Chapter 31

"What other way?"

Luffy, who was tied to the stone pillar, shouted angrily, "Of course it's to fight! What's the use of hiding in the mountains, old man! Everyone should unite to deal with those hateful noble bastards and beat them all into the sky!"

It hadn't been long since Sabo's incident, and he still remembered it firmly!

"..." Manba looked at Luffy and sighed, not answering.

"Don't shout blindly."

Siano frowned and patted Luffy's face with the scabbard, "When adults are talking, don't interrupt, kid."

This unlucky kid, how could he speak even more brainlessly than in the era of the Five Emperors.

The Kingdom Army was well-equipped and had the World Government backing them, which was not something ordinary people could contend with.

Even if all the mountain bandits in the Colubo Mountains were gathered together, it would just be like throwing an egg against a rock.

In a world where power belongs to the individual, bottom-up resistance is even more difficult, and often looks like a joke.

What if hundreds of thousands or millions of people are gathered?

Can they block Conqueror's Haki?

Can they afford the falling magma?

A single spark can start a prairie fire, but it doesn't work at all in this sea; it can only be changed from top to bottom by a small group of strong people stepping to the top of power.

This is also the main reason why he has never had much interest in joining the Revolutionary Army.

Of course, he just doesn't approve of the route.

After all, crossing the river by feeling the stones is understandable, and it is worth praising to be able to maintain the original intention and put it into action for so many years.

In this world of comparing who is worse, it is already quite rare for such a group of people to exist.

"How many people do you have in total?" Siano turned to look at Manba and asked.

"Counting me, thirteen."

Manba's expression was dim, "That night, I originally risked my life to pull more than twenty people out of the sea of fire, but the old, weak, sick, and disabled, and some who were already sick, ultimately couldn't survive in the harsh mountains..."

The remaining "mountain bandits" couldn't help but look sad and lowered their heads one after another.

"You've done enough." Siano shook his head.

The other party looked like he was only in his early twenties.

He didn't run away on his own when disaster struck, but chose to save people everywhere. After entering the mountains, in order to protect these poor people, he dared to risk impersonating the big mountain bandit with a bounty. He is a man.

Look around.

If the remaining dozen or so people continue to struggle to survive in these mountains, the result probably won't be much better.

Either die for various reasons, or completely abandon moral concepts and become real mountain bandits.

It doesn't matter if he doesn't meet them, but since he saw them with his own eyes, it's hard not to feel unbearable.

Siano pondered slightly, thinking of the four hundred million Berries he had in the bank.

He hadn't planned to take this money out, just let it earn interest, and was prepared to use it to pay for shipbuilding after officially going to sea.

Now he had a vague plan.

"To be honest, if I were still poor and penniless, I definitely wouldn't want to care about you, and I wouldn't have that ability."

Siano looked at Manba and shrugged slightly, "But there's no way, who made me barely a rich man now, so I should still be able to find a way to help you."

"Rich man?"

Luffy's eyes lit up instantly, "So you are very rich, old man. Are you going to distribute money to them? Can you distribute some to me too? I am also very short of money!!!"

The free meals he ate with Ace and Sabo on the shopping street at the foot of the mountain were all IOUs, and he hadn't had time to pay them yet!

"Old man your head!" Siano couldn't bear it anymore and slapped him, "I'm not much older than you, if you want to flatter me, you should call me big brother!"

"Oh..." Luffy touched the red palm print on his face with grievance.

"Pay back the debts you owe yourself!"

After glaring at Luffy in annoyance, Siano looked at the poor people around him, his eyes thoughtful.

He didn't plan to throw money directly as Luffy said.

Everyone is meeting for the first time, there is no emotional foundation between each other, and it would be too strange to give money directly because of pity.

Moreover, it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish.

"I have an orange orchard at home, and I'm preparing to expand the scale, but I don't have enough manpower, so I'm going to recruit some employees."

He glanced at the straw hat on Luffy's head, "It just so happens that I plan to go home today, so why don't you just leave the Goa Kingdom and go back with me? How about settling down there from now on?"

He spoke relatively generally.

In the actual plan, he intended to withdraw tens of millions of Berries, and the rest would still be saved as a sea-going fund.

