One Piece: Shanks' Little Jasmine

Chapter 56 Killing the Chicken to Warn the Monkey

The driftwood quickly carried the merchant ship to the surface of the sea. A gentle sea breeze blew softly through the waves, and the sounds of the waves and the cries of seagulls drifted by. Moko's Vivre Card swayed slightly in one direction. After looking at it for a while, Moko carefully put the Vivre Card away from her body.

Before heading to the agreed meeting point, you need to go to Jasmine's branch island. The weather in the New World is unpredictable. If it is your first time in the New World and you do not have a professional navigator or a permanent compass for a specific island, you will not be able to find the right way on this boundless sea.

Of course, this is on the premise that it is for someone who is new to the New World. This is Moko's second time in the New World. She has some understanding of the climate and navigation of the New World. In addition to learning medicine and ship management when she was a child, Moko also had some knowledge of navigation.

To prevent too many people from knowing about Moko's existence, Roger selectively allowed her to participate in battles at sea. While others went to fight, Moko often stayed on the ship alone. During this time, Moko was not idle; she thoroughly learned the skills required for navigation, to the point that even Shanks could not compare to her in navigation.

On the deck, Moko was sketching on a map with a pen in hand. Several obviously immature boys and girls stood beside her. These were navigators that Moko had specially trained to ensure that Moko could travel freely in the world's seas in the future.

These are some of the most outstanding individuals. It's impossible for Mo to personally teach everyone. By teaching these few in person, and then having them teach the rest, the time and effort required will be greatly reduced. Fortunately, these individuals learn very quickly, so Mo doesn't need to worry about them causing problems when teaching the others later.

"The magnetic storage in the new world is very different from the first half. Currently, the forces that have cooperated with us in the new world have already sent over the permanent pointers from their islands, so there's no need to collect them again for now. If there are new cooperation opportunities later, you will be responsible for collecting and storing them. As for the theoretical knowledge, I've already had Yubi give you the information. If you have any questions later, feel free to ask me."

"Yes!"

After letting the others figure it out on their own, Moko breathed a sigh of relief, walked to a table and chairs and sat down. Without resting for long, she began to deal with other documents. Moko had a lot of things to deal with every day. Although Yubi and others usually handled a lot, there were still many things that Moko needed to decide, especially after arriving at the Grand Line, there were even more things to do. She had also accumulated a lot of things because she had been in the Navy for a period of time.

"Sister Moko."

Yubi approached Moko, bowed, and called out softly. Moko, without stopping her work, nodded in response.

"We've caught the bug, what should we do with it?"

Moko paused slightly with her pen, but the next second she highlighted the problematic parts of the document, as if the pause had been just an illusion.

"You decide what to do."

"Yes."

Having received Moko's answer, Yubi obediently left, and the coldness in her eyes as she turned away was chilling.

As a new force that suddenly emerged on the Grand Line, Jasmine has no background or backing, yet it manages to monopolize a large portion of the market. Its daily profits alone are a considerable sum. Faced with such enormous profits, countless people with ulterior motives naturally want to get involved. If they could, they would even want to tear a piece of Jasmine off its body.

Nowadays, there are quite a few spies from other forces infiltrating Moka, but because they can only linger at the bottom, they get very little benefit. So almost every month, Yubi receives a lot of reports from these spies on how they infiltrate the management. Of course, Yubi doesn't let Moka see these reports and feel annoyed, but even if Moka saw them, she wouldn't care.

She was able to maintain stable development for Moka after entering the Grand Line, not only because Shanks had the power to intimidate certain forces, but also because of Moka's own methods. Moka had been involved in the ship's finances and power management since she was a child with Rayleigh, and had handled many of these matters. Now, these people's methods were so clumsy that Moka had no interest in playing along.

They're just some harmless clowns, and all their actions are under Moko's watchful eye. Since those people can rest easy with their spies, why should Moko bother to remove them and cause more trouble? As for those worms hiding deeper inside, they'd better hide themselves well and not reveal a single trace, or the consequences could be unpredictable.

Moko could tolerate these people constantly passing on various messages to the people behind her, and even making some small profits. After all, if she was going to eat meat, others had to get some soup too. But not caring didn't mean she could let them be so arrogant and repeatedly test her bottom line. Now that they were directly attacking Moxiang's people, extending their claws into Moko's minefield, and trying to obtain what didn't belong to them, Moko needed to make an example of them and remind these insects whose territory they were on.

The island where the accident occurred is called Ophelia, a small island with a spring-like climate all year round. Flowers bloom on the island year-round, and different flowers can be seen covering the mountains every month, making it a true flower island.

Ophelian Island is not too far from the Red Line, about three or four days' sailing time. While the island is beautiful, it is not unique, as there are many similar islands. Ophelian Island is not particularly rich in resources, so it is not very prosperous. However, the island's power structure is simple, making it a suitable starting island for Jasmine to establish herself in the New World.

The main reason is that Shanks' affiliated island is nearby. Even if Jasmine becomes the king of this island, she doesn't have to worry about other forces interfering or making irresponsible remarks. In addition, its geographical location makes it a pretty good transit island later on.

(Shanks: Proud~?乛︶乛?)

Jasmine has a separate port in Ophelia, which is only open to Jasmine's merchant ships and ships authorized by Moko. Everyone else, even the Emperor of the Sea, has to go to Ophelia's public port. This is the confidence that comes from having a powerful backer.

