Chapter 262: A Chain Reaction, An Unprovoked Disaster
The reason for dispatching warships was also to deal with other pirates.
Pirates arriving at the Sabaody Archipelago either proceeded toward Fish-Man Island or turned around.
If any pirates truly offended Nereus during the concert, diving into the sea would be courting death, and turning back would mean being surrounded by the Marines. This was considered a highly beneficial outcome for the Marines.
Fish-Man Island's geographical position dictated that no matter what moves it made, the Marines could never simply ignore them.
Regardless of the reasons why those pirates were intercepted by Nereus, as long as they sank to the bottom of the sea, the Marines' operational pressure would be significantly alleviated to some extent.
While the Marines were meticulously analyzing the potential geopolitical impacts of the concert, the main character of the event was concerned with something else entirely.
"Hermes, how are the ticket sales going?"
"Reporting to Princess Nanamo! All the tickets have completely sold out~ This is the total revenue from ticket sales."
The ticket prices weren't set particularly high. For passing tourists, it wasn't strange to want to spend a little money to experience something so novel and unprecedented.
However, what attracted them might not necessarily have been the concert itself, but rather the venue. After all, this concert was being held on the back of Laboon.
With Brook serving as the musical accompanist, Laboon was more than happy to participate. Because the venue was located near the Sabaody Archipelago, even the audience seating had been modified into floating bubble versions.
Leaving aside the actual quality of the music for a moment, the sheer spectacle was undeniably novel enough.
"Yo, my dear Tesoro, what are you so nervous about? You need to trust in your abilities! This is a concert we planned together; there's no way it will fail!"
With the concert on the verge of opening, Tesoro, as one of the chief organizers, was naturally on site. But compared to Pappag's brimming confidence, Tesoro looked as though he were sitting on pins and needles.
To him, this concert felt less like a show and more like a final judgment.
"You're a starfish. You wouldn't understand."
"Hmph! Do you think I'm just one of those mindless, ordinary starfish? You're just terrified that if the concert gets messed up, it'll ruin your future. What else is there to worry about?"
"..."
Pappag's highly unconventional appearance always made Tesoro easily forget that this creature—despite looking exactly like a starfish—possessed an intellect rivaling any human's, and absolutely loved acting like a senior mentor in front of him.
"Listen to the advice of the great Lord Pappag! True gold will always shine! You have talent, and Fish-Man Island provides opportunities. If you focus your energy elsewhere, you'll succeed sooner or later."
Pappag wasn't just offering hollow comfort; he genuinely believed it.
After finally realizing he was actually a starfish, Pappag hadn't become discouraged in the slightest. Instead, he concluded that he must be a once-in-a-millennium, unparalleled genius among all starfish.
After all, with so many starfish in the vast ocean, he was the only one this incredibly smart.
During their time working together, Pappag also felt that Tesoro was incredibly talented, consistently offering brilliant, eye-catching ideas when planning the fine details.
However, compared to the Tesoro of the original timeline who had "lost absolutely everything," the current Tesoro lacked a certain ruthless decisiveness, constantly fretting over the future.
His past life had been riddled with miserable failures. Having finally obtained something genuinely precious to him, Tesoro was terrified that failure would continue to loom over his head.
Tesoro didn't even realize exactly when the concert had started; it was only Pappag's ecstatic cheers celebrating their success that finally snapped him back to reality.
When the curtains fell and Hermes arrived to relay the message that Nanamo wished to see them, the massive boulder weighing on Tesoro's heart was finally lifted.
At the very worst, he could use this flawless resume to secure a highly paid, stable job within the Ryugu Kingdom, finally ending his days of scraping by on odd jobs.
"I heard you were the one who handled the ticket and merchandise sales for this concert?"
"Yes, Princess Nanamo. Was there anything that displeased you?"
"Not at all, I was quite satisfied. I have a little business venture here. Do you have the courage to give it a try? If you can pull it off, the compensation will be extremely generous."
With that, Nanamo pushed a thick insurance portfolio in front of Tesoro. This wasn't some standard employee injury insurance; it was the highly lucrative, external protection—err, insurance—business operated by the Ryugu Kingdom.
Although Tesoro's event-planning skills were excellent, with this successful foundation laid, theoretically, Pappag could handle future concerts solo.
Judging by the financial results, Nanamo felt that Tesoro might possess an even greater, more monstrous talent for making money.
"Thank you for your trust, Your Highness. I will deliver results that satisfy you."
This concert had allowed Tesoro to harvest something incredibly vital: absolute confidence.
Armed with newfound confidence, his actions became noticeably more decisive. And Nanamo's instincts in this regard were perfectly sound.
Compared to pure combat power, Tesoro possessed a far more exceptional talent for amassing wealth. The Gold-Gold Fruit didn't grant the ability to generate gold out of thin air; it only allowed the user to manipulate gold they had already touched.
The fact that the Tesoro of the original timeline had managed to amass such an unfathomable fortune proved his inherent, terrifying business acumen.
After deducting the upfront costs of the concert, they had still turned a very handsome profit.
If there was one problem with the concert, it was that Brook was a bit of a problem.
For some inexplicable reason, Nanamo felt that her skeleton accompanist possessed a flawless, passive ability to completely steal the spotlight. He actually seemed to be more popular than her! It seemed she would definitely need to change her backup band for the next concert.
Or perhaps simply monetizing Brook's star power was a good alternative.
His official title was Nereus's Royal Guard, but Nereus absolutely didn't need a guard. On average, Brook only had to put in about seven days of actual, serious work every four years. Finding him a lucrative side hustle didn't seem like a bad idea at all.
The hype surrounding the concert didn't last indefinitely. Nanamo hadn't yet reached the status of a global, universally adored idol; she had merely left a deep impression on a small segment of the populace.
The newspapers dedicated a small column to the event. After all, earth-shattering world events didn't happen every single day, and entertainment news was a staple of the World Economy News Paper.
Originally, such a minor piece of news wouldn't have attracted much attention. However, in certain specific locations, it triggered rather severe consequences.
On Whole Cake Island, Big Mom was in an exceptionally foul mood today. Several of her children had suffered unprovoked disasters, being brutally scolded and beaten over the most trivial, insignificant matters.
This was especially true for the two sisters, Charlotte Praline and Charlotte Prim. Judging by their terrified expressions, they hadn't just been scolded; they looked as though they had been subjected to severe psychological torment and threats.
"Brother Katakuri... why... why is Mama targeting us so viciously...?"
In the current era, Katakuri was the true pillar and "parent" of this massive family. When his younger siblings were heartbroken, they naturally sought his comfort. Yet, regarding this specific matter, Katakuri felt profoundly helpless.
He knew exactly what the cause was. These two sisters were Half-Merfolk. Despite sharing a highly similar biological lineage to a certain someone, the disparity in their talents and strength was like the gap between heaven and earth. Even if she never said it out loud, Big Mom instinctively, obsessively compared them to Nanamo.
The most critical catalyst was that Perospero, who was in charge of screening the daily newspapers today, had completely failed to notice Nanamo's appearance in the small entertainment section on the secondary pages. That single oversight had ultimately triggered this disastrous chain reaction...
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