After some time had passed, the recovered Kuma had already taken on an entirely new look.
Aside from exchanging ideas with the doctors aboard the ship, whenever he had spare time, he would also use Instant Transmission to go out and help suffering people as much as he could.
Clearly, after Roy's guidance, Kuma had also gained a proper understanding of his own role.
His trust in Roy had grown even deeper now. Roy clearly saw farther than he did and possessed a much clearer grasp of the broader situation. Following him was absolutely the right choice!
One day, they would truly let the people live good lives!
With Kuma holding such a conviction, Roy's group did not even pause for a brief stay in that town.
Right now, it was the early stage just after the Great Pirate Era had begun. The seats of the Four Emperors had yet to be finalized, and countless pirates were scrambling to flood into the New World.
No alliances. No pledging themselves to some boss. They all believed they would become the second Roger, and each of them plunged into the New World.
So even though Roy's group had an extremely resounding name, no one came to join them.
On the contrary, they all treated Roy as their greatest competitor, watching them warily one by one.
Ignoring all of that, Roy spent a large sum on a certain drunkard with round glasses and silvery-white hair, someone who looked as if he had just stumbled out of a casino, and after having him finish coating the ship, Roy's group set off toward Fish-Man Island.
"Was it my imagination? Or was it something else? Why did he pat my shoulder?"
Rayleigh took a swig of liquor, then the image of Roy patting his shoulder before leaving surfaced in his mind.
At first, he thought it had simply been a casual gesture.
But his Observation Haki told him that there was faintly more to it than that. Still, it did not seem dangerous either~
Young people these days really are more impressive than the last!
Supposedly, he had even taken down someone with combat power on the level of a Marine admiral. I really am getting old.
Then again, he probably does not know my true identity… right~?
Under the sea beneath the Sabaody Archipelago, aboard the Thunder God.
Roy was turning over the memories in his mind.
They were the physical information he had obtained from touching Rayleigh.
After this period of training, Roy could now rely on Touch Perception to learn the basic condition of another person's body, and from there infer their approximate training methods, training habits, hidden injuries, and so on.
By touching Rayleigh, Roy had obtained a rough idea of Rayleigh's own training method.
However, Roy felt that this skill might still have further possibilities!
And now, in the year 1505, Pudding did not seem to have been born yet. Even if she had, she could not be very old, and she should not have eaten the Memo Memo no Mi yet.
Once Roy obtained the Memo Memo no Mi and integrated it with his own ability, he should be able to fully probe another person's memories just by touching them!
Of course, the prerequisite for all of this was obtaining the Memo Memo no Mi. He would have to properly gather information and search for it~
As for right now~
Roy looked at the gradually sinking scenery, the corners of his mouth curving upward.
Queen Otohime of Fish-Man Island seemed to have been born with the ability to hear the voices in people's hearts. Moreover, the Ancient Weapon Poseidon, also known as the mermaid princess Shirahoshi, had already been born last year.
This was just right for him to use Touch Perception to understand it.
There was also Arlong.
Roy glanced at Arlong on the ship. He also had a half-sister from the same father, Shyarly, who possessed an extremely powerful ability for fortune-telling. Roy was very interested in that as well.
Their journey to Fish-Man Island was calm and uneventful.
Arlong and the others were very excited. They had been given bounties outside and had, in a sense, made names for themselves. Now that they were returning, it felt rather like returning home with achievements to show.
However, after arriving here, Roy's group's first impression of the lower levels of Fish-Man Island was chaos.
After the Great Pirate Era began, many Marines and pirates passing through this place had also begun large-scale abductions and plundering of the island's fish-men and merfolk.
Because young female mermaids could fetch high prices in human trafficking markets, incidents of human pirates arriving here and kidnapping mermaids happened frequently on the island.
Only in the future, when Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, one of the Four Emperors, announced that Fish-Man Island was his territory, did the Marines and pirates no longer dare to continue invading it.
As for now~ although Whitebeard had already hung his flag over Fish-Man Island, and it had indeed had a deterrent effect that greatly reduced the island's suffering,
because the struggle to establish the Four Emperors' balance of power had not yet begun, Whitebeard's title as one of the Four Emperors had not yet been confirmed. His prestige had not truly spread across the seas and taken root in everyone's hearts.
As a result, there were still a few bold pirates, reckless greenhorns who did not understand how terrifying he was, and arrogant fools who looked down on Whitebeard, who continued to abduct fish-men without restraint.
The Whitebeard Pirates also had no way to keep watch over Fish-Man Island every single day. On top of that, Kaido and Charlotte Linlin were still eyeing him hungrily.
So when sudden incidents occurred on Fish-Man Island, even Whitebeard could not always reach it in time.
And now, looking at their fellow people being harmed by these pirates, Jinbe, Arlong, and the others were all furious!
Arlong, who had originally been full of anticipation, charged forward first with bloodshot eyes filled with hatred. Kuroobi and the others followed right after him.
After an intense battle, Arlong and the others returned injured, bringing the fight to an end.
The first thing they met when they came back was Roy's calm gaze.
"This guy really is hard to change. Unlike Jinbe, if there is a chance in the future, I should leave him on Fish-Man Island~"
Roy instantly made his decision. Then he saw Fish-Man Island's guards arrive late.
"Are you the invading pirates?" The guards immediately aimed their guns at Roy and the others.
"Stop, all of you!" Tiger stepped forward.
As a legend of Fish-Man Island, Tiger was truly known to every fish-man and merfolk on the island.
Therefore, the moment they saw Tiger, all the guards revealed expressions of surprise and respect.
Two of the guards looked at Tiger, then looked at Roy behind him. Their expressions changed slightly, and they quickly left the area.
Roy, who had taken in everyone's movements, did not stop those two guards.
Judging by their behavior, they had probably gone to report to King Neptune and Queen Otohime in Ryugu Palace.
Perfect timing. He also had something he wanted to discuss with them.
Roy felt that changing the flag over Fish-Man Island to his own pirate flag should be more effective.
(End of Chapter)
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