With Cavendish's debut, the Beasts Fruits Entertainment Department had filled the gap of the idol-type male star.
Centered around Tesoro and Stella, with Uta and Ann as the new generation, and joined by Cavendish and Cindry, their lineup has gradually blossomed. But in this world, their group is just too normal.
No overly exaggerated physiques, no absurdly outlandish character settings. Although the beetle and horse participate in their performances, compared to those bizarre folks out on the sea, they're excessively normal.
It's not that they don't have comedians. If Queen weren't a wanted criminal, Tesoro could have arranged his debut in no time; with Queen's personality, he would probably get completely immersed in it.
But that sort of thing isn't realistic, Queen's bounty is basically impossible to clear, at least under the current World Government.
If one day his bounty really did vanish, the only possible reason would be that the World Government had already imprisoned him.
So when Tesoro heard there was a very special skeleton here, he decided to make this place the new location for their team-building event.
"Is there.. something wrong with the people here?"
Looking at the gazes from the nearby pedestrians, Cavendish felt completely uncomfortable.
"That's not like you, don't you love being the center of attention?"
"This is different. I like the feeling of being in the spotlight, but these people are looking at us like we're monkeys in a zoo. Isn't choosing a place like this for team-building a bit problematic, Mr. Tesoro?"
The Tehna Gehna Kingdom isn't exactly prosperous. Although the Longarm Tribe hasn't completely shut itself off from the world, they also don't have much contact with the outside. On top of that, due to their racial characteristics, everyone here has two elbow joints in their arms.
While in the outside world the Longarm Tribe is seen as oddities by ordinary people, in this country, having only one elbow joint is what makes someone an outlier.
The reason Tesoro and the others drew attention wasn't because of their fame, but because their arms only had a single elbow joint. That's why Cavendish felt the way he did.
"Team-building is only part of the reason, there's actually another purpose to this trip."
"Mr. Tesoro, are you referring to that skeleton in the cage up ahead?"
Uta had already seen the area where the Longarm Tribe was gathered. Right in the center was a huge cage. All these Longarm Tribe people were surrounding and watching the moving skeleton inside.
"Come on baby! Bone to be wild!"
"Bone to be wild? That's a pretty nice style, it's exactly the kind we don't have yet. Mr. Tesoro, is your next target a rock style?"
"More or less. I'd never heard him sing before. Seeing this now, I really underestimated him. He's more valuable than I expected."
Tesoro's musical sense is inferior to Uta, but it's still world-class. Just a few short lyrics were enough for him to form his own judgment.
"He looks like he's being held captive."
"Let's watch a bit longer. If he really is imprisoned, that actually makes it easier to deal with."
This singing skeleton was none other than Brook, who had been sent flying by Kuma.
Kuma had sent him to the "Kingdom of Poverty," Harahettania. From the name alone, one could imagine the country's condition. When Brook was slapped down, he just happened to land inside a ritual magic circle being used by the locals.
Because he only had bones and hair left, the locals mistook him for the demon Satan, and even fulfilled his lifelong wish of seeing panties.
Later, he learned that rampant banditry by the Longarm Tribe had left the island's people in misery. After witnessing a young girl being kidnapped by Longarm Tribe bandits, Brook, wanting to repay the local people, promised to "curse" the Longarm Tribe bandits and began composing a song.
After that, Brook used music to stir up the residents' fighting spirit and courage, helping them successfully defeat the Longarm Tribe bandits.
Later, after receiving Luffy's message, he planned to let the Longarm Tribe bandits go, but ended up getting stabbed in the back by them. In the end, he became a display piece here, starting a life as a sightseeing attraction.
"Hey, is that pile of bones really valuable? I still think I'm more attractive myself. Isn't this just a waste of time?"
Tesoro didn't act right away. Instead, he spread out a picnic cloth a bit farther away, looking like he planned to camp out.
While picnicking, they also listened to Brook's performance.
"Don't be so impatient. Both your target audience are different. He won't steal your popularity."
