"Deep Sea Current" Umit

The New World.

A certain island.

The small island had fewer than a hundred households. Its soil was too barren to farm, the scant forest held little game, and there were no mineral deposits underground. As for fishing... Ha! A few Sea Kings circled these waters. Not much got past the mouths of those enormous beasts, and they might swallow you and your boat whole.

In short,

this was a desolate, remote hellhole where even seabirds couldn't be bothered to come and shit.

However,

while seabirds refused to shit in a place like this, Umit, King of Maritime Transport, didn't mind the impoverished, barren island. He controlled most of the New World's shipping capacity and needed enough transit stations to ease the burden of long-distance transport. As long as an island wasn't too far off the shipping routes and didn't pose a fatal danger,

Umit could never have too many islands like this.

"President!"

A subordinate in a suit hurried over.

"The supplies have been replenished, and we've repaired the damaged parts of the ship as best we could. As long as we don't run into a major storm on the way, we should make it to the next large port and change ships."

The subordinate bowed respectfully as he reported to Umit, who sat on a reef, gazing out at the sea.

President.

Umit liked being called that.

Though Morgans's newspaper called him "King of Maritime Transport," "Deep Sea Current," and other increasingly exaggerated and intimidating nicknames, he still insisted that he was merely a poor merchant without a stable territory, adrift from place to place.

Black Water Association was his company.

"Black" symbolized the company's special nature, while "Water" meant that the company made its living on the sea.

Starting from nothing, he had spent half his life building the Black Water Association into a company that had nearly monopolized the New World's shipping business. But he had reached his limit. He had already swallowed up every route and every bit of shipping capacity he could.

What remained

were problems he couldn't handle, didn't dare handle, or didn't want to handle.

If he wanted to keep expanding, his only choice was to enter a new industry.

But

the New World was both vast and small.

Never mind the Four Emperors, each of whom carved out a territory of their own. The giants of the Dark World and the powerful forces just below the Four Emperors had already divided up nearly every profitable business: loan sharking, pleasure districts, newspapers, warehousing, slave trading...

Every industry was controlled by big shots no less formidable than Umit.

There were no easy businesses to break into.

But Umit didn't want to stand still. As long as he drew breath, he would keep striving; he still wanted to climb higher... After carefully surveying the possibilities, he fixed his sights on the Ekmondo Kingdom, a nation that had amassed mountains of gold and silver through its coffee plantations.

Never underestimate coffee plantations.

Coffee, cocoa, and tea—the world's three great nonalcoholic beverages—were all bestsellers.

The BIG Pirates had practically monopolized the New World's cocoa market. After all, Big Mom was a tyrant of sweets, and any food or drink with even a hint of sweetness fell into her clutches. As for tea, the New World had no major concentrated growing region. Its production was scattered and divided among various big shots, none of whom were easy to deal with.

That left

coffee beans. The New World's coffee-growing regions were concentrated in one area, likely due to the specific climate and geography. In any case, Latte Island, Mocha Island, Cappuccino Island, Macchiato Island, Au Lait Island, and the other major coffee-producing islands were all in the same region.

The Bikashi Archipelago.

It was also the heartland of the Ekmondo Kingdom.

Based on the quantity of coffee beans the Ekmondo Kingdom exported each year, as well as the market prices at the time, Umit ran the numbers. His calculations were crude, but he still uncovered the enormous money-devouring beast hidden beneath the sea: the Ekmondo Kingdom.

The Ekmondo Kingdom was a mighty power in the New World. However, based on the intelligence he'd gathered, it wasn't an opponent beyond his reach. The only real complication was the Whitebeard Pirates' flag.

But that couldn't deter Umit from expanding. If he played his cards cleverly and avoided a direct confrontation with the Whitebeard Pirates, he might still succeed.

After so many years in the shipping business,

Umit understood perfectly well that the bold could feast, while the timid went hungry.

And so,

everything that followed came naturally.

He had carefully plotted against the Amento Kingdom, using its identity to go to war with the Ekmondo Kingdom. With the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Captain on the verge of death and the entire crew too distracted to concern themselves with anything else, he had minimized the chance of the Whitebeard Pirates getting involved.

"Don't disappoint me, Venkura."

Sitting on a reef by the sea, Umit gazed at the waves churning across the ocean, hoping to receive more good news.

Toothed Whale Sea, Whale Tail Island.

The island wasn't particularly suitable for growing coffee. That was precisely why it could be devastated without regret. The third-generation king had gone to great lengths to seize all three islands in the Toothed Whale Sea and turn them into the northern gateway of the Ekmondo Kingdom.

This had greatly expanded the kingdom's buffer zone, keeping it from suffering excessive losses in the event of a sudden enemy attack.

On this day,

eight warships sailing north from the south slowly appeared in the sight of the Whale Tail Island garrison's lookout.

Colonel Susa, the highest-ranking officer stationed on Whale Tail Island, soon received word that reinforcements had arrived. He let out a long sigh of relief. At last, the reinforcements were here. Perhaps he wouldn't have to die for his country after all.

The fall of Whale Head Island and Whale Belly Island had already proven how powerful the invading enemy was. He didn't think he was much stronger than his colleagues stationed on those two islands. The three Colonels were in frequent contact, since they were the only officers of their rank in the Toothed Whale Sea. They all knew exactly what the others were capable of.

Now both his colleagues were gone.

When his turn came, he doubted anything would be different.

Thankfully, the reinforcements had arrived before the enemy. But he still couldn't let his guard down. The reinforcements had come, but whether they could repel the invaders remained uncertain. From the reports transmitted through Den Den Mushi by his two colleagues before they died on Whale Head Island and Whale Belly Island, the situation looked grim.

The information they had confirmed included five Great Pirates with bounties of over a hundred million.

Still, despite his worries, Colonel Susa swiftly gathered his men and headed to the harbor to welcome the reinforcements.

"Sir, who do you think it is?"

Colonel Susa's adjutant stood beside him, watching the warships slowly enter the harbor. He couldn't help speculating. "Could it be General Foy?"

The Whale Tail Island garrison had only been notified that reinforcements were coming. The kingdom's central government hadn't told them who the reinforcements were.

"Who knows? Maybe His Majesty is leading them himself! You know how tough this enemy is." Colonel Susa snorted, keeping his eyes fixed on the warships entering the harbor. In his heart, he prayed that the king himself would be leading them.

After all, only if His Majesty led the expedition would the powerful fighters of the Royal Guard leave the capital, Arabica.

Apart from the kingdom's two strongest fighters in the Royal Guard, Colonel Susa didn't think anyone else in the kingdom could be certain of driving back the invaders.