Chapter 786: Chapter 785: The Return of Arceus, the Mysterious Hedgehog
The first impression is crucial, which is why this team pays attention to appearance. At least for now, looking at the well-mannered person in front of them, the Wilson family felt much more relieved.
"You guys..."
"If you’re not at ease, you can call House. He’s off today."
The New World is not peaceful, and it’s normal for people to have worries. He’s been doing this for days on end, so naturally, he has plenty of patience. Very soon, Wilson confirmed through a call that the person in front of them was indeed the one who came to pick them up.
"Thank you so much."
"You’re welcome, but it seems you’ve encountered a bit of trouble?"
His ability to read people is top-notch; just by looking at their expressions, he could tell this family seemed to have run into some trouble.
"It’s nothing, just lost our wallet."
Wilson answered casually, not expecting the other party to help much. However, this matter, in the eyes of the Hundred Beasts’ people, was a chance to flex their muscles.
"Hold on a second."
It wasn’t his first time here, so he was well aware of the people that gathered at this dock. It didn’t take long for him to find the person in charge here.
"Hey, our people lost their wallet here."
At this moment, he spoke without any courtesy, his back to the Wilson family, and there was even a hint of menace in his eyes.
This team wasn’t full of saints. They rarely performed combat missions, but they were members of the Hundred Beasts after all. He wore two earrings on one side of his ear, which combined to form the number 99.
Even if he was at the bottom rung, he was still a Numberer.
As the undisputed overlord of The Sea, a giant of the New World Underground World, the people here weren’t worthy of his regard.
"How could this happen? This must be a misunderstanding. Give me 30 minutes, and I’ll definitely get the wallet back!"
"10 minutes, no more."
"Understood....."
Everyone knew the twists and turns of this place. To be a manager of this dock, he had his patrons too, but compared to the Sea Emperor, they were nothing.
Even if it was just a High-Level Official in front of him, he couldn’t afford to offend him.
He turned around and barked a few orders into a Radio Snail. In less than ten minutes, several wallets appeared there.
In a place like this, only fists can maintain order. If they found the right person, even if they lost a needle, they could dig the whole place up to find it. But without that connection, they could only admit their bad luck.
"Be careful next time. Touch our people again, and watch your hand."
After flipping through the IDs in the wallets and confirming which wallet was the one he needed, he would turn around and leave, taking the Wilson family with him.
On that ship, Wilson saw people from various professions—chefs, doctors, craftsmen, accountants—covering almost every aspect, while the people of Hundred Beasts maintained a friendly appearance.
Seeing how approachable these people were, he gathered the courage to ask a question.
"Uh... sorry to bother you, but I heard you have some kind of magical creature that can judge a person’s internal condition just by listening. Could you let me see it?"
"Hmm? You don’t have the qualifications now. Show your worth and work in a higher-level place, and you’ll naturally get to see them. But they might not cooperate with you."
[After all, those are the beings created by that lord...]
This time, he left his words half-spoken; some things he wouldn’t say out loud. The Arceus he referred to had returned to Wano Kuni with the arrival of the new year.
...
"What on earth is Queen up to?"
Shaina tossed aside the fallen streamers from above, looking at Queen who was holding a bunch of paper confetti. She felt this guy must be out of his mind.
"Probably heard something from Miss Yamato."
Emmalyn chimed in, knowing that Arceus had let Yamato quietly disclose some news, and it seemed Queen was quite excited about it.
"He never seemed so excited before, holy beast lord, I don’t think there’s a need to reward this guy anymore. Usually, he doesn’t even keep you in mind."
Shaina turned back to suggest something that would make Queen quite annoyed, but he didn’t hear it as he was still above the port.
"It’s fine, people like him are rare. Letting him lose his composure once in a while isn’t a big deal."
As an all-purpose scapegoat, Arceus would certainly ensure his safety. Despite shouldering so much before, he hadn’t faced any danger; if he didn’t go out this time, nothing would happen.
Many have carried blame, but Queen set a precedent by being willing to cement it onto himself.
At this moment, Queen, with a groveling face, came onto the ship, eager to express his intentions though it was already obvious.
"Lord Arceus, welcome back, um..."
"Queen, watch yourself. The holy beast lord has never gone back on his word. Do you have to be so desperate?"
"Ahem, please understand, I’ve had a tough time lately, alright? You have no idea how terrifying it is when Lord Arceus and Miss Yamato are both away."
This means Kaidou would be out of control, losing his first target of taunt, leaving it to chance who would bear the brunt. Additionally, because of his reputation, Queen had become Kaidou’s secondary target for taunt after Yamato, easily encountering extra training sessions from Kaidou.
"Heh, you should consider whether going out will become troublesome for you in the future. Since the incident, you probably haven’t left Wano Kuni, right? Now, on The Sea, you are quite the sensation, plenty of people want to move up using your head."
"???"
Shaina’s words left Queen baffled; he hadn’t really been paying attention to the external world.
"You truly didn’t know? There’s quite a few who want your head. Those hot-headed ones, you know who they are, and in addition, some new world pirates also plan to use you to make a name for themselves."
In fact, the sea is never short of those who seek to ascend by stepping on their predecessors, and Queen’s enormous bounty of 2.7 billion made him a target for many.
No one knows exactly how strong the Sea Emperor is, so before taking action, using a High-Level Official like Queen as a small target is quite a suitable choice.
"Good luck to you, hope you can survive smoothly. After all, I haven’t found a more convenient punching bag than you."
"....."
Queen didn’t rebut because he hadn’t thought in this way before, even forgetting that reputation could bring more trouble. For some reason, he once again saw a bleak future.
"Master, are you really letting Mi follow this guy? He seems so incompetent."
At this moment, a weak female voice came from next to Arceus’s feet. Queen was certain he had never heard this voice before. Following the sound, a creature with a hedgehog-like appearance was peeking out from behind Arceus’s legs to take a look at him.
