The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

When Enzo appeared, Navas was ashen-faced and kept apologizing, hoping that the other party would be lenient and let him go.

After Sandro appeared, something called hope reappeared in Navas's eyes.

He quickly explained the cause and course of events, his voice trembling with emotion as he finished speaking:

"I know it's wrong to just rob, but the buyer of this shipment is Gauss of Pachino, who, like you, values ​​his reputation highly. If I break the contract, no one in Pachino will do business with me in the future. Besides, what I did wasn't exactly robbery... I'll pay! 31 lire, the money is all ready."

Sandro wasn't particularly tall, but his thick fingers and arms suggested he was very strong.

His skin was several shades darker than the surrounding villagers, clearly indicating that he worked in a job that required him to be exposed to the elements year-round.

After listening to Navas's entire explanation, Sandro called Rosalia over and asked her:

Is he telling the truth?

Rosalia's hair was now neatly combed, but she hadn't regained her composure; her gaze towards Navas was filled with intense hostility.

"He was willing to pay, but the price we agreed on was not 10000 lira per kilogram, but 13000 lira per kilogram."

A series of angry curses rang out from all around.

Everyone knows that Rosalia makes pickled fish to supplement her family's income, and everyone is aware of the price of tuna.

We weren't making much profit from the original price, so who gave you the nerve to try and lower the price further?

Navas's voice trembled with even more emotion as he hurriedly explained:

"The higher-ups are pressuring me on the price; there's nothing I can do about it!"

He looked at Rosalia:

"Rosalia! Prove to me that I bought your salted fish for over a year at 16000 lira per kilogram. If the market hadn't been so bad, I would never have lowered your price. I know it's not easy for you on your own."

Navas's current actions are all attempts to gain Sandro's sympathy, hoping to eventually leave Malzamemi smoothly.

But the surrounding area was full of Marzamemi villagers. Who would want this guy who came to their territory to cause trouble to leave so easily?

Everyone chimed in, trying to spit on Rosalia as if they wanted to drown Navas.

Stop spouting nonsense!

"Who knows if you've tried to drive down the price? Who knows how much profit you'll make? What do the previous acquisition prices even mean!"

"You say you didn't rob me, but where's the money? All I see are two grown men harassing a woman!"

"Sandro, stop wasting your breath on him, teach him a lesson he'll learn today!"

Sandro ignored the sounds around him, staring at Rosalia and waiting for her reply.

Rosalia was silent for a few seconds before finally speaking:

"The prices he offered before were fair, and he never owed me any money."

Sandro turned to Navas and said:

"Rosalia is a person of principle. She said that the prices you gave her before were fair, and I believe that to be true. So now we only need to settle accounts for today."

The white-haired old man suddenly raised his voice:

"The price you agreed upon before was a contract. You can discuss it again if you feel it's not suitable, but you can't unilaterally go back on your word after the agreement is made. Breaking the contract is already a huge mistake, and you're bullying a woman! Do you think my people are so easy to bully?!"

Enzo approached Sandro, his fingers cracking as he waited for the order to crush the two bastards!

Navas really cried this time.

Enzo is Marzamemi's toughest puncher, ranking among the top on the entire East Coast. He's also a notorious "violent thug." If you get a beating from him, you won't be able to do anything for the next three months!

"I was wrong, I know I was wrong! But this is between Rosalia and me, can't we settle this between ourselves?"

As he spoke, he went to Rosalia's side and pleaded:

"Rosalia, I'm still paying 13000 lira per kilogram for this basket of salted fish, and I swear I'll keep this price from now on!"

Sandro took a step forward, his tone reassuring:

"Rosalia, this is between you and him, but there are no cowards in Sicily, and no one in Malzamemi is a coward. Tell me, what kind of outcome do you want?"

All the men, including Marco and the poor-sighted Saviel, rolled up their sleeves, eager to hear Rosalia say the words they were hoping for—"I'll make him pay for what he did today!"

But Rosalia said nothing, and in full view of everyone, she drew her rope-cutting knife and swung it heavily at Navas.

"don't want!"

The women screamed in terror.

Upon closer listening, a man's voice could be heard mixed in with the women's voices.

Leo's voice was hoarse from shouting, and he struggled to push away the burly man in front of him.

Do not!

Don't kill anyone on my territory!

There was chaos around Rosalia, and Leo couldn't see what happened after the slash.

All that could be seen was Enzo and several other burly men forcefully pulling her out of the crowd.

"Get out! Take your money and get out! If I ever see you again, I'll kill you, you bastard! Widows aren't so easy to bully!!"

This scene had a huge impact on Leo.

A chaotic crowd, a widow brandishing a knife, screams echoing in my ears...

He stepped back to Marco's side and whispered:

"The fighting scenes of you Sicilians are terrifying."

