Big brother, I want to become the strongest pirate in the world!

The auctioneer was overjoyed to hear that someone had finally been born, but 100,000 Berries was far too low. He hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Isn't anyone else interested? 100,000 Berries at a time."

"100,000 Berries...twice."

"100,000 Berries... three times!"

"Congratulations, sir! This merman is yours from today onwards!"

The auction ended with the auctioneer looking somewhat gloomy, and a rare merman was sold for a pittance.

The person who bought Croobi was, of course, Kazan.

Kazan followed the people sent by the auction house backstage to a large iron cage, inside which was Chroobbi, already battered and covered in chains and collars.

It looks like it's on its last legs.

"Take it to the main gate on the outer street, is that alright?"

"No problem! No problem! Of course there's no problem!"

The organizers were overjoyed to hear Kazan's words; they wished the fishman would get as far away as possible.

Kazan nodded, then said nothing more, casually tossed out 100,000 Berries, and waited for the organizers to send someone to deliver the large iron cage.

On the way out, perhaps because the auctioneers didn't want to reveal that there was a fishman inside the iron cage, they simply covered the large iron cage with a black cloth, making it impossible to see what was inside from the outside.

But the more this happened, the more attractive the contents of the iron cage became. According to Kazan's Observation Haki, when they arrived outside the door, they found a group of thugs surrounding them, including quite a few who looked like professional fighters.

The people at the auction just smiled when they saw this, and then quickly left.

Those thugs were hired by them to clean up the mess.

Their plan was to wait until the thugs killed Kazan, then have the henchmen deal with the thugs, and then they would take care of the murlocs, thus burying the matter forever.

The undefined terminal station outside the outer street gate is the perfect place to handle such incidents.

At the main gate of the outer street of the Kingdom of Goa, a light drizzle had begun to fall. Combined with the dust accumulated over the years at the uncertain destination, it was difficult to see the scene ahead.

“There’s always more rain in summer, isn’t there, Crooby?”

Ignoring the approaching, grinning henchmen, Kazan simply lifted the black cloth covering the iron cage, then vanished from their sight in a flash.

The weak Croobbi inside the iron cage struggled slightly upon hearing Kazan's voice and tried to lift its head.

When his eyes could finally see clearly, all he could see was a sky full of crimson, severed limbs, and a figure with red eyes, holding a black knife in one hand, standing in front of the iron cage.

"Ah...yes...Brother Kazan."

Croobi recognized the person in front of her, gritted her teeth, and choked out a reply, tears blurring her vision once again.

"Don't cry, you're a grown man."

"……Yes!"

Kazan conjured a fiery red steel membrane on his hands, and upon contact with this membrane, the iron cage, chains, and collar binding Croobi all turned into molten iron.

"Can you walk by yourself?"

"of course."

Croobi stood up, ripped off his tattered karate uniform, glanced at the unsightly brand on his right chest, and his face contorted with rage.

"Let's go."

"Brother Kazan, I have some things to take care of myself, so please don't worry about me."

"Tsk... Don't rush, come back with me first. If we make a move now, we'll alert the enemy. Let's be patient for a couple of days."

"This is me..."

"You came here to find us, right? I'm partly to blame for things turning out this way, so this isn't just your fault."

“…I understand, then…thank you for your help, Brother Kazan.”

Kazan turned his head and glanced at Chrooby, who was bowing to him at a ninety-degree angle, then walked ahead in silence without saying anything more.

He helped Crooby partly because of the reasons mentioned earlier, but more so because of his friendship with the Sun Pirates.

The Monster Pirates and the Sun Pirates have only known each other for about six months, but those six months have been a period of life-and-death friendship.

Logically and emotionally, Kazan couldn't possibly ignore what happened to Croobi.

Kazan isn't in good shape right now. He moved his body a little and felt a dull pain in his abdominal wound. Although it wasn't a big deal, remembering how seriously Bon Clay and Monet had said, "Absolutely do not make a move," Kazan decided to be cautious.

Moreover, as the richest country in the East Blue, the Goa Kingdom's potential strength is probably not simple. Apart from him, the three main forces of the monster family are not here, so he needs to go back and make some preparations.

This time, we'll probably have to use Sugar's abilities.

Chapter 105 Fortune Turns Around

Kroobbi did not return to Windmill Village with Kazan. He now had a very bad impression of humans, and although Kazan thought the people of Windmill Village were nice, he was still worried about them.

So Kazan took a detour and brought Crooby to the Caroso.

"Haha, long time no see, Carosso!"

Below the Carrosso.

Croobi was very happy to see Caroso, as if he were seeing his third home, after all, this ship had saved their lives many times.

"Later, I'll introduce you to a few people on the ship; they're all on our side."

"……Um."

Since Kazan had already said that, Croobbi was relatively relieved. If Kazan said that someone was "one of their own," then there must be no problem.

Croobbi followed Kazan onto the ship, then looked at the three children jumping around on the deck with a slightly nervous expression. Generally, human children would react more intensely to fish-men when they saw them.

