Chapter 15 — Arrival at Cocoyasi Village
The future eleven-year-old Marine colonel (captain) was, at present, still a short, pudgy kid—cowardly by nature, timid and fearful, clumsy with his hands and feet, and without a single friend. A complete loser.
Jack felt that if he didn't lead such a good seed astray, it would be such a waste!
Why be a Marine at all?
Being a deckhand had way more prospects!
Cough cough… What Jack meant was that he could train Koby himself. Even without the Marines' absurdly good food or Garp's "loving iron-fist education," with two extra years to train Koby, there was no way he'd mess it up, right?
In the future, whenever a fight broke out, he'd just send Koby in first. If Koby won, Jack would calmly say:
"You couldn't even beat the deckhand on my ship. Go kill yourself."
The sheer presence—wouldn't that be insane?!
The more he thought about it, the stranger Jack's gaze toward Koby became.
"M-My lord, I don't really understand what you mean…" Koby lowered his head timidly.
"You're still young. You haven't seen the dark side of this world yet, so you believe the Marines are definitely justice. But that's not necessarily true!"
"So next, I'll let you see with your own eyes just how filthy the darkness within the Marines can be. If after that you still firmly want to become a Marine, I'll personally send you there."
"But if you come to understand your own heart—and realize that what you want to uphold is justice itself, not merely the title of 'Marine'—then I'll personally train you and give you enough strength to protect the justice you believe in!"
Damn it! The more Jack talked, the more immersed he became. It felt like he was feeding Koby that whole "partner of justice" ideology.
What if one day Koby came back shouting about justice and tried to purge him, the "evil one"? That would be way too awkward.
For all these years, Koby had no friends, and no one had ever respected his weakness. Jack was the first person to take him seriously.
Koby was extremely excited. Being able to learn under such a powerful person seemed like a pretty good choice!
But before he completely gave up on the Marines as a profession, his true ideal was still to become a Marine who upheld justice.
"Thank you, my lord! From now on, I'll record everything with my own eyes. No matter what the final outcome is, I'll remember for the rest of my life the kindness of saving me from the pirates!"
Seeing that his "brainwashing" had some effect, Jack nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, get back to work. Oh, and mix me a cocktail and bring it out."
"Yes!"
Watching Koby leave full of motivation, Jack wondered if what he was doing was a bit unethical. After all, if left alone, Koby's future achievements would be limitless, whereas under him, the road ahead was uncertain.
Ah, whatever.
From the moment he wiped out the Alvida Pirates and rescued Koby, Koby's life had already changed. Whether he would meet Luffy in the future, or successfully join the Marines, was still up in the air!
Besides, as a transmigrator with a cheat, if he couldn't even train a Koby properly, that would be downright pathetic!
He was someone destined to stand at the top of this world and snap his fingers!
In an instant, Jack was filled with boundless confidence once more.
....
A few days later, the two ships finally arrived at Cocoyasi Village, famous for its oranges.
After paying the so-called "tax" to the fishmen guarding the area, their group was finally allowed to go ashore and conduct normal trade.
After all, for a village to function normally, it needed all kinds of supplies, and merchants were naturally indispensable.
In this regard, Arlong didn't completely kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. After collecting a certain fee, he allowed villagers to trade with merchants for daily necessities.
But only for daily necessities. As for valuable goods, the Arlong Pirates wouldn't mind taking them by force.
As for weapons?
Even if someone dared to sell them, would anyone dare to buy?
Before coming, the Bluebird Chamber of Commerce had already gathered intelligence on this, so they brought only very ordinary daily goods—pots, bowls, utensils, salt, vegetables, meat, and the like.
Although this trip probably wouldn't earn much money, for the sake of currying favor with Jack, Old John had truly gone above and beyond.
Once they came ashore, many civilians gathered to ask about the situation. When they learned that these people were merchants seeking to trade, joy spread across everyone's faces.
Ever since the Arlong Pirates occupied this place six years ago, fewer and fewer merchants were willing to come here.
After all, pirates and merchants naturally stood on opposite sides. Who knew whether you'd be swallowed whole the moment you arrived? With worse luck, you might even lose your life!
Another reason was that under the exploitation of the Arlong Pirates, these people had little purchasing power to begin with. Their only specialty was oranges…
But no matter how delicious oranges were, they were still just oranges!
Hauling a ship full of oranges back to sell?
So over time, no merchants were willing to come anymore. A business with risks completely outweighing the profits wasn't something a smart merchant would do.
Lacking daily necessities and survival essentials like salt, the villagers had no choice but to buy them from the Arlong Pirates at exorbitant prices. The more they bought, the poorer they became; the poorer they became, the less they could afford—thus forming a vicious cycle.
Under Arlong's rule, no one knew how many people had died in Cocoyasi Village over the years.
Nami's adoptive mother, Bell-mère, was definitely not the only victim!
Fortunately, there was still Nami—the only one who could move freely—who often brought things back. Otherwise, even more people would have died.
During the trading process, Jack asked around about certain things and felt that this trip had truly been worth it.
Someone like Arlong didn't deserve sympathy, nor did he need to be whitewashed.
"Um… we're out of money. Can we trade with something else instead? Please, we really need salt…"
A woman holding a child clutched the first mate's hand with a pleading expression. The first mate looked conflicted—sympathy aside, it wasn't up to him to decide. If the chairman was dissatisfied when they returned, he'd be the one in trouble.
At this moment, Jack stepped forward.
"We accept barter. Not just you—everyone can."
The villagers immediately looked at him with joy. Even the captain and the first mate glanced at him, wanting to speak but holding back.
"Really?"
"Can we trade with oranges?"
"I'll trade a hundred jin of oranges for one jin—no! Half a jin of salt, is that okay?"
They had plenty of oranges here—and they were very sweet!
Anyway, Jack had come here to eliminate the Arlong Pirates, this cancer, and then abduct little Nami. Earning some goodwill along the way was naturally a good choice.
And so, what followed became a scene where everyone was happy.