Sabaody Archipelago

The Sabaody Archipelago can be seen from afar.

The surface of the Sabaody Archipelago is actually the root system of the Almond Tree, which floats on the sea surface.

The roots of the Almond Tree secrete a special natural resin through respiration. This resin expands into bubbles when exposed to air, which then float into the sky. Since these bubbles are only suitable for the climate range of the Almond Tree, once they leave the climate range of the Sabaody Archipelago, the resin components will explode because they cannot exert their full power.

Bubble culture permeates every corner of the Sabaody Archipelago.

This is a beautiful archipelago, if one were unaware of the dark side it hides.

With the exception of a few members, many of them were visiting the Sabaody Archipelago for the first time, as most of them came from all over the world.

News of the Night Pirates' arrival spread quickly. Although they hadn't arrived yet, people were already waiting for them in the Lawless Zone of the Sabaody Archipelago.

Pirates typically land in the Lawless Zone numbered 1 to 29.

The Night Pirates' movements could not be concealed. Whenever the Night Pirates landed on other islands, someone would send out images with a clear title.

Just like trending topics, it quickly became known to countless people. Even if you didn't pay to see it, you could tell what it meant just by looking at the title.

Three imposing, large pirate ships appeared. Before many eyes, the Night Pirates arrived, entering the Lawless Zone, Area 18.

The members of the Night Pirates followed Teach off the ship, ignoring the stares of others and not caring at all.

"Wallace, take some crew members and go find a coating craftsman to coat our pirate ship," Teach said, turning to Wallace behind him.

"Hmm." Wallace nodded in agreement.

There are only two paths to the New World. One is the path controlled by the World Government, which goes directly through the Red Line. Teach left the New World via this path.

Another route passes by Fish-Man Island, which is more than 10,000 meters below sea level, and goes around it from the deep sea.

Fish-Man Island is located beneath the Red Line.

The Night Pirates are naturally heading down the Fish-Man Island route.

"Find more, and try to complete the coating within three days," Teach reminded them, adding that relying on just one coating craftsman would take an unknown amount of time.

"The rest of the members can wander around." Teach wasn't worried that anyone would be foolish enough to provoke the Night Pirates; their strength alone was a problem.

Otherwise, he wouldn't mind carrying out a purge of the Sabaody Archipelago.

"Come with me, let's go meet a senior," Teach said to the members beside him.

This naturally piqued their curiosity: who exactly was this Teach referred to as a senior?

However, Gari and Pito, who had been with Teach long before, recognized who it was.

The Night Pirates had many members, so it was impossible for them all to go with them. Therefore, only about twenty people followed Teach.

The other members went to other parts of the Sabaody Archipelago to play, shop, eat, and so on.

After all, the Sabaody Archipelago has everything.

Sabaody Archipelago is close to the Marine Headquarters and enjoys the protection of the Navy. Coupled with its unique bubble culture, it is the last stop before entering the New World, so it is very safe and few pirates cause trouble in Sabaody Archipelago.

Occasionally, Celestial Dragons would visit the Sabaody Archipelago to purchase slaves.

However, the stability of the Sabaody Archipelago was based on the proximity of the Marine Headquarters to the Marine Headquarters. In the future, the Marine Headquarters moved to the G1 Branch in the New World and could no longer take care of the Sabaody Archipelago, which then completely turned into a lawless place.

At the naval base on the Sabaody Archipelago, "The Night Pirates are here, Commodore. Should we just ignore them?"

A colonel looked at the officer in charge of guarding the Sabaody Archipelago and asked, "The news of the Night Pirates' arrival at the Sabaody Archipelago could not be kept from the Navy, and they received the news immediately."

"Manage? How?" The Commodore shook his head. "Isn't one Mostima enough? Do we have to drag the Night Pirates into this?"

He was just a minor Commodore, but he knew that the Night Pirates were far beyond their capabilities; they weren't even qualified to deal with them.

How many powerful marines have died at the hands of the Night Pirates? What can they do?

"Just notify Marine Headquarters. If anything happens, their strongest members will take action. Besides, we're in the New World right now, so we shouldn't provoke the Night Pirates." The Commodore said, shaking his head.

