Whiskey Peak

The days of sailing remained much the same, but unlike before, Laboon's body was large enough for them to stay inside its belly.

The blue sky and white clouds overhead had been painted by Crocus out of boredom. It was not dark; instead, it was exceptionally bright. No one knew what kind of paint he had used, but somehow it had not been corroded by Laboon's stomach acid.

The pale-blue stomach acid stretched as wide as a lake. A small island floated in the middle, with a little wooden cabin built on it. A coconut tree had also been planted beside the cabin.

Several pieces of clothing hung on a clothesline between the tree and the cabin.

If one ignored the noise, this place was actually suitable for a relaxing vacation.

As for why it was noisy?

Because Rodney had created a group of Shadow Clones, and they were currently training in the Six Powers and Fish-Man Karate.

He could now create over a hundred Shadow Clones in one go. Each one trained separately before bringing its experience back to him, giving him a geometric increase in training speed. A training accelerator—truly terrifying!

Crocus could not help exclaiming, "Young people these days really are full of surprises. Just the ability to walk on water is astonishing enough. Speaking of which, what kind of Devil Fruit did this kid eat?"

He had countless abilities: prophecy, healing, clones, walking on water... He definitely had other trump cards as well. If he developed these abilities properly, he would certainly have a place in the world's seas someday.

He suddenly felt as if he had been abandoned by the times. No, it was more that he could no longer keep up with the times. Such a troublesome ability would have been terrifying even in their era. If only the clones were not so weak, he could conquer the seas with that ability alone. No wonder the kid had said that no one could catch him as long as he wanted to escape.

He turned his attention back to the book in his hands, and his gaze gradually deepened. This author is really damn good. The more I read, the more even this old man's blood starts boiling!

"Jiraiya? What an impressive author."

Laboon swam through the deep sea, following the direction Crocus pointed out. With its enormous body, those creatures several times larger than the Sea Kings of the East Blue did not dare approach and cause trouble. They also did not need to care about the ever-changing weather on the surface. No matter how huge the waves became, they could not affect anything hundreds of meters below the sea.

That depth was still considered shallow for Laboon.

"Wooo~"

Before long, Laboon rose from the surface of the sea. Crocus poked his head out through the hatch on its back, and land had already appeared in the distance. It was a very large island covered with many enormous spherical cacti. A thin mist shrouded it, making it look somewhat hazy.

He glanced at the Log Pose on his wrist and said to Rodney, who had just come up, "Rodney, the Log Pose's magnetic charge is running low. We need to stop here and let it store more magnetism." Rodney was still learning, so the Log Pose was temporarily in Crocus's hands.

Every island had a different magnetic field. The Log Pose needed to record the local magnetic field for a while, and only after storing enough magnetism would it point toward the next island. Therefore, they had to wait here for a while. As for how long, no one could say. It might be several hours, or it might be a year. There was no way to know.

"We've only been traveling for a few days," Rodney said. "It ran out so quickly?"

"Hahaha, don't underestimate Laboon's speed. It's very fast. A creature as large as Laboon can only stay in the deep sea and can't enter shallow waters, so the two of us will have to go up first."

He patted Laboon's skin. "Laboon, we'll head up first. We'll set off again once the magnetic charge is full."

"Wooo~" Laboon cried out in response.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Rodney." Crocus tossed out a rope and took out a wooden board resembling a surfboard.

"Sure."

Rodney tied the rope around his waist, then leaped off Laboon's back before Crocus.

He landed steadily on the surface of the sea. "Soru!"

With a whoosh, he carried Crocus and dashed across the water. Crocus held onto the rope while the board beneath his feet served as a surfboard, cutting through the waves as they raced toward the island at incredible speed.

Before long, they reached the shore. Crocus said, "This is Whiskey Peak. I know of it, but I haven't really been here before."

Whiskey Peak was relatively close to Twin Capes, though that was only in terms of its location. Crocus did not know what the place was actually like.

He did not know, but Rodney did.

This was a town that welcomed pirates. In reality, however, it was a gathering place for bounty hunters and a subordinate branch of the secret criminal organization Baroque Works.

Rodney smiled faintly and said, "Old man, let's go take a look around town first. Since it's called Whiskey Peak, I wonder if they have whiskey."

"Good point." Crocus agreed. A large portion of the pirates on the seas were drunkards, and they all yearned for fine liquor.

The old man and the young man walked together toward the town beneath the giant spherical cacti.

Because they had arrived quietly, there was no scene of townspeople lining the streets to welcome them. Still, two unfamiliar faces entering the town naturally attracted attention.

In secret, someone held up Rodney's old wanted poster and said, "Jotaro J. Rodney, a bounty hunter from the East Blue. His bounty is three million Beli. He counts as a fat sheep. I don't know who the old man beside him is."

Unfortunately, he did not know that Rodney's wanted poster had already been withdrawn by Garp's men in the Marines. It had long since become useless.

That wanted poster had been obtained earlier. Unfortunately, the withdrawal had happened too quickly, and they still did not know the details.

The bounty hunters in town had already set their sights on Rodney, planning to capture him and collect his bounty from the Marines.

"Then prepare a banquet. Let's give this bounty hunter a wonderful evening."

"No problem." They gathered together and snickered. They clearly were not good people.

They had always acted this way. Knowing that their own strength was weak, they gathered together and took advantage of their targets' arrogance, deceiving them and giving these inexperienced newcomers a brutal lesson about the harshness of society.

Quite a few young and inexperienced pirates had already become their prey, earning them their bounties.

Unfortunately, Rodney knew their true colors, and he was also traveling with a seasoned old hand.

Rodney and Crocus had not walked around for long before they were surrounded by a group of people. Their faces were filled with admiration, and one of them asked expectantly, "Excuse me, are the two of you pirates?"

Here it comes?

Crocus chuckled. "This old man was a pirate for several years in the past. Now, I'm retired."

"Wow, old man, why did you retire? Pirates are the heroes of the sea!" one of them asked.

"I'm old, and my body can't keep up anymore." Crocus smiled as he spoke, but he felt puzzled. Pirates did not have a very good reputation on the seas. He had come through those days himself. It was impossible for anyone to welcome and worship pirates like this. It was already good if people did not run away when they saw them.

This was the first town he had ever seen that welcomed pirates. Something about it felt strange.

"Then is the person beside you your grandson?"

Rodney: "..."

He kept the smile on his face and said nothing.

Before Crocus could answer, the man piled on another compliment. "Your grandson must be a very powerful pirate, right?"

Rodney continued smiling as he listened to the group flatter him. Crocus had originally wanted to explain, but seeing the smile on Rodney's face, he felt that the young man was probably holding back some mischief. So he said nothing.

At this moment, Rodney spoke. "Actually..." He dragged out his voice, drawing everyone's attention. "...I'm a pirate hunter."

Everyone: "..."

The atmosphere instantly became awkward. The clueless people did not know what to say. All the flattery they had just delivered had been aimed completely at the wrong person.

An eerie silence filled the air. Crocus laughed loudly and left with Rodney.

"Damn it! That kid was playing us!"

"That's right, but we have to find a way to capture them!"

"Isn't he a bounty hunter like us? What the hell is he worth?"

"No, you're thinking too much. Looking at that smug, punchable face of his, I suddenly feel an overwhelming urge to plant a fist right in it."

"Count me in."

"Yeah, me too."

"Same here!"