"Miaona, Wolf, don't run around. Follow me obediently, or I'll have Setsuna spank your butts when we get back!"
The rainforest seemed to awaken the wild nature in the two little ones. As soon as they entered, they were immediately filled with curiosity about their surroundings.
Not long ago, when she saw Setsuna taking the kids out, both of them had ropes tied around their waists. At the time, she thought Setsuna as a mom was quite strange, but now she understood her feelings.
Either have someone watch them, or tie a rope, otherwise these two little ones could run off and disappear in a flash.
Especially Miaona, although she was a girl, she was even harder to find than Wolf when running around, as if she was naturally gifted at climbing trees.
Feeling somewhat uneasy, Shaina simply handed the two of them off to Chansey and prohibited Chansey from letting go.
"You're all veterans, so I won't waste words. Lord Arceus's command is to rest and relax, but take it easy. If any special situation arises, anyone who messes up won't get mercy from me!"
The number of people on the Origin this time was two hundred, not many, but all were elite. Within the Hundred Beasts Pirates, the bond of camaraderie was relatively low. Only the very earliest members could barely be considered partners; the others were more subordinates.
If you can't prove your capabilities, those above might not even remember your name. These people were considered Shaina's trusted troops but were still somewhat distant from being partners. Only Emmalyn had a slightly closer personal relationship with Shaina.
This situation wasn't unique. Unless it's those small pirate crews of just a few dozen people, everyone on the ship naturally is acquainted.
But in those large pirate gangs with tens of thousands of members, the internal structure is made up of small groups, and those with similar power and status are more likely to develop friendships.
Even the Captain can't remember all the subordinates' names.
Of course, among the many officials, Shaina was considered relatively friendly with her subordinates, as long as they didn't cross her bottom line.
"Don't worry, Boss, we get it."
"Yeah, after all these years, don't you know us well?"
Their tone was very relaxed. As long as the night watchers didn't all drop dead, they could handle 90% of the situations; the remaining 10% would require Shaina to step in.
As for Arceus, unless it's a highly special situation like the Netherworld, he wouldn't need to act here at all. Expecting Arceus to act for any random cat or dog would be an insult to these pirates.
Soon, a burst of music came from the forest ahead, and a Carnival Paradise appeared before them. Leading the way was a man riding on an elephant, sporting a peculiar tropical hairstyle. But the most striking feature was the strange flower on his shoulder.
The flower had a smile resembling a human face, and the people beside him shared a peculiarity: two blades of grass growing atop their heads.
"To all you pirates sailing the Grand Line! I am this island's owner - the Baron of Ecstasy, and I will be hosting you. Enjoy the carnival to your heart's content! But first, you must endure the Hell trial here!"
"Boss, I haven't sensed any strong ones, and the leader doesn't have any powerful aura. How do we handle this?"
Emmalyn asked beside Shaina. Although the group was large, most were just ordinary people. If necessary, she felt confident she could lead the team to handle them all within ten minutes.
"Let the two little ones play for a while. You handle the arrangement. Didn't expect to find this thing here..."
Shaina's attention was entirely on the flower on the Baron of Ecstasy's shoulder, which puzzled Emmalyn as well.
Though Shaina maintained her transformed appearance, the mask wouldn't hide her gaze. Emmalyn knew Shaina well enough to sense that Shaina wanted that thing.
"Boss, should we...?"
"No need, I have to observe further to be sure. It's been many years since I last saw this thing. You go enjoy the party too; I'll keep an eye on things here."
.....
At Shaina's suggestion, the pirates from the Hundred Beasts eagerly began participating in the games, not because they loved to play, but to showcase themselves.
Arceus had his favorites. A decade ago, his favoritism was towards Yamato, which was well known within the Hundred Beasts. As Yamato grew older, the scenarios of pampering a kid naturally ceased.
But with the birth of Miaona and Wolf, Arceus's favoritism seemed to gradually shift towards them. Previously, aside from Yamato, Arceus wouldn't bring other children out to play during his Plate search.
This trip to Carnival Island was clearly meant to cater to the two kids, and their parents were a High-Level Official and a rank slightly below that within the pirate crew. Ensuring the kids remembered him was beneficial to his future.
Goldfish catching, hoop throwing, various bizarre, mutated game events were present on Carnival Island; the results weren't important as the two children enjoyed themselves immensely, even if they were basically just bystanders during the contests.
The projects continued, some of the Hundred Beasts pirates had started chatting with the Baron's crew, and during these conversations, they discovered some anomalies.
"Hey? What kind of joke is this, haven't you heard of the Hundred Beasts?"
"Never heard of it, is it a very famous pirate gang?"
"You...?"
Initially, Emmalyn thought they didn't recognize the Thousand Cosmos Bracelet's emblem, since The Sea still primarily flew Kaidou's flag. But when they showed no reaction to the Hundred Beasts's pirate flag, Emmalyn realized it wasn't that simple.
However, this wasn't the main issue. The Sea was vast, plenty of ignorant pirates existed in the first half. The following topics were what led Emmalyn to her suspicions.
"Actually, we're also a famous gang, the Red Arrow Pirates. Have you heard of us? Just recently, we had an encounter with Goldie Roger."
Emmalyn wasn't familiar with the Red Arrow Pirates, but she knew of Roger's reputation.
"Roger? He's been dead for sixteen years!"
"How could it be? We just saw him recently. He was quite the figure, the first man to conquer the Grand Line, it was that stormy night...stormy night...that storm that night was particularly fierce..."
As he spoke, he suddenly stopped, his expression turned fearful and the leaves atop his head began to wither, large beads of sweat streamed down his forehead, and his skin started to shrink, gradually turning a bluish-purple, finally resembling a dried-up zombie.
"This is...."
"Seems I wasn't mistaken; these people are already dead."
"Boss? What's happening?" asked Emmalyn, looking at Shaina behind her, bewildered.