APJ CHAPTER 140 THE ACQUAINTANCE IN THE RED-LIGHT DISTRICT

Kurozumi Orochi was feeling distressed. He was reluctant to part with the money, as it was all borrowed from Oden by begging, and it took a lot of hard work through various business ventures to get to where he is today. The Beasts Pirates are essentially robbing him.

But for the sake of his future plans, he still handed over the money. Afterward, they discussed where they will be stationed in the future. Beasts Pirates couldn’t just move into someone else’s home, and Orochi was even more uneasy about having them stationed nearby, especially now.

So he took out a map of Wano Country and pointed to a location in the inland sea of Wano Country.

“Can this place serve as your base? It has a considerable area, and you are free to use the entire island as you please.”

“Sure, but we’ll need your people to provide us with the builders for the construction.”

After Kaido realized Arceus’ intentions, he began negotiating seriously with Orochi about business matters. However, all aspects of the deal heavily favored Kaido, and eventually, under the pressure of Kaido’s strength, Orochi and the Beasts Pirates signed a series of treaties.

And Kaido refused Orochi’s request to stay and insisted on going to the Red-Light District with other pirates.

Just as Orochi thought everything was settled and was preparing to leave, Arceus suddenly turned to look at him.

“Shogun Orochi, sweet dreams.”

At that moment, Kurozumi Orochi felt as if he was being stared at by some ancient behemoth, a sense of crisis rising from his heart, and he couldn’t help but shiver.

“What did you do to him?”

“Scary Face, it’s a little trick. He should be having some nice dreams tonight. By the way, were you really going to kill him with the kanabo? Have you forgotten about the plan we discussed earlier?”

He hadn’t kept anything from Kaido. They had already made a rough plan regarding Wano Country, and if Orochi really died here, that plan would be in vain.

“Plans can change, and besides, that guy looked for trouble himself. But I seem to understand what you mean now. I’ll leave him to you to deal with.”

“Everyone! If anyone wants to go to the Red-Light District to have fun, go find Queen and get some money! Gather here by noon tomorrow, understand?”

This kind of business exists on other islands as well, but it is relatively rare. Stussy’s Pleasure District is all about this kind of business, and most of the clients are pirates. Unless they are all eliminated, this kind of thing cannot be controlled.

It took a lot of effort to prevent those people from breaking the law and causing chaos in the beginning. Going to the Red-Light District is not against the rules, but some people were not interested in it. So Arceus took them first towards the Beasts Pirates’ base, which would be the future Onigashima

“Zeraora, what is the Red-Light District? Is it fun? They all seem so excited, and why am I not allowed to go?” Setsuna didn’t understand the word “Red-Light District” and saw that the pirates who were receiving money were quite excited. She thought it must be some interesting place, so she also queued up to receive money.

However, seeing that, instead of giving her money, Queen threw her to Zeraora.

“That’s not a place for kids, let’s go grill some fish instead.” His mouth twitched as he pulled Setsuna away, but he still took a hundred gold from Queen, which was the operating fund that everyone received. Not going to the Red-Light District doesn’t mean they couldn’t take the money.

Meanwhile, the matter on Queen’s side wasn’t over yet, as he also saw Acier among the people who were receiving the money.

“Oh, you want to go too?”

“Um, cough, cough…”

“Alright, I get it. We’re all men here, go have fun.” With that, Queen grabbed a handful of gold coins and gave them to Acier. Regular members had a limit on how much money they could take, but Acier was the only pure civilian officer among them, so there was no need to worry about such small things.

It had been many years since he had done anything like that, and he had felt a little tempted when they passed by the Red-Light District earlier. But, at this time, he noticed that Queen’s expression seemed to have changed, and he was even giving him a signal with his eyes.

As he turned around to look, he saw the last person he wanted to see.

“Ol…Olga?! What are you doing here?”

“Isn’t it normal for me to be here? What about you, Dad? Is the Red-Light District that much fun?”

“Well, um…I”

“Forget it, do what you want. Just find someone expensive and don’t catch any weird disease.” With that, she passed her own money to Acier and rode off on Elizabeth.

This left Acier in a dilemma, unsure whether to follow the group going to the Red-Light District.

Not long after, a large number of outsiders entered the Red-Light District in the Flower Capital. The Red-Light District is the official red-light district of Wano Country, and it includes both geisha who sell their art, as well as pro*titutes who engage in ordinary flesh trade.

Kaido’s men all claimed to be guests of Orochi, which restrained Wano Country’s xenophobia to some extent. Additionally, within the Red-Light District, those who had money were treated like royalty, and the pirates who had an average of fifty gold coins per person were still given a decent level of treatment.

There were also many people on the second floor, peering down at the foreign pirates below. Their clothing, which was starkly different from the traditional dress of Wano Country, piqued their curiosity. However, some of the children’s attention remained fixed on Kaido’s horns.

These were children bought by the owners of different courtesan houses. When they are young, they are responsible for cleaning. As they grow older, some will begin to follow adults around to learn, while others would wait a few years before directly starting to work.

One of them ran back into a room and soon found someone.

“Sister Riko, Sister Riko, there’s a guy with horns like Uncle White outside.”

From her face, this person was probably around 30 years old, an age where she should have retired. Although she was still staying here, she was doing odd jobs now.

However, what made her stand out was the fact that she was carrying a baby on her back, and on top of the baby’s head were a pair of small horns.

The girl who had come from outside had actually been raised by the woman, so their relationship was quite good.

“You sure?”

“Yes, that person is really tall and strong, even taller than Uncle White.”

She used to be a regular courtesan here, but she was redeemed by someone a few years ago. However, because of her relationship with the madam here, she was allowed to stay and do some work like cleaning the floors to earn a living.

And her redeemer is now her husband, who also stayed in the Red-Light District to do odd jobs because he is an outsider and people from other places find it hard to accept such a person.

He had sold everything he had to redeem Riko, and the two of them, who were left with nothing, had no choice but to stay here and make a living through honest work. No one wanted the outsider White, and Riko had nothing.

The madam of the courtesan house wasn’t too heartless and gave them a room to temporarily stay in.

Everything was fine originally, and they even had a child. But not long ago, White fell seriously ill and now he’s in a critical condition. It’s uncertain when he might pass away.

“Sayuri, is what you’re saying true?”

“Yes, the outsiders next to him call him… um… Kaido!”

Upon hearing these words, a faint light seemed to flicker in White’s dim eyes.

“Cough, cough. Riko, help me go find him.”

“Wait, White, your body…”

“I won’t make it. If it’s really him, he should be able to help you guys.”

The man’s full name is Blake White, and their daughter’s name is Blake Maria, or also known as Black Maria.

[Author’s note: I am going to use Black Maria as Blake Maria.

If there are strong objections, I will change it back to “Black Maria,” but if there are no objections, I will write it as “Blake Maria.” In any case, the surname is not very important and will rarely be mentioned in the future.]