With a gentle reach, Gawain placed his palm on the dachshund's head.
"Woof woof~~~."
The dachshund barked just like a normal puppy.
The feel, the sound... it's just an ordinary dog after all...
But what exactly is going on with that belly that's hundreds of meters long?
Can this kind of dog really survive?
But it's alive and well!
So Gawain gently picked up the puppy's head and front paws, pulled the puppy into his arms, and the puppy's belly flowed down his legs into the distance.
Gawain picked up a piece of meat and fed it to the dog, speaking softly to the others.
"If such a disabled animal can live so comfortably, it seems that this island is truly peaceful."
Inform Black Ice Terrace to reduce its defensive forces and allocate more personnel to the exploration of the ten nearby islands.
Lucci's pigeons have already been sent out, right? Once they bring back information, we'll start deciding on the final location for the weather station!
"Yes, sir!"
Lucci nodded, then returned to the Dark Bird Ship to make arrangements. After Gawain and his group had a barbecue on the grassland, while Hancock took Shirahoshi and Uta out to play, he continued his training.
It wasn't until after 8 p. m. that Lucci's pigeons began to fly back one after another, and it was at this time that Lucci Gawain.
According to Lucci, his pigeons discovered a nomadic tribe living in tents on the western side of the landing island, separated by an island.
Therefore, that night, Gawain and his group boarded the Dark Bird Ship again and sailed towards an inhabited island, guided by the pigeons.
Around eleven o'clock, Gawain arrived at the inhabited island. At the same time, the people on the island gathered together in fear, looking at the enormous Dark Bird Ship on the sea.
Amidst the horrified gazes of the crowd, Gawain led his group back onto the water and then walked directly toward them.
As Gawain and his group approached, the nomadic tribe reacted swiftly. They first gathered the women and children in the tents, while the men, armed with various swords and spears, raised their weapons at Gawain.
Among these hundreds of men, there were also about a few dozen carrying Fire Pistol.
Seeing the nomads' fear, Gawain waved his hand at the crowd.
"I am Gawain, a traveler from Water 7 has come here. We mean no harm."
After Gawain finished speaking, the herdsmen in the distance exchanged words for a moment, and then a Han in his forties stepped forward from among them.
"Are you pirates?!"
The first thing the Han asked Gawain was if he was a pirate, to which Gawain smiled and waved his hand.
"Can't you see it from the flag on our ship? There's no skull on our flag!"
After those words were spoken, the nomads on the other side gathered together and studied the matter for a while longer.
Then, the burly man spoke to Gawain.
"So you're from the Navy?!"
"No, we don't like wearing white clothes!"
"Call..."
Now the nomads were truly relieved. They laid down their weapons, and the men, with their swords sheathed, surrounded Gawain and his group.
After walking more than a hundred meters, they saw that there were actually two children, one big and one small, in Gawain's group, and they felt much more at ease.
"Haha, you guys are travelers on this vast ocean, right?"
How lucky we are to have met a group of legendary travelers in our lifetime! Haha!
Amidst the laughter, the burly man who was the leader of the herdsmen opened his arms and hugged Gawain directly.
Upon seeing this, Rob Lucci's expression tightened, because the shepherd's clothes even had some horse manure stuck to the hem.
But Gawain didn't mind at all. He gently hugged the herdsman, and then they let go of each other.
Now the herders were completely relieved. They didn't even hold their weapons anymore, and instead extended an invitation to Gawain and his group.
The leading herdsman spoke to Gawain.
"Hello, traveler, I am Sivins, the chieftain of our Long Ring Mountain herdsmen."
Come on, come with us!
We just happened to catch a lot of fish that were stranded on Long Ring Mountain after the great low tide ended.
And our cheese and Moa Milk Wine!
As soon as he finished speaking, the chieftain shouted to the women and children who were gradually emerging from their tents in the distance.
"Family members, haha, we have guests! They're a group of very energetic travelers!"
Let's have a grand banquet!
As they spoke, the chieftain led Gawain directly into the tribe.
As they walked, Rayleigh observed the number of people around him and said to Gawain.
"The population is small, only about four thousand. However, when I passed through here years ago, I had no idea that there were nomadic tribes living here."
Rayleigh looked at Chief Sivins and asked.
"Sivins, have you always lived on this island?"
When I passed through here years ago, I also explored this island, but I only saw animals I didn't recognize, and I didn't see you at all!
Upon hearing Rayleigh's words, Sivins burst out laughing.
