent's punches, the bident in her hand emitted a burst of electric light.
Zzzzt!
The slightly dim seabed was illuminated brightly. The electric current overflowing in the seawater made even Tiger involuntarily step back.
"Let me reintroduce myself, Mr. Tiger. I am the Scout Captain under Lord Nereus, an Electric Ray Mermaid. I used to manage the Sea Beast Patrol directly under Lord Babel.
After the reorganization, I am responsible for patrol work on the periphery of Fish-man Island."
Nereus dared to let them come out on patrol not because he trusted Tiger's strength—although Tiger wasn't weak among Fish-men and could reach the level of a Marine Vice Admiral on the surface, he wasn't there yet.
He trusted Rachel and the others. Scouts weren't just fast runners; as reconnaissance troops, their strength was already among the best in the army.
Just like how archers who put down their bows are often fierce in melee combat, they all had special abilities.
The swimming speed of mermaids in the sea was something even Fish-men couldn't catch up to. Their figures were like ghosts, shuttling through the deep sea, crushing those pirates who attempted to fight underwater.
The Sea Beasts relied on their massive bodies to crush the bubble film, ending the ambitions of these pirates.
"Drag the ship back! Count the treasure too. Keep the bodies of the leaders; they can still be exchanged for bounties."
At this moment, Tiger felt like he was just a raw recruit. These mermaids were far tougher than the weak mermaids in his perception...
Because of their speed, after dragging the pirate ship back to Fish-man Island, they arrived even faster than the previous pirate ship.
"Cap... Captain, it's the Bandage Pirates... Their captain's bounty is 20 million higher than yours..."
"Yeah, luckily we paid the money. Even pirates stronger than the Captain couldn't beat them..."
"Shut up! No need to emphasize that!"
His minions kept saying the opponent was stronger than him. Although it was an objective fact, he was still very annoyed.
But this also served as a reminder to them: when leaving Fish-man Island, they still had to pass through the deep sea. If they offended these people on Fish-man Island...
"Listen well, boys! After my careful consideration, in order not to let you become food for fish and shrimp on the seabed, I decided to endure the humiliation and temporarily obey the orders of these Fish-men!
We have to reach the New World safely!"
At this moment, their greed and desire for Fish-man Island lessened, replaced by fear of this seemingly beautiful island.
However, as soon as they landed, they were blocked by a cloud.
"Pirates of Paradise, congratulations on completing half of your voyage and successfully arriving at Fish-man Island. Next, you will face an even more dangerous journey.
Now, I have some small items I plan to sell to you. First is this special umbrella! It can block the thunderstorms pouring down from the sky!"
Hermes was like a sales officer, promoting various strange things to these pirates.
And the thunderstorms it mentioned were genuine lightning. There was an island in the New World (Raijin Island) wrapped in such thunderstorms all year round; one could only survive by opening a specially made umbrella.
Under Hermes's eloquence, these pirates actually bought quite a few things they didn't know if they could use. Only when its belly was full of Berries did Hermes start selling the absolute necessities.
"This is a Log Pose that can only be used in the New World. The Log Pose in your hands will be a piece of scrap metal once you reach the New World.
I see you are all sensible people. For just 5 million Berries, this Log Pose is yours!"
Hermes took out a Log Pose with three dials and needles. Due to magnetic fields, the chaotic magnetic fields of the New World would cause a single-needle Log Pose to fail; one had to use this enhanced version.
Back and forth, the money in the hands of the group of pirates was mostly earned by Hermes.
Few people on the Sabaody Archipelago understood these things. As the outpost for entering the New World, some necessities for the New World could only be bought on Fish-man Island. This was the convenience brought by Fish-man Island's geographical location.
When there was someone with enough military power to guard this place, the former disadvantage became an advantage...
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