Chapter 135: Each Other’s Choices (part 2)
“Zannick, what do you think?”
“Me…”
Hearing the question from his old partner, the Warrior Captain with bandages still wrapped around his hand hesitated for a moment, but still spoke up:
“As a descendant of the Great Warrior Kargra, I actually don’t want to rely on the power of others to take back our hometown.”
The surrounding Shandia warriors nodded upon hearing this, but the Chieftain heard the implication in his words.
“So you mean you’re agreeing to cooperate with that group.”
“That’s right.”
“Just as that blue-haired brat said, we no longer have the power on our own to take back Shandora.”
“Moreover, this constant conflict has already stretched us thin.”
“If this continues, forget about fulfilling the ancestors’ last wish—even the current village might not hold.”
As the Warrior Captain of Cloud Village, Zannick actually understood best how heavy the burden of war was on the tribe.
Not to mention anything else, just the daily patrols on the White Sea and White White Sea consumed two teams of young men.
Not to speak of the current situation where even women had to pick up weapons every time there was conflict with the Sky people.
Although that young Sky Island “god” seemed intent on achieving reconciliation between the two tribes, expecting them to give back the land they’ve already occupied was unrealistic.
After all, a large portion of the Sky people themselves still lived on the Cloud Island, let alone outsiders like them.
“Captain!”
The surrounding Shandia warriors could hardly believe it when they heard Zannick actually agreeing to that outsider’s proposal.
They had originally thought that he, as the warrior leader, would firmly oppose this matter.
Zannick ignored the crowd and looked toward a somewhat short figure in the corner.
“Yuta, come here.”
“Father…”
The Warrior Captain’s son, who had quietly slipped into the tent, was a bit panicked. He hadn’t come of age yet and theoretically wasn’t qualified to participate in such meetings.
But contrary to his expectations, Zannick didn’t scold him; instead, he gently stroked his son’s head with the hand fixed by a wooden board.
He had never made such a “weak” gesture before.
Feeling the touch on his head, Yuta suddenly seemed to understand his father’s decision.
The real reason he chose to agree was not only to fulfill the ancestors’ last wish but also because he didn’t want his generation to go through those cruel wars again.
Looking at his son who was growing more and more like him, Zannick said:
“In any case, just as the ancestor chose to believe Roronoa back then, I want to try believing those people.”
“Is that so…”
The Chieftain nodded. He actually didn’t oppose cooperating with Obei and the others either.
“But before that, as the Shandia Warrior Captain, I still need to test if those guys really have the ability to help us take back our hometown.”
“Zannick, you mean…”
“Yeah.”
“Just like how ancestor Kargra didn’t believe Roronoa right from their first meeting.”
“One day. If they can really prove they have the strength to help us take back Shandora… then we will naturally offer the friendship of the Shandia people, just like our ancestors.”
……
“After nearly four hundred years, believing in outsiders once again…”
Hearing the Warrior Captain’s words, the Chieftain looked outside the tent, his eyes reflecting the starry sky.
Eight hundred years ago, the intrusion of outsiders nearly destroyed Shandora’s civilization to protect the Poneglyph.
Three hundred and eighty years ago, the intrusion of outsiders saved the Shandia people from the plague crisis of extermination.
Three hundred and seventy-six years ago, the intrusion of outsiders took the Shandia people’s hometown from their hands.
Now, outsiders have come here once again.
This time, will she bring destruction or salvation…
……
At dusk the next day, Obei and the others returned to the Shandia village at the exact same time as when they left the day before.
The two sides met once again under the statue of the Great Warrior Kargra.
One side was led by Obei, with Aoxi standing at her side, holding something in her arms.
Cinder stood behind the two, his towering figure like a black iron tower, exuding a powerful sense of oppression.
As for Wright and the other two, they were arranged to stay behind and guard the ship.
On the Shandia side, the Chieftain and Zannick stood side by side, with over a hundred fully armed elite warriors behind them.
And in the surrounding tents, many women and children were peeking out nervously and curiously.
“Hey, look at those two girls—they’re so pretty~ Are all Blue Sea people this beautiful?”
“They don’t have wings on their backs, that’s weird.”
“That black guy is so tall, and his wings are huge!”