Upon arriving at Ophelian Island, Yubi and Moko gestured to each other before heading down the stairs to the Jasmine Wine Cellar. Below the Jasmine Wine Cellar was the dungeon, which had been empty for a long time. At this moment, a group of people were chained up in the dungeon. The dungeon had no windows, only a dim ceiling light illuminating it. Apart from the dim light, the dungeon was not too bad in other aspects. It was neither damp nor dirty, and it was obviously much better than the dungeon in Chambord.

A faint gust of wind rustled through the spiraling staircase, causing the overhead light, connected by a thin rope, to sway from side to side. The shadows beneath the light also swayed back and forth, as if the restless hearts of a few people were locked away.

The overhead light gradually stopped swaying. Before the group could even breathe a sigh of relief, a series of footsteps suddenly echoed in the empty and silent dungeon. The footsteps grew louder as they approached, each step seeming to pound on people's hearts. The people in the dungeon were slightly startled and, like frightened birds, all looked towards the dungeon's stairwell.

Under the light, the long, thin shadow at the top of the stairs gradually shortened until Yubi's figure appeared from the bend. Perhaps it was because of Yubi's youth and innocence, or perhaps it was because of the smile on Yubi's face, but the group inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief, and even their eyes showed a hint of disdain.

Unlike her usual obedient demeanor in front of Moko, Yubi exuded a cold aura at this moment. If you looked closely, you would find that the smile on Yubi's face did not reach her eyes, and she did not make people feel kind at all, but rather inexplicably frightened.

Yubi casually found a chair and sat down directly opposite the cell door. His gaze quickly swept over the locked-up people, taking in their expressions. He couldn't help but find their disdain somewhat amusing.

The group stared at Yubi without saying a word. Yubi rested his chin on one hand and tapped the armrest of his seat with his right hand, again and again. Although he looked like an insignificant young boy, the tapping sounded like a countdown to death to the group, making them tremble.

Time ticked by, and the group remained stubbornly fixed on Yubi. They were gambling that the young man in front of them would be wary of the people behind them and wouldn't dare to attack them. But unfortunately, they didn't understand Yubi.

Who the other party was, who was behind them, and how powerful they were were all outside of Yubi's considerations. The only thing Yubi cared about was that these people had caused trouble for Moko-neechan. He was not as merciful as Moko-neechan. Over the years, he was no longer the fragile and vulnerable child he once was. On the road to building Moko, his hands were stained with a lot of blood, and without exception, all those who died at his hands were people who wanted to stop Moko-neechan.

"It's a pity you lost the chance to die easily. To be honest, I'm not interested in the people behind you. If I hadn't been too lazy to investigate, you wouldn't have had the right to live when you attacked Jasmine's people."

Yubi slowly stood up, his entire body backlit, still sporting that impeccable friendly smile. His enormous shadow enveloped the group in the dungeon, and fear gradually crept into their eyes. They finally realized that Yubi wasn't joking, but at this moment, they had no chance to beg for mercy.

The weather on the island was lovely today. Moko had the documents moved to the second-floor balcony. A warm sea breeze blew through the wind chimes, creating a crisp tinkling sound. Moko had changed into a white and pink cheongsam with wide, inverted sleeves. A wide, off-white chiffon shawl was casually draped over the back of a chair. Her long pink hair was simply styled into a bun and secured to one side with a delicate jasmine-shaped hair accessory. The remaining hair fell gracefully down, and the warm sunlight seemed to bathe Moko in a warm glow, making her appear even more gentle and graceful.

"Is it all resolved?"

Mo Ke spoke in a calm voice, her pen writing words on the document, seemingly unconcerned about how the people in the dungeon were dealt with, as if it were just a casual question.

"It's all taken care of. We've also sent Darth to investigate the forces behind it. As for the escaped bug, it seems to be a Devil Fruit user. We're still searching for it."

Yubi had changed into clean clothes and was respectfully reporting to Moko, showing no trace of the ruthless demeanor he had displayed in the dungeon. Moko didn't rush to respond and continued processing her documents, leaving only the clear sound of a bell on the balcony.

Moko remained silent. Yubi poured Moko a cup of hot tea and then stood aside like a wooden statue. Only after writing the last word on the document and closing it did Moko look up at Yubi.

"No need to look anymore. They're just scapegoats being pushed out. The real mastermind won't reveal themselves so easily. The current deterrent is enough."

"Yes, then I'll go and get the search party back."

"Go."

Mo Ke picked up her teacup, her eyelids slightly lowered, watching the ripples spreading across the teacup. A cold glint flashed in her eyes; it seemed she would be more well-behaved for the next few months.

Not far from Ophelian Island, a huge whale-shaped ship was anchored, with many figures moving about on its deck, looking very busy.

"Hey Marco, we've arrived at Ophelia. Are you going with the ship or what?"

A tall, muscular man on the deck shouted to a man with a pineapple-shaped haircut at the stern. The man was wearing a purple collared jacket that revealed his well-defined eight-pack abs, paired with black capri pants. He rested his elbows on the edge of the ship, looking relaxed and casual.

Hearing the sounds coming from the deck, it merely lifted its closed eyelids slightly and slowly responded to the sounds from the deck.

"No need, I'll go alone first, you guys can come and meet me later, YO~"

Before he could finish speaking, blue flames covered his arms, which slowly transformed into a pair of huge blue and yellow wings. In the blink of an eye, he soared into the sky.

"Ah, it's really great to be able to fly, Marco, remember to buy plenty of wine!"

The person who spoke only hesitated for a moment before shouting for Marco to bring more wine. Since he couldn't fly, he should drink more wine that could be bought by those who could fly. Whether Marco, who had already flown far away, heard him or not depended on whether Marco wanted to hear him or not.