Cocosia Island.
A shuttle-shaped boat was docked on the shore. The boat was docked on the shady side of the island, so it did not attract anyone's attention. A man in a black suit and glasses walked down. He had a cold smile on his face. Behind him, a few burly men with long cheeks stood straight and did not say a word.
Klaus slightly used his wrist to support the frame of his glasses. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the orange forest in the distance. He did not let the recruits follow behind him. They were too eye-catching.
After leaving the recruits on the boat, Klaus seemed to have changed his expression. The expression on his face quickly became gentle and friendly. He slowly walked towards the orange forest.
"Warm wind. I haven't found anything special yet …" Klaus casually picked an orange on the tree, peeled off the skin and stuffed it into his mouth. The orange was very sweet and full of water.
"Hey, you have to pay if you eat the orange secretly!" A woman carrying a bucket in the distance walked towards Klaus. Her sleeves were rolled up high, revealing a part of her tattoo.
"The orange is very delicious!" Klaus smiled awkwardly. He did not seem to know where to hide the orange skin in his hand. Then, he took out a bill from his pocket and handed it to the woman opposite him. "Sorry, I thought these orange trees were wild."
"An outsider?" Noaqui looked at Klaur. Klaur's disguise was very deceiving. He wore a black suit and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. The first impression he gave was very gentlemanly. Noaqui slowly let down her guard. She took out the stick she had hidden behind her back and propped it on the ground. "Forget it. It's just a joke. An orange is worthless. But you're not from this town. Why are you here?"
"Very alert. A little nervous alert!" Klaus narrowed his eyes and glanced at Nochiko's stick. He stuffed the remaining half of the orange into his mouth and chewed slowly. This seemingly impolite action made Nochiko completely let down her guard. Then, he slowly said, "Ah, I am an explorer. I don't have a destination. Wherever the boat floats, I follow. There was a storm at sea a few days ago, so I floated here."
"Why? This island does not welcome outsiders?" Klaus asked in confusion.
"Outsider, I advise you to leave this place as soon as possible." Before Nochiko could finish his sentence, he heard the sound of a gong in the distance. The sound was very hurried, as if indicating that the person hitting the gong was emotionally unstable. Nochiko's expression changed, and he quickly said to Klaus, "There's no time to explain. If you don't want to die, hide in this orange forest and don't come out."
Klaus looked at Nogiko's back as she turned around and ran away. His face slowly turned cold again. He threw the orange peel on the ground and followed in the direction Nogiko left in at a moderate pace.
In the middle of the bleak street in the town, a man with a windmill ornament on his head and a face full of scars was seen. His name was Ajian, and he was the sheriff of this town. At the moment, he was beating the gong in his hand rapidly. Standing in front of him were the townspeople who had gathered here from all corners. Their faces were pale with fear.
The person they were afraid of was the man from the murloc tribe standing next to Ajian. One of them was 2.4 meters tall, with scaly gills on his cheeks. His forehead was full of bubbles the size of fingernails, and his pair of triangular eyes gave people a feeling of extreme brutality. The other one was wearing a karate suit, with two headbands that looked like cannon heads on his head. There was a sun-like pattern tattooed on his chest, and the most eye-catching thing was that his arms were bulging like fins. They were as sharp as a guillotine, reflecting a cold luster under the sunlight.
"Everyone is here, right? Do a headcount. Don't miss anyone." The murloc's voice had a strange trembling tone, and it gave people goosebumps.
Soon, some murlocs with all kinds of strange appearances walked out from behind him. They walked into the town and did a headcount. Nogiko was standing in the crowd with sweat on her forehead. She stared at the murlocs who were walking toward her. She only lowered her head unwillingly when someone pulled her arm.
"Everyone is here, no one is missing!" The murloc said after doing a headcount.
"Do a headcount again. Disgusting, inferior creatures like humans are the most cunning ones." The murloc seemed to have an extreme hatred for humans. His eyes flashed with murderous intent. As he spoke, he used his sharp nails to lightly hook Ajian's face, and a bloody scar was left behind.
Ajian resisted the severe pain, his face was pale, but he did not say anything. He knew that the more painful he howled, the more excited the murloc behind him would be. These murloc did not treat them as humans at all, but as playthings to vent their anger.
The residents of the town turned their heads and did not dare to look. Nogiko's head was held tightly by her hands.
"No one is missing!" It was still the same answer.
The murloc was bored and retracted his nails. He shook his palm hard and flicked the blood on the ground, as if the blood stains were unusually dirty. He regretfully said, "Lowly inferior species, thank the benevolent Dragon Pirates, so that you can continue to live as long as you pay enough ransom."
As his voice fell, the murloc who had just done a headcount took out a few sacks and walked toward the crowd. Ransom was the money to buy life. Every once in a while, the Dragon Pirates would come to the town to collect ransom. If you pay enough ransom, you can live. Otherwise, you will be cruelly killed.
The standard ransom was 100,000 Berries for adults and 50,000 Berries for children.
Every year, the number of people in the town could not be small. If someone dared to escape, his family and the people of the whole town would be implicated. Under this high-pressure system, the people of the whole town were not only hugging each other for warmth, but also monitoring and supervising each other, maintaining this strange and deformed living environment.
The sacks were quickly stuffed full. The murloc smiled and tied the sacks that were full of ransom. Then, a middle-aged man knelt on the ground and begged, "I'm short, I only have 70,000 Berries, I'm short …"
The murloc moved his feet and quickly appeared beside the man. He lifted the man from the ground with one hand. His eyes showed a bloodthirsty color. His mouth suddenly bulged strangely, and a fish bubble covered with mucus was spat out from his mouth. In the horrified eyes of the man, it went into his mouth and nose.
In the mournful howl, the man's feet struggled wildly, but he could not break free from the murloc's strong arms. Soon, a stinky liquid overflowed from his seven orifices.
"Remember, the ransom was set by Arlong, not a penny less!" The murloc reached out and threw away the man's body, laughing wildly.
Crowe, who was hiding in the dark, looked at all this indifferently. His mouth was slightly pursed: "An island controlled by the murloc, interesting!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
