Chapter 146: Kill Him, and It Will All Be Over...
Inside Marineford, the headquarters of the Marines, two completely different reports were placed on Fleet Admiral Kong's desk.
One was from the Sabaody Archipelago. According to the report, due to the situation with Fish-man Island, over a dozen pirate crews were stranded on the Sabaody Archipelago, and the number was still increasing.
The garrison on the Sabaody Archipelago was requesting backup from Headquarters, preparing for potential emergencies.
The other report came from the G-1 and G-5 branches. Likewise, because of Fish-man Island, the workload of these two branches close to the Red Line had been directly halved. Absolutely no pirates could reach the New World from the first half of the Grand Line.
But they also reported a special situation: in the New World, many pirates seemed to have formed temporary alliances, though their motives remained unclear.
The number of pirates returning from the New World to the first half of the Grand Line was relatively small, but not non-existent. These pirates were similarly bottlenecked by Fish-man Island, forced to linger nearby and wait for news.
"Fleet Admiral Kong, these stranded pirates seem to be showing tendencies to form alliances. What should we do?"
"Keep having the surveillance ships monitor them. These are just small fry; they can't stir up much trouble. Until the big shots make a move, none of this matters."
The Marines chose not to act preemptively but to observe for the time being. Meanwhile, atop the Red Line, the Five Elders also took notice of this news.
"How long has Fish-man Island's sea ban... been in effect?"
"Counting from when it was officially enforced, it's been over twenty days. He has the capability to do this. I even think it wouldn't be bad if it continued like this. During this period, the freight volume across the Red Line has gone up.
These are all tax revenues."
As the Warrior God of Finance, Nusjuro still fulfilled his duties. At least from the perspective of transit commercial taxes, this was a good thing for them.
"It really is troublesome for a powerhouse like this to emerge in Fish-man Island's location.
However, he doesn't seem to have any intention of fighting us to the bitter end, which is a good thing. If he is willing to cooperate with us, the Fish-man Island chokepoint can serve an even greater purpose.
As expected of the Great One's insight."
The situation created by Fish-man Island was inherently targeting pirates and the underworld. From a legal standpoint, whatever a legitimate member nation did to such groups of people was entirely reasonable.
More importantly, from a martial standpoint, the World Government had no good method to deal with Fish-man Island. The price they would have to pay to do so far exceeded the current situation.
Although a Marine Fleet Admiral had died and some things had been overlooked, over these three years, the losses of the Marines and the World Government had actually decreased significantly.
As the ones who had followed Imu the longest, the five of them directly began to flatter Imu. Considering only economic factors, Nusjuro even hoped Nereus's sea ban would last a bit longer.
While the Five Elders didn't care about this matter, the merchants of the underworld were starting to buckle under the pressure.
"Boss, this won't work. By routing our goods over the Red Line, the taxes we have to pay have doubled directly, and we still have to bribe those officials... With layers of deductions, this business can barely break even.
Moreover, some things simply cannot go over the Red Line; those are World Government contraband. If this continues..."
In the underworld, someone acting as a boss was listening to his subordinate's report. Quite a few people seemed gathered in this room. The ashtrays were piled high with cigarette butts and cigars, filling the entire room with swirling smoke.
"Where is that guy Umit? Isn't he the closest to that Nereus?"
"His ships can't pass through Fish-man Island either... But he seems to have received the news in advance. Lately, he's only been doing business within half the sea."
Umit still received some special treatment. Although he was equally forbidden from crossing, having received the news in advance at least allowed him to handle the situation more calmly.
"No, we can't drag this out any longer. You all know that guy is a madman. If this continues, we'll all go bankrupt!
Before we go bankrupt, we have to do something! We can't just hand over all the money we've earned to Giberson!"
The "Concealer" Giberson, King of the Warehousing Industry. While Umit handled transportation, Giberson provided storage for goods, maintaining hidden warehouses everywhere.
Now that the trade routes were blocked, many goods were stockpiled in warehouses, allowing Giberson to seize the opportunity and make a massive fortune.
"What, are you going to take the lead in going against Nereus?"
"How is that possible! Who could beat him! That Harding—as long as we kill him, won't all of this be over?"
Hearing this, the person who had suggested "doing something" was immediately startled. The bird that sticks its head out gets shot; taking the lead to oppose Nereus at a time like this would likely leave not even ashes behind. He hastily clarified his true intention.
"Everyone here has some capability in the New World. If we unite, can't we take down a single guy from the North Blue?
I'll put up 50 million Berries as this guy's bounty. Whoever can claim that 100 million Berries from Nereus will also get this 50 million!"
"That's a good plan. I'll also put up 50 million. If this can be concluded within a week, I'll increase it to 100 million Berries."
With the Fish-man Island trade route having problems, their losses were not merely a matter of tens of millions of Berries. They could still hold out for now, but if it dragged on any longer, they wouldn't be able to bear it either.
The total number of people in the underworld was immeasurable, but it constituted the dark side of the entire world. Between them all, they forcibly scraped together an additional 1 billion Berries in extra bounty, causing Harding's net worth to directly multiply twenty-fold within a single month.
Compared to fighting Nereus in the deep sea, the price of doing this was obviously much smaller, and it was also easier to succeed.
This multiple-choice question was not difficult for them. Catching a mouse scurrying around aimlessly was clearly much easier than wrestling a mosasaur in the deep sea.
On the 24th day of the sea ban, among the pirate crews gathered on the Sabaody Archipelago, five crews decided to join forces and forcefully break through Fish-man Island.
Six hours later, intact bubble films wrapped around the shattered remains of ships and pirate corpses floated back to the surface.
Among these five pirate crews, three captains were Supernovas of this year. This cruel truth made the remaining pirates recognize reality, turning their efforts instead toward finding clues about Harding.
Even pirates who hadn't yet reached the Sabaody Archipelago joined this queue as the news spread.
At this moment, everyone understood one truth: if Harding didn't die, no one was getting past.
Over in the New World, the pirates mingling there understood Nereus's terror even better and hadn't attempted to force their way through.
"Big Sis, can you really not let us pass? You know this matter has nothing to do with us. We need the fruits from Melon Island in 'Paradise' to make a fruit tart... otherwise, Mama will..."
Underwater, a ship filled with a fairytale aesthetic was currently anchored. The tone of Perospero at the bow even carried a hint of pleading.
Perospero didn't dare to imagine what would happen if they couldn't bring back the ingredients from over there. If Charlotte Linlin couldn't eat the food she wanted and her eating disorder flared up, how would they handle it?
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