"Haha, old man, when you passed through here back then, it must have been a long time since then, right?"
"Yes, it's been almost twenty years," Rayleigh replied.
"That's right!"
Sivins nodded.
"Our tribe has always roamed and grazed its livestock among the ten peaks of the Long Ring Mountain."
Every three years, we take advantage of the annual low tide to climb over the exposed sections of the Long Ring Mountain and head to the summits of other Long Ring Mountain."
"Etc...!"
Shiryu to the side, interrupted Sivins with a frown.
"Isn't this Long Ring Long Land? Why do you call it Long Ring Mountain!"
"Well..."
Sivins was startled by Shiryu. He rubbed his forehead in alarm and said...
"This guest looks quite fierce, but he doesn't seem like a bad person. He asked some very interesting questions."
For you travelers, this is Long Ring Long Land.
But for us nomads, only the combination of ten long Long Ring Mountain together constitutes Long Ring Long Land!
Normally, the sea completely submerges the base of Long Ring Mountain, leaving only the summits of the ten peaks exposed.
This is the Long Ring Long Land you see.
When the annual low tide occurs, the sea level near Long Ring Long Land will drop by more than 2,000 meters!
By then, the Long Ring Long Land will be revealed!
Ten long Long Ring Mountain are connected by the island's foundation, forming a giant circle. That circular island is the true Long Ring Long Land!
As they spoke, the chieftain led everyone to the center of the tribe.
In the open space surrounded by many tents, new campfires are being built.
The tribe's children quickly became friends with Shirahoshi and her companion, and it was only then that Shirahoshi learned the names of the strange animals they had encountered earlier.
That dachshund, which is hundreds of meters long, is called a Dachshund.
That feline with its horizontally shaped face is called a cheetah.
In addition to these, the island is home to other animals, such as incredibly long and thin bears that can stand tens of meters tall.
His name is Big Bear.
As for the kind of horses that herders raise and ride... their bodies are the same size as ordinary horses, but their necks and legs are twice as long as those of normal horses.
His name is...
Mo~~~~ Ah?!!
After figuring out these names, even Gawain couldn't help but want to make sarcastic remarks.
How the Oda come up with this group of animals that are full of ridiculous flaws?!
Not only was its body stretched out, but even its name... was simply stretched out!
So, while chatting with the nomadic people, Gawain drank Moa Milk Wine and showed an extremely sincere smile.
How could his smile not be genuine? He's practically dying of laughter!
After the toasts and drinks, Gawain and his group set up temporary tents on the grassland and then got a good night's sleep.
After dawn, when Gawain stepped out of his tent, he heard Kalifa greet him.
"My lord, last night we scouted around with pigeons and found that in addition to these nomads, there are also many pirate crews wandering around Long Ring Long Land Jaya and Mock Town, preparing to head towards the New World."
Two of the more famous ones are Golden Snake Ambro and Silver Fox Foxy.
At this point, Kalifa handed the bounty posters for the two men to Gawain.
After Gawain picked up the bounty poster and looked at it, Kalifa continued.
"These two pirate crews linger between Jaya and Long Ring Long Land, constantly growing stronger by hunting down pirate ships attacked by the G-2 Branch."
Two years ago, only the Golden Snake Ambro stayed here, and then the Silver Fox Foxy came.
After countless battles, the two of them remained the strongest pirate crews in the surrounding waters.
At this point, Kalifa pushed up her glasses, looking somewhat puzzled.
"However, sir, the bounty on Golden Snake Ambro is 84 million Beli. With such a bounty, unless he encounters a special Supernova, he might indeed become a force to be reckoned with."
But Silver Fox Foxy, with a bounty of only 24 million Beli, has become a dominant force on the seas around here...?
Therefore, I suspect that Silver Fox Foxy may have eaten some kind of Devil Fruit in recent years, but this information has not yet been discovered by the Navy!
"That's true."
Gawain put down the bounty poster and nodded to Kalifa.
"A bounty of 24 million is far too low in the Grand Line. Even in the Four Blues other than the East Blue, such a bounty is not considered a large amount."
"I guess this guy ate the Devil Fruit after entering the Grand Line."
As soon as he finished speaking, Gawain waved his hand gently.
"Shiryu!"
"I'm here, sir!"
Shiryu crawled out of the tent and looked at Gawain with great interest.
Gawain handed the bounty poster to Shiryu and said...
