The bounty group was still performing the cleaning mission at sea, while Raine piloted the Super Battleship back to Eastern Dawn Island on his own.
Upon arriving at the island, Raine headed straight to the Governor's Mansion.
The guards on the island knew Raine, so there was no unnecessary trouble as they went directly into the mansion.
"Governor, you're back!" one of the staff exclaimed happily.
Raine nodded. "What about those merchants?"
"Oh, you asked us to keep them here. They're resting in the reception area now," the staff hesitated, then continued, "Governor, they're all a bit strange... They checked in last night, but I've never seen them take off their coats."
Raine frowned and thought for a moment. What was so strange about not taking off their coats?
Whatever, he could see them now and discover any oddities.
"Call them over. Let's meet in the reception area."
"Yes, Governor. I'll do that right away."
Shortly after, seven tall people in robes appeared at the entrance of the reception area. Raine invited them in.
These people looked very strange. They were all over 1.95 meters tall, and from the hunched cloaks they wore, they seemed to be all hunchbacks... They would all be over two meters tall if they stood up straight!
Even if they were mutants, this should be their untransformed state. It was rare to see seven people all over two meters tall.
All seven of them hid under their cloaks, with their hoods pulled down low. Raine could barely see their mouths, and especially after seeing Raine, they didn't take off their hoods but instead pulled them down even lower.
"Hello, please have a seat," Raine withdrew his gaze and spoke first. "I heard you have something you want to show me."
"Thank you, Governor Raine. We're fine standing." The other party didn't make a move.
The man at the front of the group spoke, and a chill ran down Raine's spine at the sound of his voice.
His voice was extremely unpleasant as if his vocal cords were rubbing against each other in his throat, making Raine's whole body break out in goosebumps.
As soon as Onebear and Twobear saw these people, they couldn't help standing up. They stood by Raine and Fancy, ready to defend at any moment.
"We have a Sea God Fruit here, which is of very rare quality. I wonder if Governor Raine is interested."
Raine scrutinized the person and asked, "Why do you have to come to me? Why not just go to the auction house? Or find other governors to buy it? The reputation of Ten Kings and One Emporer should be much louder than me a newcomer."
"Governor Raine, we know that you have almost occupied half of the king-class sea area. From the way you manage the islands, we think that you may be different from ordinary people." A slight grin on the person's mouth, revealing a row of sharp teeth...
Raine frowned but didn't interrupt, listening to them continue.
"How could someone who even exploits their own people show mercy to underlings of a different race?" The person said, "I'm afraid that as soon as we show up, they will kill us."
As he spoke, the person took off his hood first. After seeing this, the other six also took off their hoods.
Seeing the appearance of this person, Raine, Fancy, Onebear, and Twobear were all stunned.
These people didn't look like humans at all! Their backs were curved, covered with spikes and scales, their skin was green, and their faces were definitely not the faces that humans should have. They looked more like...Naga!
Onebear and Twobear immediately transformed, "Giant Bear Transformation!"
"What are you doing? Why are you transforming here?" Onebear shouted.
Raine raised his hand to stop Onebear, "They don't seem to be in their transformation state..."
The leader smiled, "As expected of Governor Raine, you can even see that. Not bad. We didn't transform, this is our original form. We are Naga!"
Raine wasn't too afraid of them. After all, when the mutants transformed, they were almost not in human form. Seeing the Naga, he didn't feel too much.
On the contrary, he had a skill called the Naga's gaze, so to speak, he had a little connection with the Naga.
"Naga...okay, you don't have to be afraid. As long as you don't pose a threat to me or my island, I won't indiscriminately kill innocent people." Raine tried to make his tone sound calm.
"Thank you, Governor Raine." The Nage named Salada said, "Since we can communicate happily, continuing with your question, the most critical point is that other people don't have what we want."
Raine furrowed his brows. It seemed that they didn't want pearls. They didn't come to sell Sea God Fruit but to "exchange" it.
"What do you want?"
"We want a promise from you!" Salada said without hesitation.
"A promise? What promise?"
"To kill the Ice Emperor and save our people!" The seven Naga all looked at Raine, obviously more nervous than before.
"Why?" Raine didn't agree immediately.
