A Paid Vacation Is So Sweet

Mo Xingchen, lounging on a beach chair, eyed Dorag who was also in casual wear, only a military cap on his head, and asked curiously:

"Dorag, I remember you're a lieutenant commander, right? Why aren't you wearing your Justice coat?"

"I'm on leave right now, basically. Besides, this time the spotlight's on you, Brother Mo. Why would I steal your thunder?"

Leaning against the ship's railing, sipping juice in the sea breeze, Dorag replied without turning his head.

"By the way, do you know the branch chief of the Sabaody Archipelago, Major General Wilt?"

"Not very well. When I did missions on Sabaody before, I had a couple of brief encounters with him. Easy to talk to. I heard he used to be under Vice Admiral Borsalino. Don't know much more than that."

Just then, Lieutenant William, standing nearby, cut in to report to Mo Xingchen:

"Captain Mo, Major General Wilt was originally Vice Admiral Borsalino's adjutant. At first, the Sabaody branch chief was Vice Admiral Borsalino himself, back when he was still a major general. After he got promoted to vice admiral, he was reassigned to new duties. But because Sabaody's location is special, the island's situation is complicated, and it's close to headquarters, they didn't send another strong vice admiral to guard it. Major General Wilt stepped up to fill the role."

"William, I didn't realize you knew so much."

William scratched his head sheepishly:

"Captain Mo, don't praise me. Us small fries, no strength, we just handle the intel work."

"Hahaha, don't say that, William. It's exactly this kind of intel analysis that lets your superiors work better!"

Amid their chatter, a lookout soldier announced that Sabaody Archipelago was about to arrive. The warship sailed straight into the Marine branch port. As everyone disembarked, a man wearing a Justice coat with a captain's epaulets approached with a few soldiers.

"Captain Mo, hello! I'm Major General Wilt's adjutant, Phelps. Major General Wilt sent me to escort you to his office."

"Alright, thank you."

Mo Xingchen had Will go handle the handover with the other side, while he himself took Dorag and followed Captain Phelps to the office.

Entering the office, he saw a burly man with a full beard sitting on the sofa brewing tea. Mo Xingchen spoke first:

"Hello, Major General Wilt! I'm Mo Xingchen. Sorry for the intrusion on this visit!"

"Hahaha, Captain Mo, Lieutenant Commander Dorag, no need to be formal, have a seat!" Wilt handed them hot tea, then continued, "I've heard rumors about you. Vice Admiral Garp's communications officer, strong as a monster, able to fight Vice Admiral Sakazuki to a draw. Vice Admiral Tsuru and Vice Admiral Borsalino have already called me. For this operation, if you need any support, just tell Phelps directly. I've already briefed my men—full cooperation."

"Major General Wilt, you're too kind! I'm truly grateful!"

For a while, host and guest were in high spirits. After asking about the current situation on Sabaody Archipelago, Mo Xingchen took Dorag to go explore.

From what he learned, the general layout of Sabaody Archipelago wasn't much different from the original.

The entire archipelago was made up of 79 giant trees. For easy identification, each tree had a number written on it.

Groves 1 to 29: mainly slave shops, slave auctions, lawless zones, etc.

Groves 30 to 39: mainly soap bubble parks, etc.

Groves 40 to 49: mainly tourist areas, souvenir shops, etc.

Groves 50 to 59: mainly shipyards, coating craftsmen, etc.

Groves 60 to 69: mainly Marine garrison, government entrances, etc.

Groves 70 to 79: mainly hotel districts, etc.

Leaving the office, Mo Xingchen took Dorag toward Groves 30-49. After all, the lawless zone was crawling with pirates—no rush to work. He planned to enjoy a good tour of this amazing island. Why not take a paid vacation?

"Dorag, you're just too upright."

"Dorag, you used to only focus on catching pirates, but you missed the scenery along the way."

"Dorag, you need to balance work and rest. If you're always tense, how can you improve?"

For over 20 days straight, Mo Xingchen led Dorag around almost the entire Sabaody Archipelago except for the lawless Groves 1-29. They played everything worth playing, bought a ton of random stuff—though most of it was given to the soldiers who came with him, plus gifts for a few big shots.

After enduring 20-odd days of mental assault, Dorag finally snapped. Early in the morning, he burst into the bedroom, grabbed Mo Xingchen by the collar, yanked him out of bed, and roared:

"Mo Xingchen, you've been playing for days on end! The promotion ceremony is almost here, and you haven't caught a single pirate yet!"

"Alright, alright, alright~ Don't get so worked up. Tomorrow! We'll go tomorrow!"

Mo Xingchen said with a fawning look.

"Like hell I believe you! You've been saying that since last week! Today! We're going today!"

Seeing there was no way to weasel out of it, Mo Xingchen had to accept his fate:

"Fine, fine, fine. Can't out-stubborn you. You're the boss, you call the shots. Today, I'll show you what efficiency means!"

With that, he bellowed toward the door:

"William!"

William came trotting over at the sound, snapped to attention, and saluted:

"Captain Mo! What are your orders?"

"Give you half an hour! Get the brats in the combat squad assembled! Then go borrow a platoon of fighters from Colonel Phelps."

"Yes, sir!"

William turned and left to carry out the order. He began washing up and changing clothes. By the time Mo Xingchen appeared on the training ground in full gear, a force of about forty men had already assembled.

Mo Xingchen snapped his fingers and pointed toward the Branch gate.

"Target: Island No. 1. Move out!"

Seeing William standing in the front row with a thick stack of wanted posters in his arms, he waved him over.

"William, you just need to tell me which Pirates have bounties over ten million."

"Yes, sir!"

Mo Xingchen planned to start from Island No. 1 and sweep straight through to No. 29. Whoever ran into him could only blame their bad luck.

He had no intention of learning the life stories of these Pirates. Pirates—a bunch of people who didn't work for a living. What did you expect them to live on?

Sure, some Pirates claimed they only wanted freedom and wouldn't harm others, and their income came from preying on other criminals. Fine! If you wanted freedom and didn't want to join the Navy, that was understandable. But why not become a Bounty Hunter instead? Why hoist the Pirate flag?

After all, a Child of Destiny like Luffy only came once in a world. And honestly, Oda had no choice but to write it that way. He couldn't make the protagonist a murderous, looting villain who did every evil under the sun. The man had to make a living too.

So Luffy was nothing more than a savior disguised as a Pirate. What kind of Pirate was he, really?