"Wood, is this guy a wanted pirate?"
On Sabaody Archipelago's Grove 4, in a sparsely populated area, a beautiful, long-legged young woman with fair skin held up a burly man who clearly outweighed her by several times with one hand. She turned to ask the black-haired boy beside her.
The black-haired boy was crouched on the ground, holding a stack of wanted posters and comparing them with the faces of several other unfortunate souls lying nearby.
A closer look would reveal that quite a few people lay unconscious around the boy and girl—and most of them were well-known figures on Sabaody Archipelago.
The entire Sabaody Archipelago was made up of 79 giant trees.
Groves 1 to 29 were home to human-trafficking shops, slave auctions, and the Lawless Zone.
Groves 30 to 39 were mainly home to attractions such as the Sabaody Park.
Groves 40 to 49 were mainly home to tourist areas and specialty shops.
Groves 50 to 59 were mainly home to shipyards and coating craftsmen.
Groves 60 to 69 were mainly home to Marine stations and government facilities.
Groves 70 to 79 were mainly home to hotel districts.
Wood and Gion had landed in the area around Grove 7 and were heading toward Grove 1. The entire route passed through the Lawless Zone of Sabaody Archipelago.
Gion was tall and, despite wearing casual clothes, her pretty face, alluring curves, and long legs exposed beneath her hot pants quickly caught the eye of some slave traders.
Although both Wood and Gion wore long swords at their waists, their youth made it easy for people in such a lawless area to mistake them for easy prey.
They were both exceptionally good-looking, and because they were young, they could fetch a good price at any slave market.
The people traffickers simply ignored the long swords at their waists.
After all, the world was in such chaos that even half-grown kids carried daggers when they went out. These traffickers lived by the sword—why would two young people with long swords scare them off?
There were plenty of people in the same line of work on Sabaody Archipelago. With such fine merchandise, if they didn't act quickly, someone else would snatch it up first.
They assumed that Wood and Gion were so young they couldn't possibly be strong, so the people-trafficking gang made their move.
A few minutes later, every one of them was sprawled on the ground...
"Other than the guy you're holding, who's worth thirty-three million Belly, the rest are worthless."
Hearing Gion's question, Wood checked the wanted posters in his hands once more. Only then did he realize, rather dejectedly, that although more than fifty people had just surrounded them, the only one with a valuable head was the man Gion was holding.
Don't ask where Wood got the wanted posters. After they landed and he heard Gion say that the Marines got a cut for capturing wanted pirates, he'd found the island's latest and most complete collection of pirate wanted posters as fast as he could.
"Most of the people trafficking on Sabaody Archipelago are members of underground organizations or bounty hunters. Some pirates might get into the same business while they're waiting for their ships to be coated.
"I just didn't expect trash like this to be worth thirty-three million Belly. The Marines' method of setting bounties is far too careless."
The pirate was worth thirty-three million Belly, making him something of a figure in his own waters. Gion tossed him aside like a piece of oversized trash, her expression full of disdain.
When Gion said this, the other people traffickers and pirates still lurking nearby—those who hadn't had a chance to act—swallowed hard.
As mentioned earlier, there were plenty of people in the business on Sabaody Archipelago. Whenever easy prey showed up, competition was fierce.
There had been far more than the fifty or so people now lying on the ground who had set their sights on Wood and Gion. Many others simply hadn't had the chance to act yet.
Those latecomers had also been planning to target Wood and Gion. But after seeing the fight that had just taken place before their eyes, their excitement quickly cooled.
Sabaody Archipelago was the entrance to the second half of the Grand Line. Pirates who hadn't entered the New World were, at most, rookie pirates.
Around here, a bounty of over a hundred million was enough to earn someone the title of "Supernova."
A rookie pirate who had a bounty of over a hundred million before entering the New World was already an impressive figure.
A bounty of thirty-three million Belly made someone one of the top pirates on Sabaody Archipelago—at least, a figure of some consequence.
But this so-called strongman had just led more than fifty underlings in an attack on the two young people before them. The whole fight had ended in less than three minutes.
And what was astonishing was that the ones defeated in under three minutes weren't the young man and woman, but the fifty-odd members of the pirate crew moonlighting as people traffickers.
The pirate captain, whose bounty was thirty-three million Belly, had been no different from an ordinary underling. Against the long-legged beauty, he hadn't even lasted two rounds!
Only after witnessing this scene did the other people traffickers hiding nearby realize that this young man and woman were no easy prey at all—they were ferocious tigers!
"There still seem to be quite a few of their associates hiding nearby. Should we take them out too? Some might be worth a decent amount."
According to what Gion had said earlier, when the Marines captured pirates, they received roughly ten percent of the bounty.
That unlucky bastard Gion had just taken down was worth thirty-three million Belly. Ten percent came to three million three hundred thousand Belly, which meant Wood and Gion would get half each: just one million six hundred and fifty thousand Belly apiece.
Having had a taste of the money, Wood couldn't help thinking that this was an incredibly fast way to earn. In just a few minutes, he'd made what he earned in several months, so he immediately turned his attention to the other people hiding nearby.
"Don't go looking for trouble. Don't forget, we have other things to do this time. Those scum have already wasted a lot of our time."
It was easy for Wood and Gion to spot the people traffickers hiding nearby. But just as Wood was about to make a fortune, Gion grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him away.
Wood: "Wait! Even if we don't go after the others, we should at least take the guy with the thirty-three-million bounty to the Marines so we can collect the money!"
Gion: "We don't have time for something that troublesome right now.
"Besides, even if we leave him here, someone else will take him to the Marine Branch on the island."
Wood: "No kidding! There's thirty-three million Belly lying on the ground. Some idiot might pick it up, but then that money has nothing to do with us!
"You damn rich lady, let go of me! You have no idea what life is like for a poor bastard!"
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