“There’s even fire coming out from behind his head! So cool!”
“Did he tie a Flame Shell to his head? Awesome! I want to try it later!”
“But he’s all black all over, like a crow monster.”
“He looks so fierce!”
……
Listening to the children’s quiet chatter, the young Chieftain spoke first:
“Outsiders, we Shandia agree to cooperate with you.”
“Wise judgment.”
Obei’s voice showed no surprise at all, and she didn’t say anything more.
She was waiting for them to state their conditions.
Sure enough, seeing Obei’s reaction, the Shandia Chieftain continued:
“We hope you can assist us Shandia people in taking back our hometown ‘Shandora’ and guarantee that we won’t suffer raids from the Sky people in the future.”
The Chieftain had to ensure this group wouldn’t take the gold and run, leaving the mess to the Shandia people and Sky people.
“Fine.”
Obei’s answer was short and direct.
“Second condition. You can have all the other gold in Shandora, but you can’t touch our tribe’s sacred treasures passed down through generations, the ‘Golden Bell’ and the ‘Poneglyph’.”
These were the two most important things in the Shandia ancestral precepts, things that absolutely could not be lost.
“Don’t worry, there’s plenty of gold in Shandora.”
The Chieftain added.
『Poneglyph? There’s even one here?』
Obei sighed inwardly. This thing felt just like a collectible Easter egg in a game, popping up unexpectedly in the most unlikely places.
“Fine. Anything else?”
“Yeah.”
The Chieftain nodded, then said solemnly:
“Finally, I hope Xan Dorra remains forever the land of us Shandia people.”
“Hmm… claiming sovereignty?”
Obei didn’t agree immediately this time but glanced at Cinder behind her.
But he remained silent, not even giving a look.
The meaning was clear: he was leaving the negotiations entirely to Obei.
“Alright, we agree to that too. But we must retain the right to station armed forces here in the future.”
“This…”
“Don’t worry, this is just a protective measure for a subordinate territory. Ownership of Shandora remains with you.”
“We have no interest in land.”
After a brief interaction, Obei had already figured out that what these Shandia people truly valued wasn’t gold treasure, but the land itself.
To them, land was the most important and sacred thing.
“Alright then. So, cooperation…”
The Chieftain finally nodded and prepared to extend his right hand to announce the agreement, but before that, Obei spoke first.
“Since you’ve stated all your conditions, it’s our turn.”
At these words, the Shandia Chieftain and the Shandia warriors behind him were all stunned.
But ignoring their reaction, Obei continued on her own.
“First, as I said earlier, the Beasts Pirates must have the right to station armed forces in Shandora, and nominally, Shandora must be territory of the Beasts Pirates.”
“Second, you Shandia people must form a combat team and provide full cooperation when we take action in the future.”
“Third, technology sharing. You must unconditionally share all relevant technology we want to know about, such as the design ideas and processing craftsmanship of those shells and weapons.”
Hearing these conditions Obei rattled off, the Shandia side fell into silence once again.
Their original intent was to rely on outside forces to take back their hometown, free the next generation from war, and fulfill the ancestors’ last wish.
But from what the other side was saying now, the faction they wanted to rely on didn’t seem simple.
“If I may ask boldly, 【Beasts Pirates】 what is that?”
“Beasts Pirates is the name of our pirate crew. Um… you should know the concept of a pirate crew, right.”
The Chieftain nodded. Previously, pirates had drifted over from “West Heaven’s Peak,” and he knew it was a kind of illegal organization from the Blue Sea.
“Since it’s a pirate crew, then who’s the captain? Or are you the captain?”
“Our captain isn’t here, and we three are all executives in the pirate crew.”
“Captain isn’t here?”
The Chieftain grew even more curious; this seemed different from the pirate crews he’d seen before.
“That’s right, our captain didn’t come here with us.”
Seeming to notice the other side’s narrow understanding of large pirate crews, Obei continued explaining:
“In fact, the Beasts Pirates aren’t an ordinary pirate crew led by a captain plundering the sea on one or a few pirate ships.”
“We have over a dozen islands, exclusive sea areas, and routes under our flag. The area of our territory… forgive my bluntness, is much larger than the cumulus cloud we’re standing on right now.”
