Chapter 317 No surprises
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Inside the lobby of Ryugu Castle
The ministers on both sides wanted to persuade him further, but they were interrupted as soon as they opened their mouths.
"Needless to say, I have always advocated that us mermen and fishmen need to coexist with humans. Now that we have such a good opportunity to experience it, if I can't set an example myself, how can I convince my compatriots to try to live with humans in the future!"
Otohime waved her sleeves and spoke passionately.
Neptune was still racking his brains to figure out how to persuade his wife not to see him off when he heard Big Bear, who had been sitting in the back without saying a word, suddenly start to persuade him.
"Hello, Princess Otohime. Although I respect your ideas and support the vision that the fishmen and mermen should coexist peacefully with humans, not only mermen and fishmen, I think all races in the world should coexist peacefully, but the reality is cruel. I have seen countless darkness and ugliness in human nature.
Therefore, I have to remind you that your idea is extremely dangerous. In today's ocean, humans cannot even live in harmony with each other, let alone accept mermaids, mermen and other races. There are countless people with malicious intent. If mermen and mermen appear in the ocean with such naive ideas, they will surely be greeted by a catastrophe."
Otohime did not rush to explain. She stared at Ohkuma, and then tears began to well up in her big round eyes, overflowing from her eye sockets and falling down.
"Ah, I'm just expressing my opinion...Princess, you don't have to be like this..."
I just gave her some advice and didn't curse her, so why did she start crying? Is it really none of my business?
The sudden change almost made the bear unable to move.
Otohime wiped her tears and bowed deeply before speaking.
"Thank you very much for your advice! I understand why you said that. You must have suffered such a tragic and unfair fate. I am so sorry! Did my words bring back those bad memories for you?"
A hint of surprise appeared on Bear's face. The weak mermaid princess in front of him seemed to possess some powerful ability that could see through people's hearts.
No! We must report to the captain when we get back. There is a talent!
"Ahem, what Big Bear said is right. Human hearts are hard to predict. It may not be a good thing for merpeople and mermaids to have rash contact with humans. So it just so happens that our Chamber of Commerce can serve as a springboard for transition. With the protection of our Chamber of Commerce, some merpeople and mermaids can slowly begin to understand the world on the sea and adapt to life on land under the premise of safety."
Mo Sang quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.
"Mr. Mosan, you are right. So in order to better find a correct path for my companions, I should go with you to understand the real situation on the sea."
Otohime still insisted.
“Hahaha, Lady Otohime, you don’t have to worry. In fact, the second thing we came here to discuss is to open trade with Fishman Island. Once the trade is open, there will be a steady stream of merchant ships coming to Fishman Island. When the time comes, you can follow the merchant ships anytime you want to come to the sea to take a look.”
Mosan said with a smile.
"Yes, yes, that's great! That's settled then! Fishman Island agrees to trade with the Bra Chamber of Commerce. Once the trade route is opened and ships can travel safely, if Otohime wants to go to the sea, I'll accompany you then."
Neptune knew that he couldn't persuade his wife, so when Mosan proposed the relatively safer plan B, he immediately agreed.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty!"
The left minister frowned, his two thin and long eyebrows twitching like an electrocardiogram. He reminded quietly:
"Your Majesty, have you forgotten something important? We have just accepted the protection of the Whitebeard Pirates, and now the flag of the Whitebeard Pirates has been hoisted on Fishman Island. If we want to establish a cooperative relationship with other forces, we should first obtain Whitebeard's consent. Otherwise, if we anger him, we will be in big trouble."
"Ah! You're right. Look at my memory! I almost forgot something so important!"
Neptune turned to look at Mosan who was sitting on the seat, bowed deeply and apologized:
"I'm very sorry, Mr. Mosan. I forgot one important thing. Before you arrived, we had already accepted Whitebeard's protection. Now Fishman Island is nominally the territory of the Whitebeard Pirates, so we have to get his consent before we can trade with them."
Mosan, Funi, Ajin and Daxiong were all a little confused. They had never been to the New World and they couldn't understand why a country needed to rely on a pirate group for protection? Even the king had to get the approval of the pirate leader to make decisions? What kind of weird operation was this?
However, out of respect, they did not speak their minds directly.
Seeing the changes in the expressions on the faces of several people, Neptune quickly continued:
"But don't worry, Whitebeard is different from ordinary pirates. He chose to "occupy" this island in order to protect our Fishman Island from being invaded by other pirates. If nothing unexpected happens, he will definitely not make it difficult for us to cooperate with your Chamber of Commerce in trade. Wait for me to make a phone call to confirm and then I will give you an answer immediately. Sorry, I have to leave you for a moment."
Cooperating with the Chamber of Commerce was a great opportunity, and Neptune knew that he couldn't miss it. He made a solemn promise and ran out to make a phone call.
...
Fishman Island
Mermaid Street
Captain Gel was not found in the Mermaid Cafe. The mermaid staff said that he had left. Mosan and his friends had no choice but to continue looking. Ajin used his Observation Haki, and finally they "caught" Captain Gel in a mermaid massage shop.
"What?? Are you kidding me!"
Captain Gel, who was lying on the bed enjoying a massage, shouted and sat up after hearing the report, scaring the two mermaid ladies who were massaging his shoulders and legs.
Next to them, the three giants had their faces covered with hot towels, and their snoring was louder than the other. Even Lab had a mermaid massaging and tickling him, and he meowed in comfort.
"Haha, sorry, I was too excited and shouted a little too loudly. Thank you for your hard work. Take this money to pay the bill, and the rest is a tip for you."
Gel turned around and immediately changed back to a low, gentle and considerate voice. He took out a large stack of Baileys and spoke to the innocent and beautiful mermaid ladies in the private room.
"Ah, thank you, sir. It's okay. As long as you are not dissatisfied with our service, we are also very happy to serve you."
The mermaids were very happy to meet such a generous boss today.
"Yes, then could you please go out for a moment? We want to talk about something."
Gol asked politely.
"Okay, sir. We will withdraw now. Call us if you need anything else!"
After the mermaids finished speaking, they swung their colorful tails and headed towards the door. They had a transparent bubble ring around their waists, which allowed them to float in the air even in places without water.
The mermaids swam out of the room obediently, closed the door, and began to laugh and play lively.
"I'm sorry, Captain. I failed your expectations again."
Mosan, the main person in charge of the negotiations, was the first to speak.
Everything was going smoothly until the Whitebeard Pirates suddenly showed up. Neptune said that there was absolutely no problem one second ago, but the next second he came back frustratedly and said that Whitebeard himself did not agree, and that he had to meet with the people from the Chamber of Commerce in person before deciding whether to allow Fishman Island and the Bra Chamber of Commerce to establish cooperation.
"Don't worry about it. This is not your problem. Let's first talk about what the other party means?"
Gol asked as he put on his coat.
...
