#717 - North Sea Dilemma! (Two in One)

North Sea, Svalbard Island, neighboring town.

Svalo Island has a typical winter island climate. There are no so-called four seasons. The temperature on the island is below zero for almost 3/4 of the year. Such a severe cold climate has also caused the agricultural development of the island to stagnate, and vegetables and fruits basically have to be imported.

The harsh living environment has also meant that the living standards of local people have never been able to improve. People have no way of obtaining survival materials from the land, so they can only rely on the resource-rich sea.

Fortunately, there are hundreds of different species of tropical fish living in the waters around Svalbard Island. Due to the climate, these tropical fish often obtain less fat than in severe cold weather by eating a lot, which is why the fish in this area are generally larger in size.

The people on Svalo Island can barely make ends meet by relying on fishing and hunting.

Now, Lieutenant General Onigumo who was sent by Yoshikazu Tsugakuni to collect the heavenly gold has encountered some minor troubles in the neighboring town and has been hindered.

The cold wind was howling and the streets of the neighboring town were sparsely populated. Lieutenant General Ghost Spider, wearing a thin suit and a cloak, was leading his subordinates through the long street towards the harbor, ignoring the biting cold wind.

Beside him, Luo, wearing a cotton coat and holding a long sword in both hands, was following Ghost Spider at a leisurely pace.

The navy who just came out of the Duke's Palace seemed to have just encountered some "setbacks". All of them looked unhappy. The leader, Ghost Spider, had a serious face and low pressure surrounded him. It was almost as if the word "unhappy" was written on his face.

On both sides of the road, there are rows of residential houses. In order to withstand the severe cold, ordinary residents in the neighboring towns have built houses with a relatively small floor area. At a glance, they are all square bungalows, and there are almost no buildings higher than four meters.

The whole town gave people a very backward and dilapidated feeling, and there was a faint smell of salted fish in the air, which made the accompanying sailors sniff involuntarily.

In such a severe winter, people can still smell the scent of salted fish in the air, which shows how strong this smell is in the entire town. If the weather were warmer, these navy men might not be able to stand this smell.

As Luo followed Lieutenant General Ghost Spider closely, his eyes swept across the houses on both sides of the road, and a hint of nostalgia appeared on his face.

The climate conditions here are actually very similar to those of his hometown. Even the faint salty smell in the air is the same smell as in Luo's memory.

Although this small town is not as wealthy as his hometown, looking at the scenery here reminds Luo of some things from his childhood.

He couldn't help but think of his deceased parents and sister.

Thinking of this, Luo couldn't help but soften his heart:

"Lieutenant General Ghost Spider, what Duke Taiwu said should not be a lie."

"Haven't we also collected relevant information about Svalo Island? This principality is really not rich."

"For a country like this, it is difficult to maintain the expenditure of Tian Shang Jin."

"In previous years, the fortune and harvest were relatively good, and His Excellency the Duke was able to collect gold from the people."

Speaking of which, the trouble that Spider Demon and his crew encountered on Svalo Island was not because of any pirates who were too powerful to be defeated. It was simply because they could not collect the Sky Gold.

The actual ruler of Svalo Island is Taiwu, a duke, and this island is his fiefdom.

Duke Taiwu behaved very submissively when the navy came to collect the Heavenly Gold. Subjectively speaking, he could be said to have cooperated to the utmost. But when it really came to paying the Heavenly Gold, the Duke began to cry poor.

He said frankly that he had no way to collect the Heavenly Gold from the people. His words were all for the sake of ordinary people. He said that if those people paid the Heavenly Gold, many people would have difficulty making ends meet and would not be able to survive in such a harsh environment.

Facing the Spider Demon, Duke Taigo frankly stated that he was incapable and hoped that the navy could collect the full amount of Heavenly Gold on their own. As the lord of the principality, he would fully support the actions of the navy headquarters.

Duke Taiwu's words were equivalent to pushing the entire thing onto the navy's shoulders, but Spider Demon was only bringing a limited number of people with him on this trip, and coupled with his limited knowledge of the principality, Spider Demon simply wouldn't be able to handle such a task if he was asked to do so.

During the negotiations with Duke Taiwu, Spider Demon was at a disadvantage, but Taiwu had no intention of continuing to embarrass Spider Demon, and finally gave Spider Demon a way out.

If the Navy Headquarters has no way to collect the Heavenly Gold directly from the people, then let the Navy Headquarters give it a year's grace period, and by this time next year, the Heavenly Gold will be handed over in full.

Although Taiwu's words sound nice, any smart person knows that this is just his "delaying tactic". This year he used the excuse of "bad year" to refuse to pay the heavenly gold, and next year he could have the same reasons.

To put it bluntly, it’s nothing more than Duke Taiwu bullying people like Ghost Spider because they “don’t understand business.”

As for Luo

When he personally strolled through the desolate streets of the neighboring town and felt the bleak and silent atmosphere here, he really believed what Duke Taiwu said and hoped that the navy could make some concessions.

It's not because Luo is a traitor or anything, it's just because Luo remembered the time when he was a commoner, and he put himself in the other person's shoes, so he made such a suggestion.

It is normal for Luo to have such thoughts in his heart.

But as the navy, they absolutely cannot leave here in disgrace.

"Luo, you think too simply."

"It's not just as simple as exempting them from one year's heavenly gold."

"This is about the dignity of our navy. We cannot compromise on this matter. Once this gap is opened, countless troubles will be waiting for us!"

Ghost Spider is a taciturn and hot-tempered vice admiral. In the eyes of other navy officers, he is a serious and difficult to approach vice admiral.

In fact, this is true.

If the person who said these words to him was not Luo, but someone else, he would have scolded him a long time ago.

