Pub in Demon Valley Town.
When Hidan and three members of the Straw Hat Pirates walked in, the pirates in the pub couldn't help but show a trace of fear when they saw Hidan.
"It's that guy Hidan again..."
"Is he trying to preach to us again!"
"Where is Kakuzu, didn't he promise to keep Hidan in check? Why is this guy out again!"
"Seems like he's trying to preach to those three newcomers?"
A group of pirates hugged their bottles hurriedly and hid to the side, afraid of drawing Hidan's attention, carefully observing Hidan and the Straw Hat crew entering.
These pirates aren't very strong, just living in the safe small town of Demon Valley. Since witnessing Kakuzu's power and Hidan's bizarre and terrifying methods, they never dared to challenge the authority of Kakuzu and Hidan again.
Nami glanced sideways slightly, looking at the many terrified pirates, and couldn't help but frown: "Hey, Zoro, don't you feel there's something off?"
"Really?"
Zoro turned and glanced around at the people, shook his head indifferently, and said: "Doesn't seem like there's anything off..."
Zoro only felt that the pirates around were probably in awe of Hidan, but he didn't care about this.
No matter where you go.
The weak revere the strong, naturally.
Nami slowly turned her head and looked at Hidan, who was passionately greeting Luffy, her vigilance increasing.
This guy seems to have a rather unusual status here! At least in this pirate-laden small town, it seems nobody dares to provoke him...
"My name is Hidan, a devoted follower of the Evil God."
Hidan reached for the juice the pub owner handed him, smiled, and said: "Ha, since you're not here to pay protection fees, you must be wanting to become followers of the Evil God, right?"
"Ah? No..."
Luffy scratched his head, looking at Hidan with puzzled eyes, and honestly said: "We're just here to ask about the Sky Island, the Evil God doesn't interest me at all..."
"No, no!"
Seeing Hidan's face gradually turning grim, Nami quickly covered Luffy's mouth and smiled at Hidan, nodding: "Yes, yes, actually we want to learn about the protection fee and matters concerning the Evil God first..."
Nami said this to Hidan, then turned fiercely toward Luffy: "Idiot, you need to placate this guy first!"
"I see..."
Hidan's smile returned to his face, he sipped his juice leisurely, spread his palms, and chuckled: "The Evil God is the strongest deity in this world, he will protect every follower from any harm..."
Hidan leaned closer to Luffy, suddenly tightened his grip, and said: "Hey, as long as you're willing to worship the Evil God and offer your loyalty, you can obtain the true Undying Body!"
"..."
Nami and Zoro looked on with strange expressions.
Getting the Undying Body so easily?
It sounds almost like a joke!
This is truly an Evil God Cult, no wonder this guy's recruiting people on the roadside, he's clearly a fraud!
If anyone believes it, they'd have to be crazy!
"Really?"
Luffy looked exceptionally surprised, tilting his head curiously: "Just like Bucky, who can't be killed no matter what?"
"Who's Bucky?"
Hidan imitated Luffy's head tilt, clearly curious: "Someone like me, is that person also a follower of the Evil God?"
"Don't know..."
Luffy straightened his head, shook it, and said: "Never mind, you'll find out when you meet him someday..."
Luffy shook his head and got to the main issue, his face full of curiosity and yearning: "Speaking of which, Hidan, do you know how to reach Sky Island?"
"Um... hmm? Do you want to go to Sky Island?"
Hidan had just remembered Bucky's name and planned to continue his preaching when he heard Luffy's question, inadvertently recalling something.
Hidan raised a finger, pointing upwards: "You just have to fly up, I recall Sky Island is located about ten thousand meters above..."
Hidan rubbed his forehead, took out a Radio Snail, muttered: "Hold on a sec, I'll call Kakuzu over, he's been to Sky Island once and brought back lots of gold..."
"Uh-huh-huh... Please do!"
Luffy clasped his hands together in thanks.
While Hidan was making the call with his companion, Nami couldn't help but twitch her mouth: "Hey, obviously a lie, right? How can people fly, why do I feel this person doesn't seem very reliable..."
"No, it's true."
The pub owner opened his mouth cautiously: "The master of this Demon Valley Town, Kakuzu, personally went to Sky Island once and brought back lots of gold, haven't you heard of the story of the big liar Rolando?"
"The big liar Rolando?"
"Yes."
The pub owner nodded, said in a deep voice: "The tale of Rolando, the big liar, is famous in the North Sea. It's said when he first came to Jaya Island, he found a mountain of gold on the island, but during his second visit he couldn't find the Golden Land and was executed by his King, granted the name 'Big Liar Rolando'...
However, the Golden Land is indeed real.
The place full of gold was pushed into the sky by an upward current, thus becoming a floating Sky Island. When some ships sailed near Jaya Island, the log pose would point towards the sky.
