The moment he obtained the mermaid, Chinjao sealed all related information and immediately contacted his homeland.
As expected, when the current Queen of the Kano Country heard that Chinjao had acquired a mermaid—a mere few-year-old mermaid—in the New World, she was overjoyed.
She promptly declared that as long as Chinjao brought the mermaid back to the Kano Country, all members of the Happo Navy would be promoted by one rank on the spot.
For Chinjao, one more promotion would grant him entry into the true center of power in the Kano Country.
His predecessor in the Happo Navy—his own father—had never achieved that rank.
In the end, his father grew old and died in the Grand Line, never getting to see his homeland one last time.
Chinjao's urge to return home was partly influenced by his father's fate.
Entering the center of power would not only increase his authority but also allow him to retain control of the Happo Navy—a perfect scenario.
Chinjao immediately pledged that he would swiftly return to the Kano Country with his forces from the New World to present the mermaid to Her Majesty the Queen. The thought of the high honors awaiting him upon his return made him grin even in his dreams.
However, disaster always strikes when one is happiest, catching them completely off guard.
Chinjao's political rivals in the Kano Country, the Left Minister's faction, suddenly entered the fray.
Their goal was singular: to seize credit!
As the leader of the Happo Navy, Chinjao represented the current military faction of the Kano Country.
Unfortunately, the Left Minister's faction represented the civil officials.
Although Chinjao's faction was undoubtedly stronger in terms of power, the Left Minister held greater influence in discourse.
This was inevitable—after all, Chinjao had been leading his troops abroad for years, taking most of the strong fighters with him.
The military officers left in the homeland were utterly unable to contend with the Left Minister and his allies.
Once the Left Minister and his faction stepped in, open conflict erupted among the Kano Country's upper echelons.
If Brian knew about this, he would surely sigh: This is so typical!
Since ancient times, civil and military officials have naturally been at odds—even in another world, it remains the same.
This is especially true in a country like the Kano Country, where powerful families abound and hierarchy is strictly enforced.
The outcome of the struggle was clear: the civil officials, led by the Left Minister, emerged victorious.
These civil officials, who controlled most of the Kano Country's authority, unanimously approved the decision. The current Queen's opinion had become irrelevant.
That very day, the Queen's decree was issued.
The mermaid acquired in the New World would be retrieved by the civil officials' faction.
As for Chinjao and his men, they were to remain where they were and await the Kano Country's representatives to take over.
Until then, they were responsible for ensuring the mermaid's safety without fail.
This utterly foolish decision once again shattered the worldview of Chinjao and the military faction.
They never imagined their Queen had sunk to such incompetence—what future did the Kano Country have?
Although the upper echelons did not explicitly state it, unrest began to stir among the mid- and lower-ranking military officers.
In truth, neither the Queen nor the civil officials were fools; they were well aware of the current situation in the New World.
Moreover, the island where Chinjao and the others were ordered to remain was actually the territory of the Rocks Pirates.
Every single one of these brainless moves was nothing short of suicidal.
But the Left Minister and his faction couldn't care less.
No matter how chaotic the New World became, it wouldn't affect the West Sea—the World Government was standing in the way.
For them, seizing credit was the top priority; they couldn't allow Chinjao to advance any further.
If this scheme led to Chinjao dying in the New World, so much the better.
The Happo Navy, Chinjao, the mermaid, and more—all had become mere tools in the civil officials' political struggles.
The conflict between the civil and military factions had grown increasingly intense.
Even if the entire Happo Navy were wiped out, dealing a devastating blow to the Kano Country's strength, they wouldn't bat an eye.
If the Happo Navy were completely annihilated, the Kano Country would be under the civil officials' control.
As for the future—they would deal with it when the time came.
At this point, the order was clearly irreversible and would not be changed.
Even though Chinjao was the leader of the Happo Navy and one of the strongest combatants in the Kano Country,
He had no choice but to obey this command—unless he truly harbored rebellious intentions.
After weighing his options, Chinjao ultimately swallowed this bitter pill and reluctantly shared the credit with the civil officials.
At the same time, he led his Happo Navy to garrison here for many days, waiting for the arrival of people from their homeland.
This was precisely why Chinjao and his men had been so sullen and furious earlier.
After this ordeal, Chinjao's desire for power grew even stronger.
He realized that to truly take control, he could no longer remain solely in the Grand Line.
Influence in domestic politics sometimes carried even greater weight.
If those old fools continued to hold high positions without accomplishing anything,
The Kano Country would surely fall into ruin sooner or later.
Silently, Chinjao made a decision—one that began to diverge slightly from the original course: he would seize power.
Snapping back to reality, Chinjao looked down at Da Qiang and the others and asked one final question.
"What about those pirates on the island? Are they still the same?"
"Yes, Captain. In fact, their numbers have increased significantly compared to a few days ago."
"By rough estimate, aside from our Chinjao Pirates, dozens of pirate crews have gathered on the island."
"In total, there are nearly a thousand pirates now."
"Excellent. With them here, they can at least serve some purpose."
"But Captain, with so many pirates gathered, there's been constant fighting these past few days. Quite a few have already died."
"Some pirates even started battles out at sea—there's no order at all. They're difficult to manage."
Da Qiang found this particularly frustrating.
These pirates had swarmed in from all directions after the Chinjao Pirates invaded the island.
Perhaps because this was the territory of the Rocks Pirates, the pirates paid especially close attention.
Coupled with the fact that it was a major black market, there were already large numbers of pirates gathered here.
A few days ago, when the Chinjao Pirates actively invaded this black market, it thoroughly shocked the pirates.
They whispered among themselves, convinced that old man Chinjao had lost his mind to dare such a thing.
But contrary to everyone's expectations,
The Chinjao Pirates captured the island, yet the Rocks Pirates showed little reaction.
Well, not exactly no reaction—their main focus at the time was on the Roger Pirates.
Aside from this black market, uprisings had broken out in many other places as well.
Matters have their priorities, and the Black Market riot on this island had been delayed for several days.
Seeing that the Rocks Pirates still hadn't responded, the pirates went wild.
Following in the footsteps of the Chinjao Pirates, they began plundering everywhere on the island.
Since Chinjao and his crew had occupied the central area—the auction house—they targeted other places, including civilian areas.
The stretches of ruins on the island were the handiwork of these pirates.
Most of the island's civilians were killed by them, with surprisingly few casualties caused by the Chinjao Pirates.
In fact, the looting had been fully completed two days prior. The island had been turned upside down, leaving little of value to scrape together.
Logically, the pirates should have withdrawn by then.
At this point, the Chinjao Pirates, under orders from the Queen of the Kano Country, remained inactive.
They had to wait for Kano Country personnel to arrive and take custody of the mermaid, so leaving wasn't an option anyway.
Thinking some major event was about to unfold, the other pirates hesitated, no longer in a hurry to depart.
Soon after, a rumor began circulating on the island, driving these frenzied pirates to even greater madness.
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