"What can be done?"
Tied to the stone pillar, Luffy shouted angrily, "Of course, we should fight! What's the use of hiding in the mountains, old man! Everyone should unite and face those nasty noble bastards and punch them to the sky!"
Sabo's matter hasn't been long past, and he still holds it firmly in his heart!
"..." Scar glanced at Luffy, sighed, and didn't respond.
"Stop yelling nonsense."
Shano frowned and tapped Luffy's face with the sword sheath, "Adults are talking, what's a child interrupting for."
This unlucky kid, how can he be more thoughtless than the Five Emperors era.
The Kingdom Army is well-equipped and backed by the World Government, how can ordinary civilians contend with that.
Even if all the bandits in the Korbo Mountain Range are gathered, it's still just eggs against rocks.
In a world where great power belongs to individuals, bottom-up resistance is even harder, often seeming like a joke.
So what if you gather hundreds of thousands or millions of people?
Can you withstand the Supreme King's aura?
Can you survive the descending molten lava?
While the spark can ignite a prairie fire, in this great sea, it fundamentally doesn't work. Only a handful of strong ones can reach the top of power to make top-down changes.
That's also the main reason he never had much interest in joining the Revolutionary Army.
Of course, he only disagrees with the approach.
After all, crossing the river by feeling the stones is understandable; sustaining initial intentions and taking actions for so many years is still worthy of praise.
In this world full of rotten choices, it's quite rare to have such a group of people exist.
"How many of you are there?" Shano turned to Scar and asked.
"Including me, thirteen."
Scar's expression was somber, "That night, I originally fought hard to pull more than twenty people out of the sea of fire, but the old, the young, and some who had already fallen ill couldn't survive the harsh mountain conditions..."
The other "mountain bandits" also showed sadness, lowering their heads.
"You've done well enough." Shano shook his head.
The other appeared to be just over twenty years old.
Faced with disaster, instead of escaping alone, he chose to rescue people everywhere, and after entering the mountains, he dared to pretend to be a wanted bandit leader to protect these poor people. Truly a man.
Looking around.
The remaining dozen or so people, if they continue struggling in the mountains, the outcome probably won't be much better.
Either die for various reasons or completely abandon their morals and become real bandits.
Encountering them was insignificant, but witnessing them personally evoked some sympathy.
Shano pondered slightly, recalling the four billion Belly he had in the bank.
He originally didn't plan to withdraw this money, just leave it to earn interest, intending to use it for shipbuilding costs once he officially set sail.
Now he faintly has a plan.
"Honestly, if I were still penniless, I definitely wouldn't want to deal with you, nor would I have the capability."
Shano looked at Scar, shrugging slightly, "But, unfortunately, I'm barely considered a rich man now, so there should be a way to lend you a hand."
"Rich man?"
Luffy's eyes instantly lit up, "So you're wealthy, old man. Are you going to share some money with them? Can you also share some with me? I'm really short of money too!!!"
In the shopping street down the mountain with Ace and Sabo, he never paid for all those meals, only left IOUs, which he hadn't had a chance to settle yet!
"Old man my foot!" Shano couldn't bear it anymore, smacked him with his palm, "I'm not much older than you. If you want to flatter, call me big brother!"
"Oh..." Luffy rubbed the red palm print on his face, feeling aggrieved.
"Pay your debt yourself!"
After glaring at Luffy, Shano looked around at the poor people again, eyes revealing his thoughts.
He wasn't planning to directly throw money like Luffy said.
After all, this was their first meeting, no emotional foundation existed between them, and throwing money due to sympathy would be too strange.
Moreover, teaching someone to fish is better than giving them fish.
"I have an Orange Garden at home, planning to expand it, but it's short-handed and needs more employees."
He glanced at the straw hat on Luffy's head, "Just happened that I'm planning to go home today, why don't you simply leave the Goa Kingdom and come back with me, settle down there, how about it?"
He spoke in general terms.
In the actual plan, he intends to take out several tens of millions of Belly, while keeping the rest as a fund for going to sea.
