A child's desperate sobs echoed across the shore.
A shadow passed overhead. There was no need to look to know who it was.
Roy pulled out a small notebook. As the ship approached the shore, he reviewed what he had written—a shopping list and a schedule for assigning tasks.
These guys were scatterbrained, so Roy had to plan everything, handing out money and duties to each of them.
SNAP
He closed the notebook as the ship docked smoothly.
Whitebeard and the others had already handled the problem, rescuing two peculiar figures from human traffickers.
"We're the Whitebeard Pirates. Do you want to join us?" Marco asked the two, one big and one small.
"Whitebeard Pirates? Never heard of them."
"Are they tasty?"
"You're fishmen from Fishman Island, right? We're heading there. Can you guide us?" Marco asked.
"Sure!"
"Idiot, no!"
"Why not?"
"How do we know they're good people?"
"But they saved us!"
The fierce-looking fishman fell silent. Roy studied the two closely, realizing who they were.
Namur, the future 8th Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and another fish-man who also looked familiar—probably a future subordinate captain, though Roy couldn't recall his name.
"Marco, Thatch, Blamenco, come here!" Roy called, waving his notebook.
The three hurried over, followed by Whitebeard and the rest of the crew. Namur and Aruwan noticed they were no longer being watched. If they wanted to escape, they could simply jump into the sea.
But something compelled them to stick around—they were curious what was going on.
"Is he the real captain?" Aruwan wondered.
"Probably not. Look at the pirate flag. That guy over there is Whitebeard, he's the captain," Namur said, pointing to Newgate.
"But he asked if we wanted to be his sons," Aruwan said.
"Don't trust humans. They're all liars."
"Okay, big bro."
The two had run away from Fishman Island out of curiosity. They were orphans living on the streets of the Fishman District. Hearing that some humans wanted to adopt them made them instinctively distrustful.
On the other side, Roy was assigning shopping duties. Marco led the medical team to buy supplies, Thatch was in charge of food procurement, and Blamenco, the shipwright, had to get repair materials.
"Here's your shopping list and some money," Roy said, handing each of them a list and a bag of money.
Having managed the Whitebeard Pirates for five years, Roy knew the world's prices. Things in Sabaody Archipelago were more expensive, so he gave them 20% more than usual.
Since they were in Sabaody, supplies would be plentiful. It was a good opportunity to stock up.
Just as Roy finished assigning the tasks, dozens of hands suddenly stretched out toward him, large and small. Even Whitebeard was practically sticking his hand in Roy's face.
"What do you guys want?" Roy channeled his inner Nami, smacking each hand away.
"Hehe, Big Bro, money please~" Whitey Bay pouted. "Sabaody has shopping streets! I'm a girl—I need pretty clothes!"
"Spent it on clothes in St. Poplar! Your outfit was from that, too!"
"You—!"
Sure enough, the ways of women and money were beyond comprehension. Roy had given Whitey Bay money many times. As one of the few girls in the crew and someone he treated like a sister, he tended to spoil her.
"And you? What do you want?" Roy glared at Whitebeard.
"I'm out of booze," Whitebeard said proudly.
"You—!" Roy nearly choked. "You drank all the alcohol I bought?!"
"Wasn't enough." Whitebeard glanced away.
"Big Bro, I report! A few days ago, Pops stole eight barrels while you were asleep!" Whitey Bay raised her hand.
"Here, 100,000 berries for you." Roy handed her the cash.
"Big Bro, I want to report Pops, too! When we were on Gourmet Island, he stole a gold coin from you!" Jozu added, then sheepishly glanced at Whitebeard. "Sorry, Pops."
"YOU—!" Whitebeard looked ready to cough up blood.
"Jozu, that's for you," Roy glared at Whitebeard and handed Jozu 50,000 Berries.
Soon, everyone got their share—around 20,000 berries each, which was enough to buy plenty of things.
"You two come here."
Namur and Aruwan exchanged glances but approached.
"Here, take this and buy whatever you like." Roy gave each of them 50,000 Berries.
Seeing them receive that amount, everyone else's eyes instantly turned red with jealousy.
As Roy turned to leave, a bunch of people swarmed the two fishmen with sudden hospitality.
"Brother Namur! I saved you earlier!" Thatch slung an arm around him.
"Brother Aruwan! Such a handsome young man—let me show you around!" Epoida grabbed his hand.
"Don't listen to them! I was the one who fought for you!" Vista cut in.
"Whitey Bay, Jozu, you two—ahem!"
Whitebeard stood before them with his naginata in hand.
"P-Pops…"x2
When the two of them saw Whitebeard's posture, tears fell.
"Betraying your crewmates… hurts their feelings."
"Pops, here's 50,000 berries!" Whitey Bay surrendered half her money.
"Pops, 25,000 berries!" Jozu followed suit.
"Gurararara! That's my children! So obedient—Pops didn't spoil you for nothing. And you two little brats, starting today, you're my sons too. As your father, I'll help manage your finances and safeguard your money."
With that, Whitebeard snatched the money from their hands despite their protests. The two fishmen's eyes widened.
"We haven't agreed yet…" Namur had just started to speak when he saw that everyone else had already run off, leaving just the two of them. Four fishy eyes met in confusion.
"Alright, let's get going, don't wander off alone," Whitebeard said cheerfully as he headed into the island.
Of course, Roy knew what was going on. Whitebeard had been waiting for him. After docking, aside from Vista and a few who stayed behind on the ship, Roy brought the two little fishmen along and followed Whitebeard into town.
"I remember he's usually at the casino," Whitebeard said.
"Let's find the guy who does the ship coating. With our ship, it'll probably take about a week," Roy replied.
"Sounds about right."
The two fish-men trailed behind, still bewildered by their sudden adoption.