A week later.
Grand Line, Sabaody Archipelago.
"I want meat!"
"Hey, hey, why is the port here so small?"
"So many bubbles! Are these the soap bubbles unique to Sabaody?"
"Finally out of that Florian Triangle, thankfully we didn't encounter any danger."
"This is making me SUPER~ excited!"
The Straw Hat crew, having just landed the Sunny on the Sabaody Archipelago, were making a ruckus, excitedly looking at the bustling scenery around them.
Yes.
After leaving Alabasta, the Straw Hat crew naturally never stopped their adventure.
They successively went to the desolate Skypiea, passed through Water 7 where they met the shipwright Franky, and then passed through the Florian Triangle.
To this day, they had finally arrived here—even within the long voyage of the Grand Line, the Sabaody Archipelago could be considered a landmark.
"After crossing here, we will reach the New World—the sea area where those guys are..."
Even the usually relatively calm and indifferent Zoro couldn't help but grip the sword at his waist at this moment.
In his mind, he constantly recalled the battle between Snake and Hawkeye they had observed in Alabasta earlier—even though the Transponder Snail disconnecting at the end of that battle meant he couldn't glimpse the final outcome.
But for him as a swordsman, that was still enough to serve as a guidepost for him.
"I heard Elbaf sank, I wonder how Master Dorry and Master Brogy are doing..."
At the same time, Usopp beside him was also full of worry: "We have to quickly buy supplies, it's best to set off for the New World tomorrow."
"That will be very difficult."
And Reiju, walking shoulder to shoulder with Sanji beside him, covered her mouth and smiled upon hearing this: "To go to the New World, without Germa's 'Red Line Flipping Device', the ship needs to be coated—even the most skilled coating craftsman would need at least a few days to complete the coating."
"Coating?" xN
Except for Nami, who had done her homework long ago, and Franky, who was a shipwright, most members of the Straw Hat crew clearly knew nothing about 'coating'.
And exactly when Reiju was explaining what coating was to the Straw Hat crew...
"Hey, old man, this meat looks delicious. Give me ten portions, I'll eat one right now!"
A certain Captain clearly had no interest whatsoever in the details of the upcoming voyage. Right now, he had already rushed in front of a certain stall, constantly sniffing the aroma.
"Oh, young man—you have a good eye. The roasted meat here is the best on this Grove 2!"
The old man selling roasted meat was clearly quite pleased, nodding as he handed a piece of roasted meat to Luffy.
"Mmph, mmph... delicious!"
Luffy hurriedly tore off a piece of the roasted meat and stuffed it into his mouth. Then, golden light resembling the sun immediately ignited in his eyes.
"Old man, give me another hundred pieces... no! Two hundred..."
"Are you an idiot!?"
Accompanied by a loud bang, Luffy, who was crazy for meat, was smashed to the ground by a punch from Nami on the spot: "Just buy one or two pieces to taste it, we still have to buy other supplies. We don't have that much money to spend on this kind of food with a short shelf life!"
"B-But Nami, it's really delicious..."
"Shut up!"
With the true Captain holding the ship's financial power speaking up, Luffy could only cower like a bullied monkey.
And the old man selling roasted meat wasn't angry either, merely packing the remaining nine pieces of roasted meat into a soap bubble and handing them to Nami and Luffy, while smiling and saying: "Mm, by the way, young man and young lady, you look like pirates, right?"
"Ah..."
Hearing this, Nami also panicked on her face, but quickly calmed down.
During this journey, they had encountered such questions more than once, so she naturally knew how to answer.
"No, we are just passing travelers..."
Nami waved her hand, about to deny it.
But the bullied monkey beside her had already spoken a step ahead: "Old man, you really have a good eye, we are pirates—I am the man who will become the Pirate King!"
Nami: "..."
How should she put it?
She felt that for all the bumps and displacements along this journey, this guy's brain circuit must bear at least half... no, ninety percent of the responsibility!
"Oh! Just as I expected!"
But to Nami's surprise, the old man selling roasted meat laughed heartily upon hearing this: "It's been a long time since I've seen such obvious pirates like you guys, actually daring to land on the island at a time like this recently... you must be remarkable pirates."
