Although Xie Wen had said they would take their time sightseeing along the way, they were not actually traveling slowly.
First, there really was nothing in the first half of the Grand Line that could give them trouble. For the Palico Research Commission, which had already spent quite a while traveling the New World, the first half truly was no different from "Paradise."
Second, after multiple upgrades and the addition of a "smart AI," the Toot Toot Forward was far from slow, even in its most basic form.
Finally, pirates like the Babulin Pirates, whose entire crew never read the papers, were still a minority. Not a single fool came looking for trouble with Xie Wen and the others along the way. Instead, Xie Wen took the initiative to attack several pirate crews to give Shirahoshi some training...
Then the other pirate crews on this route began avoiding them, leaving Shirahoshi unable to find anyone to practice on even when she wanted to.
And so, Xie Wen and the others soon found themselves near the Sabaody Archipelago again.
"Want to look around the Sabaody Archipelago first?"
Xie Wen looked at the cats and Shirahoshi.
Well, mostly Shirahoshi.
"If I remember right, merfolk and fish-men seem to have quite a fixation on the amusement park in the Sabaody Archipelago."
"Oh, right! There's an amusement park on this island, meow!"
(=ω=)
Klee Meow immediately hopped onto Shirahoshi's shoulder and tugged gently on her hair. "Shirahoshi! The amusement park here is so much fun! And there are these really magical bubbles, meow!"
"Hmph! Silly Klee! Did you forget Fish-Man Island has those bubbles too, meow?"
(=へ=)
Ai Haibara Meow gave her a sidelong look and started bickering with Little Plushie out of habit.
"Fish-Man Island's bubbles are used underwater, and Sabaody's bubbles are