Saturn didn't manage to get a single word out. He almost had to resurrect himself from suffocation.
What he had originally wanted to say was, "Do you think this will make us negotiate with you?"
But before the words could leave his mouth, another voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
[Interesting. Hear what his conditions are. I'm rather curious.][TN: Here Imu uses the first person pronoun Mu to refer to itself, but I'm going to use I.]
Yes! Saturn forcibly changed his tone because he had received an order from Imu.
Whether Imu's command was reasonable or ill-timed, they had no right to question it. After all, the lives of the Five Elders were entirely under Imu's control.
As holders of the highest-level Abyssal Covenant, not only were their lives and deaths subject to Imu's will, even control over their bodies could be stripped away.
Although the Five Elders were doing their best to stop Nereus, the commotion was so great that Imu sensed it to some extent.
Through the Five Elders' sight and hearing, Imu also heard Nereus' words, and that had been Nereus' intention all along.
Nereus understood very well that the Five Elders were nothing more than five puppets. The purpose of all this was to force Imu out.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to confirm that he wouldn't be affected by Domi Reversi before coming here.
Imu believed Nereus was unaware of their existence and thought he was merely negotiating with the Five Elders, thus their interest was piqued.
A long lifespan can make a person strange, especially someone like Imu, who has no social interaction whatsoever.
Though possessing absolute power and authority, Imu was also extremely timid, constantly fearing certain things.
People had been sent to deal with those matters, yet after several hundred years, they still hadn't been fully resolved.
It was hard for ordinary people to understand what Imu truly wanted.
There were actually very few things that could stress Imu—Nika, Joy Boy, Davy—that was about it.
From the world's perspective, Nereus' actions might seem outrageous, but Imu didn't see it that way. Instead, there was curiosity about what this rare powerhouse truly desired.
"It's very simple. Around 170 years ago, Fishman Island joined the World Government. Yet throughout these long years, Fishman Island has never enjoyed the status that an affiliated nation should rightfully have.
I demand that you restore all the rights and status that Fishman Island deserves."
[Lord Imu...]
[I think… we can agree to his request. That was something agreed upon back then as well. It's just that the Fishman Island of that time was unworthy of those rights. If it's him, I can afford to be generous.
Lord of the Deep Seas… It wouldn't be bad to make use of this power.
As for the specific details, you handle the negotiations yourselves. Just don't let him keep disturbing me.]
If their subordinates could eliminate him, Imu would naturally approve as well. When Nereus freed the slaves, Imu did not personally intervene.
When the battle with the Five Elders first began, Imu did not appear.
But the facts seemed to show that the Five Elders did not have the ability to defeat him. Given both sides' immortality, even fighting for a year would not produce a result.
Imu did not keep slaves personally. Or rather, in Imu's eyes, the entire world was already their slave. There was no need to go out of the way.
Imu did not care what happened in other kingdoms. In Imu's view, Nereus expressing a willingness to negotiate was actually a good thing.
The cost of negotiating was clearly far less than the cost of exterminating him. As for whether Nereus might be deceiving them—
They could deal with that when the time came. That was Imu's exceedingly simple way of thinking.
In the past, Imu had considered Fishman Island to have no value at all. The race was timid and weak. But now, Nereus seemed to have shown Imu something different.
"Your demand… we can agree to it. Everything the Ryugu Kingdom is entitled to will be restored to you."
"What I want isn't this kind of verbal promise. No more slaves."
"The World Government's laws have always prohibited the existence of slavery. But Nereus, people from non-affiliated nations are regarded differently in the eyes of the World Government. The same goes for pirates."
With Imu's authorization, the Five Elders had all returned to their human forms. The six of them began negotiating amid the ruins.
"Then let me put it another way, there must be no slaves who are Fish-Men or Mermaids. That includes Mariejois."
The Ryugu Kingdom was originally an affiliated nation. Strictly speaking, these two races should never have appeared as slaves in the first place. It was simply that no one had ever enforced it.
Though they spoke of abiding by the law, the World Government had, in essence, only one true law—the strong reign supreme.
"We can agree to that. In return, you are not allowed to attack Mariejois again."
The Five Elders exchanged glances before finally agreeing to Nereus' demand. If someone like him were to storm Mariejois a third time, they truly might not be able to withstand it.
"If there are no slaves here, I naturally won't come up."
"Nereus! Don't push your luck. This is our leniency toward you. Don't think the World Government truly fears you—"
"Is that so? Then I'll give you some face, but beyond the Red Line, you have no control over me."
At present, Nereus could only ensure neither side could kill the other, maintaining a stalemate, but he still lacked a decisive trump card.
Fishman Island, as his kingdom, needed to be prioritized. In that regard, his objective had been achieved.
On this point, the two sides reached a certain consensus and proceeded to confirm numerous terms, yet no written record was left behind.
Both sides understood that any agreement on paper would be nothing more than scrap. If the World Government gained the ability to eliminate Nereus, or if Nereus were to die of old age one day, these agreements would all be void.
Likewise, once Nereus made complete preparations, he would not continue negotiating with the World Government. He would simply destroy everything and build anew.
"Wait. As for the Heavenly Tribute, even you are no exception. It is levied according to population size. Your Ryugu Kingdom must pay it as well."
Nusjuro, as the Warrior God of Finance, raised his demand from a fiscal standpoint.
If the Ryugu Kingdom was to be an affiliated nation, it had to pay.
"Heavenly Tribute? According to the Ryugu Kingdom's records, they had been paying it before."
"That is true, but—"
"But for all those years, Fishman Island did not receive the treatment it was entitled to. About 170 years' worth. Shouldn't you return those 170 years of Heavenly Tribute to me?"
Creak—
Nusjuro tightened his grip on his sword hilt. This was turning the world upside down. Since the founding of the World Government, they had only ever collected money.
Even the Marines' military budget was determined by the World Government.
If the Marines wanted an increase in funding, they had to request it.
And now someone was demanding that they pay money back, and in a single lump sum covering 170 years!
"Calculated with interest, the interest over 170 years should be…"
"That's enough! Fishman Island will be exempt from taxes for 170 years. That is our final bottom line!"
"Deal."
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