Dragon’s guess was not wrong.
News about the Revolutionary Army would be reported every day for the next two weeks, and the resumes of every arrested Revolutionary Army member would be reported. The mistakes they had made were directly beaten into a villain by World Government.
If it weren’t for the news from the World Government, even the Revolutionary Army would never have realized how many people had been arrested by the CP department in the past few years…
At least one-third of the Revolutionary Army higher-ups had fallen into the hands of the World Government!
Even the G-Army commander of the Revolutionary Army, Emporio Ivankov, who was imprisoned in Impel Down, was revealed by the World Government!
Many of the Revolutionary Army members were eager to attack and fight back against the World Government everywhere in the world because they knew that the news in the newspaper was slander.
However, because of Dragon’s command, the Revolutionary Army members were restrained and all accepted Dragon’s transfer order. The big and small members all rushed to Baltigo.
Dragon was still trying to secretly investigate Sabo and others’ location, but he did not find it but instead found the news that Ace was arrested…
This news…
It hasn’t been exposed yet.
“‘Sabo… Portgas D. Ace…”
Dragon muttered the name.
If he hadn’t come into contact with them, the two of them didn’t seem to have any connection, but Dragon knew about the relationship between Ace and Sabo.
Therefore, Dragon also knew about Ace’s true identity.
Ace…
It was the son of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger!
According to cunning level of Kabuto, it was impossible for him not to find out about Ace’s background. Therefore, Kabuto took the risk of angering Whitebeard Pirates to catch Ace. He could not just simply lock him in Impel Down…
“Huh?”
Dragon frowned and reached out to grab the latest wanted poster on the table. His face suddenly became heavy.
“Luffy…”
According to the time when Portgas D. Ace was arrested, it happened to be when Luffy left Alabasta, and according to the time when Sabo was arrested, it was exactly when Luffy left Loguetown.
That guy Kabuto…
Maybe he was secretly using Luffy to catch his two sworn brothers!
Dragon slowly clenched his fists, “According to the route, their next stop should be Long Ring Long Land, right?”
The first half of the Grand Line.
The Straw Hat Pirates have not received the latest news about Sabo’s arrest.
Moreover, the route of the Straw Hat Pirates was simply unexpected. They were not rushing to the next stop as Dragon guessed…
It was… Sky Island.
Because in the recent voyage, their Log Pose pointer pointed to the sky, and Luffy proposed to go to the legendary Sky Island.
In order to obtain information on Sky Island, the Straw Hat Pirates stop at a nearby Island called Jaya that has a port town called “Mock Town”, which was populated by pirate.
Jaya Island, Mock Town.
When Luffy, Zoro, and Nami got off the ship and entered Mock Town to investigate, they were surprised to find that this small town full of pirates was somewhat harmonious.
The whole street was full of people, almost everywhere were drunk pirates, but no pirates dared to make trouble on the street.
With the exception of a silver-haired man.
This man carried a long sickle.
Everyone on the street could not help but make way for him. Even the way they looked at him was full of fear and uneasiness as if they were afraid of being targeted by him!
“That guy is so cool!”
Luffy looked at the silver-haired man walking on the street and could not help but praise him. His face was full of surprise and admiration.
“Although he looks very cool…”
Nami nodded slowly and punched Luffy on the head, “But he is clearly a guy who is not to be trifled with! Can’t you see that everyone is avoiding him?”
“What? He doesn’t feel so scary!”
Luffy pouted his mouth in dissatisfaction. He seemed to see something interesting. He laughed and said, “Look, Nami. He seems to be a very polite guy!”
In Luffy’s vision.
The silver-haired man took out a strange pendant from his chest. He smiled and spoke to a passerby on the street, “Hey, do you want to believe in Jashin-sama? Jashin-sama will protect you…”
“No… no…”
“Hey, isn’t this too disrespectful?”
The silver-haired man’s face suddenly became bitter.
The passers-by on the street saw his expression and could not help but mutter, “Lord… Lord Hidan, I am still young…”
“The two of us are clearly about the same age!”
The silver-haired man grinned and spread out his palm. With a sincere face, he invited, “As long as you pass Jashin-sama’s test, you don’t have to pay this month’s protection fee. Money is too dirty for the believers of Jashin-sama like us!”
“No… It doesn’t matter…”
The passers-by on the street waved their hands and hurriedly fled from the silver-haired man as if they were afraid that they would be entangled by this man again.
