CHAPTER 78 REALITY

On the Beasts Pirates’ ship, King was looking at the group of slaves that Olga had bought.

King’s gaze made them shiver, causing them to huddle on the deck.

“These people are your responsibility. It’s up to you how to handle them, and I won’t help you.”

“Ohh, I know. I’ll just find an island with people and release them there.” Buying people and giving them freedom was already being her charitable, and she didn’t plan to waste time sending them back to their hometowns. She didn’t have the ability to do so either.

“Olga, you seem to be too naive.”

“Huh?”

“Nevermind, you’ll understand later.” King only said half of what he wanted to say. Reality was far from ideal, and one could only understand the difference between reality and ideals after experiencing it.

On their way back to Kaido’s territory, they needed to pull over on the shore to shop for supplies. Olga had already unlocked the slaves’ chains, but when the Beasts Pirates lowered the gangplank, not a single person dared to leave.

“Go, you’re free now.”

“They dare not leave. Look at the injuries on these people, they are all old wounds, probably from whips and such. They may have been in the hands of those slave traders for a long time.”

The traces of slavery were not only on their bodies but also engraved in their hearts. If he guessed correctly, someone had told them similar things before.

They promised them freedom, but anyone who dared to leave would face more terrible punishment. King knew firsthand about the methods of those slave traders. He had experienced this kind of thing himself, but he had killed that trader with his own hands.

Fugitive life was a very unpleasant experience.

From the eyes of these people, he could see whether their hope had been completely crushed or not. Their desire for freedom could not be hidden, but their eyes showed no ripples, indicating that their hearts had died long ago.

King didn’t go down to purchase supplies. The cargo on the ship was more important. Whether it was the wood from the Treasure Tree Adam or some materials used to make Pure Gold, he had to personally guard them.

After simply replenishing fresh water, the ship continued sailing under Olga’s concealment ability. They were like a ghost ship on the sea, and outsiders couldn’t find their traces at all.

“Big sis Olga, you actually don’t have to care about this kind of thing. Letting them go may not be a good thing.”

On pirate ships, status is usually determined by seniority. Ordinary members of the Beasts Pirates don’t know that Olga has lived for over a hundred years, and with the exception of Queen, all of the high-ranking members of the Beasts Pirates have distinct origins and backgrounds.

However, her status as “Big Sis” was well-deserved.

“This is the New World. If you let them go, they will be caught again or die in some corner soon enough.”

“Exactly. Since we already bought them, Big Sister, why not keep them as servants?”

It is common for ordinary pirates to please their officers, but the personality of the current Beasts Pirates’ officer is rather peculiar. Even now, no one knows what King and Shayna look like or can figure out their personalities.

On the contrary, Queen and Olga’s preferences can be easily figured out. It’s not like they would miss anything by saying a few words, so they expressed their own views.

“Ugh, it’s so annoying. It should have been such a simple matter. How did it become so complicated?”

In the end, she led these people back and left them to clean up and do some odd jobs at the current base.

Olga’s training became more focused as the accumulation of small improvements has increased her desire for greater strength.

After some time, Arceus’s ship returned from its expedition, but he didn’t get any results. The several islands he explored didn’t have what he was looking for.

Even before the ship had docked, the island was already prepared to welcome them.

“Welcome back, Lord Sacred Beast.”

“Uh-huh.” He didn’t ask Shayna if she had any results. If she did, she would have already contacted him using Den Den Mushi. Now it all depends on what news Kaido has.

“Has Kaido returned yet?”

“Uh, Lord Sacred Beast, have you not read the newspaper recently?”

“No, I haven’t run into a News Coo lately.”

He had seen news of the bounty order. At that time, the pirates on the ship were all so scared that they didn’t dare to come out because Arceus had just annihilated a Sea King before getting the newspaper.

However, he didn’t get angry, at least not in the eyes of the pirates. Afterward, they continued sailing as if nothing had happened.

Arceus didn’t get angry as he had expected this turn of events. He had always suspected that those who set the bounties had some issues with their brain.

If one had to find the most unlucky person whose bounties had been announced, Blackbeard would probably top the list. Despite his decades-long efforts, his bounty never exceeded three billion, but suddenly, three bounties of three billion appeared overnight.

Then there was a huge change among the Four Emperors, with the other three besides him having personal relationships, which seemed ridiculous no matter how you looked at it.

Coupled with the bounty of minority races such as Chopper and Bepo, World Government’s decision was something he had expected.

This matter was not worth his time, but he would take care of it if he had the chance.

After that, they never encountered News Coo again.

“That… you’ll know when you read it.”

Shayna sorted out the recent intelligence, and the news of their comrade Kaido occupying the headlines once again appeared in the newspaper. This time, he once again encountered trouble when he went out, not from the Marines, but from a powerful pirate in the New World.

Arceus had not heard of this pirate crew, so he did not pay much attention to it. Moreover, the news was not about him being arrested, but about him causing havoc in the other party’s territory alone.

Relying on his bug-level skill, it was basically impossible to inflict fatal injuries on Kaido before he completely exhausted his stamina.

Neither side could do anything to the other, but it was evident that the pirate crew was at a disadvantage on their own turf.

A few days later, Kaido returned and there were a few more red crosses on the map, indicating the existence of areas without plates.

However, this did not mean that these areas could be completely ignored. The plates would not move, but who knew if someone would bring them to an island that had already been searched? The search effort is still a long and arduous task.

Kaido could not be absent from his territory all the time. He would not go out again in the short term. Previously, Queen was busy with his plantation project and after hard work, he successfully obtained seeds from Tropius’ bananas.

The bananas of Tropius are of unique variety, as their internal seeds have undergone degeneration but not complete disappearance, allowing for the retention of a single seed that can be utilized for cultivation purposes.

After his hard work in growing seedlings, the first batch of banana seedlings appeared successfully, but the soil on the farming island in Kaido’s territory was not suitable for banana cultivation, so he went out to look for a new small island.

After some time, Olga finished her training and then went to look for Arceus with the free treasure map.