Buggy was the first to complete and submit his task. He placed a thick stack of densely written pages onto Davy Jones' desk.

It wasn't hard for Davy Jones to suspect that Buggy might have already known all of this. The information didn't seem like it had been freshly gathered through investigation.

Still, Davy Jones didn't care how Buggy had come to know about Haki. He only cared about the results.

As he flipped through the bundle of documents Buggy had compiled, Davy Jones couldn't help but be impressed.

He hadn't expected Haki to be such a deep and intricate art. Without several years of training, there was no way to master it.

But without Haki, he'd be at a major disadvantage on the Grand Line.

Fortunately, he could harvest fear to accelerate that process.

Alvida hadn't submitted her report yet. While the Terror Ghost was docked under the cover of thick sea mist, she took a small boat Buggy had built and rowed to a nearby coastal town to investigate and gather supplies.

Davy Jones wasn't worried about her running away. After all, he'd given her the chance before, and she chose to stay. If she did run now, he would simply make good on his promise—to hunt her down to the ends of the earth.

He had done that too many times in his original world to count. He was well-practiced in such things.

Knock knock knock.

There was a knock at the door.

Davy Jones looked up from Buggy's documents and saw Kuro standing silently in the doorway. He nodded, allowing him to enter.

Kuro had come to deliver his design for their pirate flag—this was already the third version.

"Captain, please have a look."

Davy Jones took it and examined it. This time, the design featured a classic white skull on a black background, flanked by a crab claw on the left, a tentacle on the right, and a pistol in the center.

All of these were symbols associated with Davy Jones himself—visually distinctive and easy to recognize.

"Hmm..." Davy Jones watched as his tentacles curled thoughtfully. "This one's not bad either. But after seeing all three, I still think the first version is the best."

The first version had no skull at all. Instead, it depicted the giant, monstrous head of a deep-sea beast, with thick tentacles sprawling across the bottom half of the flag. Its eerie gray-blue eyes stared out menacingly.

Fortunately, Kuro had kept that first draft and now presented it again for review.

"This is the one," Davy Jones finally declared. "Kuro, work with Buggy to get the flag manufactured as soon as possible."

"Yes, Captain."

Kuro calmly exited, and Davy Jones returned to reading Buggy's report.

Some time later, he sensed a small boat approaching the Terror Ghost, and someone climbing aboard.

Since neither Buggy nor Kuro raised an alarm, it had to be Alvida.

Sure enough, soft footsteps soon echoed outside the room.

Before long, that slender figure appeared in the doorway.

"Captain, I've returned," Alvida said with a respectful bow.

Davy Jones gestured. "Come in."

Alvida entered, set her spiked mace aside, and took out a notebook filled with notes she had compiled, as well as a simple sketch map of Cocoyasi Village.

However, both her writing and her drawing were… rather ugly.

Only after her explanations could Davy Jones decipher what she had written and drawn.

Alvida felt slightly embarrassed and resolved to practice her penmanship in the future.

Davy Jones studied the map of Cocoyasi Village.

It was situated along the coast, with Shell Town to the right and Arlong Park to the left. Arlong Park, of course, was the headquarters of the Arlong Pirates.

Over twenty villages and towns in the area were effectively under Arlong's control.

Under the guise of "protection fees," he had become the de facto ruler of the region. Anyone who refused to pay was met with cruel and often deadly retribution.

The villagers had tried to resist, but every uprising had ended in tragedy—Arlong's crew would annihilate the rebels, razing entire villages to the ground.

The strength gap between normal humans and fish-men was simply too great. Every confrontation was a one-sided massacre.

The naval officer in charge of the region was Captain Nezumi of the local Marine branch.

He was suspected of colluding with the Arlong Pirates—how else could he turn a blind eye to what was happening in over twenty different settlements?

This wasn't something that could be hidden. The affected area was far too large.

Everyone living nearby knew something about it. But no one dared to speak up.