The others also hurried to avoid the silver-haired man’s sight.
The silver-haired man could not help but shake his head and sigh. He could not help but mutter, “What a bunch of faithless guys…”
Just as the silver-haired man was about to turn around and leave, he saw Luffy and Zoro’s group. He put on a smile again and said warmly, “I don’t think I have seen you before. Eh? Are you newcomers who just came to Mock Town?”
“Yes!”
Luffy nodded and asked with a smile, “We came here to inquire about the Sky Island…”
“Hahahaha… You can inquire about anything!”
The silver-haired man’s face became more enthusiastic. He smiled and asked, “But after you came here, have you paid the protection fee?”
“What… protection fee?”
Luffy could not help but tilt his head.
Because they had just arrived at Mock Town, they still did not know about Mock Town’s situation.
However, the Mock Town atmosphere located on Jaya Island was different. Although there were pirates everywhere in this town, there were very few pirates who made trouble here.
Moreover, this small town was not a small town where you could be arrogant because of a high bounty. Whoever had a low bounty here could live better.
Because this Mock Town…
Now it had been occupied by Shichibukai Kakuzu.
In the beginning, Kakuzu wanted to clean up the pirates in this small town and take them all to exchange for their bounty, but this would make Mock Town decline.
Therefore, Kakuzu changed a new way.
Kakuzu occupied Mock Town and announced that every pirate in Mock Town must pay him money, and the money provided every month must be based on their bounty.
In exchange, Kakuzu will ensure their safety in Mock Town and will not hunt and kill them at sea.
In this way…
Those pirates with a bounty as high as 40 to 50 million couldn’t get much money, and even pirates with a bounty of over 100 million did not dare appear in ????Mock Town’s area because 100 million beli was not something that pirates could easily take out!
But if the bounty was over 100 million…
They would be targeted by Kakuzu.
Any big pirate who wants to sail in the first half of Grand Line and survive Kakuzu’s hunt must go to Mock Town to pay enough money.
This made Mock Town prosperous again.
Because once they paid, Kakuzu would not catch people on the sea, and even these pirates could have Mock Town as their safe base.
Therefore, the pirates really love and hate this place…
As long as they were still active in the first half of Grand Line, they must come to Mock Town to pay the money. If they don’t have enough money, they need to go on an expedition to plunder, and their bounty will surely increase; and once the bounty increases, the money that needs to be handed over to Kakuzu will increase, they will go on an expedition to plunder more money again, and their bounty will increase further…
This was an endless loop!
Until one day, their bounty will be raised to a number that was impossible to be plundered by the marine. The pirates will not be able to pay enough money to Kakuzu. In the end, because of insufficient payment, they will be killed by Kakuzu’s companions and handed over to the marine in exchange for their bounty…
This Kakuzu…
He was really good at making money.
If the pirates in the first half of the Grand Line refused to enter the second half of the Grand Line, they would be exhausted to death by Kakuzu!
Some of the small pirates with very low bounty found a business opportunity.
These small pirates simply stopped plundering and began to do business of their own in Mock Town. Every month, they paid a little amount of beli to ensure that they were not threatened by others.
In addition…
There was another way to exempt protection fees.
That was, the pirates could also choose to join Hidan’s Jashin Cult. As long as you become a Jashinism believer, Kakuzu can exempt you from the protection fees.
However, if you want to join the Jashin Cult, you have to pass the so-called Jashin test. But up until now, there hasn’t been a single pirate who has passed the Jashin test…
Because the Jashin test was that even if Hidan cut off his head, he must survive!
What the hell was this test?
Now, the pirates in Mock Town were afraid of Hidan’s teachings. They would rather let Kakuzu collect protection money from them than be invited by Hidan to join the Jashin Cult…
Back then, many pirates were greedy for small advantages and chose to join Hidan’s Jashin Cult. All of them had their heads chopped off by Hidan on the spot!
The silver-haired man who now wanted to spread the Jashinism to the Straw Hat Pirates was Hidan. He has been teaching on this sea for several years, but until now, he was the only Jashinists…
Hidan looked at Luffy and the other two newcomers with bright eyes and said with a smile, “Hahahaha… Let’s find a place to have a good chat first. As long as you are willing to believe in Jashin-sama, I will tell you anything you want to know…”
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