"Governor, who doesn't know throughout the king-class sea area that you have been preparing to fight the Ice Emperor? In that case, why not take the opportunity to agree to us and ask so many questions?"
Raine smiled slightly, "Who said I have to fight the Ice Emperor to the death? My relationship with the Ice Emperor has nothing to do with our transaction. If you want to do business with me, please show some sincerity. If you're being evasive, I'm sorry, I don't want to be used as a tool by anyone."
Salada hesitated a bit and turned to talk to his companions in another language.
"Jirijiri scrch, lā jī guā..."
"Grbge xīwǎ, jīlǐ guā..."
"Jigujigū, pā lā xīmǐ guā..."
Raine was speechless.
After much discussion, Salada turned to Raine and said, "Governor, okay, I'll tell you the truth, but you must promise to keep it a secret."
Millions of years ago, the Naga clan, a branch of humans, began to live underwater. They kept their distance from human society and rarely appeared in the human eye. However, the arrival of the Azure Era changed this situation completely.
"The changes on Earth have caused the current situation. Our territory overlaps with humans, sea monsters, and other creatures, and there are also two factions within our own clan. The hawks advocate fighting for territory with other races, while the doves advocate continuing to survive cautiously in the cracks."
"Twenty years ago, the strongest sea monster in the King-class waters, the Mermaid King, was actually not a real sea monster. He was a strong member of our hawk faction, Lusa..."
"At that time, a navy defeated Lusa, and the Ice Emperor took advantage of the situation to raid our Naga clan's territory, seizing all our resources and then freezing hundreds of thousands of our clan members in the frigid sea..."
"In fact, the so-called hawks were also forced to do so because our living space was getting smaller and smaller. They are also our clan members, and we cannot ignore them."
"The Ice Emperor's strength is stronger than the super-strong person who defeated Lusa back then, especially after obtaining our Naga clan's advanced skills, his strength has increased dramatically. Therefore, we have to request Governor to help us rescue our clan members!"
Raine looked at Salada in surprise. Not only was he shocked by the Naga clan's past, but also by the fact that the Ice Emperor's personal strength was so strong. Even Trajan was no match for him.
The bounty group was still performing the cleaning mission at sea, while Raine piloted the Super Battleship back to Eastern Dawn Island on his own.
Upon arriving at the island, Raine headed straight to the Governor's Mansion.
The guards on the island knew Raine, so there was no unnecessary trouble as they went directly into the mansion.
"Governor, you're back!" one of the staff exclaimed happily.
Raine nodded. "What about those merchants?"
"Oh, you asked us to keep them here. They're resting in the reception area now," the staff hesitated, then continued, "Governor, they're all a bit strange... They checked in last night, but I've never seen them take off their coats."
Raine frowned and thought for a moment. What was so strange about not taking off their coats?
Whatever, he could see them now and discover any oddities.
"Call them over. Let's meet in the reception area."
"Yes, Governor. I'll do that right away."
Shortly after, seven tall people in robes appeared at the entrance of the reception area. Raine invited them in.
These people looked very strange. They were all over 1.95 meters tall, and from the hunched cloaks they wore, they seemed to be all hunchbacks... They would all be over two meters tall if they stood up straight!
Even if they were mutants, this should be their untransformed state. It was rare to see seven people all over two meters tall.
All seven of them hid under their cloaks, with their hoods pulled down low. Raine could barely see their mouths, and especially after seeing Raine, they didn't take off their hoods but instead pulled them down even lower.
"Hello, please have a seat," Raine withdrew his gaze and spoke first. "I heard you have something you want to show me."
"Thank you, Governor Raine. We're fine standing." The other party didn't make a move.
The man at the front of the group spoke, and a chill ran down Raine's spine at the sound of his voice.
His voice was extremely unpleasant as if his vocal cords were rubbing against each other in his throat, making Raine's whole body break out in goosebumps.
As soon as Onebear and Twobear saw these people, they couldn't help standing up. They stood by Raine and Fancy, ready to defend at any moment.
"We have a Sea God Fruit here, which is of very rare quality. I wonder if Governor Raine is interested."
Raine scrutinized the person and asked, "Why do you have to come to me? Why not just go to the auction house? Or find other governors to buy it? The reputation of Ten Kings and One Emporer should be much louder than me a newcomer."
