Yamato went through some hardships, Olga got caught up in some dilemmas, Kaido got a reasonable excuse for increasing the training, and apart from that, this incident didn’t have much impact on Wano Country. Also, someone has zero interest in the outside world at the moment, for example, Zeraora.
Tesoro’s team-building training lasted a long time, and Zeraora was urgently called back to Onigashima around the same time. After finding out that he was going to be a father, even he was in panic for a long time.
Especially watching Setsuna’s belly grow day by day, he was more excited than anyone else and also seemed slightly possessed.
“Zeraora, the due date is at the end of the year, we still have five months, can’t you take it easy?”
Setsuna was the one pregnant, but it was Zeraora who seemed to be acting abnormal.
“It’s better to be safe than sorry. By the way, I brought Uncle and Aunt over as well, so you should be able to relax a bit. I’ll go get them, don’t move around.”
Saying that, he dashed away, leaving Setsuna no time to react.
“You…”
Taking out her diary from the drawer, Setsuna continued to write about her days.
[July 8, 1510, Clear Sky
Ever since he found out I’m pregnant, Zeraora has been acting strange, frequently taking me for check-ups. I think he might be the one who needs to get himself checked.]
After the pregnancy was confirmed, she and Zeraora basically set aside everything. This was also the wish of Arceus and Kaido.
They were told to peacefully focus on welcoming their child, without worrying about anything else. As for the tasks they were supposed to handle, a few officers working overtime could easily manage the workload.
Moreover, Jack, Maria, and Yamato were also gradually reaching the age where they can shoulder the responsibilities. Although Maria’s goal was to stay by Kaido’s side, she knew Kaido only recognized those with powerful strength, so she could also go out on missions. The three of them became the representatives of the new generation of Beasts Pirates.
The overly calm days left her with nothing much to write in her diary. Hearing that Zeraora had brought her parents over, she decided to go out and take a look as well.
She’s always been a person of action, and even pregnancy didn’t change that. Putting away her pen and paper, she was about to leave, but then she saw two bears standing at the door like guardians.
Bewear and Bepo were standing there like guardian spirits, one on each side.
“What are you two doing here?”
“Duchess, Lord Zeraora asked us to follow you when you leave, to prevent any accidents…”
“Ah… that Zeraora…”
Patting her face, Setsuna felt that Zeraora was being overly cautious. However, he had become particularly assertive lately.
In the past, Zeraora wouldn’t argue with her about many things, even if she was wrong, he would let her be. But on this matter, he wouldn’t budge the slightest.
Even Perona voluntarily gave up the ownership of Bewear. As the adopted daughter, she also cared deeply about this matter and had been busy in the kitchen these days.
“Alright, you can come along.”
This was just the beginning, and it even triggered a chain reaction. For example, in Zou Island, Hitsugisukan looked at the growing stack of documents in front of him with a headache.
He had also trained a few people to help with administrative work, but the person doing this had to have enough understanding of the outside world and be familiar enough with Setsuna, otherwise it would affect the handover process. Taking everything into account, Rin and Hachi were brought over.
An unconventional version of the “parents repaying the debt of children” appeared on Zou Island. Due to certain rules, he couldn’t do anything to Setsuna, so he could only let Hachi and Rin “repay the debt”.
Originally, Rin and Hachi had helped him with a lot of work, but as Setsuna became pregnant, Zeraora became somewhat on edge, and recently took Hachi and Rin away under the pretext of taking care of Setsuna.
“Such misfortune…”
He half-lay on a rocking chair, which Setsuna had gifted him. It was custom-made according to his body size, and sitting on it was incredibly comfortable.
Normally, this should have been a happy occasion. Setsuna’s pregnancy is a joyous event as the new generation is always important for the Minks. But he just can’t feel happy.
In a sense, he’s not the only one unfortunate; another person who encountered misfortune because of this was Hachi.
Without comparison, there’s no harm. Rin and Hachi have lived together for many years, raising two daughters, and they were content with this life before.
But after seeing Zeraora’s attitude towards Setsuna, Rin started to feel more and more discontent with Hachi.
“Aren’t you both making a big deal out of nothing? Minks aren’t that fragile. Didn’t you handle childbirth just fine without all this fussing?”
“Are you saying it’s my fault? It wasn’t you who gave birth after all!”
Their occasional arguments were normal, and they would eventually reconcile. However, after Hachi and Rin were brought over, strange situations arose.
Hachi and Setsuna reached an understanding in certain aspects, both feeling that Zeraora was overreacting. But Rin strongly supported Zeraora’s actions, feeling that he was a qualified son-in-law.
Apart from these two groups, there was also the neutral group consisting of Perona and Wanda. They didn’t take sides, helping out when needed and otherwise playing on their own. Just like that, Zeraora’s big family lead a very leisurely life in Kuri Region.
Meanwhile, Tesoro returned to the company headquarters on the Red Line after a long journey.
“Are we going to live here from now on?”
Uta spent most of her time sailing the seas with Shanks. When they go into battle, Uta stays on the ship alone. It’s her first time seeing such a vast continent.
“It’s just temporary. Although this is headquarters, it’s not the true headquarters.”
Beasts Fruits’ headquarters on the Red Line is just an office used for handling communication with the World Government, managing paperwork, taxes, and socializing with officials. The real headquarters is located on an island, which is the true core of the organization.
Tesoro often appears here, but even if the Red Line headquarters was destroyed, it wouldn’t affect Beasts Fruits’ normal operations.
Before the team-building activity, they were indeed all here, but that was also an early rendezvous to pick up Cindry who had just completed her identification process over here.
Their return here this time was to also get Uta a legitimate identity, an id card issued by the World Government.
The World Government is the largest institution in the world; even the Marines are just one of the enforcement agencies under them.
In most cases, the World Government doesn’t do much for ordinary people, but being an affiliated nation’s citizen is much better than being from a non-affiliated nation.
Although it’s just a card, it allows smooth passage within the borders of most affiliated nations, provided there are no special circumstances.
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