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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Thirty-Two: Doubt
In Cocoa West Village, on the street, Nami and Nokigao huddled behind Belmer. In front of them stood Sheriff Aken and several villagers, all armed with shotguns, facing off against a group of pirates.
The two sides were locked in a standoff. The Pirate Leader, a young man with yellow hair, wore a long knife at his waist and looked at them, saying, "Hand over the money, and we promise to leave."
Aken snorted coldly. "The amount you want is too much."
Behind the Yellow Youth, a thin figure stepped forward, holding firearms and pointing them at Aken's head. "If you don't give it to us, we'll kill you."
"You'd better lower that gun," Belmer said, aiming her weapon at the opponent with a glint of murderous intent in her eyes.
"You're asking for death."
The pirates raised their weapons in response, but the villagers stood their ground defiantly.
The Yellow Youth squinted and asked, "Are you sure you want to fight us? Let us kill you first and then take the money?"
"Of course we don't want that," Aken sighed. "But what you're asking for is simply too much. Two million Berries is a burden for us."
"How about one million Berries then? Your village has at least two hundred people; that's a maximum of five thousand per person. My request isn't unreasonable, is it?" The Yellow Youth asked darkly.
"Aken said, 'But the children and the elderly have no income. We can only offer you four hundred thousand Berries, but we can provide some food and water as well.'
'Four hundred thousand? Are you begging?' a rotund pirate shouted.
'Our village is quite poor; this is all we can give.'
Aken shrugged, then his tone turned firm as he looked at them. 'This is the maximum reward we can offer. If we give more, we won't be able to survive ourselves.'
'Five hundred thousand Berries, along with food and water,' the Yellow Youth scoffed. 'That's our bottom line.'
'Fine, then it's five hundred thousand Berries.'
Aken nodded and immediately arranged for people to prepare the money, food, and water, transporting it to the seaside. He then stepped back, keeping a wary eye on the pirates.
Although the pirates were dissatisfied with the payment, they accepted the money and loaded the food and fresh water onto their ship before setting sail.
As they watched the pirates leave, the villagers of Cocoa West Village let out a sigh of relief.
'They are gone.'
'The pirate crew has left.'
'Aken, you really did it. They chose to leave for five hundred thousand Berries.'"
The villagers gathered around Aken, their faces relaxed.
Aken smiled and said, "The main reason is that this Pirate Crew is too weak. They didn't even issue a Bounty Notice, and they only have two Cannons and a dozen pirates on board. Their strength is so lacking that if it came to a fight, we could easily win."
"Don't be modest. If it weren't for you negotiating with them, they wouldn't have backed down," Belmer said with a chuckle as he patted Aken on the shoulder.
"That's right, Aken. We owe it all to you this time," the surrounding villagers chimed in with laughter.
"It's my duty," Aken replied, his face flushing slightly. He cleared his throat and continued, "By the way, about the five hundred thousand Berries, let's share the burden. It would be two thousand five hundred each, okay?"
"Two thousand five hundred each?"
Belmer frowned at this and said, "So that means I have to contribute seven thousand five hundred? That's way too much! Plus, we have two kids at home. Why should adults and kids pay the same price? At least it should be half!"
"Belmer, it's only two thousand five hundred. You can't possibly not afford seven thousand five hundred," one villager remarked.
"And if the kids only pay half, then the adult price will go up. With forty kids, your family would still need to pay around five thousand five hundred—just two thousand Berries less. It's just a meal's worth," another villager couldn't help but add.
"Two thousand is already too much!" Belmer huffed indignantly.
"Aken" coughed and said, "I'll cover part of it. "Belmer" only needs to pay five thousand; I'll pay two thousand five."
"Really? That's great!"
"Belmer" smiled and said, "Aken, I can't take out the money right now. Can you help me pay for it? I'll give you the money back later."
"Will you really pay me back if you owe me?"
"Aken" replied with a hint of annoyance.
"Don't worry, I will pay you back."
"Belmer" smiled and then leaned in closer, speaking in a tone only the two could hear, "In other ways."
"No, no, don't be ridiculous."
"Aken's" face instantly turned red as he looked into the distance. "But if you really don't have the money right now, then I can help you out."
"Aken, thank you so much."
"Belmer" said with a smile, wrapping her arms around "Nami" and "Nokigao," and they began walking home.
"Aken, you really spoil 'Belmer,' don't you?"
"Aken, are you in love with 'Belmer'?"
“Belmer has always been single. She has a good relationship with you, and both Nami and Nokigao like you. Why don’t you pursue her?”
A villager nearby teased.
“Don’t be ridiculous, I don’t like her.”
Aken shook his head as he watched Belmer in the distance. “They are orphans and widows, so I help them out a bit.”
“So you don’t like Belmer?”
“No, not at all.”
Aken’s voice echoed, and from afar, Belmer raised an eyebrow, a hint of a smile crossing her lips, but her eyes concealed a trace of regret.
“Let’s go, let’s go.”
Aken waved his hand. “I’ll send the money to the security office tomorrow.”
“Got it.”
The villagers dispersed, heading back to their homes.
But just then, a voice rang out, “The ship! The ship is sinking!”
Everyone was drawn to the sound, looking towards the person shouting. There, above the ocean, the Pirate Ship was slowly sinking.
The pirates on board began jumping into the sea one by one.
"What is happening?"
Aken's eyes widened as he stared into the distance, watching the massive Pirate Ship gradually submerge beneath the waves.
"How could it sink?" a villager asked in confusion.
"Retribution; this is the sea punishing them," another villager said, his face filled with joy as he watched the Pirate Ship go down.
In the distance, Nami heard the commotion and broke free from Belmer's grasp, rushing to the front of the crowd to look toward the shore.
Far away, the Pirate Ship continued to sink bit by bit, while those pirates who had jumped into the water swam frantically towards the island.
"They look scared. Is there something in the water?" Aken asked, frowning.
In the next moment, a massive shadow surged forward, catching one of the last pirates and swallowing him whole.
Since they still had strength to swim in the water, they couldn't be Devil Fruit users.
That meant consuming them would pose no threat.
Xiaqiu thought to himself as he devoured pirate after pirate. Once finished, he swam away into the distance, disappearing beneath the waves.
"Such a huge fish, it actually sank the Pirate Ship."
"There are such large fish in our surrounding waters; it's truly dangerous."
"If this fish can smash the Pirate Ship, what about our fishing boats and the Merchant Ship? What if it attacks us?"
A villager asked with concern.
"We can only pray that it passes by," a fisherman replied.
"Let's keep the fishermen calm and refrain from going out to sea for now. Also, everyone should stay away from the water," Aken quickly advised.
The crowd left, worried about the threat posed by the giant fish.
However, once Nami returned to her home, she pulled out a notebook. Opening it, she revealed a page that depicted a massive sea fish.
This fish looked almost identical to Xiaqiu.
She stared at the drawing, unable to suppress her frown. "That fish actively attacked the Pirate Ship and even ate people. Was it just a coincidence?"
Nami had seen this fish over a year and three months ago and had encountered it multiple times during that period.
Based on its habitat and the times it appeared, it could be determined that it resided near this island.
Having observed it for such a long time, Nami had also felt concerned.
However, he had never attacked anyone, not even the fishing boats that outnumbered the Pirate Ship, nor the fishermen who were out at sea catching sea urchins, shrimp, and crabs.
Just like today, there were three or four fishing boats out at sea.
He did not attack, nor did he harm a single person.
It felt as if he was deliberately avoiding humans.
But now, he had moved to attack.
Was it just a random act? Or had he begun to see humans as prey?
Nami did not know, but Heart Point was never wrong.
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