The Grand Line is partitioned by the Red Line. To travel from Paradise to the New World, there are only two routes.
Either cross over the Red Line, or pass through Fishman Island.
Legitimate merchants naturally choose the route over the Red Line. Pay the taxes, change ships, and they can reach their destination.
But that route is completely closed to pirates, Underworld merchants, smugglers, and the like.
Because Fishman Island occupies such a key position as a transit hub, a huge number of ships visit it every day to trade goods. Fishman Island also takes advantage of this opportunity to purchase goods that cannot be found in the deep sea.
Many merchants carry materials that Fishman Island needs and trade while passing through, exchanging them for deep-sea products that humans desire.
Pearls, coral, and certain extremely valuable yet hard-to-catch fish are all included.
If it were only normal trade, this would bring no harm to Fishman Island.
The problem is that both Mermaids and Fish-Men can fetch extremely high prices on the slave market, which often gives those passing through malicious ideas.
On top of that, a large number of pirates pass through Fishman Island, making its situation anything but good.
"What proof do you have that your people are on our ship?! Why haven't our people seen them?!"
"Stop wasting time! You can't afford to delay our business! See the Den Den Mushi in my hand? This is Lord Umit's phone!
As long as I place this call and Lord Umit gives the word, the goods coming to Fishman Island will be cut by at least half!"
The Deep-Sea Currents, Umit, known in the Underworld as the Shipping King.
Maritime shipping is the main mode of transportation in this world, and for cargo transport in the Underworld, it almost always involves Umit.
Under his fierce threats, the soldiers of the Neptune Army were genuinely intimidated.
If it affected Fishman Island in the future, an ordinary soldier truly couldn't bear that responsibility.
But at that moment, someone from the merchant group suddenly felt his hand grow light. When he came back to his senses, the Den Den Mushi had vanished without a trace.
"Umit's people? Interesting. I'll help you make this call. I'm curious to see exactly what he means by this."
The one who took the phone was none other than Nereus. He was certain there was something wrong with this ship.
The current Fishman Island had very little contact with the outside world. Even if they saw what goods were on board, it wouldn't affect much. The time they had delayed already would have been enough to inspect the ship dozens of times.
Before the merchant group could stop him, Nereus had already dialed the phone.
"Hey, Radis. Why are you looking for me? Did your cargo arrive?"
Somewhere in the New World, in a bustling port city on a certain island, a man wearing an oversized captain's hat, sporting hook-shaped eyebrows but not yet growing a beard, picked up the call.
"Umit, it's been a while since we last met, hasn't it?"
Umit had originally been reclining lazily in his chair, but upon hearing the voice coming from the Den Den Mushi, he jolted upright as if struck by lightning.
Looking closely, he saw that the appearance of the Den Den Mushi in his hand was changing, its eyes even carrying a faint trace of blood-red.
This was a characteristic of Den Den Mushis. They mimic the eyes and expressions of the person on the other end of the call, lending the conversation a peculiar sense of vividness.
"Oh? Ohhh, isn't this Lord Nereus? What brings you to call me?"
Umit was very familiar with Nereus. After all, as someone in the maritime shipping business, he couldn't avoid sailing, especially a key location like Fishman Island.
When Umit first entered this line of work, Nereus was already quite famous, so the then-novice Umit had proactively gone to pay his respects.
Back then, Nereus recognized that the brat standing before him would one day become an "emperor" of the Underworld. He agreed to assist, and with the help of the Fish-Men, Umit's business operations did indeed become much smoother.
And Umit knew very well that if Nereus were to lose his temper, it wouldn't be a question of whether his ships could continue sailing. It would be a question of how long he himself would live.
Now Nereus was calling using one of his subordinate's Den Den Mushi. No matter how he thought about it, something was wrong.
"A child went missing on Fishman Island. Someone claims they were taken onto your ship. Your subordinate said that if this ship is inspected, you'll stop all goods from reaching Fishman Island.
Is that what you mean? Or has your business grown so large that you're thinking of dabbling in other things…"
"No, no, no! That's absolutely not what I meant! That b*stard was talking nonsense! I only smuggle some rare goods. How could I ever set my sights on the citizens of Fishman Island?!
Go ahead and search it freely! If that brat really got sticky fingers, I'll trouble you to clean the house for me."
"Umit, I don't care whether this was your intention or not, but this is the last time.
If you don't want this slice of the maritime transport pie, there are plenty of people who do."
"Yes… I understand what you mean…"
Nereus didn't wait for Umit to finish responding before hanging up. Inside the room, Umit remained silent for a long while before picking up several other Den Den Mushi.
"Notify all route supervisors passing through Fishman Island! Reiterate the ban, anyone who dares touch slave transport, I want their life!"
His position wasn't secure either. The Underworld gave him face and called him the Shipping King, but there were far more people who wanted to replace him than those who truly respected him.
There were many powerful pirates, but the one Umit least wanted, and least dared, to offend was Nereus. Fishman Island's position could genuinely choke off most of his business.
And if Nereus wanted to kill him, it wouldn't be much harder than crushing an ant.
Thinking of this, Umit felt a little hot, and unbuttoned his collar only to find that his shirt had unknowingly become damp with sweat.
At the same time, on Fishman Island, without needing any orders from Nereus, Sebastian had already stormed onto the ship alone.
Among Nereus's subordinates, Barbell was better at Armament Haki, but Sebastian was more proficient in Observation Haki. He had already sensed an unusual presence within the cargo hold.
After taking down several guards who tried to stop him, he quickly brought out an unconscious young Mermaid and handed her over to her parents.
"Now then, do you have anything you'd like to say?"
"I think… this might be a misunderstanding… I really don't know how she got on board…"
From the moment Nereus made that call, Radis realized he had kicked an iron plate. Boss Umit, who normally sat high and mighty in smuggling circles, was speaking in a tone even more humble than his own, something Radis simply couldn't comprehend.
He could still force himself to remain calm, but at this point, not everyone was interested in hearing his explanation.
"So you're saying this little one ran onto your ship by herself, hid in a corner of the cargo hold, and fell asleep? Do you take us for idiots?!"
Sebastian grabbed Radis with one hand. His terrifying strength made Radis's bones creak loudly.
Radis slapped Sebastian's massive hand, but it was useless. With a sharp cracking sound, Sebastian immediately crushed his spine and casually tossed his body aside.
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