Chapter 5: “deep Current” Umit
New World.
A certain island.
The small island has fewer than a hundred households. The land on the island is too barren, the small forest has few prey, there are no mineral deposits underground, and as for fishing… heh, several Sea Kings circle nearby. Not much residue leaks from the mouths of these big guys, and one might even be swallowed whole with the ship.
In short,
this is a desolate and remote godforsaken place that even seabirds are too lazy to shit on.
However,
Seabirds are unwilling to shit in such a godforsaken place, but King of Maritime Transport Umit does not mind this barren and desolate little island. Umit, who controls most of the shipping routes’ carrying capacity in the New World, needs enough transit stations to help him relieve the pressure of long-distance transport, as long as it is not too far off the shipping route and does not pose a deadly danger.
For islands like this, Umit only regrets there are not enough of them, never too many.
“President!”
A subordinate in a suit hurried over.
“Resupply is complete, and the damaged parts of the ship have been repaired as much as possible. As long as we don’t encounter a massive storm on the way, there won’t be any problem reaching the next major port to change ships.”
The subordinate bowed respectfully and reported the work to Umit, who was sitting on a reef watching the sea.
President,
Umit likes this title.
Although Morgans’ newspaper calls him nicknames like ‘King of Maritime Transport’, ‘Deep Sea Current’, etc., each more exaggerated than the last, each more intimidating than the previous, he still insists that he is just a poor merchant without a stable territory, drifting everywhere.
Black Water Association, this is his company.
Black symbolizes the company’s special nature, and the word water represents that the company makes a living from the sea.
From nothing to something, from small to large, he spent half his life bringing his Black Water Association to nearly monopolize the maritime transport business in the New World. However, this is already the limit; he has swallowed up all the sea routes and carrying capacity he could.
What remains,
are troubles he cannot afford to provoke, dares not provoke, and does not want to provoke.
To continue expanding next, the only choice is to enter a new industry.
But,
The territory in the New World is huge if you say it is, but really not that big if you say it isn’t.
Leaving aside the Four Emperors each dominating their own territory, just the magnates of the Dark World and some powerful forces on the surface that are second only to the Four Emperors have basically divided up all the profitable businesses: loan sharking, pleasure quarters, newspapers, warehousing, slave trading…
Every industry is controlled by big shots no less formidable than Umit.
No good industries to break into.
But Umit does not want to stagnate here. Life goes on, struggle never stops; he still wants to climb to a higher position… After careful consideration, his gaze fixed on Eckmond Kingdom, the country that earns mountains of gold and silver from coffee plantations.
Don’t underestimate coffee plantations.
The world’s three major non-alcoholic beverages—coffee, cocoa, and tea leaves—are all top-selling goods.
The New World’s cocoa market is basically dominated by the BIG·MOM Pirates, after all, the tyrant of sweets; any food or drink with even a hint of sweetness cannot escape Big Mom’s clutches. As for tea leaves, the New World has no particularly concentrated production areas; they are fragmented and divided among different big shots, none of whom are easy to provoke.
Finally,
only coffee beans. The main production areas for coffee beans in the New World are very concentrated, probably due to specific climate and geographical conditions. In short, the main production areas like Latte Island, Macchiato Island, Cappuccino Island, and Aurei Island are all in the same region.
That is, the Bica Xi Archipelago.
It is also the core area of Eckmond Kingdom.
Umit calculated based on the amount of coffee beans shipped out of Eckmond Kingdom each year and the market prices that year. Although it was a rough calculation, he still discovered Eckmond Kingdom, this massive gold-swallowing beast hidden in the deep sea.
Eckmond Kingdom is also considered a major power in the New World, but according to the intelligence he gathered, Eckmond Kingdom is not an unprovokable target. The only real trouble is that flag of the Whitebeard Pirates.
But this cannot stop Umit’s determination to expand. As long as it is done cleverly, without directly clashing with the Whitebeard Pirates, it might still succeed.
Having done maritime transport business for so many years.
Umit understands very well the principle that the bold eat their fill while the timid starve.
Thus,
everything that followed proceeded logically.
He carefully schemed against Amento Kingdom, using Amento Kingdom’s identity to start a war with Eckmond Kingdom, taking advantage of the moment when the Whitebeard Pirates’ Second Division Commander was about to die and the entire pirate crew had no attention to spare, minimizing the possibility of the Whitebeard Pirates getting involved.
“Don’t let me down! Venkura.”
Sitting on a seaside reef, Umit gazed at the churning sea, anticipating more good news.
★
Toothed Whale Sea Area, Whale Tail Island.
An island not very suitable for coffee planting, but precisely because of that, such islands are not heartbreaking to destroy. The third-generation king put great effort into occupying these three islands in the Toothed Whale Sea Area one by one and turning them into Eckmond Kingdom’s northern gateway.
This greatly expanded the kingdom’s external buffer zone, avoiding excessive losses from enemies’ unexpected raids.
This day,
Eight warships coming from the south slowly appeared in the vision of the Whale Tail Island Garrison lookout.
Whale Tail Island Garrison’s highest officer, Colonel Susa, quickly received the news of the reinforcements’ arrival and immediately let out a long sigh of relief. He had finally waited for reinforcements; perhaps he wouldn’t have to die for the country after all.
The fall of Whale Head Island and Whale Belly Island had already proven the strength of the invading enemy. He did not think himself much stronger than his colleagues stationed on the other two islands. As the only three islands in the Toothed Whale Sea Area, the three colonels interacted frequently and knew each other’s capabilities well.
Now his two colleagues were done for.
When it was his turn, there probably wouldn’t be much difference.
Fortunately, the reinforcements arrived before the enemy, but he hadn’t completely let his guard down. The reinforcements had come, but whether they could repel this invasion was still unknown. From the intelligence transmitted via Den Den Mushi by his two colleagues who had already died in battle on Whale Head Island and Whale Tail Island before their sacrifice, the situation did not look optimistic.
The known intelligence already included five great pirates with bounties over 100 million.
But worry aside, Colonel Susa swiftly assembled his men and headed to the port to welcome the reinforcements.
“Lord, who do you think it will be?”
Colonel Susa’s adjutant stood beside him, watching the warships slowly entering the port, and couldn’t help guessing: “It should be General Foy, right?”
The Whale Tail Island Garrison had only received notification that reinforcements would come to support them; the kingdom’s central command had not informed them of the reinforcements’ specific identity.
“Who knows? Maybe His Majesty the King is coming personally! You know it too; this enemy’s not easy to deal with.” Colonel Susa snorted, his eyes fixed on the warships entering the port, silently praying in his heart that it would be best if His Majesty the King came personally.
After all, only if His Majesty the King came personally would the strong ones from the Imperial Guard leave the capital Arabica.
Apart from the kingdom’s two top strong persons in the Imperial Guard, Colonel Susa did not think anyone else in the kingdom had full confidence to repel the invading enemy.