Marco covered his mouth and answered softly:

"It's not usually like this."

He was also somewhat frightened by Rosalia.

Savile hid behind Marco, his ear pointed in the direction Rosalia had been pulled away, and asked fearfully:

"Has Rosalia gone mad?"

Marco glanced over there, then immediately looked away:

"No, but it's more terrifying than going insane."

Leo also looked in that direction.

Thinking to myself, the worst decision Navas ever made was probably thinking that a widow was easy to bully.

......

Rosalia, who disliked causing trouble for others, settled the score for the day in her own way, and Sandro then left with his men.

But Navas's men disagreed.

The decision was made by Navas, the agreement was broken by Navas, and the money was earned by Navas.

I was beaten up for no reason... Who can I complain to?

He knew Sandro was a reasonable man, so he took a step forward:

"The score with Navas and Rosalia is settled, but what about the fact that I got beaten up?"

Sandro stopped and looked at him with a frown:

"Don't think that just because I'm old and blind, it's because none of our people touched you. Who hit you?"

The man pointed to a spot:

"He! He beat me and Navas up!!"

The villagers who were about to leave all looked in the direction the finger was pointing and froze.

A new penniless newcomer?

Wasn't he just there to watch the fun with everyone else?

Sandro's brow furrowed into a V-shape.

He hasn't been feeling well lately and hasn't been going out much. He didn't even know this person was from their village...

Marco pushed Leo away, muttering under his breath, "Another lunatic."

The guy got anxious and pointed at Leo, shouting:

"Don't go!"

Navas was quite frightened by that knife strike, but he has recovered by now.

Having failed to receive the goods and instead suffered a humiliation, he was determined to get something today... so he joined the "punishment" effort, asking Sandro to stand up for him:

"You said it yourself, today's matter is between Rosalia and me, and I've settled things with Rosalia. But this guy beat us up. Can I settle that score with him too?"

Sandro turned around, wanting to bring Leo over.

However, Leo took the first step—he walked towards Sandro under everyone's watchful eyes, his face calm.

"What's your name?" Sandro asked.

Leo stopped two meters away from him:

"Leo Volpe".

"Is he new here?" Sandro continued to ask.

Leo replied with a relaxed expression:

"Yes, I came to Marzamemi because I wanted to be the freest person on this sea."

The atmosphere was serious, but many villagers were still amused by Leo.

They understood what Leo meant; many of the outsiders who came to Marzamemi were drawn by the area's marine resources.

But Leo's answer was particularly interesting.

It sounds awkward at first, but upon closer inspection it's a bit humorous, and upon further reflection it gets a little thrilling.

How so?

It's just...

"Idiot." Leo characterized his answer.

To make Sandro remember his name on the first meeting, one has to go to some extremes.

He guessed that Sicilians who hadn't read One Piece would remember his cringeworthy answer and, incidentally, remember him as a person.

Sure enough, Sandro's expression twisted unnaturally.

He pointed at Navas and asked:

Did you hit them?

At this moment, the best course of action for Leo is to firmly deny it and avoid creating any further complications.

There was no one else around at the time, and both sides had their own version of events, making it impossible to verify.

But the difficulty lies in the fact that the "Kings Never Meet" prompt did not complete, indicating that the previous cringeworthy speech was not enough to make Sandro remember him.

While hesitating whether to find a safe opportunity to complete the task later, or take a gamble and admit it, hoping to make the other person remember him...

A hoarse voice came from not far away:

"He was just passing by."

Upon hearing the voice, the crowd automatically parted to reveal the speaker.

Rosalia had calmed down, and her pale, haggard face made her look completely different from the 'madwoman' she had just been.

She continued:

"He was just passing by when he saw us arguing, and he helped Monica go back to get help."

With a "whoosh," everyone's eyes turned to Navas.

Sandro's tone was full of anger:

"I trust Rosalia's character. Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

"No, no, no, she's lying, she's lying!" Now Navas and the other person were going crazy.

So many people were speaking out for Rosalia, yet she was able to objectively and fairly say that the price Navas offered was fairly reasonable.

This concerns other people, so Rosalia has no reason to lie, and she has always been a person of principle.

Enzo led the villagers to surround the two "unruly" people, seemingly intending to teach them a small lesson.

Leo paid no attention to the "spectacle" he had been hoping to see: dozens of people fighting against two.

His gaze pierced through the layers of people and landed on Rosalia.

Away from the noisy crowd, she silently carried the fish basket that had been dented during the argument, and quietly walked back to the village with her back to everyone.

She walked very slowly; thirty kilograms of salted fish was no easy task for a thin woman.

But her steps were "very heavy," like a reef that refused to bow to the sea... both silent and unyielding.