The island closest to Gravity Island was called Ailu Island. From above, it was circular in shape, with a vast chasm running across it, almost cutting the island in half. The chasm split the eastern half into two parts in the shape of the character for "person," and after years of waves washing over it, it had become a sheltered harbor where ships could anchor close to shore.
Over the past year, merchant ships had been visiting the island more and more frequently. In the past, they had come only once every six months or so, but times had changed. Now, no more than half a month to a month would pass before another cargo ship arrived.
Ever since the island had acquired enough hard currency, the locals had begun buying woolen cloth, hemp clothes, and modern farming tools that foreign merchants brought and stocked.
Only half a month earlier, the village chief of Ailu Village had bought a batch of high-yield rice seeds that were easy to grow and distributed them among the villagers, paying quite a few Beli for them.
But whether they were the local villagers or merchants who had sailed from distant lands, everyone was beaming whenever a deal was struck.
No one could have guessed that this remote, less-than-fertile land was gradually prospering because a group of foreign pirates had arrived.
Talo the fisherman was a true native of the island. He had a small thatched hut near the harbor, and compared to the other fishermen nearby, he was one of the more capable ones. He mended nets, caught fish, dried nets, and sold his catch to the island's fishmongers. He was young, and moved far more deftly than his fellow fishermen.
As a result, he had also been entrusted with an important duty, becoming one of the island's few scouts. Whenever a strange outsider came ashore, he had to put down his work and inform the village chief.
A year ago, whenever a pirate ship came near, he would have been overcome by anxiety and deep fear. Now, however, he looked forward to the arrival of the pirate ship with the skull-and-red-nose flag.
"They're here, they're here!" Talo watched the dark shape in the distant sea fog gradually take the form of a pirate ship. A heartfelt smile spread across his face as he waved enthusiastically from the shore.
The pirate ship sailed into the harbor and dropped anchor. A dozen or so pirates came ashore, laughing and chatting, with several sturdy burlap sacks slung over their backs.
The sacks held vessels and ornaments made of gold, along with sparkling jewels.
He knew that the pirates would soon go and trade with the village chief, using the gold and jewels to buy rice wine, fresh water, and food from the village. Any surplus would go toward buying other supplies on the island or throwing a grand celebration for everyone.
Ever since these pirates had first arrived over a year ago, they had never plundered the village. They always spoke to the villagers amicably, like the refined gentlemen in storybooks—or so Talo thought.
What was more, with the village chief's permission, several pirates in their forties had settled there. Their years at sea had left them more vigorous than the island's farmers, and they were more skilled at hunting wild beasts. Thanks to their arrival, last year's harvest and the number of animals hunted were both half again as great as in previous years.
"Being a pirate must be great..." Talo watched the "new islanders" chatting amiably with the pirates from the Red Nose Pirates and felt a genuine envy. He, too, wanted to become a great pirate, sailing freely across the vast and turbulent sea, then returning to the island when he grew old to share stories about the ocean and its wonders with everyone.
"Talo." An older fisherman beside him patted his shoulder and joked, "These pirates are a different breed! Go ask them. Maybe they'll take on a young, strapping fellow like you!"
Talo just smiled. He wasn't sure whether he had the courage to become a real pirate, but even if his dream never came true, having one would make the future feel full of life instead of dead and dull.
Most of the island's young people felt the same way. These foreign pirates had given them plenty of wonderful things to dream about...like wealth and freedom.
To the southwest of Ailu Island, a Marine warship sailed slowly toward the island. As it passed through the dense sea fog, three Marine officers standing on the bow came into view.
The soldier standing to the left of the officer at the front reported respectfully, "Captain Nezumi, we'll reach Ailu Island in half an hour."
"Hee-hee." Captain Nezumi gave a strange laugh, looking rather pleased. "Is that so... According to our informant, the Buggy Pirates have had close ties with Ailu Island for over a year. If all goes as expected, they'll be on the island today, too. Tsk, tsk. These pirates have vanished for so long after committing every kind of evil. Looks like they want to retire, but unfortunately for them..."
He took out a wanted poster and looked at it disdainfully. Then he let it fall and ground it viciously beneath his foot. "After doing so many wicked things, they think they can just wash their hands of it all? How naive."
The sergeant standing to Captain Nezumi's right looked worried and asked in a low voice, "Sir, the leader of the Buggy Pirates, Buggy, is a great pirate with a bounty of ten million Beli. Why are we going after him...?"
Captain Nezumi laughed. "Sergeant, you've followed me for so many years, yet you still haven't learned a thing."
"Sir, I'm afraid I don't quite understand..." He was Captain Nezumi's trusted subordinate. He had followed him all the way from the Grand Line to the East Blue, and thanks to Nezumi's deliberate patronage, he had risen from a lowly grunt to sergeant in just a few years.
"If you had any sense, I wouldn't have to go to Arlong myself every time we collected taxes. Looks like I still have a few things to teach you." Captain Nezumi gave a sinister chuckle. "It's precisely because he's a great pirate with a ten-million-Beli bounty that we need to take his head..."
His two rat-like eyes narrowed slightly. "Actually, I've done my best to keep things quiet, but word always gets out eventually. Some clowns at headquarters have raised objections against me. But there's nothing I can do about that. Arlong has openly built a huge 'empire' in my jurisdiction. Even that White Hunter in Loguetown has heard about it, and he's not happy...
"Of course, Arlong's close ties to that Fish-Man among the Shichibukai give him a layer of protection, and I have people above me helping to keep the matter under wraps. But that alone isn't enough. I need to produce some visible military achievements to protect my position. Even if I caught ten, a hundred, or a thousand small-time pirates, it wouldn't do any good...
"And there are only a few pirates of any note in the East Blue. I naturally can't go after Arlong, that stinking Fish-Man, since he brings me far too many benefits. As for Admiral Krieg, that troublesome bastard, I'm not going to seek out trouble with him either..."
"Now that I think about it..." Nezumi snickered. "Isn't the Buggy Pirates, sitting there like a target, just the perfect prey, practically delivered right to my door? If I bring in a head with a bounty far above the East Blue average of three million, headquarters shouldn't have anything to say."
"I understand..." The sergeant beside him finally caught on. "The Buggy Pirates reportedly have fewer than fifty men. Even if their captain is a great pirate with a ten-million-Beli bounty, they can't possibly stand up to the five hundred soldiers aboard our warship and our superior weapons and equipment!"
"Hee-hee. We outnumber them... ten to one!"