Pirates: Your emperor has returned!

Crocodile, cigar in mouth, chuckled sinisterly, "What a brilliant move!"

Rowan raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Them, those fishmen."

Crocodile pointed at Hokka and the others, "Even if you ordered them to attack naval warships right now, they would probably agree immediately, right?"

Rowan grinned. "I don't understand. Explain in detail."

"Stop pretending to be garlic."

Crocodile frowned, displeased, and said, "They easily subdued more than thirty fishmen, many of whom were even experts. They were more than capable of dealing with ordinary marines."

"Such a team is rare even on Fishman Island. If the Navy knew about it, they would probably be green with envy!"

Because of many well-known issues, no fish-men are willing to fight for humans, let alone join the navy, but today this common sense seems to be about to be broken.

Crocodile flicked his cigarette ash and asked, "When do you plan to recruit them into Alabasta's army?"

But Rowan's answer surprised him somewhat.

Why recruit them?

Hearing this, Crocodile found it somewhat amusing. "If it weren't for recruitment, who helped you conquer Alabasta eight hundred years ago?"

Rowan laughed and said, "They are those who voluntarily follow."

Crocodile's eyes widened in surprise.

Rowan took a few steps forward and looked at the newly built village.

“When this place becomes their home, any recruitment efforts would be superfluous.”

“If anything threatens their ‘home,’ regardless of race, power, or belief, many people will clench their fists and unleash astonishing power to rise up in resistance.”

Rowan turned around, the last rays of the setting sun illuminating his body.

He looked at Crocodile and smiled:

"The Alabasta Empire was built upon this."

……

into the night.

The newly established fishman village has been initially stabilized.

Rowan, Crocodile, and Vivi boarded the same aquatic tortoise they had used to get there and returned to Albana.

The residents of the fishman village sat around the campfire, roasting the meat that everyone in Yaruja had given them; the atmosphere was comfortable and peaceful.

Bored, Wall jumped into the sea, intending to catch some fish to grill and eat.

But when he was underwater and looked up, he saw a small wooden boat floating on the surface of the sea by the moonlight.

Were they surviving slave traders?

Wall immediately became alert.

He secretly swam ashore and leaned against the bottom of the boat.

Using the unique advantages that fishmen have underwater, Wall suddenly exerted his strength, creating a huge current that lifted him and his boat up!

Fishman Karate, Ocean Current Back Throw!

Whoosh!

The small wooden boat rose into the air and landed upside down on the sea. The figures on the boat streaked across the night sky and plunged into the sandy shore.

Hoka and the others noticed the commotion and immediately prepared for battle.

"who!"

They gathered around, but all froze, their eyes filled with confusion.

It was an elderly human man with graying temples, a full beard, and wearing a floral vacation shirt.

His physique was extremely tall and strong, even surpassing Hoka's, reaching an exaggerated level!

What puzzled everyone even more was that the old man's eyes were closed at that moment.

He's unconscious?

No.

The deafening snoring, coupled with the occasional hand scratching its belly, was enough to prove one thing—

He fell asleep.

[19. Chapter Nineteen: The People from the Sea]

"Huh...huh..."

On the shore, the sound of snoring could be clearly heard.

The villagers of Fishman Village gathered around, looking at the old man who was fast asleep on the ground.

Wall emerged from the sea, puzzled. "He doesn't look like a slave trader. Is he a refugee?"

Hoka blinked. "Can refugees...sleep this soundly?"

He was thrown from the sea by Wall onto the shore and landed headfirst in the sand.

An ordinary person might have broken a bone, but this old man seemed to have done nothing and continued to sleep soundly.

It even produced snot bubbles!

He's sleeping soundly!

Not far away, the grease from the roasting meat by the campfire dripped into the fire, sizzling loudly.

The aroma wafted over and entered the old man's nose.

"Well!"

The old man's eyelids twitched, and he muttered, "Oh, are we having barbecue tonight? Little He, you really know this old man well!"

Suddenly, the old man seemed to remember something, abruptly opened his eyes, and shouted:

"Little Crane, let me explain. I came out to scout the sea conditions; I absolutely did not slack off..."

Having said that, the old man finally saw the situation clearly—

A group of fishmen.

The old man blinked.

The fishmen blinked.

Eyes wide open.

The old man sat cross-legged on the ground, his arms crossed over his chest, his head tilted to one side.

"what?"

……

Beside the campfire.

This unusually robust old man was chewing on a piece of meat with bone, laughing heartily:

"So I was asleep on the boat!"

"That was terrifying! I thought Little Crane had even brought his merman friends to try and capture me!"

"Speaking of which, this barbecue is really delicious, hahaha!"

"..."

The fish-men were speechless, thinking to themselves that this human old man was a bit too familiar.

Just as they were about to ask the other party about their origins, they suddenly noticed something unusual on the sea.

In the pitch-black sea, a large ship is sailing towards the shore.

As the ship drew near, Hoka and the others saw the flags on the sails and their expressions changed drastically.

A blue seagull, with a wrench-like pattern on the underside—

That's the naval symbol!

Thanks to the advantages of the fish-men race, Hoka and his companions evaded the navy's pursuit several times along the way, but unexpectedly they were found here.

"The navy is coming, what should we do?"

"Run!"

"But... I really don't want to run away anymore."

"Let's fight them!"

"That's the navy, do you want to cause trouble for the people here?"

"..."

The chatter reached Hoka's ears, making the merman leader's face grow increasingly gloomy.

Just as he was about to make a decision, the old man next to him finally finished his piece of roast meat.

The old man wiped his mouth, his expression equally flustered.

"Damn it, they've tracked us all the way here!"

Upon hearing this, the fishmen were taken aback and asked in surprise, "You escaped too?"

The old man nodded vigorously. "Yes, it took me a lot of effort to get out!"

The fish-men couldn't help but feel a sense of shared misfortune and patted the old man on the shoulder.

"You've suffered!"

The old man's eyes were also filled with emotion. "It's good that you understand!"

"Since we're comrades, let's stay!"

As he spoke, Hoka stepped to the front, stretched his shoulders, and said in a deep voice, "No matter what you think, I'm tired of running."

Behind him, Wall clenched his fists and roared, "Then let's fight for our new home!"