Just like the West Blue, where gangs flourish, and the East Blue, the weakest and most rural of the seas, the South Blue also has its own unique trait—here, chanical creations are extrely popular.
Besides that future Supernova Kid, who ate the Magnet-Magnet Fruit and can create all kinds of chanical beasts and railguns, the future Straw Hat mber Franky also cos from the South Blue.
And aside from the two of them, there are plenty of craftsn in the South Blue skilled in making all kinds of machines.
But the strange thing is... the weapons here aren’t much better than those in the West Blue, perhaps even worse. Flintlock rifles remain the mainstay.
However, many pirates or bounty hunters skilled in chanics often modify their weapons. Though they still look like outdated flintlocks, their performance far surpasses sothing like a Chicago.
As for daily life, one can also see all sorts of chanical modifications. But, just like in other seas, the commoners in the South Blue are impoverished.
This ans most of these chanical facilities are cobbled together from scrap tal, giving the place a strong wasteland punk vibe.
Of course, where there is poverty, there is also wealth. Yet the wealthy royals and nobles often dismiss the chanical technology developed by the commoners, treating it with disdain. In that sense, they are no different from the upper classes of other seas.
The few wealthy people who do use chanical technology apply it only for luxury and comfort.
Also, although the South Blue is advanced in chanics, that knowledge is rarely applied to shipbuilding.
Even pirates with chanical expertise seldom think of modifying their ships. Instead, they focus on weapons... and themselves.
This is one of the reasons why Sherwin felt the South Blue carried that wasteland punk atmosphere.
Among the pirates here, cyborgs are not uncommon. But most of them just attach cheap-looking chanical prosthetics. High-grade cyborgs like Franky or Queen—Sherwin hadn’t seen any of those here yet.
It probably has to do with the limited resources and materials available in the South Blue.
Still, compared to the West Blue, where gangs run rampant, the chanical industry in the South Blue is not nearly as widespread.
After all, even for commoners to tinker with machines, they still need scrap tal to salvage. But many islands in the South Blue have neither scrap tal to scavenge nor the ti and effort to do so.
These islands are either trapped in long-standing wars or so poor that even passing pirates can’t be bothered to give them a glance.
In that sense, it resembles the East Blue—so islands are thriving, so suffer in misery, but most lie sowhere in between. Not the worst, but far from good.
Scenes like this, Sherwin and his companions had already witnessed countless tis in the East and West Blues.
It not that these kingdoms and towns don’t want better developnt—it just that the annual Heavenly Tribute leaves them with no strength or resources to grow.
When the people encounter a decent ruler, life may not be prosperous, but at least it remains tolerable.
However, if they happen to fall under the rule of a foolish king, their island will quickly sink into the ranks of those suffering in misery.
It was precisely because Sherwin had seen such situations countless tis that he gradually ca to understand why this world produced so many pirates...
There are indeed many who beco pirates for plunder, treasure hunting, or chasing dreams. But just as many set sail and resort to robbery simply to survive.
So others, pushed too far or by accident offending nobles or royalty, are left with no choice but to flee to the sea and beco pirates.
Among them, a few may still hold onto their conscience and avoid oppressing civilians. But most eventually fall in line with the rest, sinking into the sa corruption.
The logic is the sa as in ancient tis—whenever disaster or war struck, countless bandits would appear. Many of them started out with no other choice.
But once they experienced the gains of "profit without cost" and realized they could commit such acts with little chance of punishnt, how many could resist the temptation? How many would give up the easy path of indulgence to return to the bitter, starving life they once had?
And while Sherwin did feel sympathy for the oppressed common folk, he had no power to change their fate. Improving the economy of even a single village was beyond him.
Even if he sohow managed it, as long as the Heavenly Tribute wasn’t abolished, pirates would still roam free, and honest, hard-working people would inevitably sink back into precarious poverty.
So, all Sherwin could do was follow the route planned by Haibara ow—traveling along, sightseeing, buying local specialties, collecting material for his writing, taking down pirates they ran into along the way and cashing in their bounties, and of course, gathering any famous swords and Devil Fruits he could find...
After wiping out a pirate stronghold, Link ow returned dragging the weapon of the defeated pirate leader and handed it over to Sherwin.
"Thanks for your hard work."Sherwin rubbed Link ow furry head in gratitude before taking the spear he offered.
(=ω=)After nuzzling Sherwin for a mont, Link ow then trotted off to join Seijuro ow in cleaning up the battlefield...
Since this was an assault on a pirate base, there were quite a lot of enemies to cut down. For that reason, Sherwin didn’t bring along Klee ow or Haibara ow.
Haibara ow naturally had to stay behind to look after the two little ones (mainly Klee ow).
As for Sanji ow, there was no need to ask—wherever Haibara ow went, he followed. So in the end, only Seijuro ow and the newly joined Link ow accompanied Sherwin.
Sherwin himself didn’t help clean up the battlefield. Instead, he first took the ti to carefully examine the so-called "fad blade" now in his hands.
The spear blade was very long, making up nearly a third of its total length, so at first glance it looked more like a sword with an extended handle.
At the base of the spearhead was also a crescent-shaped curved blade about thirty centiters wide, giving the weapon a look sowhat reminiscent of a trident.
Although the design of this spear seed rather strange, Sherwin didn’t mind. Not only did he normally not use spears, but even if he really wanted to wield it, he wouldn’t find it awkward.
After all, in the Monster Hunter world, the designs of their weapons were far more flashy and bizarre than this one.
What mattered most was... this weapon was without a doubt one of the genuine Excellent Grade Blades, and its na was "Astaroth."
This was one of the clearer pieces of information Morgans had passed to him, and it just so happened to lie along the route Sherwin and his group were taking.
According to Morgans’ intel, this spear had originally been part of the royal collection of the Kingdom of Ziado, near this island. As for why it ended up in the hands of pirates...
It was because those pirates had once been soldiers of the Ziado Kingdom who betrayed their holand.
Each year, they would send a portion of their loot back to the Ziado royal family in exchange for more weapons, equipnt, and food.
Sherwin was just a passing bounty hunter, so there was no way he could know about such hidden matters.
He had only co because he was short on money, planning to earn a bit of bounty and, along the way, collect so "nad blades."
While Sherwin and the Felynes were cleaning up the battlefield, Link ow and Seijuro ow twitched their ears at the sa ti, then looked toward the distant sky.
Following their gaze, Sherwin saw a figure wearing a tall top hat flying toward them. Strapped to his back was sothing resembling a jet pack—that was the reason he could fly in the air.
As the figure drew closer, he hovered in midair, then pulled out a strangely designed pistol and aid it straight at Sherwin.
"What this guy deal?"
Sherwin scratched his head, then tilted it toward the little lynx beside him. "Link, shoot him down."
He couldn’t quite understand why the newcor would try to attack him right off the bat, but Sherwin was not the kind of person to just sit there and take it. Even though he had already recognized the man identity—
The Southern Army commander of the Revolutionary Army, a Mink who should belong to the feline race: Lindbergh.
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