"The port of Machu Island is already visible, and everything seems calm at the moment," Thalesco said from the lookout, holding his hand to his brow.
"Everything calm? Is it because the day hasn't arrived yet?" Willie wondered, feeling a little frustrated. He was eager to fight.
"Why don't we take advantage of the fact that the Double-Headed Wolves haven't arrived yet and seize the port to ambush them?" Arlong suggested violently.
Tiger shook his head and said, "No, we can't hide. And there will definitely be Double-Headed Wolves scouts locally. It's best not to get close."
Compared to rescuing slaves, Arlong and Willie were clearly more concerned with punishing the slave-hunting team—anyway, those being rescued this time should all be humans, not their compatriots.
However, Tiger clearly didn't think so. His goal was to rescue slaves and didn't want to alert the enemy.
"Tiger, boss, are we just going to wait like this? I mean... what if those bastards quietly gather and leave?" Arlong still wanted to persuade Tiger.
To avoid alerting the enemy, they could only watch from a distance.
Ordinary pirates might not be recognized, but the characteristics of the Sun Pirates were too obvious!
Last week, in the newspaper delivered by the News Coo, everyone saw that the headline was the Mary Geoise incident—but the report was altered to "Fish-Man thug Tiger plundered a slave ship about to arrive at Mary Geoise at the port," and didn't really explain the chaos at Mary Geoise at the time.
The Fish-Man Pirates were defined as vicious pirates who robbed slave ships and looted legitimate merchant ships.
Tiger, Jinbe, Aladine, Arlong, and Willie all had bounties. Makro might have been too low-profile to be noticed.
However, for the all-Fish-Man "Sun Pirates," not being wanted was still eye-catching. Even the authorities didn't write the name "Sun Pirates," always using the obvious "Fish-Man Pirates."
As Tiger was hesitating, Sieg took the initiative to step forward: "Tiger, boss, I'll go to the island!"
Seeing Sieg, Tiger was first stunned, then understood Sieg's meaning.
Although Sieg usually maintains his Fish-Man state on the ship to better integrate with everyone, except when he's asleep, he can completely transform into a human!
"Tch." Arlong made a disdainful sound.
Obviously, he also knew that his plan to encourage Tiger to take the port had failed.
"That's right, and Little Feifei... that's great! I'll leave it to you." Tiger said, taking a strange-looking short gun from his lower back and handing it to Sieg: "This is a signal gun. Take it with you, and if you find the slave-hunting team appearing, or if there's any danger, fire it into the sky."
Sieg took the gun and nodded heavily.
Tiger also called Sieg "Little Feifei," but Sieg could feel that Tiger wasn't as close to him as he seemed on the surface. In terms of heartfelt recognition of Sieg, Tiger was far inferior to Jinbe.
Tiger's attitude towards Sieg was complex, stemming from his complex attitude towards humans...
In his subconscious, Tiger was very hostile to humans, but rationally, he knew he shouldn't think that way. No one knew better than him that the only ones worth hating were the slave-hunting teams and slave owners among humans. Many ordinary people were victims just like the Fish-Men.
It was just that emotionally, Tiger couldn't convince himself to let go.
The reason he acted so friendly towards Sieg wasn't because he was two-faced. After all, he was the captain, not Sieg.
Tiger didn't want this hatred to continue to other Fish-Men, so he always tried to be friendly to Sieg, who was of "mixed blood," and didn't show any dislike towards humans.
Sieg also understood Tiger's feelings very well. If Tiger were a Celestial Dragon, Sieg would definitely not be able to let go.
...
With the signal gun in his mouth, Sieg swam all the way from a distance where the port was only vaguely visible to a secluded shore.
He kept his head above the water to prevent the signal gun from getting wet, but the speed wasn't slow.
Since it was already evening and Sieg landed on the rocky beach, he didn't attract any attention.
The Snapper Head had circled Machu Island from afar before. The island wasn't large, and the only large settlement should be the town where the port was located.
After landing, Sieg no longer maintained his Fish-Man features and headed towards the town as a human.
After quietly sneaking into a warehouse behind a clothing store, he chose an inconspicuous outfit—a short-sleeved shirt worn open—and changed out of his soaked clothes.
After considering it, Sieg didn't leave any money...
Sieg also had money on him. In the small money bag on his waist, there were hundreds of 500-Berry coins, which were the largest denomination of coins.
These "small change" were scavenged from the Navy before. Everyone pooled together and gave the coins to Sieg.
After all, the Sun Pirates wouldn't attack merchant ships, and the Navy didn't carry much money, so there were even fewer coins.
It was estimated that the Sun Pirates would only become rich by robbing someone blind sometime!
Tens of thousands of Berries were enough, but Sieg estimated that he was taking the most common type of clothing. Not leaving money might not be noticed, and it was normal to be short one piece of clothing, so it might not be suspected that a thief broke in.
But if someone quietly left money, it would seem bizarre, adding to the possibility of being discovered.
Moreover, Sieg's morals had deteriorated severely now. If there was a reason not to pay, he would naturally save money!
After wandering around the town, he didn't attract any suspicion. Then, Sieg found the liveliest tavern.
He asked the bartender what the signature drink was, and the answer was beer... which slightly disappointed Sieg, but he still ordered a large glass to try.
The three most popular drinks at sea were wine, rum, and beer. Wine was undoubtedly the most high-end, but also the most expensive, and not strong enough, so pirates generally stocked rum.
Rum was fermented from sugar cane syrup, which was not only cheap but also, like wine, could prevent scurvy, and was stronger than wine.
As for the cheapest beer, it was simply more resistant to spoilage than fresh water and had no preventive effect on scurvy...
Of course, for the Sun Pirates, scurvy was not a concern, as everyone had different physiological structures!
It was just that, because of the Fish-Man warriors' preference for spirits, plus the Navy as the "supplier," the official unified supplies stocked during long voyages were rum, so the Snapper Head was also stocked with rum.
While drinking beer, Sieg blended into the atmosphere of the tavern, while also quietly observing his surroundings, hoping to get some useful information...