"Governor Raine, we know that you have almost occupied half of the king-class sea area. From the way you manage the islands, we think that you may be different from ordinary people." A slight grin on the person's mouth, revealing a row of sharp teeth...
Raine frowned but didn't interrupt, listening to them continue.
"How could someone who even exploits their own people show mercy to underlings of a different race?" The person said, "I'm afraid that as soon as we show up, they will kill us."
As he spoke, the person took off his hood first. After seeing this, the other six also took off their hoods.
Seeing the appearance of this person, Raine, Fancy, Onebear, and Twobear were all stunned.
These people didn't look like humans at all! Their backs were curved, covered with spikes and scales, their skin was green, and their faces were definitely not the faces that humans should have. They looked more like...Naga!
Onebear and Twobear immediately transformed, "Giant Bear Transformation!"
"What are you doing? Why are you transforming here?" Onebear shouted.
Raine raised his hand to stop Onebear, "They don't seem to be in their transformation state..."
The leader smiled, "As expected of Governor Raine, you can even see that. Not bad. We didn't transform, this is our original form. We are Naga!"
Raine wasn't too afraid of them. After all, when the mutants transformed, they were almost not in human form. Seeing the Naga, he didn't feel too much.
On the contrary, he had a skill called the Naga's gaze, so to speak, he had a little connection with the Naga.
"Naga...okay, you don't have to be afraid. As long as you don't pose a threat to me or my island, I won't indiscriminately kill innocent people." Raine tried to make his tone sound calm.
"Thank you, Governor Raine." The Nage named Salada said, "Since we can communicate happily, continuing with your question, the most critical point is that other people don't have what we want."
Raine furrowed his brows. It seemed that they didn't want pearls. They didn't come to sell Sea God Fruit but to "exchange" it.
"What do you want?"
"We want a promise from you!" Salada said without hesitation.
"A promise? What promise?"
"To kill the Ice Emperor and save our people!" The seven Naga all looked at Raine, obviously more nervous than before.
"Why?" Raine didn't agree immediately.
"Governor, who doesn't know throughout the king-class sea area that you have been preparing to fight the Ice Emperor? In that case, why not take the opportunity to agree to us and ask so many questions?"
Raine smiled slightly, "Who said I have to fight the Ice Emperor to the death? My relationship with the Ice Emperor has nothing to do with our transaction. If you want to do business with me, please show some sincerity. If you're being evasive, I'm sorry, I don't want to be used as a tool by anyone."
Salada hesitated a bit and turned to talk to his companions in another language.
"Jirijiri scrch, lā jī guā..."
"Grbge xīwǎ, jīlǐ guā..."
"Jigujigū, pā lā xīmǐ guā..."
Raine was speechless.
After much discussion, Salada turned to Raine and said, "Governor, okay, I'll tell you the truth, but you must promise to keep it a secret."
Millions of years ago, the Naga clan, a branch of humans, began to live underwater. They kept their distance from human society and rarely appeared in the human eye. However, the arrival of the Azure Era changed this situation completely.
"The changes on Earth have caused the current situation. Our territory overlaps with humans, sea monsters, and other creatures, and there are also two factions within our own clan. The hawks advocate fighting for territory with other races, while the doves advocate continuing to survive cautiously in the cracks."
"Twenty years ago, the strongest sea monster in the King-class waters, the Mermaid King, was actually not a real sea monster. He was a strong member of our hawk faction, Lusa..."
"At that time, a navy defeated Lusa, and the Ice Emperor took advantage of the situation to raid our Naga clan's territory, seizing all our resources and then freezing hundreds of thousands of our clan members in the frigid sea..."
"In fact, the so-called hawks were also forced to do so because our living space was getting smaller and smaller. They are also our clan members, and we cannot ignore them."
"The Ice Emperor's strength is stronger than the super-strong person who defeated Lusa back then, especially after obtaining our Naga clan's advanced skills, his strength has increased dramatically. Therefore, we have to request Governor to help us rescue our clan members!"
Raine looked at Salada in surprise. Not only was he shocked by the Naga clan's past, but also by the fact that the Ice Emperor's personal strength was so strong. Even Trajan was no match for him.
