Target

Regarding Tom's decision, Zig had no choice—the World Government would find a way to break the contract, especially concerning obtaining the Pluton blueprints, which Tom was well aware of!

It was just that he was determined to build the Sea Train, considering it more important than his own life...

Zig could only hope that Tom would leave immediately after finishing the train.

If they returned to Fish-Man Island, perhaps the World Government would give up out of fear.

After leaving Water Seven and spending more than half a day, the Sea Bass burst out of the water, its various drainage ports opening to expel a large amount of seawater.

After the refit, as long as they didn't dive too deep for too long, the Sea Bass suffered almost no damage, and its cargo hold was extremely well-sealed!

Arlong scanned the deck left and right before suddenly exclaiming with sourness, "It's great that there are fewer Mermaids with no combat power!"

Oh, right, Zig realized that among the Mermaids left behind in Water Seven was that Triton...

Noticing Zig looking at him, Arlong became flustered and retorted, "But what a shame! Why didn't you get off the ship? Didn't you find any humans with nice butts?"

Zig didn't bother arguing with him...

Although they had left Water Seven in a bit of a rush, the outcome was still good in the end.

"It's fortunate that you guys happened to cause trouble, Arlong, otherwise we would have really been cornered in Water Seven by Aokiji," Makoro said with a tone of relief.

However, Arlong glared at him, feeling that this guy was being sarcastic.

Everyone had experienced the Sea God Pilgrimage and the Vice Admiral's attack, yet they had still left Water Seven safely. Naturally, such a celebratory event called for a feast.

Although Zig's stamina hadn't fully recovered, he still climbed the mast to sing a song for Arlong.

"True feelings are as vast as the prairie... layer upon layer of wind and rain cannot block them... there will always be clouds parting, and the sun rising..."

After the feast, Boss Tiger called the executives to sober up and meet in the captain's cabin.

Zig was about to head to the helm; it was his watch.

But then Tiger spoke, "Hachi, you cover Little Fei for a while, and Little Fei, you come in too."

"Huh?" Zig was stunned for a moment, then realized that he was considered an executive now, regardless of his age.

Indeed, in terms of combat power, Zig on the ship should be second only to Jinbe, Tiger, Aladdin, Willy, Arlong, and Makoro. In a state of extreme anger, he could even challenge the top four. It wasn't strange for him to be an executive.

Although many crew members looked surprised, envious, and jealous when they heard this, the Sun Pirates was not a team with intense internal struggles. Besides, being an executive didn't involve the distribution of spoils. They had been together for several months and were familiar with each other, so no one objected.

Only Arlong grumbled, "The ship's singer? The instrumentalist? Heh."

Upon arriving at the captain's cabin, Tiger picked up a simple sea chart to hang it himself. No one with foresight stepped forward, so Zig quickly rushed to help, preventing the captain from having to do it himself.

However, the result was a glare from Arlong and Willy, while Makoro looked greatly inspired from the side.

One couldn't expect much accuracy from the sea chart of the Grand Line; it was merely symbolic.

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

It's a neutral island nation. Although it's a member of the World Government, it doesn't have a strong military force, and the nearest Marine G4 branch is very far away.

Because it's an archipelago, it's divided into many small villages and towns. We'll go to the small town on the southeast side. This area is considered a 'black market.' As long as we don't make a big scene, the local security forces will turn a blind eye, but we cannot reveal that we are the Sun Pirates!"

After Tiger finished speaking, everyone continued to look at him, knowing that what he was about to announce was far from simple, otherwise, there wouldn't have been a need for a special meeting.

"More importantly, after that..." Tiger said, moving his finger from Galadi Island along a dotted line to the next island.

"In the Galadi Archipelago, we can record the Log Pose for the next island. This place... is Vila Island! Vila underwent a major change over a hundred years ago and became a slave state. As a member of the World Government, it has long applied to legalize its domestic slave trade.

Not only are many of its citizens enslaved, but it's also a transit point for the slave trade. Every year, many slave-catching teams conduct slave trading here... from humans, to Longarm Tribe, Longleg Tribe, Snakeneck Tribe... and even our own kind are among them!"

Tiger slammed his hand on the table as he spoke.

The meaning was clear—going to the Galadi Archipelago was just for resupply, for everyone to recuperate.

When they reached Vila Island... they would attack!

Normally, they avoided trouble whenever possible. Even when encountering Marines or the World Government, they would evade if they could. However... when facing slave-catching teams and a slave state, the Sun Pirates would proactively use violence!

And everyone was sharpening their blades, showing no sign of reluctance to fight, not even bothering to ask about Vila's defense capabilities.

Finally, Tiger took the initiative to introduce the information...

"As a member nation, Vila is not directly governed by the World Government. It only has a World Government office and no Marines stationed there. Its main defense forces are a three-thousand-strong national army and the guards of numerous slave factories. The known King, Hesk Six, is an ability user of the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Falcon... We don't know how many other experts there are."

Tiger introduced the collected information. The Sun Pirates usually paid close attention to intelligence regarding the slave trade and oppression.

Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Falcon?

Zig's heart skipped a beat...

Wasn't that the Devil Fruit ability of Bell from Alabasta?

In the original story, he had even flown through the sky carrying a young Vivi. Roughly calculating, Vivi should be a few years old by now.

If that was the case, then this King of Vila was living on borrowed time—if he didn't vacate the fruit soon, Vivi would grow up!

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

Of course, the Sun Pirates didn't kill people. When rescuing slaves, they would typically charge into areas where slaves were gathered, free them, set fires, and obstruct the local army, giving the slaves time to escape. If the slaves could unite and overthrow the slave-owning kingdom, that would be an unexpected bonus.

If the King of Vila was fated to die around this time in the original timeline, it was most likely the rebellious slaves who did it.

Zig only remembered the "Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Falcon" and didn't recall more details—Vila was actually an ancient country mentioned in the original work with a certain history. Roland, the "Great Liar," wrote in his log that when he arrived in Vila four hundred years ago, it was a prosperous place. When the Straw Hat Pirates were in Loguetown, Nami saw in the newspaper news about a coup in Vila and turbulent times