Chapter 35
Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it
Chapter 18– Pirates Have Attacked?
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"...Genzo-San. Pirates...are here?" Avaganda-San says, stopping in his steps before he catches himself and keeps on moving towards Genzo. Finally, he reaches him and helps to keep the exhausted man standing. Genzo nearly collapsed onto the man, panting and full of sweat. He must have run all the way here.
"...Yes, pirates. And they are too strong, there is no running away... So, you have to prepare, and if you give them what they want... they won't kill you." Genzo manages to get out through all his huffing, finding it incredibly hard to do so but having to do it anyway, the direness of the situation forces him to.
"E-Even if there are p-pirates here, they won't stay long!! And we have a marine base just near here. They will come before long and run them off. So we don't have to be scared!" One of the housewives said, trying to convince herself. But I know for a fact, as does she and everyone else here, that the marines coming to rescue us is less likely to happen than a Seaking flying. Ever since Captain Nezumi become the captain of the marine base, which is on a whole other island a distance away, the marines have decreased their presence here to the point that you are having an odd month if you see a marine.
The only times you will see a marine would be at the time of the month that one of the marines would come over to give the orphanage their funds, and I assume the funds dedicated to a single child would be missing from it, maybe even more. Needless to say, the marines are not reliable for anything, and to wait for them would be us just showing the pirates our neck where they can cut into it.
"Yeah, the marines will help us."
"The marines are going to get those pirates!"
"YEAH, WE DON'T NEED TO BE SCARED!! WE CAN-"
"WE CAN'T RELY ON THEM! THEY WOULDN'T COME TO HELP US!! AND EVEN IF THEY DID, THE PIRATES ARE TOO STRONG, AND THEY WOULD SLAUGHTER THE MARINES. THEY ARE VICIOUS MONSTERS!!" Genzo screams, interrupting the stream of villagers who were also having bouts of delusions. And there is no doubt in my mind that if he didn't interrupt, then that mentality would have spread to the rest as well, and they would all hedge their bets on the marines protecting us, running from reality.
"WHAT IS GOING ON!?" I hear behind me, and I turn my head to see Bob there, finally having come to see what the commotion was about. Quickly people flock to the boisterous man. With Bob being as loud and crude as he is, he has become kind of a reliable man around here, and a lot of people rely on him. They trust him. Quickly, the villagers inform him of the situation.
"GENZO, IF WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS TRUE... Don't worry. Me and some of the other men in town will grab some weapons, and we will fight them off and free your town." Bob, who is usually so bombastic with his voice roaring uncontrollably, has his tone lowered for the first time ever. He leans down and pats Genzo on the shoulder to comfort him, reassuring him that he, with his buddies, will go help his village. I will go as well. It is time to put my training into practice and use the skills I have been honing for what they were meant for. It will be different fighting other people, but I will adapt.
"YOU ARE NOT LISTENING TO ME. WE CAN'T BEAT THEM. NO HUMAN COULD!! THE PIRATES ARE FISHMEN!!" Genzo roars again as if the fact they are fishmen actually means something. Though I suppose that if they are like Aquaman and they live at the bottom of the sea, then their bodies have to withstand the pressure at the depths of the ocean, so theoretically, they should be super duper strong.
"A FISHMAN? I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS, BUT ALL OF US CAN BEAT THOSE GUYS OFF!!" Bob returns to his regular pattern of speaking, shouting out his reply. Unfortunately, I also don't really know fully what a Fishman is, and I am only guessing from my previous life memories.
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! THEY HAVE SHARK TEETH AND WEBBED HANDS, AND THEY ARE INCREDIBLY STRONG!! INVINCIBLE!! WE COULDN'T DO ANYTHING TO STOP THEM, AND WE LOST PEOPLE BECAUSE OF THAT!! SO DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE. I CAME TO WARN YOU!!!" Genzo belts out in return, silencing Bob and the rest with the sheer desperation in his voice.
"I-I have heard about them... In the newspaper... They are vicious animals that attack people." A nearby villager hesitantly comments, drawing attention from the crowd and also convincing some others to speak up.
