Pirate: It’s not a phantom beast, it’s a phantom god!

Chapter 285 Visitors
"Oh? You've heard about it too?"

"Did Ossie tell you?"

The bottle of wine that he had painstakingly saved was thrown away, leaving Bourfat with no choice but to take out the thermos that Ossi had prepared for him from his coat pocket.

Unscrew the lid, and a few red fruits float on the steaming hot water, emitting a fragrant aroma.

After some internal struggle, Bourfat closed his eyes and took a small sip...

suck~

"uh-huh!"

A strong bitter taste instantly spread throughout his mouth, and Bulfat's face scrunched up like a chrysanthemum.

The combination of several Chinese medicinal herbs, mainly wild ginseng, hidden at the bottom of the cup easily overpowered the slightly sweet taste of the goji berries floating on the surface.

"Tsk~"

"Tsk tsk tsk~"

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Looking at the other person's ferocious face, which was contorted as if being tortured, Jinbe quietly suppressed his curiosity about the liquid in the thermos.

"No matter how many times I drink it, I still can't get used to it, but this stuff is much more invigorating than alcohol."

Forced to drink half of the herbal tea in one breath, Bourfat quickly tightened the lid and put it back in his pocket.

He smacked his lips, trying to slightly reduce the bitterness in his mouth, before speaking again:
"There might indeed be some changes in the pirate crew recently, and these changes might be bigger than you imagine."

"Oh?"

Hearing Bulfat, an executive, say the same thing, Jinbe became completely interested.

"Jinbe, have you ever heard of Wano Country?"

"Wano Country?"

Jinbe, whose life trajectory is still quite simple, obviously has no idea about this mysterious country, which is also little known in the New World.

"Yes, Wano Country."

"To be honest, this is the first time in my life I've ever heard of a country like this in the New World, and it's said to be not too far from Fenrir."

After adjusting his coat, Bulfat felt a warm glow in his stomach, and the sea breeze no longer felt so chilly.

"So, the changes in the pirate crew are related to Wano Country?"

Jinbe asked.

"Yeah, that's right."

"Just recently, that country sent people to contact us."

As he spoke, Bourfat recalled the scene in the drawing room two weeks prior—

"Yo yo yo yo~ Kaido, it's been a long time."

A strange laugh came from an even stranger-looking old woman.

The old woman was dressed in strange clothes, had blackened teeth, and had two burning candles tied to her head. Her face was withered and she looked like a demon.

"Ten years have passed since that incident, and now you are truly the 'embodiment of force'."

The old woman flattered her.

Kaido, however, did not react much. He simply sat in the main seat with his arms crossed, looking at the other man. King was also sitting next to him.

Seeing that Kaido remained unmoved, the other party was not in a hurry, but instead suddenly brought up other things:

"Throughout human history, many of the world's problems have been solved by force."

"After all, humans are animals, and the law of the jungle is the law of nature!"

"Don't you think so, Kaido?"

Waving her hands, the old woman made very exaggerated movements.

The other party was clearly well aware of Kaido's values ​​of prioritizing strength, and every word they said was designed to please him.

"Yes, that's exactly it."

Sure enough, Kaido nodded in agreement upon hearing what the other party said.

"and then?"

"Just tell me what's on your mind, old woman."

"You should know that I don't like beating around the bush."

Looking at Kaido, who had become more composed and powerful than before, the old woman nodded inwardly, then, without further ado, said:

"I've heard that Beasts has been heavily involved in the arms trade these past few years. It seems that in this world, you really have to rely on 'weapons' to get things done..."

"However, compared to your ever-expanding arms trade, the support that this small island under your feet can provide should have reached its limit, right?"

"Yo yo yo yo yo~"

"So, I have a suggestion..."

After the strange old woman left, Kaido took the opportunity to gather everyone in the reception room to discuss her proposal.

"Boss Kaido, did you know that old woman with a candle tied to her head before?"

On his way there, Ossie encountered an old woman leaving and was startled by her appearance. He almost thought that a ghost had jumped out of a newly buried grave because the soil hadn't been filled properly.

"Could she be here to scam me?"

"After all, scams involving acquaintances are not uncommon."

"I used to be on the same boat as her, so I've met her a few times."

"As for lying to us... she doesn't have the guts."

Kaido chuckled.

After all, given the current reputation and power of the Beasts, it's already a blessing that they don't go looking for other people. Who would dare to come here to commit fraud?
This is simply like an old man eating poison – he's tired of living.

"Oh, it's not a scam."

"Do you know what her ability is? It's the ability to tie candles to your head without burning your hair..."

"..."

"So, what are your opinions?"

Kaido completely ignored Osei's question and turned to look at the other people in the reception room.

At this time, except for Ra and Obe who were absent due to other matters, almost all the other cadres on the island were present.

"I think we should reconsider, Boss Kaido."

"After all, Wano Country is a completely unfamiliar place to us. No matter how well they describe it, we'll only know what it's really like after we get there."

Bourfat actually somewhat agreed with Ossie's earlier concerns.

It's not that he thinks the other party is trying to lure him into a trap, but rather that he suspects the other party is hiding something.

After all, it doesn't make any sense for a king to suddenly invite a group of pirates to settle in his country...

According to the other party, Wano Country is almost impossible to conquer from the outside due to its terrain, and it also has 'samurai', so there is even less reason to seek the protection of pirates.

“Bourfat is right.”

Wright, who replaced La at the meeting, also expressed his agreement.

"We can't just believe what the other party says; we need to send someone to investigate and conduct an on-site inspection first."

"Even if what they said is true and they are not hiding anything, we cannot move the pirate crew there so easily."

Compared to these guys who usually don't care about anything, Wright clearly knows just how large the pirate group is now.

Compared to four years ago, the number of Beasts now exceeds ten thousand official members, and it has more than a dozen affiliated pirate crews.

In addition, there are countless warships, shipyards, research bases, and weapons factories, mines, and workers under Beast Heavy Industries...

In short, after several years of rapid development, the Beasts Pirates are now an undisputed behemoth deeply rooted in the Fenrir Sea.

However, everything has two sides.

While the increase in size certainly greatly enhances the strength of all beasts, it also means that some things can no longer be done so freely... such as relocating the core territory.

If the Beasts Pirates were to change their core territory now, it wouldn't be as simple as just tucking their pirate flag under their arm, sailing to their destination, and then planting the flag there.

“Governor Kaido, given the current size of the Beasts, relocating them would be a massive undertaking that would affect the entire world.”

"The preparations for the relocation alone involve the deployment of tens of thousands of people, the transfer of materials, transportation planning, and the prior construction of the relocation destination."

"How many people should we take with us? Is the remaining garrison sufficient to maintain stability in the Fenrir Sea, or should we just abandon this place altogether?"

"Should all these facilities be moved there, or should some be left on the island?"

"What is the geographical environment like there? Is it necessary to build infrastructure in advance? How will the people who are relocated be accommodated? How will the supply of basic living materials be guaranteed? How will accommodation be arranged?"

"besides……"

"..."

"..."

Light simply listed the potential problems and preparations needed for migrating to Wano Country, but the sheer complexity of it all made everyone's scalps tingle.

The territory of the beasts is now comparable to that of some legitimate countries, so relocating the core territory is equivalent to a country moving its capital... which is an unimaginably massive undertaking.

“Wright is right. We’ve been operating in Fenrir for so many years, it would be inappropriate to move there so abruptly.”

Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, Jhin stood up and expressed his opinion.

As one of the few executives with management experience, his ideas largely overlapped with Wright's, including his cautious attitude towards relocating to Wano Country.

"..."

(End of this chapter)