Target

Even with Tom's decision, there was nothing Sig could do. The World Government would find a way to break their agreement, especially since they wanted to get their hands on the Pluton Blueprints. Tom knew that perfectly well!

But he was determined to build the Sea Train, and believed it mattered more than his life...

All Sig could do was hope that Tom would leave as soon as the train was finished.

If they made it back to Fish-Man Island, perhaps the World Government would think twice and give up.

After leaving Water Seven and traveling for most of the day, the Sea Bass burst out of the water. Its drainage ports opened, pouring out a massive amount of seawater.

After the modifications, the Sea Bass barely suffered any wear and tear unless it made an emergency dive or stayed underwater too long. Its cargo hold was also exceptionally watertight!

Arlong looked around the deck, then suddenly said with a sour expression, "There are fewer mermaids with no fighting ability now. What a relief!"

Oh, right. Sig realized that the mermaids who had stayed behind in Water Seven included Triton...

When Arlong noticed Sig looking at him, he flew into a rage and snapped, "But what a shame! Why didn't you get off the ship, you idiot? Couldn't find any humans with nice asses?"

Sig didn't bother rising to the bait...

Though they had left Water Seven in a bit of a scramble, things had turned out well in the end.

"Good thing you guys happened to cause trouble, Arlong. Otherwise, Aokiji would've cornered us in Water Seven," Makoro said, sounding relieved.

Arlong glared at him, though. He couldn't help thinking the guy was being sarcastic.

They had survived the Sea God Pilgrimage and an attack by a Navy Vice Admiral, yet still managed to leave Water Seven safely. That was certainly worth celebrating, so naturally they held a banquet.

Sig hadn't fully recovered his strength, but he still climbed up the mast and performed a song for Arlong.

"True love is as vast as the grasslands... No storm can keep it apart... The clouds will always part, and the sun will shine..."

After the banquet, Big Brother Fisher Tiger told the officers to sleep off their drinks, then called them to a meeting in the captain's cabin.

Sig was about to take the helm, since it was his turn.

But Fisher Tiger said, "Hachi, take over for Little Fei for a while. Little Fei, you come in too."

"Huh?" Sig was taken aback, then realized he counted as an officer now, at least to some extent.

In terms of fighting strength, Sig was probably only behind Jinbe, Fisher Tiger, Aladdin, Willy, Arlong, and Makoro aboard the ship. In fact, when he was furious enough, he could contend for fourth place. It wasn't strange for him to be an officer.

Quite a few crew members looked surprised, and many cast him envious or jealous glances. But the Sun Pirates weren't the sort of crew plagued by internal squabbles. Besides, whether someone was an officer had nothing to do with how the spoils were divided. They had all known one another for months by now, so no one objected.

Only Arlong muttered, "The ship's singer? Its musician? Heh."

When they reached the captain's cabin, Fisher Tiger picked up the rough sea chart to hang it up. No one else seemed to have the sense to help, so Sig hurried over and did it before the captain had to bother.

The result was that Arlong and Willy both shot him disapproving looks, while Makoro seemed deeply inspired.

There was no point expecting much accuracy from a Grand Line sea chart. It was mostly symbolic.

Fisher Tiger pointed to an island to the north. "This is the Galadi Archipelago. We have an Eternal Pose for it, so we'll stop there to resupply.

"It's a neutral island nation. Though it's one of the World Government Member States, it doesn't have much military strength. The nearest G4 Branch is also a long way from here.

"Since it's an archipelago, it's divided into many small towns and villages. We'll head to a town on the southeastern side. That area is something of a 'black market.' As long as we don't cause a big scene, the local security forces will turn a blind eye. But we can't let anyone find out we're the Sun Pirates!"

When Fisher Tiger finished, everyone kept looking at him. They knew there had to be more to the announcement than that; otherwise, there'd have been no need to call a meeting.

"More importantly, after that..." Fisher Tiger said, tracing a dotted line from the Galadi Archipelago to the next island.

"While we're in the Galadi Archipelago, we can get a Log Pose for the next island. This is Vila Island. Over a hundred years ago, Vila changed course and became a slave-owning nation. It's a World Government Member State, and it applied long ago to legalize the slave trade within its borders.

"Many of its own people from the lower classes are enslaved, and it's also a hub for the slave trade. Every year, numerous slave-hunting crews come here to trade slaves... Humans, Longarm Tribe members, Longleg Tribe members, the Snake-headed tribe... and our own people are all among them!"

As he spoke, Fisher Tiger slapped the table.

The meaning was obvious: they'd stop at the Galadi Archipelago just to resupply and recover.

Once they reached Vila Island... they'd hit them hard!

Usually, they avoided trouble whenever possible. Even when the Navy or the World Government pursued them, they'd evade them if they could. But when it came to slave-hunting crews and slave-owning nations, the Sun Pirates would use force of their own accord!

Everyone was eager for a fight. Not a trace of battle fatigue showed, and no one even asked about Vila's defenses.

In the end, Fisher Tiger was the one who explained them...

"As an affiliated nation, Vila isn't directly governed by the World Government. It has a World Government office, but no Navy garrison. Its main defenses are a national army of three thousand and the guards at its many slave factories. We know that King Hesk Six is a Devil Fruit user with the Bird-Bird Fruit: Falcon Model... We don't know how many other powerful fighters he has."

Fisher Tiger went over the information they had gathered. The Sun Pirates made a point of keeping track of slave trading and oppression.

The Bird-Bird Fruit: Falcon Model?

Sig's thoughts stirred...

Wasn't that Bell's Devil Fruit ability in Alabasta?

In the original story, Bell had even carried young Vivi through the sky. If Sig counted it right, Vivi should have been born for a few years by now, shouldn't she?

By that reckoning, Vila's king was already living on borrowed time—if he didn't make room for the fruit soon, Vivi would grow up!

Perhaps he had died around this time in the original story, too?

Of course, the Sun Pirates didn't kill people. When rescuing slaves, they usually charged into a place where slaves were gathered, freed them, set fires, and held off the local army to give the slaves time to escape. If the slaves could band together and overthrow the slave-owning kingdom, that was a welcome bonus.

If Vila's king had died around this time in the original chain of events, it was probably at the hands of the rebelling slaves.

Sig only remembered the Bird-Bird Fruit: Falcon Model. He didn't recall the finer details. Vila had been mentioned in the original story as an ancient country with a history stretching back centuries. In the journal of "Noland the Liar," Noland wrote that when he reached Vila four hundred years ago, it had been a thriving land. And while the Straw Hat Pirates were in Loguetown, Nami had read in the newspaper that Vila had undergone a coup and was in turmoil...