Farming in Pirate World

"Is this your fault?"

"How can you say that? I don't think you are very excited."

Li Ming was silent for a moment.

He is not the kind of person who behaves when he gets an advantage. Although he hasn't seen what the system rewards will be after becoming the mayor, it is always a good thing.

"But why me? In terms of qualifications, you should be the mayor."

Dalton spread his hands:

"It's not like you don't know that I'm not interested in this."

"Besides, I can barely make ends meet in a tavern, how can I be the mayor?"

What he said made sense, and Li Ming didn't know how to continue asking for a while.

"It's not my turn. It's only been more than half a year since I fled here. In terms of qualifications, it's definitely not my turn..."

"Since it's not your turn when it comes to seniority, it obviously isn't about seniority."

Dalton scratched his hair:

"And it's only been more than two years since I came to this town, so it's not a long time."

"Uncle, aren't you from this town?"

Li Ming was a little surprised. He always thought this was Dalton's hometown.

"Hey, how should I put it? I'm from Beihai. Although my home is in East China Sea, I joined the navy when I was very young. When I quit the navy and returned to East China Sea, I could no longer find my home."

"Later on, I met a group of pirates who were robbing the island. After helping them solve the problem, I took advantage of the situation and settled down."

After understanding Dalton's miserable life experience, Li Ming looked apologetic:

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought up this topic that makes you sad."

"What sad topic?"

Dalton was stunned for a moment. Looking at Li Ming's apologetic expression, he suddenly realized:

"No, you are thinking too much. The village in my hometown has been moved to another place due to economic reasons. It is difficult to find it. And I don't have any relatives in my hometown, so I am too lazy to look for it."

Dalton shrugged, looking indifferent.

Li Ming was a little embarrassed. Having just experienced a pirate invasion, he would subconsciously associate everything with pirates.

"In short, don't worry too much about the position of the mayor. Those old men are not easy to use. Although I recommended you to be the mayor, if they don't approve it, the position of the mayor may be rotated.

Not to you."

"Besides, if you don't do well, you might be kicked out by those old men together."

Dalton sat up and patted Li Ming on the shoulder. It was unclear whether the expression in his eyes was pity or encouragement:

"In short, if you want to do it, then go ahead and do it."

Li Ming fell into deep thought.

Until he got the village's financial statements.

"What the hell is this?"

Li Ming took a breath and looked at the former mayor with a surprised look on his face.

"Uncle Hall, can you explain these things to me?"

Li Ming gritted his teeth, resisted the urge to throw something and leave, and asked calmly.

No wonder Dalton doesn't want to be the mayor.

Li Ming was also stunned by the system rewards for a while, and he took over the job in a daze.

"Actually, it's just those things. There's nothing to explain. They're all on the list."

Even with Hall's face like the bark of an old tree, he couldn't help but blush a little when faced with Li Ming's question.

"It's not like you don't know the situation in our town. It has always been quite difficult..."

"Are everyone in our town aware of these situations?"

Li Ming interrupted him without hesitation. Faced with this situation, he didn't care about the old and the young.

Take the time to understand the situation before we talk.

"Almost, I know everything I need to know..."

"How long has this been going on?"

"It's been a long time, almost a few years..."

Mayor Hall, no, now it’s Old Hall. He looked embarrassed at first, but then he just threw the bottle away and looked at Li Ming with an indifferent expression.

Anyway, I am not the mayor now, so why should I have a headache?

"Hiss, so everything written on this is true?!"

Dalton suppressed a smile and gloated as he watched Li Ming scratching his head and scratching his head behind the dilapidated table.

"You still have the nerve to smile! Shouldn't that tavern be your private business? Why is it listed in the town?"

Dalton spread his hands, already feeling happy.

"It's true that I run that tavern alone, but that doesn't conflict with it being the town's property."

"So, you're not using your Sheriff's salary to fill the tavern's vacancy, but the town's finances have been filling the tavern's hole?"

"Um...um...ah...that's about right."

Explosive mentality!

I fell!

Li Ming wanted to say something else, but had nothing to say.

No wonder Dalton is unwilling to be the mayor of the town, and he wouldn't be willing to be in Dalton's position if it were Li Ming.

"The financial deficit in the village is so serious, you haven't thought about changing it?"

Old Hall looked confused, obviously not understanding what "deficit" meant.

Dalton understood what Li Ming said, but he still spread his hands:

"Of course I have thought about changing. Otherwise, why do you think there would be a tavern in such a small town?"

"Think about it, if there is a tavern, we can get more money from the crews of passing merchant ships, and we will be rich!"

"What about the money earned?"

"..."

The embarrassment on Dalton's face flashed away, and in a blink of an eye it turned into an indifferent look.

"It's just because I haven't made any money that I don't want to be the mayor!"

"How did I know that opening a tavern is so troublesome, when other taverns have such good business and are very profitable!"

"At that time, they asked me to be the mayor, and I was full of hope. But in the end, there was really no other way, so I had to be a peace officer."

Li Ming scratched his hair with an embarrassed look on his face, asked Dalton a few more questions, and then became so angry that he wanted to scold him.

Dalton simply slapped his forehead, thinking that if the taverns on other islands were so profitable, he would also make money.

He had no idea about the origin of the wine, the loss during storage, the steady flow of people, the spending power, costs and income of the customers.

Under the current situation, too many things piled up together, making his mind a mess:

"You guys go out first and let me collect my thoughts."

Old Hall looked apologetic and comforted:

"Don't be too embarrassed. If you have any ideas, just put them forward and us old guys will help you."

Dalton looked indifferent:

"Don't you know how to farm? With your ability, it won't be difficult to do this. I believe you."

"Get out!"

Li Ming couldn't tell whether Dalton was gloating or really believed in Li Ming, but it didn't affect Li Ming's feeling unhappy now.

No wonder Dalton recommended him to be the mayor, and these old men actually agreed.

I originally thought that I could become the mayor because I was disguised as a Devil Fruit user, but it turned out to be because of farming.

After both of them were driven away, Li Ming sat helplessly on the old chair. The wood made a squeaking sound, which made him irritated again.

"I thought I was getting a bargain, but it turned out to be such a big trouble."

After looking through the town's ledgers again, Li Ming, who had some illusions, finally accepted the reality.

"How on earth did the town survive before!"

Because the account books in the town recorded running accounts, and there were not many merchant ships coming and going, Li Ming could easily summarize the results.

"The village as a whole is in debt of 2.7 million beli, and all public resources are almost non-existent."

"The tavern is opened in the name of a small town and it loses a certain amount every month."

"The salaries of the public employees in the town cannot be paid at all, so they can only make do with food. This is thanks to the support of old fisherman Maude."

"The compensation for the sacrificed militiamen still needs to be discussed, and the village is short of food, cloth, cotton, and iron."

"This is nothing at all!"

"Even if you give me three more Walder heads, it won't be enough to fill the gap in the village."