This truth was discovered by Kakuzu-sama."
As the tavern owner spoke up to here, his voice gradually lowered: "Last year, Kakuzu-sama flew up to the sky, found the Golden Land that was sent to the sky by the upward current, but returned heavily injured, although he brought back plenty of gold."
"Kakuzu…"
Nami furrowed her brows, pondering over this name, and the next moment, her expression suddenly changed: "Wait… is it that Seven Warlords of the Sea Kakuzu?"
"You didn't know?"
The tavern owner's expression instantly became very peculiar, shaking his head and sighing: "Never mind, but it doesn't matter, you guys probably don't have any bounty, nor need to pay any protection fees… this straw hat…"
"No, this straw hat was given to him by someone else, nothing special."
Nami quickly waved her hand, smiling as she asked the tavern owner: "By the way, could you tell us… what's the situation with the protection fees? Is someone here collecting them?"
"You… don't know about protection fees?"
The tavern owner's expression became even more peculiar, as if looking at people from another world: "How could pirates sailing in the first half of the Grand Line not know about the Demon Valley Town protection fees… alright, probably from some small place, little pirates?"
"Yes, yes…"
Nami nodded vigorously.
The tavern owner shook his head, sighed, and said: "The Demon Valley Town protection fee is what all pirates with bounties in the first half of the Grand Line must offer as tribute to Seven Warlords of the Sea Kakuzu.
The protection fee for Demon Valley Town must be offered monthly at Demon Valley Town, equivalent to their own bounty. If someone fails to offer it, unless they escape into the New World in the second half of the Grand Line, Kakuzu-sama will hunt them down until captured or killed for the bounty…"
After saying this, the tavern owner leisurely added: "But offering this protection fee is still worth it. You can continue activities in the first half, also enjoy a peaceful life in Demon Valley Town, and Kakuzu-sama won't look to capture you for the bounty."
"So…"
Nami glanced at Luffy, then continued to ask: "What if a pirate's bounty is too high and they don't have enough money for the protection fee?"
Even if they have money…
It's such a waste at this rate!
The tavern owner shook his head, solemnly saying: "Then Kakuzu-sama will definitely capture them for the bounty. Many pirates, as their bounties increased, couldn't afford the protection fees, yet still sailed in the first half hoping for luck, eventually either killed by Kakuzu-sama or sent to Impel Down…"
"..."
Nami remained silent for a second, then asked again: "Even if those pirates don't stay in Demon Valley Town, they'll still be caught or killed by Kakuzu?"
"Yes."
The tavern owner nodded seriously, continued gravely: "Never underestimate Kakuzu-sama's power. It's said that if he wishes, he can reach any small island in the first half of the Grand Line from Jaya Island within a day, and no one can escape his pursuit…"
Feeling this might not be convincing enough, the tavern owner added: "The reality might be more dramatic than you imagine, Kakuzu-sama's whereabouts are unpredictable, and he can appear anywhere on the Grand Line…"
"..."
Once again, Nami was silent.
In the next moment, Nami suddenly grabbed Luffy and Zoro's shoulders, whispering: "Luffy, Zoro, how much is your bounty?"
If she remembered correctly…
In the Straw Hat Pirates, only Luffy and Zoro had bounties, but their bounties didn't seem low!
No, that's not right!
There's also Nico Robin!
Robin's bounty is 290 million Belly!
This meant they might face an attack from a Seven Warlords of the Sea anytime, especially since they were on Kakuzu's territory!
"130 million Belly."
Luffy scratched the back of his head.
"60 million Belly."
Zoro nonchalantly closed his eyes.
"Let me calculate…"
Nami's face turned pale, her emotions almost collapsing in an instant: "To avoid a Seven Warlords of the Sea enemy, we need to offer 480 million Belly…"
This amount is too much!
No way we can offer that up!
Instead of wasting this money, it would be better if Luffy and the others fight to defeat the Seven Warlords of the Sea Kakuzu, and more importantly, they couldn't gather that much money!
If it were only fifty or a hundred Belly, maybe Nami would have considered it… but this is 480 million Belly, even selling all the Straw Hat Pirates' belongings wouldn't cover it!
Especially since they were robbed by Uehara Naraku in Log Town, to put it mildly, recently the Straw Hat Pirates rely mainly on self-sufficiency for resupplying…
However, hoping to defeat a Seven Warlords of the Sea…
Just thinking about it made Nami's scalp tingle!
Just at this moment, Hidan hung up the phone, muttering: "Saying to come back soon, waiting is what I hate the most…"
Creaaak…
The tavern door suddenly opened.
A man slowly walked in under the shadow's cover, holding a stack of bounty orders, surveyed the pirates present, his gaze slowly falling upon the Straw Hat Pirates, instantly tightening Luffy and Zoro's expressions!