"Yes, Commodore."

Area 13.

"Hehe, that little guy is coming soon, are you ready?" Shakky said with a smile to Rayleigh, who was sitting at the bar, in a tavern.

She was naturally aware of the whereabouts of the Night Pirates, and she also remembered that Teach had a battle with Rayleigh, and that when Teach returned, he would have a major battle with Rayleigh.

"It's been a long time since I've held a sword. I wonder if I've gotten rusty," Rayleigh said with a smile, taking a small sip from his wine glass.

"I'm looking forward to it. I didn't expect him to grow so fast. You have to be careful." Shakky reminded him, thinking of something. After all, Teach's strength now is completely different from what it was three years ago. They're not even in the same league anymore.

He then added with a smile, "But I'm somewhat looking forward to your battle."

"You're just waiting to collect the debt, aren't you?" Rayleigh chuckled softly, knowing Shakky's thoughts. After all Teach owed Shakky a billion Beli, which was for information about the Dark-Dark Fruit.

If the information is true, Teach will give her one billion Beli. Shakky has been waiting ever since Teach ate the Dark-Dark Fruit.

"I still have a large group of people to support," Shakky said with a smile.

However, Rayleigh looked incredulous. Although he didn't know how large Shakky's intelligence organization was, it was true that maintaining an intelligence organization required a lot of money, but at the same time, intelligence was also a highly profitable industry.

Besides newspaper images, the World Economic News also secretly supports the development of intelligence organizations, sells and acquires intelligence, and some important intelligence cannot be obtained by Reporter Bird alone.

Spies and underground workers are common occurrences.

Intelligence doesn't rot; a single piece of intelligence can attract many buyers.

Of course, the reputation of an intelligence organization is extremely important. Once it loses its reputation, if its intelligence is wrong or if it leaks information about buyers, it will lose customers. Without customers, the intelligence organization will have no income. Without income, it cannot sustain its development, will gradually weaken, and will eventually be swallowed up by other forces.

At the same time, an intelligence organization needs the support of a powerful force, otherwise it cannot develop, and intelligence personnel require a lot of money to train.

Rayleigh was unaware of these things, but Shakky was very clear that she did need money to maintain the organization's development. However, without substantial funds, how could she expand? Therefore, she needed the support of a powerful force.

This is a bottomless pit that requires constant investment.

Even the navy spends a large portion of its budget on intelligence every year.

Shakky's intelligence organization has only been around for forty years, compared to those with centuries of history, but that's still a considerable time.

She was once a Great Pirate, a member of the Rocks Pirates, and in charge of intelligence.

This intelligence organization developed rapidly. With the substantial support of the Rocks Pirates and Rocks Pirates formidable strength, it absorbed several other intelligence organizations. Combined with Shakky's skillful management, it quickly expanded into one of the world's largest intelligence organizations.

However, after the fall of the Rocks Dynasty, things were alright for the first few years. But without the support of its vast funds, it gradually became unsustainable. Its rapid expansion in a short period of time also caused instability in its foundation, so it gradually declined.

With Shakky shifting the intelligence organization's focus from the New World to the Grand Line, which is much safer, the organization is now largely self-sufficient.

However, Shakky has already retired from the criminal world and no longer needs to focus on expanding her intelligence organization.

Making money is merely a hobby of hers; just look at the exorbitant prices on the tavern's menu.

"They're here." Rayleigh seemed to sense something, smiled, and turned his head slightly to look behind him.

Shakky also looked up, smiling as she looked towards the gate.

The tavern door was closed, and there was no indication that it would open to welcome guests, so there were no other customers inside.

However, there was no sign outside saying it was closed to customers, meaning the tavern was actually open.

Knowing that the Night Pirates would be coming today, Shakky made these arrangements specifically.

"Is this where that senior is?" Many members couldn't help but feel puzzled and incredulous.

Looking up at the pub's name, "Shakky's Rip-off Bar".

"Heh, to be precise, it's two people." Teach didn't explain further; the tavern's name was indeed somewhat comical. "Let's go in."

