"We already made contact this morning, leader."
"The troops dispatched by the Left Minister crossed the Red Earth Continent two days ago and are expected to arrive here tomorrow."
Da Qiang stood up and reported, his expression equally grim.
"Damn it, all those ministers back home have pig brains."
"What kind of place is the New World? They insist on coming here to retrieve the goods—aren't they just asking for death?"
Vice Pillar A Dong slammed his cup heavily on the table, visibly irritated.
His remark immediately resonated with several subordinates below, who began speaking up one after another.
"Exactly, that old fool Left Minister must have lost his mind."
"In my opinion, he hasn't lost his mind—he's clearly trying to claim credit."
"Damn it, we finally managed to obtain such a precious mermaid. We thought we could smoothly present it to Her Majesty and earn major merits, but now it's come to this."
"Goddamn it, I wonder if Her Majesty has water in her brain too, actually listening to such idiots."
"Watch your words!"
The subordinates continued to grumble back and forth, especially since their leader above didn't stop them, they grew more and more unrestrained.
They even began cursing the ministers and the queen back in their homeland.
Fortunately, everyone here was from the Happo Navy—their own people.
Otherwise, if these words reached the homeland and the ears of the higher-ups, they would truly be in for it.
"Enough, all of you shut up. Complaining further won't help matters."
"The top priority now is to continue guarding the goods properly and wait for tomorrow's handover."
After letting the wave of complaints subside, Da Qiang spoke slowly.
As Chinjao's son, he understood his father's reticence and took the initiative to speak.
"Yes, Lord Da Qiang."
The meeting room fell silent for a moment, everyone exchanging glances, unsure of what else to say.
After a pause, Chinjao slowly spoke.
"How is the little mermaid doing now?"
"Everything's normal. She sleeps when tired, eats when hungry. We haven't dared neglect her."
"Is she still cursing?"
At this, Chinjao's expression twitched slightly.
This little mermaid was rather... abstract in certain aspects.
"Yes."
"Aside from when she's asleep, she's always cursing when awake."
"She's even repeatedly slapped the aquarium with her tail, prompting the guards stationed nearby to report multiple times over the past few days."
Da Qiang was clearly aware of the mermaid's abstract behavior and found it quite exasperating.
"No matter. The aquarium is specially made—with her strength, she can't break it."
"We only have one day left. Prepare in advance. When the time comes, depart with the people from the homeland, and we'll return to the Kano Country."
"Yes, understood."
Indeed, the "goods" Chinjao and his subordinates referred to were the little mermaid they had discovered during their raid on the island.
It was an unexpected find, one that brought Chinjao immense delight.
It was also the real reason he had been forced to remain on the island for so long.
Thinking back to the little mermaid confined in the fish tank behind him, Chinjao still couldn't conceal the awe in his heart.
"Truly one of the most beautiful species in the world—utterly breathtaking."
"What a pity, though. Such an adorable little mermaid, yet she had to grow a mouth. The contrast is just too stark."
In Chinjao's mind, a silent mermaid was an angel.
But the moment she opened her mouth, she instantly transformed from an angel into a devil—the contrast was indeed immense.
A few days earlier, after taking over the black market on Atlun Island, Chinjao had discovered the young mermaid girl in a hidden chamber behind the auction house.
It was clear that this matter was closely tied to the now-deceased fatty, Marcus.
If only the dead Marcus could speak his grievances!
Two months ago, his subordinates had accidentally found this mermaid entangled in a fishing net and unable to swim near the shore. Marcus was initially astonished.
Then came ecstasy.
A mermaid—how long had a lecher like him fantasized about this?
Finally, he had caught a live one.
Though he had no idea how this little mermaid had been foolish enough to entangle herself in a fishing net to the point of immobility.
Marcus didn't want to dwell on it, lest it warp his worldview.
Stupidity was contagious, after all.
He made a swift decision, ordering his trusted aides to eliminate everyone involved with the mermaid and secretly bring her into his mansion.
If not for the fact that the mermaid was far too young—only seven years old—
he would have taken her as a concubine on the very first night and done as he pleased.
Alas, she was simply too young. Though Marcus was depraved, even he had his limits.
Left with no choice, he decided to raise her carefully and wait for her to grow up.
As for offering her to the higher-ups of the Rocks Pirates?
Marcus never entertained such a thought from start to finish.
Such a treasure had to be kept for himself—he had his own selfish calculations.
Who could have predicted how rapidly the world would change?
Brian's sudden rise altered the original balance of the New World.
The Navy's successive defeats only accelerated the shift.
Then came the uprising, and the invasion by the Chinjao Pirates sent Marcus into a panic.
With no other options, he stashed the mermaid in the hidden chamber and fled with just two bodyguards.
Marcus held onto a beautiful delusion: as long as he survived, there was hope of returning.
His backing was the Rocks Pirates—surely, nothing would go too wrong.
Unexpectedly, Chinjao stumbled upon the mermaid's hidden chamber and seized Marcus's prized possession.
With Marcus's death, the mermaid changed hands directly.
Chinjao, however, was nothing like Marcus. Where Marcus was driven by lust, wanting to make her his concubine,
Chinjao's first glance at the mermaid was filled with a desire for advancement.
He instantly realized that the long-awaited opportunity for progress had finally arrived.
Unlike the situation decades later in the original timeline, Fish-Man Island in this era was even more isolated than it would be in the future.
As a result, mermaids appearing in the human world were even rarer.
Rarity dictates value. In this era, whenever a mermaid appeared, she inevitably became the auction house's finale item—without exception.
On the black market, the price of mermaids was constantly driven higher, soaring into the hundreds of millions of Belly.
They were no less valuable than a high-grade Devil Fruit.
Such was the allure of mermaids in this era.
Unfortunately, the already scarce mermaids, whenever they appeared, were almost always snapped up entirely by the Celestial Dragons.
They directly threw money and power at it, bypassing even the auction process to take possession directly.
Aside from the Celestial Dragons, those fortunate enough to acquire mermaids were almost exclusively the world's top elites.
As the current leader of the Happo Navy hailing from the Kano Country, Chinjao naturally understood the preciousness of mermaids.
The Happo Navy primarily specialized in plundering wealth overseas and gathering intelligence for the Kano Country.
Over the years, they had also intentionally kept tabs on the movements of mermaids.
There was no helping it—the Queen of the Kano Country desired a mermaid as a collectible.
The previous mermaid had already died under her care, leaving her eagerly seeking a new one.
Beyond these reasons, Chinjao himself had long felt the urge to return home.
After so many years drifting abroad, his strength had grown, but so had his age.
At forty, his ambition remained, yet he occasionally felt the impulse to return to his homeland.
He had simply been reluctant to relinquish control over the Happo Navy he commanded.
It wasn't until he unintentionally obtained this mermaid that he finally saw hope.