Since Charlotte Linlin had already said she did not want to see Yemu again, Yemu had no intention of going back to the banquet and making himself miserable.
Instead, after giving Enel, who was monitoring the place, one more heads-up, he took Lillilu back to the Twin Goddesses.
Before leaving, he glanced at the Poneglyphs locked inside the cage on the second floor. Logically, with such a rare opportunity, the best thing to do would have been to make rubbings of all of them. But in the end, he simply shook his head and went straight back.
Maybe that kind of behavior was very unlike a pirate. But at that moment, Yemu felt that perhaps he ought to take on another identity as well.
Back in the first half of the Grand Line, being a pirate had been enough for him. But now that he had arrived in the New World, unless he intended to continue all the way to Laugh Tale, he needed to give himself another title.
Something like a king...
As for why?
When Yemu returned to the Twin Goddesses at the harbor and saw the hold packed full with humans and animals of all kinds, that was his answer.
The moment Yemu appeared, the humans and animals who had once been imprisoned by BIGMOM lit up as if they had finally seen their savior.
Earlier, worried that the people of Totto Land might discover them, they had not dared make the slightest sound in the hold, quiet and obedient like little animals.
But now that Yemu had returned, the hold finally stirred with movement.
Five people whom Yemu had chosen as representatives of the group carefully stepped forward, urgency mixed with caution, and asked him expectantly,
"Captain Yemu, can we leave this place now?"
Among the five, the most beautiful was a woman of the Snakeneck Tribe named Dolantoya. She had shoulder-length purple hair and wore a sky-blue formal gown.
But unlike her beautiful appearance, her face was filled with anxiety and fear.
According to her, she had been among the first humans captured by Charlotte Linlin and imprisoned inside the book.
Like Anne, she had once been the queen of the Snakeneck Tribe as well, though she was far weaker. Five years ago, Charlotte Linlin captured her and locked her inside the book.
Although no one aged in the world within the book, five years of confinement in that sunless place had left her with a deep fear of Totto Land and Charlotte Linlin. So among everyone present, she was the one who most desperately wanted to leave as soon as possible.
And that was exactly why, even though Charlotte Linlin had, in a sense, already been quite generous to Yemu just now, not only revealing the mystery of his origins without asking anything in return, but also refraining from making a move against him, Yemu still felt no guilt at all about secretly letting these people go.
After all, for anyone to be locked inside that tiny world within a book, cut off from daylight, the suffering would be unimaginable.
Because of that, Yemu fully understood the urgency on their faces.
"There's no need to worry. In about half an hour, we can set sail. And with me here, you don't need to be afraid of BIGMOM. I may not necessarily be able to beat her, but if she wants to take you away from me, that will not be easy either."
Hearing Yemu's words, everyone finally let out a sigh of relief.
Although none of them had seen Yemu's strength with their own eyes, the bounty placed on him by the Marines and the World Government was enough to prove it from the side.
"Thank you so much... Captain Yemu... I truly have no way to repay you! Once I return to the Tehna Gehna Kingdom, I will pray for your blessings every single day!"
The one who spoke was an old man dressed in black priestly robes, with the word God written across his chest. He looked to be sixty or seventy years old, trembling as he stood, and his arms had two elbow joints. His name was Gabara.
The Tehna Gehna Kingdom was a kingdom located in the first half of the Grand Line, on an island called Kenzan Island. Its people were all members of the Longarm Tribe, living in isolation from the outside world year round. Like Amazon Lily, it was also a pirate kingdom, and the Longarm warriors on the island possessed great strength, often raiding nearby neighboring countries.
Unfortunately, unlike Amazon Lily, the Tehna Gehna Kingdom knew nothing about Haki. And because the island was comparatively primitive, priests held an extremely high position within the kingdom.
Three years ago, Charlotte Linlin led an attack on the Kingdom of Tenakena. In order to preserve his people, Gabara, as a noble priest, voluntarily became Charlotte Linlin's slave.
It had to be said that the status of a priest was very useful. Combined with his age, it made him the one person among the five representatives who could keep everyone else in line.
As for the blessings he mentioned, put simply, it meant setting up a statue of Yemu and praying to it every day.
For some reason, Yemu found that incredibly awkward, but he had no way to refuse the old man's kindness.
"You're being too polite. But there's one thing that has to be made clear. We're in the New World right now, while your homeland is in the first half of the Grand Line. We won't be able to go back anytime soon. So either you find your own way back home, or I can only find a place to settle you down for the time being, and wait until I return to the first half of the Grand Line before taking you back."
After saying that, Yemu looked at all the humans in the hold.
"What I just said applies to all of you as well... Much as I would like to help all the way through, our next destination has already been decided."
The rare animals, on the other hand, were not a problem, because Yemu had already found a good place for them.
After hearing that, everyone showed different expressions.
From the looks in most of their eyes, they all hoped Yemu could take them home.
After all, the races collected by BIGMOM were all extremely rare, and their numbers were small. If they had to rely on themselves, it would probably be very difficult for them to make it back to their homelands.
At that moment, another of the five representatives, a member of the Longleg Tribe, spoke up. He was a burly man wearing a high-cut outfit like a swimsuit, with tattoos on his legs, black knee-high boots, and a cloak draped over his shoulders. His voice was rough and deep.
"Captain Yemu, if you don't mind, I can help everyone."
"Slog, what do you mean?"
The burly Longleg man named Slog said,
"Well... everyone can go to the island where my tribe lives first. The island of the Longleg Tribe is in the New World, far from Totto Land's waters. Everyone can stay with my tribe for a while, and when the chance comes, we can think of a way to send each of you back to your own country!"
"Is that so? I have no objection. What about the rest of you?"
Everyone looked at one another, but no one said anything. At the moment, this was the best solution.
Even though what they truly wanted was to go home, the fact that Yemu had rescued them from that sunless prison was already a tremendous act of kindness. They did not dare ask for too much.
"Since no one objects, then it's settled."
Only after saying that did Yemu look toward the last two representatives he had chosen.
Those two were the Dwarf warriors he had rescued from the library, Ron and his younger brother Gaos...