He was not only preparing to expand the scale of the orange orchard, but also planned to set up several family-style workshops to process the harvested citrus fruits.

The quality of the citrus produced in Cocoyasi Village was really good, and the taste was far inferior to the citrus fruits he had eaten in his previous life.

But the purchase price of primary agricultural products was really low.

Otherwise, Bell-mère wouldn't have been busy taking care of the orange orchard all year round, but before he became the pillar, she was too poor to even buy new clothes for Nami.

And if, according to his plan, high-quality oranges were processed into various salted and sugared products, such as canned goods, jam, and candied fruit, and then sold, the added value would be greatly increased.

The daily management of the workshop could be handed over to Manba, and Bell-mère could be idle if she wanted to, or continue to take care of her beloved orange orchard if she wanted to be busy.

Limited by geographical location and trading channels, perhaps they couldn't make a lot of money.

But while making the family conditions better, it was more than enough to support these poor hungry people and let them make a living on their own.

"Re, really? Is it okay?!"

Manba was slightly stunned for a moment, and then couldn't suppress his excitement, holding Siano's hands, "Sir, are you really willing to take us in and give us a job?!"

"Well, let everyone pack up, and we'll set off with me in a while."

Siano nodded slightly, "Don't worry about the boat ticket, I'll cover it."

"That's great!"

"We're saved, we're saved!"

"Thank you, sir! Thank you!"

The circle of hungry people nearby didn't dare to believe it at first.

Until Siano confirmed it, the long-suppressed emotions erupted all at once. Some cried, some knelt down on the spot, and some silently hugged each other and rejoiced.

It was already winter, and they had been living in fear and anxiety in the mountains these days, not eating enough and not wearing enough, and life was really too difficult.

"Thank you very much, thank you very much..."

Manba's voice was choked, "You are equivalent to saving the lives of the dozen or so of us. I, I am not good with words and don't know how to say it. In short, sir! From now on, my life, Manba, is yours! Whatever you want me to do, I will do it!"

"Sir, we are too!" The poor people around echoed loudly.

"Woo woo woo." Luffy was also crying on the side, "Why don't you untie me first, old man, I can't wipe my tears, it's so uncomfortable."

Siano looked at this kid speechlessly and drew the Zongzheng sword from his back.

Swish swish.

The sword light flashed, and the hemp ropes binding Luffy's limbs were all cut off in an instant.

"Wow, what a powerful swordsmanship!"

Luffy moved his wrists, just marveling at the precision of the swordsmanship, when blood suddenly spurted from both arms, which scared him into shouting in a panic, hurriedly tearing his coat into strips to wrap and stop the bleeding, "Wow! Why did you even cut my skin!"

"..."

Siano coughed to cover up his embarrassment, turned around and returned the sword to the scabbard, and looked at the dark-skinned man in front of him.

"Siano." He said, "What about you, what is your real name, what should I call you in the future?"

"Just call me Manba."

The other party shook his head and said sincerely, "To tell you the truth, I used to be a guard raised by a noble family since I was a child. The name was given by the butler, and I didn't like it. On the contrary, I have been used to the name Manba for a few months, so I might as well live with this name in the future."

"Good, Manba! Bring all the important things, let's go now!"

Siano laughed loudly.

When everyone was busy, he shifted his gaze to Luffy again. Before leaving, how could he forget this most important thing.

"It hurts, Siano old man!"

Luffy pointed to the wound on his arm with dissatisfaction, "When you cut the rope, can you be more careful? It makes me not want to thank you for helping me out!"

Of course, this was just talk.

For the guy who took the initiative to help these hungry people get out of trouble as soon as he appeared, Luffy still had a good impression, and besides, he was completely free now!

No need to rack his brains thinking about how to hunt to pay for this ten times the roast meat.

"Sorry, my swordsmanship is indeed not well practiced."

Siano smiled slightly, "As compensation, I'll show you a little magic trick."

"Magic trick?!!!"

Luffy immediately got into the spirit and squatted in a classic monkey style on the table, "Okay, okay!"

So...

The next second, under the silly gaze of this kid, Siano suddenly reached out and took away the straw hat on his head.

(End of this chapter)