"That's not what I meant! Even if we were to compete head-on, I wouldn't lose to a skeleton! I just think this is a waste of time, we should just snatch him directly. It's not like you guys are some proper business anyway."
"You can't say that. We're a fully legal company certified by the World Government. How could we do something illegal like that?"
"Heh… do you even believe that yourselves?"
"Why wouldn't we believe it? Our combined bounty is zero, and even your identity has been cleared."
A company secretly run by pirates managing to reach this level. Cavendish couldn't understand it. At the same time, he also couldn't understand Tesoro's way of doing things.
"Even if you put it that way, those guys aren't exactly good people, right?"
Though he had chosen to debut because he was "left with no choice", mainly to avoid continuing to mine, he had gradually started to enjoy this new life. The only issue was that he couldn't get used to Tesoro's way of handling problems.
"How do you know they're not good people?"
"Come on! What kind of normal person locks others in cages? Or write the word 'steal' on their chest?!"
This was also a local custom. The Longarm Tribe liked to write characters on their chests, usually related to their profession or hobby. For example, Apoo had the character for "sound" written on his chest. And since those individuals were Longarm Tribe thieves, it was only natural they had written "thief."
"Kid, it's a bit early for you to be teaching me how to do things. We're very different from Mr. Kaido, when we do things, we follow rules and principles. Just watch and see how it's done."
After another day of Brook being on display for tourists, the Longarm Tribe thieves began counting ticket money. At that moment, Tesoro entered the room with Dice and Tanaka.
"Gentlemen, sorry to interrupt, we'd like to speak with this skeleton gentleman about a potential contract."
Then Tesoro completely ignored the three Longarm Tribe thieves, walked straight up to Brook, and pulled out a contract.
"Mr. Skeleton, would you consider joining our company? We're currently the leader in the industry. If you sign with us, I'm confident I can make you a world-class singing star within a year, and also get you out of here. The revenue share details are right here, you can have a look.
"Oh, and let me introduce myself. I'm Gild Tesoro. You're probably not unfamiliar with me, right?"
"Of course! I've watched your show before, yohohoho. It does seem like a very nice offer, but five years is too long. I can give up part of the revenue share. Would it be possible to sign for just two years instead?"
Brook had no real ties with these Longarm Tribe thieves, and he was only singing to gather information about the outside world.
On the Sunny, he had also watched the performances of Tesoro and the others; it was just that this kingdom was somewhat closed off, which is why Tesoro and the others hadn't encountered any crazy fans.
The message that Luffy passed along had already been received by him; no matter how you looked at it, being an artist under this company was far better than being an exhibit here. Apart from the time limit, he had no dissatisfaction at all.
"Of course you can, but regarding the profit split…"
"Yohohoho, it's fine, like I said, I don't care about that kind of thing."
Brook picked up the pen Tesoro handed him, intending to sign on the parchment; it was only then that the Longarm Tribe, who had been watching the show from behind, finally realized something was wrong. This group of people was being way too presumptuous.
"That's enough from you! Stop ignoring us!"
"Oh, sorry, sorry, I almost forgot about you. How about this, 50 million Berries, and I'll take him away."
"Are you treating us like beggars?! Selling such a rare, talking skeleton for only 50 million?!"
"One hundred million."
"This... this..."
"Two hundred million."
"Deal!"
Under the influence of money power, the thieves of the Longarm Tribe readily agreed to the transaction; even young Merfolk, without the price inflation from Celestial Dragons, could basically be only sold at this price.
There were many Longarm Tribe members willing to watch Brook, but ticket income was just so-so; tempted by the Berries, they didn't think about Brook's future value.
Dice left behind two suitcases full of money, and then Tanaka led him straight out of the prison.
"Boss, isn't two hundred million too high a price? Besides, they're just ordinary thieves. They're not worthy of trading with us."
After leaving the prison, Tanaka began whispering complaints into Tesoro's ear; he still felt his boss had offered too much.
"Even if you see great potential in Brook, Boss, isn't his personality a bit of a problem?"