"Hm?"
Hearing these words, Nami instantly caught some unusual aspects within the words.
The attitude in this old man's words clearly didn't seem as fearful of pirates as ordinary civilians.
"Old man, do you see pirates often?"
Realizing that the old man's words contained quite a bit of information, she also noticed another problem: "I just heard you say something about Grove 2—but isn't this Grove 1?"
"Hahaha, you guys actually don't know?"
Hearing Nami's words, the old man didn't hide anything either.
"In the past, I was a chef at an underground auction house on Grove 2, I indeed saw pirates often..."
He roughly explained the situation.
Simply put, he indeed saw pirates often—in the past, when this island was still a lawless zone, filled everywhere with human and organ traffickers as well as slave auctions, he worked here.
"But you all should know, previously, that Zodiac's 'Rooster' and 'Star Lord' himself descended here."
"At that time, Grove 1 of the Sabaody Archipelago was sunk, and almost all the auction houses and trading posts in the lawless zone suffered an extinguishing disaster—mm, although this island was successfully preserved at the time, it also changed from Grove 2 to Grove 1 because of this."
As he spoke, he also pointed at the Red Line not far behind him: "Look, that is the trace of that battle."
Hearing his words, Nami, Luffy, and the Straw Hat crew walking over behind them also looked up collectively.
Then they indeed saw it—that hideous and massive 'hollow' on the Red Line not far from Sabaody.
"That was left by Star Lord..."
Clearly, after the roasted meat old man's explanation, they also recalled the reports they had seen back then.
That massive hollow was clearly the trace left by that strike that pierced through the Red Line when Star Lord first manifested on the sea.
For them, who had walked all this way listening to the deeds of The Zodiac.
Seeing that trace again at this moment made them feel even more like a story had been projected into reality.
However...
"Lawless zone... I have actually heard of it..."
Hearing this, Nami was somewhat hesitant—she had done her homework before coming to the Sabaody Archipelago, and naturally had somewhat heard that a part of the Sabaody Archipelago seemed relatively chaotic.
But...
"Why is it now..."
She scanned the surrounding situation.
Right now, the Grove 2 of the Sabaody Archipelago where they were located didn't have the shadow of a lawless zone no matter how she looked at it.
On the contrary, vendors operating like this roasted meat old man, as well as a small number of seemingly quite legitimate shops, could be seen everywhere.
No matter how you looked at it, it didn't look like a 'lawless zone'.
Hearing this, the smile on the old man's expression grew even wider.
"During that incident, the abducted Celestial Dragons were ultimately killed by The Zodiac. This directly resulted in the World Nobles no longer daring to rashly come to the Sabaody Archipelago for pleasure... and most of the transactions in the lawless zone on the entire island withered as a result."
"Although pirates still occasionally come here, because the location of the Sabaody Archipelago is very close to the Holy Land and Marine Headquarters, they don't dare to be too ostentatious either, instead looking for coating craftsmen very low-key... in short, the situation on the island has become much more stable."
He said this.
That's right.
In fact, the Sabaody Archipelago currently didn't have much change for pirates compared to before.
The only difference was the absence of the 'Celestial Dragons' doing evil here—and because the Celestial Dragons no longer set foot here, those illegal industries closely related to the Celestial Dragons also lost their protective umbrella and biggest clients, thus gradually withering.
With no more opportunities to curry favor and contact Celestial Dragons, many dignitaries and royals from various countries similarly chose to abandon Sabaody.
This directly led to the entire island instead becoming peaceful and safe.
"Old man, you look very happy—even though your income before should have been higher, right?"
And at this moment, Reiju suddenly opened her mouth and asked.
"...Ah, yes."
The old man was first stunned upon hearing this, and then also nodded casually: "The income before was indeed higher, but..."
In his mind, he recalled the previous Sabaody Archipelago—especially those evil and dirty scandals within the underground auction house where he worked.
At that time, serving those dignitaries, his income was indeed much more substantial, at least more than ten times higher than now.
