APJ CHAPTER 154 THE SECOND SON OF A DESTITUTE MERCHANT FAMILY – KOJIRO

However, Queen’s bounty did not receive much attention, after all, he himself did not know why his bounty increased, let alone increasing so suddenly.

He couldn’t have imagined that some intelligence personnel believed that he had achieved how to give abilities to others, so they raised his bounty as well.

His bounty is even higher than Zeraora’s, and in Marine’s view, his impact could be even greater than that of an individual like Zeraora, considering that he now also has some suspicions around him.

This time, Shayna’s mood was normal. Although ‘The Hidden One’ was not a serious title, looking at the information on the bounty, Shayna felt pretty good. This was much better than the bas*ard who set the bounty last time.

In the world of pirates, few people worry about bounties, most of them see it as a form of honor.

The higher the boss’ bounty, the more excited the subordinates become. When they saw Arceus’ bounty had crossed the 1 billion mark, they were even more excited than Arceus.

The previous 5,000 bounty was considered shameful, but the updated bounty was considered as some weird “honor.”

As for Setsuna, she lived on Zou Island until the age of seven and had little understanding of the outside world. After being kidnapped by the Organ Dealing Assassination Group upon arriving in the outside world, she was subsequently brought in to the Beasts Pirates. Therefore, her understanding was also influenced by the atmosphere of the Beasts Pirates.

She believed that a high bounty was a validation of strength, and the photos the photographer took of Zeraora were very cool. Bristling fur, surrounded by thunderbolts, and eyes full of lightning, fully met Mink’s aesthetic standards.

“Zeraora, you were so cool. Take me with you next time.”

“No way, unless you can last five minutes under my attacks.”

“Then let’s fight on the night of the full moon next time. In Sulong form, I can easily last for five minutes! Besides, I can provide you with long-range support. Archery is my specialty, after all.”

Setsuna has always been confident in her archery skills, and she has the capital to back it up. She can’t use guns, and Beasts Pirates’ firearms are useless in her hands, even the shotguns such that she can never hit anyone with it. But her archery is very accurate, and she never misses her target within several hundred meters.

Wano Country’s craftsmen are also helping her build a longbow. There are many similar craftsmen in Wano Country. Although their output cannot compare with machines, their handmade products are even better in some aspects than machine created ones.

Mandrell is still exploring the mysterious underwater region of Wano Country, and the world’s development has not stopped. Golden Lion proved to the world with many pirate’s heads that even though he lost to Roger, it does not mean that he has become weak.

In Wano Country, the Beasts Pirates’ development was still going on, but the country’s xenophobia is a fundamental issue, and solving it in a short period of time is difficult. So the Beasts Pirates were currently recruiting some locals to join them.

Not to make them pirates, nor just to work in the Beasts Pirates’ ranches and orchards, but to become local partners of the Beasts Pirates in a different way.

Kurozumi Orochi was not interested in such minor things, his mind was full of revenge, so the Beasts Pirates looked for other suitable people, but they had been waiting for a long time and had not found anyone.

They could accept herding and other similar jobs for the Beasts Pirates, as it is merely a form of employment, but partnering was a different story. Therefore, most of the wealthy individuals and merchants in Wano Country choose to decline any business cooperation from the Beasts Pirates.

In fact, this was also related to Orochi. Although his goal was to ill-treat everyone, his main targets were the common people, and he had not touched the daimyos and the wealthy as his own interests were linked to these rich people.

Moreover, the actions of the Beasts Pirates made him doubt whether this partner could achieve his goals. Therefore, except for the already established partnerships, he did not plan to expand it any further.

Due to the isolationist nature of Wano Country, gold coins only flowed domestically, which means that the funds of these people flow in a closed loop, and Orochi had a great influence over it.

If he changed some policies, these rich people might also go bankrupt, as he was the nominal proxy Shogun.

Therefore, they tend to follow Orochi’s commands, and coupled with the situation of Wano Country, they are not interested in engaging in any business deals with the Beasts Pirates.

The trade of the Beasts Pirates itself involves interfering with the economy of Wano Country.  Although they could use force to interfere, it would lead to a major economic collapse in Wano Country, which would not benefit them.

Therefore, the Beasts Pirates needed to first break this closed economic loop and let their foreign funds flow into Wano Country.

Beasts Pirates did not lack goods, and everything they brought in from the outside could be sold in Wano Country. They just lack a local merchant.

After all, the people of Wano Country are very peculiar. When the people of the Beasts Pirates directly try to sell their goods, the locals are not willing to buy. However, if a local from Wano Country sells the same product, the locals will eagerly purchase it. This is why the Beasts Pirates have to first change into local attire if they want to sell their goods.

They were pirates and were not good at these things. Bargaining, marketing, all these things were difficult for them.

They could easily use force to coerce a merchant, but that would defeat the original purpose.

However, not everyone would refuse the Beasts Pirates. There would always be someone who would take the first step and try something new.

On this day, a man with short purple hair came alone on a small boat to Onigashima.

Now that the construction of Onigashima is complete, the workers have returned to their homes, and few people in Wano Country would willingly go to Onigashima except for those who have been arranged to deliver goods there.

Therefore, when the members of the Beasts Pirates saw that person, they were all surprised.

“This guy can’t even row a boat. Who uses paddles like that?”

“It’s normal for people from Wano Country to not know how to row a boat, but should we go help him? If he drowns, it’ll ruin the plans of Lord Sacred Beast.”

“It’s unlikely. There aren’t even any waves or winds here, how could his boat possibly capsize?”

Just as he finished speaking, he saw the man capsize his own boat.

“What did you just say?”

“I said we should quickly go and rescue him!”

“Thank you both for rescuing me. My name is Kojiro, the second son of a common merchant family in the Flower Capital. I came here to seek cooperation and I am willing to sell goods for the Beasts Pirates in Wano Country.”

Then, without even a chance to change his clothes, he was brought directly to Shayna.

“Boss! A merchant is willing to cooperate with us!”

“Why? Why are you willing to accept our cooperation?” After searching for so long and not finding anyone, when someone comes to her on their own initiative, she naturally has to ask.

“It’s like this, madam. I was born into a wealthy merchant family in the Flower Capital, but after Shogun Sukiyaki’s death, Kurozumi Orochi was appointed as the proxy Shogun, and our biggest competitor teamed up with Kurozumi Orochi and destroyed our business. Both my parents died of depression and our family declined from then on. I need a chance to make a comeback and seek revenge against them.”

“Orochi? You should know that we were brought in by Orochi.”

“Yes, madam. I know this, that’s why I’m here now. Because I believe that your dealings with Kurozumi Orochi are not that close, and your actions are fundamentally contradictory to Orochi’s goals.”

These were all his speculations. Although he does not have conclusive evidence, he has no other options. No one in Wano Country is willing to help him, so he can only put his hope in outsiders.