"Take the Eternal Pose for the Long Ring Long Land with you, and then follow Lucci's pigeons to track down these two pirate crews."
"Since we're going to build a station and observation post on Long Ring Long Land, there's no need for any pirates to exist nearby!"
"Yes, sir!"
Shiryu excitedly accepted the bounty poster; he could go on a killing spree again! Haha!
But as he accepted the bounty, Gawain pondered and said to him.
"There's one thing you need to be careful about on this trip: if you encounter Devil Fruit user, don't kill them. Bring them back alive!"
"Of course, aside from Devil Fruit User, you can do whatever you want with the others."
At this point, Gawain gently patted Shiryu's arm.
"Have fun."
"Hehehehe, don't worry, sir!"
Shiryu a cruel smile, then turned and left.
After Shiryu left, Gawain spoke thoughtfully to the people around him.
"If Shiryu can really bring back a Devil Fruit User on this trip..."
Lucci, when the time comes, you will escort the Devil Fruit User to meet Vegapunk and present my demands to him.
I'm going to try and see if the legendary Vegapunk really has the power to extract Devil Fruit!
"Yes, sir!"
Lucci nodded immediately.
After finishing his business, Gawain ate breakfast and continued his training.
Meanwhile, Uta and Franky got busy.
Uta and his men, namely Gordon and his group, set up a temporary stage on the grassland.
Everyone will have to stay on Long Ring Long Land for another two weeks, waiting for Franky to come up with the first observation plan before they can leave.
Therefore, Uta naturally wanted to bring joyful music to the herders on Long Ring Long Land.
As for Franky, there's no doubt he'll build Hydrological Observation Station here.
Meanwhile, Grandpa Rayleigh and Yixiao, holding teacups, chatted with Sivins, the leader of the nomadic tribe.
"Even if you've always lived on Long Ring Long Land, you should still receive newspapers, right?"
Haven't you read the recent newspapers?
You don't even know what Celestial Dragon are, and I can't even recognize them."
This is Rayleigh's problem.
Upon hearing the old man's question, Sivins shook his head in confusion.
"We occasionally encounter seagulls landing, and through a few of them, we managed to get the newspaper you mentioned."
However, the seagull never appeared again, and I don't know why!
"Why?"
Rayleigh was greatly surprised to hear Sivins's words.
"That shouldn't be the case. If seagulls have come, the river shouldn't have stopped flowing."
As he spoke, Rayleigh frowned and asked.
"Sivins, you didn't forget to pay me after you got the newspaper from the seagull, did you?"
"Money? What money?" Sivins was even more confused.
"You don't even know Beli? Beli?" Rayleigh was even more surprised.
Faced with Rayleigh's question, Sivins shook his head.
"How could that be? Of course we know about Beli. My grandfather encountered a caravan when he was young. They took a lot of our Moa Milk, but they left us some Beli, which you mentioned."
"In that case, after you took the newspaper, did you not hand Beli over to the seagull?" Rayleigh asked.
"Why?"
This greatly alarmed Sivins.
"So we actually have to give that seagull money?"
So it wasn't just a seabird with newspapers growing on its body, but a newspaper merchant?"
Yeah, haha!!!
Rayleigh burst out laughing on the spot.
With a laugh, Rayleigh offered Sivins a jug of wine.
"No wonder no seagulls delivered newspapers to you; they've seen you as robbers, haha!"
It's alright, later when you encounter seagulls in the sky, just call out to them a couple of times and take out Beli to show them.
In that case, whenever a seagull selling newspapers passes by, it will land next to you!
But after listening to Rayleigh's advice, Sivins not only didn't feel relieved, he became even more upset.
Seen, Sivins shook his head blankly.
"No, if those seagulls really are merchants, then they probably really won't bother with us anymore..."
After all, we did more than just fail to give Beli a share of the money..."
After saying that, Sivins sadly smacked his head.
"It's all my fault. I really never imagined that even a seabird could become a merchant."
More than 20 years ago, when I was young, I saw those seagulls land in our tribe.
Because they are quite unusual, with bags and pieces of paper with writing on them...
So I got my brothers to catch it and stew it!
Surprisingly, they tasted quite delicious, completely different from the animals on Long Ring Long Land.
Next, whenever new seagulls landed, we... we... we stewed them all..."
After saying this, Chief Sivins knelt on the ground in frustration.
"Anyway, I remember eating about a dozen of those seagulls."
And then, those seagulls never appeared again...