Vongola

A week later.

On the commercial street on the west side of Starfish Island's harbor, a trading company called the Vongola Trading Company quietly opened for business.

The company's main business was purchasing the small fish and shrimp caught by local fishermen, then using them to brew fish sauce.

It had contracted roughly three thousand mu of land in the western mountains of Starfish Island to establish plantations, mainly growing lemons and sugarcane. The lemons would be processed into dried lemon slices and vitamin C tablets, while the sugarcane would be refined into white sugar.

Naturally, small factories were necessary as well.

The company's headquarters stood behind No. 108 on Starfish Island's commercial street. The street-facing shop served customers, while behind it was a 4,500-square-meter courtyard containing a warehouse and a five-story building.

This had previously been a branch of another trading company, but a shipment of that company's goods had recently been seized by pirates, forcing it to sell off some of its assets to keep its cash flow moving.

In truth, the rise and fall of small trading companies like this was perfectly normal on these seas.

Every day, some people made fortunes at sea, while others met with misfortune and lost both their lives and their wealth.

Starfish Island's situation was one of three-way balance: the City Lord's Mansion—the Palm Kingdom's local lord—the Sicily Mafia, and the Marine Branch maintained a relative equilibrium here.

This was also the pattern in many parts of West Blue, with the mafia, kingdoms, and Marines forming a three-way standoff.

Starfish Island was naturally no exception.

The backyard of the Vongola Trading Company housed Boss Vongola's office. Sitting behind his desk, Vongola smoked a cigar while casually flipping through the reports.

This so-called Boss Vongola was actually Belfinger.

Beside him, a one-eyed middle-aged man and a sharp-faced Hedgehog Head waited very cautiously for his orders.

"Boss... uh, Boss!" Hedgehog Head seemed to realize he had misspoken and hurriedly corrected himself. "Boss! The Sicily Family seems to be looking into us. Should I take some men and get rid of them?"

"Phew. What about the City Lord's Mansion?" Belfinger asked through a cloud of smoke.

"They haven't made any move," Hedgehog Head quickly replied.

Belfinger knew exactly why. The City Lord's Mansion drew its income partly from the lord's own businesses and partly from taxes, so they naturally welcomed merchants coming to invest.

As for the Marine Branch base, if one wanted to sail safely in the nearby waters, one either needed to be powerful enough, have a sufficiently strong backing, or Bribe the Dock. Otherwise, the consequences were hard to predict.

Finally, there was the mafia, which controlled the local underground black market and gray industries while collecting protection money from people without connections.

Therefore, investigating the background of the Vongola Trading Company was something the mafia had to do. Having survived in West Blue for so long, they had their own necessary ways of staying alive.

After all, collecting protection money from someone they couldn't afford to offend was hardly a pleasant experience.

To put it bluntly, the mafia were simply organized thugs who bullied the weak and feared the strong. Their members were villains who did not dare to Fight to the Death at sea but still enjoyed throwing their weight around.

Hedgehog Head and One-Eye were not afraid of such people. The two were the first and second in command of the Iron Hook Pirates.

If they had not encountered Belfinger, they would still be roaming the seas. After being reasoned with by Belfinger, Iron Hook, with a bounty of 17.5 million Beli—One-Eye—and Poison Sting, with a bounty of 8.8 million Beli—Hedgehog Head—had decided to abandon evil and turn toward the light.

Then, after Belfinger gave the entire crew plastic surgery, they were cleaned up and became a small trading company from a tiny island.

That was how the Vongola Trading Company came to be.

Belfinger looked over the situation of the Sicily Mafia on the island. The person in charge here was a skinny fellow named Tony, who had around 270 lackeys under him.

For Starfish Island, with a population of only 32,000, that was no small force. But to Belfinger, it was pitifully weak.

Belfinger placed a seed on the table. "Go take over this mafia."

Hedgehog Head nodded, Picked Up the seed, opened the window, and vanished into the night.

Elsewhere.

Golden Avenue, next to the commercial street, was Starfish Island's famous entertainment district. Casinos, bars, underground black markets, and similar establishments were all concentrated here.

The Sicily Mafia's branch on Starfish Island was located in the Black Pearl Casino on this street.

In a private room on the casino's top floor, Tony was drinking and playing cards when he had just taken a sip of red wine and saw one of his men rush inside.

"Boss, we've checked it out. That Vongola Trading Company doesn't have any backing. They should just be rookie merchants."

"Oh? In that case, let's give them a little warning first. Burn down One Tenth of the fruit trees in their plantation." Tony smiled carelessly.

"Haha... Boss, leave it to me!" Another lackey stood up and patted his chest.

Tony waved a hand. "Then it's yours."

Late at night, a drunken Tony returned to his room. The moment he turned on the lights, he saw a figure sitting on the table by the window.

Tony sobered up a little at once. He backed toward the door while drawing his pistol.

Hedgehog Head bared his teeth in a grin.

"Give me—" Tony's hairs suddenly stood on end. A sharp dagger was pressed against his throat, and his entire body froze stiff.

"Do you want to die, or do you want to live?"

A voice like a demon's whisper sounded beside Tony's ear.

Gulp!

"I... I want to live. Brother, how much money do you want? As long as I can afford it, I'm willing to—"

Hedgehog Head chuckled. "No. I just need you to obediently listen to me. Open your mouth."

"Uh..." Tony nervously opened his mouth.

Hedgehog Head, seated across the table, flicked the seed into Tony's mouth. "Swallow it, or die."

Faced with the threat of death, Tony could only suppress his fear and swallow the seed. Then he felt a sharp pain run through his body, followed by the sensation of countless insects burrowing around inside him.

"Pant, pant..."

The dagger vanished. Hedgehog Head looked at him with a faint smile. "The seed has already passed the information to you. You know what to do now, right?"

Tony nodded miserably. The seed had already told him the taboos. If he dared to speak carelessly or tried to remove the Parasitic Seed, the consequence would be death.

And that death would not be quick and simple. In that brief instant just now, the Parasitic Seed had given him a taste of what it meant to be worse off than dead.

Painful, itchy sensations had erupted all over his body, and that was with the Parasitic Seed actively controlling his body to keep him from losing control and scratching himself raw.

"As long as you behave, there'll be plenty of benefits for you in the future." After offering him a sweetener, Hedgehog Head reminded him again, "Don't get any other ideas. Otherwise, even the Sicily Family won't be able to protect you. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." Cold sweat streamed down Tony's face as he replied.

Hedgehog Head began giving orders. "Cancel the operation against the Vongola Trading Company. Then send everyone under fifteen under your command to West Mountain Plantation. Also, you need to integrate the remaining people as soon as possible. The organization doesn't need disobedient people, understand?"

"I'll arrange it as soon as possible," Tony replied, bowing and scraping.

With that said, Hedgehog Head's figure vanished from the room.

Phew! After letting out a long breath, Tony sat there for a moment before recovering. He then quickly summoned his former underlings, told them the operation was canceled, and made arrangements for other matters.

As for trying to break free from the control, Tony did not even dare to think about it. The moment such a thought arose, his body would stiffen involuntarily, as though an eye were watching his every move.

Only when he harbored no disloyal thoughts would that feeling of being watched disappear.

Thank you all for your support (ω｀). One extra chapter.