"Wow, you're quite energetic. It seems you've adapted to the current training volume. It's time to increase it a little."

Are you trying to kill me?!

"Hey, hey, don't do this, Kazan."

"Kazan, did you bring back food?"

Upon hearing Kazan's voice, the three children's attention was drawn over. Ace and Sabodo glanced at Croobi a couple of times and then stopped reacting, waiting for Kazan to introduce her. As for Luffy, he kept staring at Croobi and drooling.

I haven't had dinner yet...

Just then, Akin and Nagri came out of the kitchen, intending to call the three little ones in for dinner, but as soon as they came out, they saw Croobi.

A rare look of curiosity appeared in Akin's eyes, while Nagri merely glanced at Croobi.

"This is Croobi, my friend among the fish-men, and also a pirate."

"...Hello, I am a member of the Sun Pirates, Crooby."

Croobbi introduced himself somewhat reservedly. This was his personality; although he looked big and burly, like a boisterous strongman, he was actually a guy who preferred to use his brain rather than his hands.

He is more sensitive than most fish people, and you can see a bit of his inner self that doesn't quite match his outward appearance from the two small braids on his head.

"Fishmen, they must be very strong, right?"

"Wow, this is a fish-man! I've only ever seen them in books when I was a kid."

"Is it tasty?"

The three little ones excitedly gathered around, staring at Croobi for a long time, and Luffy was about to lick their lips.

Croob was clearly surprised by the different attitude and style of Essabo and the other children compared to the others, but he was also relieved: as expected of the children raised by Brother Kazan, they had no prejudice against the fish-men.

Kazan, who was about to introduce Akin and Snag, was a little stunned by the moved look in Kroobi's eyes.

I don't know what you've misunderstood, but if you don't move aside, Luffy is going to bite you.

Kazan looked down at Luffy, who had already opened his mouth to Croobi's leg, and was about to stop him when suddenly a wooden hammer flew over, hitting Luffy squarely and with just the right amount of force, knocking him to the ground.

"The old man still wielding the hammer is Snack, a friend I met at the Uncertainty Terminal. He once fought against the Pirate King Gol D. Roger. By the way, Snack, have you ever been to Fish-Man Island?"

"Ah... speaking of which, I have indeed been there. Fishman Island is a very beautiful place, but..."

"However, Ryugu Castle neither prevented foreign pirates from landing nor could it resist the pirates who had already landed, which led to Fishman Island becoming a battlefield where pirates fought each other at will."

Croobi picked up where Nagri left off. It was the truth, nothing to be ashamed of. In his view, whether then or now, Ryugu Palace was just a bunch of good-for-nothings who daydreamed all day and accomplished nothing.

They spend all their time thinking about landing on the sea and living peacefully with humans, only to cause countless compatriots to fall into the clutches of humans.

If it weren't for the fact that my father remembered the past kindness and led the Whitebeard Pirates to protect Fishman Island, Fishman Island would probably be in terrible shape from the ravages of humans by now.

“That’s Ah Jin over there, my youngest brother, a new member of the monster family, a boy who doesn’t like to talk.”

Upon hearing Kazan introduce him, Akin nodded politely to Croobi and then fell silent.

Despite Akin's cold demeanor, Croobbi felt a sense of kinship towards him because of his identity as a member of the "monster family".

"Alright, that's enough of the introductions. You can all go about your business. Croobie is very familiar with Caroso, so there's no need for special treatment. I'm going to pick up those three girls. I'll probably be back tomorrow morning to discuss something."

"Kazan, aren't you going to eat before you leave?!"

"I'll eat in the windmill village before I come back."

Kazan waved back, then entered Golber Mountain once more, heading towards Windmill Village.

The night in Gorber Mountain was eerie and cold, and Kazan dared not heat himself up too much, lest the mountain catch fire.

It didn't take long for Kazan to arrive at the library in Windmill Village.

"What's wrong with you two brats! You didn't even tell me you were going to the Kingdom of Goa! Do you know how worried I was?!"

"Not even a note left! Are you out of hands or mouth?! Especially you, Nico Robin, you're supposed to be the older sister, leading your younger sister to do such a stupid thing!"

"Do you even consider me your older brother anymore?! Huh?"

"Is there no love left? Can love disappear?! Shut your mouth, are you still going to talk back?"

"I'm telling you, if there's a next time, I'll break your legs! Perona, I'm telling you, crying won't do you any good!"

Without a second thought, this time Kazan ignored Robin's explanation and Perona's big, watery eyes, and immediately started writing, giving Robin and Perona a real dressing-down.

The two little girls huddled behind Grandma Dongmei, who was guarding the library, trembling like two terrified little rabbits.

After a while, Kazan, persuaded by Grandma Dongmei, let the two brats go.

The two pitiful little sisters lowered their heads and obediently followed Kazan to Makino's tavern to find sugar.

"Waaaaahh ...