He could handle maritime transport, and Fishman Island could do the same.
The routes he had, Fishman Island also had, and even stronger military force.
And Nanamo was Nereus's daughter. If she really wanted this business...
Unconsciously, sweat began to form on Umit's forehead again as he thought about how to deal with what might come next.
"No need to worry. You've done well. She is just kidding."
Noticing the change in Umit's emotions, Nereus reassured him. As for maritime smuggling, Nereus truly had no interest in it.
Collecting tolls at Fishman Island brought in higher profits with lower costs.
Besides, Fishman Island was now an official affiliated nation. There was no need for him to personally engage in this kind of gray-market trade. Trade between nations earned far more than the small-scale dealings of the Underworld.
"I still have things to do, so I won't stay here any longer. If you run into any trouble you can't handle, you can contact me."
After leaving those words behind, Nereus quickly departed from the island, following the direction of the Eternal Pose toward Wano Country.
Some time later, in Wano Country, within the mountain forest of the western Kuri region, two figures—one large and one small—were hiding there.
"Damn it, what kind of country is this?! These people are completely different from the humans on Delta Island!"
The smaller figure complained angrily about this country.
This person was Kawamatsu. Nereus hadn't remembered incorrectly. Due to sea currents, Kawamatsu and his mother had accidentally drifted to Wano Country.
Although Fish-Men could breathe freely in seawater, overly violent sea currents still posed dangers for those with weaker strength.
The waters near Wano Country were extremely perilous, filled with numerous whirlpools. In such unfamiliar waters, Kawamatsu's mother was injured and, for the time being, unable to swim long distances.
With the dangerous sea currents outside blocking their way, the two of them couldn't return to Fishman Island.
And the residents of the island made Kawamatsu experience the ugliness of human nature.
The moment they met them, those people immediately shouted things like "monster" and "demon," chasing and attacking the mother and son with stones, wooden sticks, and anything else they could grab.
"Fish-Men have a long history of being discriminated against in this world... Over a hundred years ago, we were even classified as fish.
That later changed, but the overall situation remained the same. Since King Nereus took power, our status has truly begun to change, giving us the right to speak as equals."
Kawamatsu's mother held her wounded shoulder as she spoke to him about the past.
She had blocked most of the stones and objects thrown by the people of Wano Country, but her already weakened body had still suffered significant injuries.
Combined with her earlier wounds, she was now extremely weak.
"The people of Delta Island received kindness from King Nereus and understand our situation better, so they don't discriminate... This country is probably still in a closed state...
Otherwise, they wouldn't call us monsters...
Let's hide for now. Once we recover, we'll return to Fishman Island..."
Unlike the original timeline, after Nereus took power, Fishman Island developed a culture of widespread martial arts training and physical strengthening. Many training halls were established to teach Fish-Men and Merfolk combat techniques.
Although Kawamatsu's mother was still relatively frail, she wasn't completely without combat ability and hadn't died outright in Wano Country.
"Mom, you rest here. I'll go into the sea and find something to eat."
Compared to searching for food in the mountain forest, Kawamatsu, who had taken some wilderness survival classes, was more skilled at catching food in the water.
The forest they were hiding in was very close to the shore, and Kawamatsu felt confident he could handle it.
On the coast of Kuri, a figure wearing a straw hat had just swum ashore from the sea.
"Damn it, I hate this country! Why are the fish in the water all so weird?!"
Kawamatsu hadn't caught any fish. Instead, he had nearly been eaten by one. For some reason, the inland sea here was filled with giant carps, each with eyeballs larger than Kawamatsu's head.
Already weakened, Kawamatsu was no match for that carp and ended up fleeing back to shore in a rather sorry state.
It was then that he spotted two figures lying on the beach.
"Hey, hey… are you still alive? You're Minks, right? How did you end up here?"
Picking up a branch, Kawamatsu cautiously poked at the two unknown figures that looked like corpses—one resembling a cat, the other a dog.
If he hadn't learned about them in textbooks and seen other Minks on Fishman Island, he wouldn't have dared approach.
What Kawamatsu didn't notice was that while he was focused on the two Minks, a group of Wano Country locals were watching him.
"What are those?"
"Dog demon… cat demon… and a kappa? Why are there so many monsters… Has this coastline been cursed?"
Centuries of isolation had deeply affected the people of Wano Country, especially their understanding of the world. Devil Fruit abilities were regarded as sorcery or ninjutsu, and demi-human races were treated as monsters.
While Kawamatsu was preparing to rescue the two drowned Minks, the people behind him launched a sneak attack.
When Kawamatsu woke up again, he was already tied to a wooden frame. A crowd was shouting about burning them all alive to lift the curse.
"Wano Country is terrible! Where's the so-called brotherhood here?!"
"Damn it, I shouldn't have gone out to sea!"
"I'm not a monster! I'm a Fish-Man! A citizen of the Ryugu Kingdom! You ignorant fools can't do this! If you burn me, Lord Nereus will definitely avenge me!
Lord Nereus! If you can hear me… please save me!"
The Minks were lamenting their decision to go to sea, while Kawamatsu—because of the changes and education on Fishman Island—didn't shout that he was a kappa or anything like that, but instead emphasized an objective fact.
"Nereus… what a strange name. What is that?"
"Wait! Ryugu? Could that be another name for the great deity Toyotamahiko? Could it be… he's not a monster, but a messenger of the sea god?"
Nereus's name didn't carry weight here, but isolation had its own traits. These people held a much stronger belief in gods and monsters.
The word "Ryugu" made the locals associate it with divine matters.
"Put out the fire first! If we anger the gods, we're finished!"
The group hurriedly began putting out the fire, though they didn't dare untie the ropes. At this moment, they couldn't determine whether these were monsters or messengers of a god.
"Maybe we should report this to the Daimyo and let him decide…"
Thud…
Before he could finish speaking, the person beside him suddenly dropped to his knees.
From the perspective of the Wano Country residents, a pure white magical cloud was drifting in the sky not far away, and seated upon it was someone who seemed to be a god himself…
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