The Grand Line, the end of the first half at the Red Line, Sabaody Archipelago
After bringing the ship alongside the shore, Wood disembarked on Sabaody Archipelago's Grove 7 with Gion.
Since only Gion and Wood were carrying out this mission, they hadn't taken a Marine warship when they left Marine Headquarters. Instead, they'd bought a small sailboat.
A little sailboat like that could carry only limited supplies, so it obviously wasn't suited to long voyages across the seas.
But Sabaody Archipelago wasn't that far from Marine Headquarters, so their little boat could manage a short trip like this—as long as they didn't run into any attacking Sea Kings.
As for how a certain Great Swordsman had traveled from the New World to the East Blue on a wooden raft, Wood would like to know that himself.
Did so-called Great Swordsmen not need to eat, drink, or use the bathroom along the way?
Hawkeye's ship... Calling that thing a ship was generous. It was basically a battered raft with a seat attached.
Wood tossed the anchor overboard, then turned to the long-legged young woman beside him. She was dressed casually in a top and hot pants. "As far as I know, Groves 1 through 29 on Sabaody Archipelago are all Lawless Zones.
There's even a chance someone could get kidnapped just walking down the street. Are you sure it's okay to leave the boat here?
This isn't a Marine Headquarters ship. It's your personal property, isn't it?"
Sabaody Archipelago was actually formed by the world's largest mangrove, the Yarukiman Mangrove. Its roots grew above the water, creating the archipelago.
It was called an archipelago, but the islands themselves were the tree's roots. That was why the Log Pose didn't record this place, only Fish-Man Island, ten thousand meters below Sabaody Archipelago.
The place where Wood and Gion had landed was in the archipelago's Lawless Zone. If it were a Marine warship, no one would dare steal it, since Marine Headquarters was nearby.
But the little sailboat they'd arrived in was pink all over, and even had a pair of rabbit ears decorating its roof. No matter how you looked at it, it couldn't possibly belong to Marine Headquarters.
"It's fine. There's nothing valuable on board, so let them steal it if they want. The mission comes first. Going around to the other side of the island would waste a lot of time.
Grove 1 is where the largest slave auction is held. Our target should be there."
Hearing Gion, Wood couldn't help gaping. He'd grown up on Maple Leaf Island and knew a thing or two about the value of timber.
The wood used for Gion's boat was better than top-grade rosewood. Even without factoring in the craftsmanship, it had to be worth at least ten or twenty million Belly. And she was willing to let someone steal it!
Did Marine captains really get paid that much? Why was his own monthly salary only a few hundred thousand Belly?
"Gion, can I ask how much a Marine captain earns in a month?"
The two headed from Grove 7 toward Grove 1 at a brisk pace. Gion didn't understand why Wood had suddenly asked such a strange question, but she humored his curiosity.
"A Marine captain's monthly salary isn't much, really. Close to ten million Belly, I suppose."
Gion didn't have much sense of money. And unlike most women, she didn't care for many things. She was either on standby at Marine Headquarters or out on missions, so she rarely had anywhere to spend it.
"Close to ten million Belly... Wait, that's a huge salary.
But that boat just now was worth several months' pay, wasn't it? Aren't you upset that it might be gone?"
"What are you talking about? It's true that a Marine captain's salary is only around ten million Belly.
But when we capture or kill pirates with bounties, we can earn a share of the reward. We don't get the full amount like bounty hunters do, but we still get a cut."
What Gion said wasn't written explicitly in the Marines' benefits regulations, but it was a well-established unspoken rule.
The fact that Marine Headquarters could offer bounties worth hundreds of millions of Belly for pirates showed just how deep its pockets were.
For promising Marine officers, using a portion of pirate bounties as bonuses was cheaper than paying bounty hunters the full amount, while also motivating Marines to hunt pirates. Why wouldn't they do it?
The only reason Wood didn't know about this rule was that he'd spent the past six months at Impel Down.
He hadn't just missed out on pirate hunts; he hadn't even seen a single pirate. The only pirates he'd encountered were there to serve time in prison.
Gion's rapid promotion over the past six months meant that plenty of pirate crews had been defeated by her. In a sense, the Gion standing before Wood was a genuine rich woman!
"Gion, you must have plenty of money on hand right now. I'd like to borrow thirty million... No, fifty million Belly.
Don't worry, I swear on my integrity that I'll pay you back. We've known each other for ages, so you should know I'm good for it."
As the end of the first half of the Grand Line and the starting point of the New World, Sabaody Archipelago was where pirates from all four seas gathered before entering the New World.
That made it a huge trade hub. Slave auctions made up the bulk of the business, but they weren't the only thing on offer.
Rare information, Famous Swords, even Devil Fruits—if you were lucky enough, you might find any of them here.
Wood wanted to borrow money from Gion mainly to try his luck and see if he could find anything good.
"From what Tashigi told me, you've never paid Smoker back the money you owe him.
As for integrity and credibility... do you really possess either of those qualities?"
"Besides, why do you need so much money? Are you planning to follow those scumbags' example and buy a couple of beautiful women as slaves?
Don't forget we're on a mission. We don't have time for you to wander around shopping."
The slaves the Celestial Dragons had bought at the people auction had been waiting for several days. The people at the slave market were worried that the "goods" were too valuable, so they'd been afraid to handle the delivery. That was why the Celestial Dragons had eventually gone to the Marines.
The Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise had been waiting impatiently for this new batch of slaves. If Gion had taken even two more days to prepare, Sengoku would have wanted another Marine officer to take over the Celestial Dragons' assignment.
Before you continue