The reason why he could still talk to Luo calmly about these things was not only because Luo was the adopted grandson of Marshal Zhan Guo, but more importantly, Luo was an extremely talented young officer. In time, Luo would surely become the pillar of their navy.

Ghost Spider values ​​the young man Luo, so he patiently plans to teach him a lesson.

Luo escaped from the control of the Don Quixote family early and became a member of the navy, which was both a good thing and a bad thing.

Under Doflamingo's command, Law was able to witness all the evil in the world. While he was able to stick to his original intention and retain a bit of kindness, he would no longer have any filters for human nature and would no longer have any naive ideas in his mind.

But now, Law has returned to the Navy Headquarters early and grew up in a relatively "greenhouse" environment. This gave him more hope for human nature and made him feel that there are more good people in this world after all.

After all, in his opinion, those generals, colleagues, and partners in the Navy Headquarters who were familiar with him could be considered good people, but he ignored the kindness others showed him, which was not entirely for him personally, but more for his adoptive father and nominal grandfather.

"Countless troubles?!"

"Lieutenant General Ghost Spider, is what you said a little too exaggerated?"

The young Luo was obviously not as experienced as Ghost Spider, and some doubts appeared on his slightly immature face.

Turning his head slightly to glance at Luo beside him, Ghost Spider sighed softly:

"If I really did as he said and asked the general for it, and the general agreed, it would be like setting a bad precedent."

"Svalo Island can refuse to pay the Heavenly Gold because of a bad year, but what about other countries in the North Sea?!"

"Will other countries follow suit after seeing that Svalbard Island avoided the gold from heaven by claiming that 'years were bad'?"

"Does our navy only allow Svalbard Island to have a 'bad year'?"

"Taking the gold from the sky requires drastic measures. Once such a gap is opened, it will be unbearable."

"Think about it again."

"The lieutenant general who came to collect the heavenly gold today is me, what if it was someone else?"

"I'm not bragging, but among the many vice admirals in the Navy Headquarters, not all of them are like me."

"Is there any lieutenant general who was bribed by the king because of his greed for money and sex? He reported it to the general and made an excuse that 'the year was bad'."

"Even if General Jiguo Yuanyi is very observant, what about the future?!"

"After several dozen or even hundreds of years, the Navy Headquarters will have to be maintained. Will the admirals at that time be able to be like Admiral Tsugikoku Yoshida?!"

Ghost Spider had a lot of thoughts in mind, and he looked very serious when he spoke to Luo. It was obvious that he really wanted to teach Luo something.

Listening carefully to Vice Admiral Ghost Spider's analysis and explanation, Luo nodded first, then shook his head and asked naively:

"Lieutenant General, can't we just be realistic?"

"What you said is nothing more than conjecture after all."

"Why don't we take a look at the situation before us and then make our decision?"

"If you report the situation here truthfully to General Tsugikoku Yoshiichi, I'm sure that with his kindness, he will definitely not bear to watch ordinary people suffer because of Tian Shangjin."

"We, the Navy, took this 'job' from the World Government, isn't it to seek true justice?!"

Luo can be considered as a smart man with quick wits.

He jumped out of Ghost Spider's mind and continued to persuade Ghost Spider. Luo could agree that what Ghost Spider said might really happen at some point in the future.

But before that, if their navy really forcibly requisitions the Heavenly Gold on Svalo Island, it will be "immediate" that ordinary people will find it difficult to make a living.

Luo didn't want to see that scene, nor did he want to see the people suffer because of the navy.

“Seek truth from facts.”

"Haha, that's really something a kid your age can say."

Ghost Spider's patience was gradually worn out as he could not make it through with Luo. He felt that he had fulfilled his duty as a lieutenant general to guide the younger generation by being able to talk so much with Luo. Since Luo could not understand, he did not want to say anything more.

After saying this lightly, Ghost Spider said no more.

Luo also felt the change in Ghost Spider's mentality and silently shut his mouth, but he just shut his mouth and he would not change his mind.

A group of people were walking towards the harbor when the door of a house on the street suddenly opened with a bang. A black shadow rolled out of the door rapidly and fell in the middle of the street.

Ghost Spider and his group paused and looked closely, and found that the black shadow that rolled out from the house was actually a young man of eighteen or nineteen years old. There was blood at the corner of the man's mouth, and he was wearing only a single piece of clothing. He tried to sit up, and then looked towards the door with a face full of resentment.

At this time, two burly men in cotton clothes were walking towards the outside of the house, dragging a basket full of fish in their hands.

"Little Sig, your father was slacking off while working, so your family is not eligible to receive this week's distribution."

"Don't look at us like that. This is all the boss's idea."

The two men glanced at Ghost Spider and the other navy men, their eyes slightly evasive, but they seemed to have not forgotten what they came here for, and spoke to the young man on the ground.

After saying this, he ignored Sig's murderous look and dragged the fish away.

The heavy fish basket left a long trail in the snow.

Ghost Spider glanced at the young man and was about to leave, but Luo beside him hurried forward and kindly helped the young man up.

However, the young man called Little Sig did not appreciate it. He stood up, swung his arms, glanced at Luo as if he was an enemy, spat at the two men, and then slowly walked towards his home.

“Bang!”

Under the gaze of the navy, the door was slammed shut.

Luo was confused until Xiao Xige left, with the hand that was supporting him still suspended in mid-air. Luo still remembered the look in the other person's eyes when he left. The disgust and hatred that came from the bottom of his heart was something Luo had never seen before.

"this"

Luo opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Ghost Spider took a deep look at Luo beside him, his eyelids drooped slightly, and suddenly said without any context:

"That look is strange to you, right, Luo?"

“But I am somewhat familiar with it.”

"It looks like someone is already preparing the Heavenly Gold for us!"

"This saves us trouble."