The dark and cloudy thunderous sky finally calmed after days of storms. The sun emerged from the clouds, dispersing the dark clouds and illuminating the sea below.
"A rare sunny day."
Lily walked out from the banquet hall on the first floor, looked up at the sky, and then at the silhouette of the tree-covered island ahead, saying, "Looks like we've arrived."
They had sailed for days and endured storms, finally reaching their destination.
Generally speaking, the Shampodi Islands are not real islands, lacking magnetic power, yet not impossible to find.
Anyone who reaches this position must have charged up magnetic power at the previous island, aiming for Fishman Island. Shampodi Islands lie beside the Red Earth Continent and are very close to Fishman Island. If they can't find Fishman Island, they'll naturally head left instead of right.
Because to the right lies Marineford and other two major institutions of the World Government, along with the Gate of Justice.
Once they head left, they easily find the Shampodi Islands.
Lucci approached from the other side, saying, "Let's sail to the right. At this position, we'll only enter the landing ports of the World Government and Navy. The right is for civilian landings, won't be checked."
Since Captain Sage announced his plan a few days ago, Lucci had been in a contradiction, sometimes excitedly grinning, sometimes cold and emotionless, not knowing what he was thinking about.
"I understand."
Lily nodded, turned, and went up to the second floor. After knocking on the captain's cabin door a few times, she pushed it open and went in.
Bang!
Bang bang!
As always, Sage was lifting stones, using his whole body strength to ram into the Poneglyph. The forceful attacks made the captain's cabin tremble with each noise.
The Poneglyph seemed to sway slightly after being attacked, barely noticeable.
Seeing Lily entering, Sage suddenly headbutted the Poneglyph. A dull sound accompanied the emergence of a scar on his forehead, but just for a moment, white vapor rose from his forehead and it healed as before.
"Sage, we've arrived," Lily said.
"Finally, we have arrived."
Sage walked to a nearby sofa, sat down, took a cigar from the coffee table, roasted it with a lighter, and lit the tip, saying, "Bring me a bottle of white wine, what's it called again..."
Lily walked to the wine cabinet, took out a wine bottle, opened the cork, poured it into the Gemstone Wine Glass on the desk, and placed it on the coffee table by the sofa, saying, "Le Feuillant."
"Hmm..."
Sage took a puff of smoke from the cigar, picked up the Gemstone Wine Glass, leaned back comfortably, and after swirling the glass, drank it down in one gulp.
"You say these wines all have such strange names, why not just call it fancy white wine, easy to remember."
The wine was, of course, looted. As to where it was looted, Sage had already forgotten. During that half-month of robbery, there were some good items, brought by Gin once anyway.
"It's named after the winery and origin or the person selling it. With so many wine types, without such names, they wouldn't be distinctive," Lily said.
This 'Le Feuillant' white wine, like the 'Romanée' in Sage's wine cabinet, costs a million Belly a bottle.
"I'm going to take a bath, have the leaders wait for me on the deck."
Sage put down the wine glass, extinguished the cigar, and walked shirtless to the bathroom.
A man's bath... is quick.
In just a few minutes, Sage changed into a reddish-brown open-front shirt, wore black patterned loose martial arts pants, tightly tied with boots above the ankle, draped a cloak, and descended from the captain's cabin to the deck.
By this moment, the Black Ship had sailed to the edge of the Shampodi Islands, with tall tree clusters and moss-covered green land ahead.
"Introduce us."
Sage glanced at the location and asked.
"Let me, let me!"
Owl hopped out excitedly, waving his hand, and said, "Captain Sage, this is Shampodi Islands, no earth or rocks, all formed by huge trees and roots. Each giant tree represents the island itself, composed of 79 trees, all numbered, chababa."
They were positioned such that the nearest island's trees, with numbers like '45GR', '44GR', could be seen.
Each numbered island had a vast area. Besides the buildings gathered under the trees, the ground outside the buildings was also unusually open.
"Divided by numbers into different areas, but because it's vast, some places are even out of the World Government's jurisdiction, like the central zones from 1 to 29, hence known as a lawless area, with many weird people, including us and many Bounty Hunters, chababa."
"A lot of Bounty Hunters?" Renedia asked.
"Many, because it's a must-landing place for all pirates, attracting a lot of Bounty Hunters, or rather part-timers, they also engage in other businesses like human trafficking and robbery, chababa."
"Eh? Aren't Bounty Hunters just Bounty Hunters?" Renedia instinctively looked at Sage.
If she remembered correctly, Sage had said he was a Bounty Hunter before he became a Pirate.
"I was full-time, doing only one job, most are part-timers," Sage said.
Bounty Hunters aren't all good either, it's a side job, even Pirates can dabble if they aren't caught by the Navy for their bounties.
However, Owl's words reminded Sage of something.
"Human traffickers..."
Sage laughed, "Right, there seem to be quite a few human trafficker shops here... Free activities, rotational shifts, keep two hundred on board, others go freely, gather intel, see where it's worth robbing, especially trafficker shops, see if there are any suitable recruits for me, especially those good in songs and dances, maybe form a troupe here."
He had always dreamed of this.
After plundering for so long, not once did he find an ideal candidate, even in towns with fun industries, no one wanted to join Sage's ship as a song and dance troupe.
Such timid folks, if they weren't Sage's choice, let them be.
But Shampodi is different, being the endpoint of the first half, it has everything imaginable.
Perhaps they'd find a song and dance troupe.
Then, wouldn't it be feasting and revelry every night!
"Everyone, keep your spirits up, this time we must find! I don't want to enter the New World without a personal dancer for our banquets!" Sage shouted at them.
Kumadori, though skilled in Kabuki, was a man, occasional dancing was fine for atmosphere, but Sage wanted something pleasing to the eye!
"Oh!!" the Pirates called out one after another.
The massive Black Ship entered the islands numbered 40 to 49, areas specifically for civilian landings. Besides regular boats docked at the giant roots, Sage saw many Pirate Ships, and also...
"Sage..."
Lily nudged closer to Sage, pointing to the other side.
There, beside a distant root, docked a familiar ship.
The Straw Hat's ship...
...
13GR.
Shakky's Rip-off Bar.
"Mm, I got it."
Shakky hung up the Radio Snail, saying to the stunned Luffy, "As for coating, our old Ray hasn't returned yet, but if you want to look, try between 1 to 29, Navy can't reach there, or perhaps at the amusement park, on Island 33."
"Amusement park!"
Luffy's eyes lit up, "Great, we can go to the amusement park, Keimi, amusement park!"
Shakky smoked her cigarette, blowing out smoke, "No matter where you go, be careful, information is a weapon, just got the intelligence update, the Disaster Pirates... entered after you."
"So, there are now a total of fourteen pirates with bounties over a hundred million on this island."
"Four, fourteen?!" Brook's skull jaw dropped wide open.
"Yes, because of 'Disaster' Sage's imprisonment, it's fourteen, otherwise, there should have been fifteen pirates over a hundred million," Shakky said.
"Sage?"
In the bar, Luffy, Brook, and Chopper tilted their heads in unison.
"Sage?" Luffy repeated, "Sounds familiar..."
"Luffy, it's Sage, we just had a banquet with him a few days ago," Brook reminded.
"Oh! The white-haired guy!" Luffy clapped his palm, grinning, "The white-haired guy broke out of prison!"