At this moment, there were two new cracks on Brook's skull, and he was drinking milk to replenish calcium and repair the damage.
When he saw the female members, he instinctively blurted out a request to see their panties, and then got some of his luck drained by Baccarat, causing him to fall over a dozen times on the spot.
"This kind of small issue is easy to correct; way easier to deal with than that noble brat Cavendish's temper."
"As for those thieves, do you really think they could hold performances here so openly without the king noticing? I just didn't want to cause trouble during a team-building event, but it seems these guys don't cherish their chances."
If these thieves had obediently taken the money and left, Tesoro wouldn't have done anything; he would have simply accepted the deal as settled.
But the thieves' greed gave rise to further schemes; Tesoro had already sensed someone was tailing them.
"Dice, Tanaka, go take care of it. Don't let it affect things here."
"Yes."
"Yes."
On Tesoro's orders, Dice and Tanaka temporarily left the group, and returned only two hours later; the suitcases they had taken out were now back in Dice's hands.
The team-building event had now turned into a welcome party for the new member; just like Nightin and Uta, he was a temporary contract worker under Tesoro, cooperating for mutual benefits and making money.
As long as there were no major conflicts, they could leave at any time.
After signing Brook, Tesoro began reorganizing future development plans, planning Brook's music events, and also adding new products like Shuckle's concentrated juice and Shuckle wine to the sales channels.
Time slipped by quietly like that. Nightin, Byojack, and others arrived at another gathering point, where they saw the results of Byojack and his group's efforts over the past thirty years, the new ship of the World Pirates.
However, due to lack of funds, many crucial parts were still missing; it looked like just a big framework. Now that Nightin had injected funding, the giant ship began rapid construction.
Meanwhile, the Beasts Pirates had also received an order from the black market, for a large cannon.
The ones who bought this custom cannon were Nightin and her group; after going around in circles, her share of the money ended up right back in the hands of the Beasts Pirates.
Onigashima had also fallen into a strange cycle. Kaido would periodically return from the outside world, and then the shockwaves of Judgment would appear in Onigashima. After Kaido recuperated for a while, he would head out again and repeat this activity upon his return.
Arceus was in a similar state, going out to search for Plates, and if he encountered Kaido upon returning to Wano Country, he would further hone Kaido's body according to his requests.
Yamato, on the other hand, was liberated. She hadn't suffered from Kaido's beating for quite some time. However, for some reason, a lingering gloom remained in her heart; she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen to her.
In order to prevent such misfortune, she began intensifying her own training.
Thanks to the comparison with the other "Yamato," Reshiram had started communicating with her more frequently now, which was considered a rare bit of progress.
Wano Country, Kuri, in Setsuna's room. It was still the same familiar table, but a new diary had been put in place.
---
[Sea Circle Calendar, February 17, 1521. Sunny.]
The sea has been so restless lately. Even the Mokomo Dukedom on Zunesha's back encountered some minor troubles. Fortunately, they were all resolved smoothly.
Lindbergh returned to Zou Island once, intending to recruit people to join the Revolutionary Army, but there weren't many respondents, only a few left Zou Island with him. I hope they have good luck.
Pedro and Zepo have also been living quite well lately. According to Sister Misu, they've already become qualified believers. When Pedro went out, he even ran into Baron Tamago. Supposedly, he made him quite angry, but they didn't end up fighting.
Jack has finally achieved his goal, becoming Mr. Kaido's right-hand man. Both Mandrell and I didn't hold back, but he still defeated us in the end. The whole promotion battle lasted nine days in total.]
"Mom, it's time. We need to go to Onigashima for Big Brother Jack's banquet."
"Okay, your dad is already ready."
From the nearby window, the heads of Meowna and Wolff popped in.
"Didn't I tell you? Unless it's an emergency, use the stairs. Don't climb through the window."
"We didn't, Mom! Look, we've mastered that ability!"
The two of them raised their hands at the same time to show they weren't using physical support. At the same time, visible electricity could be seen on their Mink bodies. It was clearly the Magnet Rise move, which was also their method of flying.
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