At this time, Ah Long spent most of his time alongside Tiger. Unlike Jinbe, Tiger had absolute dominance over Ah Long, both in strength and psychologically. The passage of time had also brought some change in Ah Long.
When Tiger was not around, he was like a playground guard, loafing around in the amusement park constructed by Mandfeish, from an East Sea bully to a security uncle at a kindergarten entrance.
Watching the Fishman Race and mermaid children playing inside, his words also changed. No longer the previous rhetoric of hatred, yet he still harbored doubts.
"Don't be too naive. Not all humans are like the people here. Remember to stay away when you see humans elsewhere, don't cause trouble for yourselves."
Ah Long's logic had some validity. The general perception of fishmen or mermaids hadn't changed, so it was actually dangerous for them if their lives here made them drop their guard.
Ah Long's life had changed, and so had the vicinity of Cocoyasi Village. Without Ah Long, they no longer had this oppressor and lived a good life for a while. Due to the gold mine, Cocoyasi became increasingly prosperous.
The reserves of that gold mine were not small; relying solely on the villagers of Cocoyasi to mine it wasn't easy.
Led by Ajian and Belle-Mere, they began contacting people from nearby villages to collectively mine the gold.
Not only mining, but also protection. They needed the youth from other villages to collectively protect the gold mine from being seized.
The World Government had little interest in such rural places, and given the numerous islands in the Pirate World, whoever unearthed such a thing owned it, without needing to report it everywhere.
Even Hundred Beasts Mining had many unknown private mine sources; among them was only one approved company.
With the gold mine came wealth, and it also bred greed. Those coveting this gold mine never disappeared. After enjoying the convenience brought by the gold mine, the people of Cocoyasi didn't want to relinquish it, leading to conflicts.
Using the gold mine as a funding source, they also purchased many weapons. After training the villagers, they formed a Mining Protection Team. Cocoyasi Village gradually turned from an unremarkable small village into a small local powerhouse.
This is the East Sea, where capable pirates are almost nonexistent. A bounty over ten million is rare for a "Great Pirate." With strong enough equipment and mountainous terrain, most people couldn't take this gold mine.
The two Heracross settled in the Orange Garden were not top-tier Heracross, but ordinary people were no match for them. Cocoyasi developed peacefully for a while until the appearance of Mouse.
As the armed force of the World Government, the Navy was vast. The Grand Line, Four Seas, any sea area had Navy presence. Even in the increasingly tense New World, the Navy maintained its last stronghold.
The huge size led to vastly different personnel quality within the Navy, and in the Four Seas, there were many blemishes in the Navy.
Colonel Morgan of Branch 153, Colonel Mouse of Branch 16, were both tumors within the East Sea Navy.
With the emperor far away, they, as branch chiefs, acted like local emperors in these places.
In the original timeline, he often took Ah Long's bribes, ignoring Ah Long's rampant behavior in 20 villages across the East Sea. In fact, he couldn't handle it because he didn't have the strength to deal with Ah Long.
The branch colonels of the Grand Line were on the same level as Headquarter officers, forming the main grassroots force of the Navy.
But in the Four Seas, the highest rank was generally colonel, three levels lower compared to the Headquarter. Excluding some exaggeration, Mouse would struggle to be a lieutenant at the headquarters.
Weak in strength but ambitious, Mouse, shortly after taking office, began scheming for Cocoyasi's gold mine.
As the highest officer of Branch 16, he had jurisdiction over the villages around Cocoyasi.
Initially, Cocoyasi Village also handed over part of the gold as a tax, but Mouse was not satisfied with this amount. He wanted it all.
He didn't seize it directly, a deed he had to weigh carefully. If it leaked, the Navy Headquarters would surely make an example of him to maintain the Navy's reputation, so he tampered with the sales.
Using his authority, he made the gold mined by Cocoyasi Village unsellable, forcing Cocoyasi's people into surrendering and selling the gold to him at a low price.
But he underestimated these people. The villages near Cocoyasi were self-sufficient, and holding onto the gold didn't make it vanish, leading to a standoff with Mouse.
Recently, his bribed superior presented him a report letter, telling him to handle it cleanly. It was a secret whistleblower letter by Belle-Mere and others. They bypassed Mouse but didn't expect the higher-ups were also bribed by Mouse.
In this situation, Mouse decided to resort to more aggressive measures, planning to contact a group of pirates to raid Cocoyasi Village.
Previously, due to its geographic location, Cocoyasi Village had not encountered pirates. Now, Mouse planned to actively invite them.
Initially, he chose Krieg, planning for Krieg to destroy the village. Meanwhile, he would secretly contact Smoker to nab all these pirates in one sweep.
This way, the gold would be his, the credits would also be his, and he could use the pirates to silence the villagers.
Unlike ordinary East Sea Navy, Smoker, as a Logia-type user, had a certain dominance in the East Sea and was a rare just Navy.
But when Mouse was about to act, Krieg had already entered the Grand Line, so he began searching for new partners and found Clown Buggy.
Under the lure of gold, Buggy agreed to this operation, causing significant damage to Cocoyasi. Even Heracross couldn't withstand his special cannonballs.
They were Bug Type, not Steel Type or Rock Type, those Pokemon with very high defense. Well-trained Navy soldiers could harm them with swords and guns.
Pokemon were not invincible. To be specific, these Heracross were not invincible.
Relying on the terrain of the mining area, the Mining Protection Team continued guarding the gold mine.
And Heracross also began calling for reinforcements. At this time, including Heracross itself, a scattered few dozen Heracross had congregated together.
However, out of the first generation Heracross, only four remained. Now, these Heracross were gathered together discussing countermeasures, while Buggy's Wanted Poster was already pinned on their board, being viewed as their most challenging foe.