Teach sensed their presence inside and pushed the door open to enter.

The door opened, and you could immediately see only two people inside the tavern: a man and a woman.

They were all very unfamiliar with Shakky, after all, Shakky had retired from the underworld for more than ten years, and only a few powerful figures who were active in the previous era knew of Shakky's existence.

After all, Shakky was on the Navy's list of key targets. After the Rocks Pirates disbanded, Shakky was repeatedly pursued by the Navy Garp the Hero, and she escaped from Garp's grasp each time.

Rayleigh, with his back to them, had some silver hair mixed in with his slightly long, golden hair; after all, Rayleigh was already fifty-seven years old.

Some crew members recognized Rayleigh by Rayleigh profile, after all, the Great Pirate Era had been going on for more than three years, and Rayleigh had been missing on the sea for almost four years.

Nevertheless, Pluto Rayleigh's name still resounds throughout the seas.

His pupils constricted involuntarily; this was the legendary pirate, the right-hand man of the Pirate King.

After all, hearing rumors and seeing things with your own eyes are completely different experiences.

Judging from Teach's appearance, they must have known each other for a long time. After all, Teach fought Rayleigh when he was young.

With Teach's rise to prominence, almost everything about Teach has been unearthed, including some things that have piqued the curiosity of many.

Just like two years before the start of the Great Pirate Era, the Whitebeard Pirates and the Roger Pirates met on an island in the New World and fought for three days and three nights.

This kind of thing was originally known to only a few people, but with the advent of the video era, it was recorded during casual conversation and then sent out, quickly becoming known to many people.

The advent of the image era has also ushered in the information age, an era in which many things cannot be kept secret.

Some veteran pirates make videos to tell stories of their past as Great Pirate in order to make money. These storytelling videos are actually very attractive, after all, they have the star effect.

This also reveals many things, things that are not known to others. Of course, there are also fabrications that are eventually exposed as false, and most of them do not end up well.

"Long time no see." Teach nodded to Rayleigh and Shakky, then walked over and sat down at the bar.

"They're really energetic." Rayleigh smiled, looking at Teach and Teach companions behind him, and couldn't help but admire them. In just a few years, Teach had found so many powerful companions, and they were all very young, still on the rise, far from reaching their peak.

However, what he was most concerned about was Rediat, Redfield's son and Teach's deputy, who had found a seat and sat down.

This young powerhouse, who also possesses Conqueror's Haki, has monstrous talent and a top-tier Devil Fruit. Like Teach, he has entered the ranks of monsters at a young age.

Add to that Ares, the "Fierce God" still in the New World, a monster who also possesses Conqueror's Haki's Haki.

The Night Pirates now resemble Rocks in some ways. Compared to Rayleigh, Shakky actually feels this most deeply because she was once a member of the Rocks Pirates.

However, compared to the Rocks Pirates, the Night Pirates were a true pirate crew. The Rocks Pirates were merely a group of pirates drawn together by profit, with Rocks suppressing all members with his overwhelming strength. They had no concept of comrades, which was the reason for Rocks' ultimate defeat—no one was willing to help him.

"Here's your billion Beli," Teach said to Shakky, then turned and winked at Nelson.

Teach hadn't forgotten about the billion Beli; he had already prepared for it.

Nelson nodded and used his ability to instantly create a billion Beli on one side, a thick stack of Beli covering a corner of Beli tavern in an instant.

"Uh!" Rayleigh and Shakky were taken aback when the ten billion Beli appeared right in front of them.

"Hey buddy, could you help me get this billion Beli up to the second floor?" Shakky asked Nelson with a smile.

It seems that Shakky has some understanding of Nelson's abilities.

Nelson turned to look at Teach, Teach nodded.

With Teach's consent, the billion Beli vanished instantly and reappeared on the second floor of the tavern.

Seeing the billion Beli made Shakky feel much better.

Teach wouldn't break his promise for something like this, and besides, he didn't need the billion Beli.

Now, Teach can say: What is money? I have no interest in money! I've never touched money!

Moreover, Shakky's intelligence was extremely useful.