They all knew the fate that awaited anyone who tried.

And the worst part? It wasn't just the whistleblower who suffered—an entire village could be punished for one person's actions.

Even if the Navy did respond to a report, it might not make much difference.

For one, the Arlong Pirates were all fish-men, and incredibly powerful. Sending just a few soldiers would be pointless.

For another, any report sent would likely be intercepted or buried by the Marine branch itself.

To be honest, Davy Jones wasn't particularly interested in Cocoyasi Village or the plight of the nearby towns.

His methods were quite different from Arlong's.

Davy Jones valued contracts and deals. As long as an agreement was reached, he rarely killed, and never involved innocent parties.

Arlong, on the other hand, treated the villagers like livestock—chickens and ducks that laid golden eggs. If one stopped laying eggs, he'd slaughter the entire coop.

In other words, Davy Jones prioritized profit, while Arlong prioritized slaughter and the thrill of absolute dominance.

Davy Jones flipped to the next page.

There was information on the members of the Arlong Pirates. Their leader was, of course, Arlong, and all the officers and crew were fish-men.

Unfortunately, there were no photographs. Alvida couldn't help with that.

There was, however, supposed to be one human member of the Arlong Pirates: Nami.

But this was a well-kept secret—known only to the Arlong Pirates and the people of Cocoyasi Village—so Alvida hadn't managed to uncover it.

The remaining crew details weren't particularly remarkable. That was, until Davy Jones reached the last page.

There, drawn in charcoal, was a rough sketch of a sea beast—bull horns, a bull's head, and other similar features were just about visible.

"What's this?" Davy Jones asked, though he already had a guess.

Alvida leaned over to glance at it. "Captain, that's a sea beast. It's said the Arlong Pirates are raising this creature, originally from the Grand Line. Its name is Momoo the Sea Cow."

"A sea beast?" Davy Jones asked curiously. "What's the difference between that and a Sea King?"

Alvida explained, "Sea Kings are much larger, more intelligent, and live longer. They usually dwell in the Calm Belt or the deep sea and are extremely hard to tame. Sea beasts are smaller and much easier to domesticate."

Davy Jones was mildly disappointed. He had hoped this might be the first Sea King he encountered.

But then again—if even sea beasts were that large, just how big were Sea Kings?

The size of an island?

Could they be even larger than his own Behemoth from the North Sea?

If he could somehow capture one and tame it… a second Northern Sea Behemoth…

Though it wasn't a Sea King, a sea beast would suffice—for now.

Davy Jones nodded quietly, then asked, "How far are we from Cocoyasi Village?"

"At our current pace, we should arrive in about half a day," Alvida answered honestly.

That was based on the Terror Ghost's speed, which now rivaled a Marine warship.

Originally, the ship only needed a bit over a week more of sailing to reach Reverse Mountain at the Red Line.

But Davy Jones had deliberately detoured, wanting to see the native fish-men of this region for himself—even at the cost of time.

"Did you manage to get all the supplies?"

Alvida smiled. "Yes, Captain. They're all in the small boat. Buggy and Kuro are unloading them now."

"Tell them to hurry. We set sail in fifteen minutes. We've stayed here long enough."

"Yes, Captain. I'll let them know right away."

A short while later, the Terror Ghost set sail once again.

Less than half a day passed before the crew spotted a coastline ahead from the prow.

"If we're on course, this should be Shell Town," Alvida said, pointing to a small dot on the map. "Just a bit farther is Cocoyasi Village, then Arlong Park."

A soft fog surrounded the Terror Ghost as it silently passed by Shell Town and came to a stop at Cocoyasi Village's small, worn-out harbor.

As usual, Buggy stayed behind to guard the ship. Davy Jones led Alvida and Kuro ashore, walking along the rural paths of Cocoyasi Village.

But they hadn't gone far when the ship caught the attention of patrolling fish-men.

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