Nojiko was panting heavily, finally catching up with Genzo.
Genzo glanced at her and said in a low voice, "Let's go this way."
Nojiko nodded and walked with Genzo along a hidden path toward the place where the wounded were being hidden.
Although the Arlong Pirates had just collected protection fees in Cocoyasi Village recently, Arlong's informants were everywhere on the island. For safety, they still moved very cautiously.
However, even though the two were already careful enough, their movements were still accidentally exposed to a fishman not far away.
The fishman was leisurely lying in a tree, just about to slack off and take a nap.
His skin was dark brown, matching the color of the bark, and the fish scales on his body resembled the wrinkles on the bark.
If one didn't look carefully, it was impossible to notice his presence.
The sneaky behavior of Nojiko and Genzo caught his attention.
He yawned, looking suspicious.
"What are those two planning to do? Could it be they're hiding weapons?"
He suddenly remembered that recently his companions had mentioned that the villagers of Cocoyasi Village were probably secretly plotting rebellion against the Arlong Pirates and had hidden many weapons in private.
Weapons were strictly forbidden in Arlong's territory. Once discovered, the only fate for the ones hiding them was death.
"No way, I have to go check." The fishman turned over and jumped down from the tree trunk, speaking darkly.
He carefully followed behind Genzo and Nojiko, intending to see what these two were up to.
Genzo stopped in front of a lake.
"Perfect, let's bring some fresh water while we're at it."
"Okay." Nojiko nodded gently and took the water container handed to her by Genzo.
While the two were collecting water by the lake, the fishman crouched down and secretly observed from a distant high ground.
"Excuse me, have you seen a blue-haired woman pass by?"
Jotaro lowered his head and asked the sneaky guy crouching behind a rock.
He had left a few minutes later than Nojiko. In this unfamiliar place, not only did he lose track of her, he even got lost.
In the desolate wilderness, there was no one to ask for directions.
He was about to turn back the way he came.
Who would've thought, just as he looked up, he saw a suspicious-looking fishman on the ridge.
The sudden voice from behind made the fishman shiver in fright.
Afraid of alerting Genzo and Nojiko below, he quickly turned his head and scolded in a low voice, "You bastard, so loud! Trying to scare me to death?!"
"Sorry…" Jotaro glanced at him, lowered his voice and asked again, "Have you seen a blue-haired woman pass by here?"
"A blue-haired woman who passed by?" The fishman thought seriously for a while and then replied, "Nope, I haven't seen any woman pass by."
"But there is a blue-haired babe down there. Hehe, her figure is really hot."
"If it weren't for Arlong strictly forbidding us to lay a hand on villagers who've paid protection fees, I wouldn't be able to hold myself back."
While speaking, he looked back down, planning to admire Nojiko's sexy figure again.
But there was no one there anymore.
"Where'd they go?!" The fishman suddenly jumped up.
While he was talking, Genzo and Nojiko had already finished collecting water and left the lakeside.
Realizing this, he suddenly turned his head and glared fiercely at Jotaro.
"It's all your fault! Made me lose my targets!"
Jotaro silently looked at him, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.
He had some facial blindness, and only now did he realize something was strange about the person in front of him.
Though his appearance was roughly human, he clearly had some fish-like features.
"Why do you look so much like a fish?"
"Isn't that obvious nonsense?! I'm a fishman! A noble fishman! How could I not look like a fish?!"
Jotaro, "..."
"Wait a minute!" The fishman touched his chin, his beady eyes constantly moving as he sized Jotaro up and down. "You don't even know what a fishman is? That means you're not from this island?"
"Where the hell did you come from, and what are you doing here?!"
The fishman questioned aggressively, even spitting as he spoke.
Jotaro didn't know the full situation on this island yet, so he didn't intend to start a conflict with the locals for now.
With a dark face, he spoke truthfully, "I was shipwrecked at sea and accidentally drifted here."
"Oh, so you're a castaway. I thought you were some shady evil guy with an unknown background." The fishman sighed in relief and said, "Since you're an outsider, then you probably don't know the rules here."
Jotaro said nothing and waited for him to continue.
The fishman chuckled and said, "This island has long been property of our Arlong Pirates. Outsiders who want to move around here must pay a fee."
"I see you're injured and probably can't leave the island anytime soon. So according to our rules, you must pay us a fee."
"If you can't pay money, then I'll have to drive you off this island!"
Jotaro's face darkened, and he spoke honestly. "I didn't bring money."
He was already prepared for the possibility of the other side attacking.
As long as the fishman made any inappropriate move, he would immediately fight back.
However, unexpectedly, the fishman laughed awkwardly and approached, rubbing his hands together as he said, "No money? That's fine, anything valuable can be used as collateral. We're very flexible."
He lightly sniffed with his nose.
The closer he got to Jotaro, the stronger the tempting scent of tobacco became.
The fishman swallowed a mouthful of saliva, already feeling an itch in his lungs, and hinted, "That… the cigarettes on you can be used as collateral."
Jotaro's mind turned quickly, and he finally pulled out a cigarette box from his pocket.
This box of cigarettes had just been taken out from the system's storage this morning. The seal was barely touched, practically brand new.
The fishman's eyes lit up and he quickly snatched it from Jotaro's hand.
"What kind of cigarette is this? I've never seen it before! Just from the smell, it's top-quality stuff!"
The fishman's behavior, practically robbery, caused Jotaro's anger to rise.
He forcibly held back from acting out.
He was injured and in a dangerous situation, and before figuring out the fishman's background, he didn't want to clash with them.
"Hmph, didn't think you'd have good taste."
The fishman brought the cigarette box to his nose and sniffed, a look of ecstasy appearing on his face.
Then he snorted coldly, feeling deeply unbalanced.
A noble fishman like him usually could only smoke low-quality tobacco, while Jotaro could smoke this kind of luxury cigarette.
'Could this guy be some rich man from another island? How could a poor person afford this kind of luxury?'
Driven by envy and hatred, the fishman squinted and reached out his hand again.
"Not enough. Give me a few more packs."
Jotaro looked at him coldly. "Fine, but you have to answer some questions for me."
"Oh? You really have more?" The fishman was surprised and quickly said, "Whatever you want to ask, go ahead!"
He thought his request was a bit excessive. After all, in this world, high-quality tobacco was monopolized by the nobles.
Even with money, you couldn't get good cigarettes, you needed status.
As a long-time smoker, he could tell quality just from the smell of tobacco.
He didn't expect Jotaro to agree so easily.
What he didn't know was that in Jotaro's homeland, this cigarette brand was as common as currency, dirt cheap.
Jotaro didn't care at all.
People with desires were easier to control, and Jotaro planned to get some local information from this fishman.
To be honest, he didn't expect things to go this smoothly.
This fishman looked fierce, but his brain was surprisingly simple.
Just a few packs of cigarettes and he got everything he wanted, plus it counted as paying a fee, he could now move freely around Cocoyasi Village.
———
"All righty! You can explore nearby anytime, just follow our rules and pay us regularly!"
"If you need anything, just let us know. We fishmen will give you the best service!"
"If you don't have money, you can use other stuff as collateral!"
Watching Jotaro walk away, the fishman shouted loudly.
Especially that last sentence, which he emphasized.
Nojiko had worried about the fishman problem, but Jotaro had easily solved it with a few packs of cigarettes, and was even treated like an honored guest.
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