He plans not only to expand the size of the Orange Garden but also to establish a few family-style workshops for secondary processing of the harvested oranges.
The quality of the oranges produced in Cocoyashi Village is really excellent, far surpassing any of the tangerines or mandarin oranges he had tasted in his previous life.
But the purchase price for primary agricultural products is really low.
Otherwise, Belle-Mere wouldn't be busy managing the orange grove all year round, yet still too poor to afford new clothes for Nami before he grew up to be the pillar of the house.
According to his plan, if the quality oranges are processed into various salted and sugared products such as preserves, jams, and candied fruits, their added value could greatly increase.
The daily management of the workshops could be entrusted to Scar, while Belle-Mere could either relax or continue attending to her beloved orange grove if she wanted to keep busy.
Restricted by geographical location and trading channels, perhaps it won't make a fortune.
But it would be more than enough to improve the family conditions and support those struggling villagers, enabling them to earn a living through their own efforts.
"Re-Really?!"
Scar was initially slightly stunned, then he couldn't contain his excitement and grasped Shano's hands, "Sir, are you really willing to take us in and give us jobs?!"
"Yes, let's have everyone pack up, we'll set off with me later."
Shano nodded slightly, "Don't worry about the boat tickets, I've got them covered."
"That's great!"
"We're saved, we're saved!"
"Thank you, sir! Thank you!"
The nearby group of starving villagers initially couldn't believe it.
Until Shano confirmed it, their long-suppressed emotions burst forth all at once. Some cried, some knelt down on the spot, and others silently embraced each other in relief.
Winter has already set in, and during these days up in the mountains, they lived in constant fear and tension, unable to eat their fill or stay warm—it was incredibly tough.
"Thank you so much, thank you so much..."
Scar's voice was choked with emotion, "You've saved the lives of a dozen of us, I—I'm not very eloquent, but Sir! From now on, my life is yours! Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it!"
"Sir, we are too!" The surrounding villagers echoed loudly.
"Boo hoo hoo." Luffy was also crying on the side, "Why don't you untie me first, uncle, it's hard to wipe my tears when I'm tied up."
Shano looked at the little imp speechlessly and drew the Masamune Sword from his back.
Swipe swipe.
The sword light flashed, and the ropes binding Luffy's limbs were instantly cut through.
"Wow, what amazing swordsmanship!"
Luffy, while flexing his wrists, exclaimed at the precision of the swordsmanship, but then suddenly both of his arms started bleeding, causing him to panic and scream. He hastily tore his shirt into strips to wrap around the wounds to stop the bleeding, "Wow! How did you manage to cut my skin as well!"
"..."
Shano coughed to hide his embarrassment, sheathed the sword, and turned his gaze to the dark-skinned man before him.
"Shano." He said, "What's your real name, what should I call you from now on?"
"Just call me Scar."
The man shook his head earnestly, "To be honest, I was a bodyguard raised by a noble family since childhood, and the name was casually given by the butler, which I really dislike. Instead, I've gotten used to the name Scar after using it for a few months, so I might as well live my life using this name."
"Alright, Scar! Bring all the important things, let's go now!"
Shano laughed heartily.
Once everyone got busy, he finally shifted his gaze back to Luffy. Before leaving, this most important task couldn't be left unfinished.
"It hurts, Uncle Shano!"
Luffy complained pointing to the wounds on his arms, "Could you be more accurate when cutting the ropes, you made it so I don't even want to thank you for saving me!"
Of course, he was just saying that.
Regarding this guy who appeared and actively helped these starving villagers out of their predicament, Luffy still had a good impression of him, and no matter what, he is truly free now!
No need to rack his brains over how to hunt game to compensate for ten times the roast meat.
"Sorry, my swordsmanship indeed needs more practice."
Shano smiled slightly, "As compensation, I'll show you a little magic trick."
"Magic?!!"
Luffy suddenly perked up, performing a classic monkey squat on the table, "Yeah, yeah!"
Then…
The next second, under the kid's silly gaze, Shano suddenly reached out and took off the straw hat on his head.