Chapter 220 The Decision to Attend the Reverie, Auditions Begin
After arriving at Dressrosa, Brett parted ways with Tesoro.
The man now needed to oversee audition work across the world from Dressrosa. After all, though Tesoro's business empire was vast and his partner Morgans had connections everywhere, such a massive worldwide activity still required careful attention.
Brett naturally returned to Fish-Man Island with the two sea beasts that had pulled the ship. These creatures had worked hard during this period, so Brett decided to give them a proper vacation once they returned. Sea beasts possessed intelligence too—after working hard, they also needed rest.
The principle was simple humanization.
The first thing he did upon returning to Fish-Man Island was meet with King Neptune and Jinbei.
"You actually managed to win over the giants, Brett!" The three met in Ryugu Palace as usual. The moment the doors closed, Neptune spoke with tremendous excitement, his face flushed—his exhilaration obvious at a glance. "You really did it! This is something even the World Government couldn't accomplish!"
The Giant Kingdom maintained certain cooperative relations with the World Government, as evidenced by the considerable number of giant vice admirals in the Marines.
The World Government coveted the giants' power greatly.
So under these circumstances, the reason Elbaf still wasn't a World Government member nation wasn't because the government refused to let them join, but because they themselves chose to decline.
They actively maintained distance from the world.
After all, too many entities in this world coveted their strength. Getting too close to the world would only bring harm.
"The alliance is only a beginning, not an endpoint," Brett said seriously. "More important than building this friendship is maintaining it well, letting the friendship endure."
"Of course." King Neptune nodded lightly. "Production lines for giant-specific goods are being manufactured. Fish-Man Island's manpower is already insufficient, so I'm wondering if we could establish factories outside Fish-Man Island."
"Absolutely." Brett immediately agreed. His agreement with the Giant King, besides periodically visiting to spar with him, included providing giants with various human society's daily goods in giant sizes.
"Didn't we form a trade zone with Dressrosa and several nearby countries? Let's establish factories in those nations. It would conveniently boost their economic development too."
This was killing two birds with one stone.
"I was actually thinking the same thing. Let's decide on that then." King Neptune smiled. The kings of those countries had become quite familiar with him—they could even call each other friends. He naturally hoped his friends' nations could develop as well.
"Since the Reverie is approaching," Jinbei also nodded lightly, "consolidating our friendships isn't a bad thing."
"Speaking of the Reverie," Neptune became somewhat solemn. He said, "The government has already sent us a formal invitation to attend the upcoming Reverie."
"Not surprising at all." Brett smiled.
Regarding the Reverie, the first thing to understand was that not all World Government member nations could attend.
After all, though this conference occurred once every four years, having all one hundred seventy-plus member nations arrive simultaneously would make the journey far too dangerous. The Marines didn't have enough forces to protect all the royal families.
So participants in each Reverie were those the government invited.
For instance, though Fish-Man Island had been a government member nation for nearly two hundred years, during that long period, they'd never attended a Reverie.
This naturally involved Fish-Man Island's reluctance to engage with the human world, but the government's indifference was also an absolutely critical factor.
In fact, at these quadrennial Reveries, the nations able to travel to Mariejois and attend had always numbered only around forty to fifty. Most were familiar faces invited every time, with only a few seats rotating.
And this time, Fish-Man Island had received an invitation.
"Should we go or not?" King Neptune said with distress. "Now that our strength has grown increasingly powerful, the government's wariness of us is probably intensifying."
If they attended the Reverie now, there was no way to predict whether something unfortunate might occur.
But if they didn't go, the World Government probably wouldn't let the matter rest.
"Then let's go," Brett said with a smile. "I'll accompany you. There's nothing to fear."
Even if the World Government truly possessed deep foundations and overwhelming power at their disposal, at this point, he was no longer the small player they could manipulate at will.
"I see. Understood." Neptune nodded with a smile. "Then we'll go!"
The decision was made. Fish-Man Island would attend the upcoming Reverie.
Next, Brett discussed matters regarding the Heptagonal Alliance with Neptune. As he'd said, establishing friendship was only a beginning—what mattered most was maintaining that friendship going forward.
Besides maintaining the same political stance, the races participating in the Heptagonal Alliance also shared economic cooperation.
As the economic development leader, Fish-Man Island needed to provide some help and support to the younger brothers.
Of course, this help and support had to be built on a foundation that wouldn't harm Fish-Man Island's own development.
Fortunately, Fish-Man Island's development level was already quite high, and the other younger brothers' scale wasn't enormous. Even the giants, despite their massive size, actually had a smaller population than the other races.
Fish-Man Island could manage supporting six partners.
After ending their discussion, as they prepared to eat, Brett suddenly heard singing.
Melodious and graceful—quite beautiful, actually.
Moreover, the voice sounded very familiar.
Brett turned to look at Neptune.
Neptune appeared somewhat helpless as he nodded. "It's Otohime."
"She registered for this audition immediately, saying she wanted to become Fish-Man Island's big star, then like with the previous movie, use this method to change the world's perception of Fish-Man Island."
Brett nodded lightly.
He'd already known this.
"Looks like you'll soon have a superstar wife, Neptune." Brett joked.
Neptune sighed again.
What man wanted his wife subjected to others' judgments?
But regardless, the preliminary auditions would begin tomorrow.
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