But...
"Compared to those days, it's still better now."
He said seriously.
"..." xN
The Straw Hat crew looked at the old man's earnest eyes and didn't continue this topic.
"By the way, old man—you just said we 'landed on the island at a time like this recently'... what does that mean?"
Nami changed the subject and continued asking.
"Oh, you guys really don't know?"
And hearing this question, the roasted meat old man also said seriously: "Recently, for some unknown reason, people from that 'Star Hunter Unit' have been active quite frequently on the Sabaody Archipelago. Especially that Captain Smoker, the 'White Hunter' under the command of 'Black Xiezhi'—he frequently leads teams to sweep the island, and quite a few pirates hiding here preparing to head to the New World have been caught."
As he said this, he looked at the Straw Hat crew: "If you guys aren't careful, you'll be caught too."
"Smoker... is that guy!?"
Upon hearing this name, the expressions of Nami, Sanji, Usopp, and Zoro also changed.
On the contrary, the other members who joined the pirate crew later were somewhat confused—they hadn't heard this name before.
"Eh? Mmph mmph... Smoker? Who is that?"
And right now, Luffy, who was chewing on roasted meat, asked somewhat confusedly.
The initial four of the Straw Hat crew: "...Are you an idiot?"
Half a moment later.
"Oh!? It's that smoky guy?"
After the physical reminders from Nami and the others, Luffy, with a head full of bumps, clearly also recalled Smoker—he still had an impression of powerhouses, especially powerhouses like Smoker who had once suppressed him so much that he almost couldn't fight back.
"Isn't that guy in Loguetown? How could he appear here... truly haunting us like a ghost!"
Nami and Usopp also frowned, clearly having a headache.
Even after so much time had passed, the thought of Smoker's abilities still gave them somewhat of a headache.
The others similarly frowned tightly.
Especially Reiju, who, having once been the second-in-command of Germa, had the clearest understanding of the situation on the sea. She said seriously: "No, although I don't know how formidable that guy named Smoker is, I'm afraid the true crux of the problem isn't him, but the 'Star Hunter Unit'."
She said softly.
As the words fell, besides Luffy, who was looking aside with a curious face and asking Usopp 'what is the Star Hunter Unit'.
The rest of the Straw Hat crew all had solemn expressions.
"An ace unit formed to oppose The Zodiac, said to have gathered experts from the Marines and the World Government."
"Such guys are active on this island... truly headache-inducing."
Sanji took a drag from his cigarette and silently exhaled a puff of smoke.
"However..."
But immediately after, his gaze looked quite sharply at the roasted meat old man beside them: "Old man, you should have something else you want to say to us, right?"
He grinned, but his words were somewhat sharp.
"Even if a normal person isn't afraid of pirates, they wouldn't go so far as to provide so much 'intelligence' to strangers, right?"
He directly pointed out the key suspicious point about this roasted meat old man.
Normally speaking, even if this old man wasn't afraid of pirates because he had worked in an underground auction house.
But not being afraid and being willing to help pirates are clearly two different things.
And now, the information provided by this old man clearly reached a level that could be called helping.
"Ah, young man, don't be so nervous."
But upon hearing this, the roasted meat old man laughed heartily: "I indeed intentionally reminded you about the matter of the Star Hunter Unit, but that wasn't out of my own volition—I'm just earning some extra cash."
"Extra cash?"
"Yes—a big shot on the island told us 'people' who used to work in the lawless zone that when we encounter some pirates who look pretty good, we can guide them to a bar."
The roasted meat old man grinned: "In that bar, you can contact the best coating craftsmen on the island, and simultaneously gather all kinds of intelligence... I think you guys are definitely interested?"
"For only 1000 Berries, I can tell you the location of that bar!"
The Straw Hat crew: "..."
A bar specifically guiding pirates to go there?
I have to say, no matter how you think about it, it sounds very suspicious, right?
Who would go to that kind of place...
"Oh! Sounds very interesting!"
Before their thoughts could fall, they heard the excited voice of their captain.
"Let's go, we're going there!"
(End of Chapter)
☆☆☆
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