Copperfield

The geography of the pirate world was strange. The Red Line and the Grand Line formed a cross, dividing the entire sea into four parts. Apart from the Red Line, the largest landmass in the world, all the other islands were scattered across the seas.

The slave ship that had captured Chen Qiang had now arrived at an Underground City located where the Red Line, the edge of the Grand Line, and the Calm Belt overlapped.

The reason it was called an Underground City was that it had been built beneath the Red Line. It had originally been a vast cavern, and the entire city had been constructed inside it.

Since the entire Red Line belonged to the Celestial Dragons, building anything on it without their permission was simply impossible.

Although the city seemed to be a lawless place on the surface, the Celestial Dragons were still the ones truly in control behind the scenes. That was why many of the ships that captured slaves around the world sold their goods here—and why many slave ships were actually controlled by the Celestial Dragons.

So when Captain Gill sailed his slave ship here, he drove the slaves aboard into the city, intending to sell off some of his cargo.

As for why they had left only two people aboard to keep watch while everyone else went ashore, it was because of the city's special circumstances. The Celestial Dragons controlled it, and no one dared cause trouble here.

If Chen Qiang and Lin hadn't been special cases who wouldn't fetch a good price here, they might have been sold here too. In that case, there wouldn't have been anyone left aboard to keep watch.

So when things happened aboard the ship, the others had no idea. They were still haggling over a price with a merchant when Little Jack, who had escaped first, found them and told them what had happened.

"What? He got out?"

Captain Gill roared in shock at Little Jack's report, completely forgetting about the man in front of him who had been negotiating with him.

"Did you ignore my instructions and forget to change his medicine?" Barque, who had been standing behind Captain Gill, seemed to have realized something. He stared at Little Jack with a dark expression.

"No! We'd just replaced the bottle of sedative less than an hour ago. And after changing it, we even checked on him specifically. He hadn't woken up at all!"

Seeing Barque's vicious expression, Little Jack grew frightened and quickly explained what they had checked and what had happened.

"Enough. Now's not the time to figure out who's at fault. We need to think about what to do next." Although Captain Gill felt that Little Jack was hiding something, he knew this wasn't the time to dwell on blame. They had to figure out what to do.

After all, Chen Qiang wasn't someone to take lightly. After capturing him, Gill had gone out of his way to learn about what happened during the Summit War. He knew Chen Qiang had dared to defy the Fleet Admiral and feared nothing. With his ability to come back from the dead, he was even more brazen.

Since they had captured him and then let him escape, Chen Qiang certainly wouldn't spare them. He would come looking for revenge before long. Figuring out how to survive this was what mattered now.

"Captain, don't worry. We're in Copperfield, the largest Underground City in the world. I refuse to believe he'd dare make trouble here! And if he does, there are plenty of people who can deal with him."

Barque was the best at reading the captain's thoughts. Seeing his troubled expression, he knew what the captain was thinking, so he spoke up to reassure him.

"Are you stupid? Even if this is Copperfield, the city guards won't act unless he causes trouble. But if he causes trouble, that means he's already found us. With his strength, he could take us out without any trouble before the guards even arrived!"

Barque's words did nothing to ease Captain Gill's mind. If anything, his frown deepened.

"Then we can tell Lord Toby, the boss of Copperfield, about that guy. With his bounty, perhaps Lord Toby will help us."

This time, Gill didn't object to Barque's suggestion. He had thought of it as soon as he heard the news. But doing so would come at a cost. If they told Toby about Chen Qiang, they'd lose any chance of claiming the bounty themselves. What was more, the bounty might not even interest Toby; they might have to offer him more on top of it.

After all, the bounty was four hundred million Beli. They made about that much in a year of hard work, and that was without any unexpected setbacks. Then there was Lin, who had been locked up with Chen Qiang. He'd planned to take her to the auction house in the Sabaody Archipelago and sell her for a high price.

But after weighing money against his life, Gill had no choice but to give in. His life mattered more than money.

Having made his decision, he turned and returned to the buyer, who had been waiting impatiently.

"I wonder if you could take us to meet Lord Toby. I have a big deal I'd like to discuss with him." As Gill spoke, he wore a broad smile, completely unlike the vicious man who had faced his crew moments earlier.

"You want to meet Lord Toby? You?" The buyer had already been annoyed that Gill had kept him waiting for so long. Now Gill wanted to meet Lord Toby, the emperor of this Underground City. He clearly had no idea who he was dealing with. The buyer's face filled with even greater disdain.

"Rest assured, sir. This deal concerns the Longevity Fruit and a staggering four hundred million Beli. I'm sure Lord Toby will be interested." Gill didn't show any displeasure at the buyer's scorn. He just kept smiling as he explained.

"The Longevity Fruit? Are you sure that's true?"

Hearing this, the buyer slowly lost his earlier look of disdain. He fixed Gill with a serious gaze and asked again, immediately focusing on the promise of longevity and completely ignoring the four hundred million Beli.

"I'm sure, sir. We confirmed some of his abilities when we captured him. He can't live forever outright, but his power can grant him a sort of indirect immortality!"

Captain Gill spoke with certainty. He then went on to explain the details of Chen Qiang's Devil Fruit ability, hoping the buyer would put them in touch with Toby and help them get out of this predicament.

"Wait here!"

After hearing Gill out, the buyer nodded solemnly. Leaving them with those words, he pulled a small Den Den Mushi from his pocket, stepped aside, and began making a call.

Gill didn't have to wait long. Soon, the buyer put the Den Den Mushi away and returned to Gill, giving him and his crew a good look.

"Wait here!"

After returning, the buyer glanced at the other crew members on Gill's ship, then pointed at Gill and spoke again.

"You, come with me!"