"I have also heard about them..."
"The World Government said they are dangerous... and incredibly powerful."
Slowly more and more of the villagers speak up, each corroborating and informing the others of the fishmen. Speaking of the rumours, they have heard over the years and what was reported in the newspapers, though, I am sure that those reports stopped a few years ago. If I recall correctly, a few years ago, the newspapers were reporting about a pirate crew, the Sun Pirates. It was apparently a crew made up of vicious fishmen or something, but they were defeated years ago and imprisoned, so it can't be the same pirates.
"RIGHT!! QUIET DOWN!! Genzo-San, what do we do?.. What can we do?" Bob shouts to quiet down the dense crowd and then becomes quiet again to ask this of Genzo-San. I guess he was sufficiently cowed by the murmurs of the group and figured out he was biting off more than he could chew, so he has deferred to the man who knew more about the situation. And I was prepared to go and fight those pirates as well, but I am only a single guy, and I can't fight an entire pirate crew by myself, especially if fishmen are as strong as they are purported to be.
"THEY... They have attacked our island, but they are not just ransacking or pillaging us. They are planning to take over this entire island, and I believe they have the power to do so.." He says, surprising us all. It is so out of the ordinary for pirates to actually make a campaign to take over an island instead of quickly hitting it and taking whatever they can and then running away before the marines come.
"S-Surely, you can't be serious, Genzo-San... The marines will eventually get here, even if it takes days or weeks. Why would the fishmen want to stick around and wait for them? It doesn't make sense." Avaganda-San pitches in, interjecting with common sense, which I find most of the people in this world don't subscribe to. The fact that they are actually planning to take the island means that they are either incredibly foolish or the pirates are so assured of their strength that they don't think the marines will be able to do anything to stop them.
"They are planning on taking over the island, and they are strong enough to do so. Don't you know where fishmen come from? They are from the Grand Line, the most treacherous sea in the world. A dangerous place where ships go to die, and they live there. The blues are much tamer in comparison, and the East Blue is the weakest out of the four blues. Which means we have the weakest marines as well. The Grand Line fishmen will be able to take this island easily." Genzo informs us all, hitting us with information we did not know before. There is only so much that I can gather from newspapers. I guess being a sheriff means he has to have this kind of information and stay up to date.
"So what is our course of action, Genzo-san? Are we going to have to fight?" I speak up, not wanting us to dilly dally any longer and waste precious time. Given the way Genzo ran over here, the pirates have already taken over his village, and they could be showing up here at any moment. We need to figure out what it is we are going to do, and if we are indeed going to fight, then we need to gather weapons and direct the bystanders to a safe place.
"We aren't going to fight, Detoro-Kun. They are just too strong, and we will lose many men. It is not worth it. Arlong and his crew are taking over this island, and they are planning on ruling it for a while. They are charging ฿100,000 per adult and ฿50,000 per child every month, and if you can't pay, then they will kill you. I... I have already seen them do it. So everyone, quickly go and figure out how many berries you have and if you will be able to afford the price for your families." At his words, the villagers quickly get going to figure out their finances and if they can stiff the price. Meanwhile, Avaganda-San directs Genzo to rest and sit down against a nearby building.
I stay as well, and it is just the three of us. Genzo resting against the building, Avaganda sitting next to him, and I am standing there in silence. The pirates are asking for a high price. With the population of this island as big as it is, they will be getting at least ฿10,000,000 a month if they do take this place over. I don't know if everyone on this island will be able to afford such an exorbitant price, and even if they can, they won't be able to maintain it for long without some serious losses and changes in their lifestyles.
"What about you two? Do you have enough money?" Genzo asks after a moment, spurring me from my thoughts.
"Ah, yes. Just about. I was saving up to buy some books from the merchants the next time they passed, maybe get some limited editions. But, Haah... I will have to sell my current rare book stock if these pirates stay for too long. And? What about you, Detoro-Kun?" Avaganda answers and then looks towards me in worry. Damn, I never got around to reading those super rare books of his. Apparently, he even has Noland, the liar's actual journal. Shame, I will probably never get to see it.