"Rebecca, do you want to look around the island? I have something to do there. If you want to go, we can go together," Vic said to the curious Rebecca.
"Yes! Wherever you go, I'll go, hehe!" Rebecca said cheerfully. She had now put the past completely behind her and was looking toward the future.
"Okay, come with me, then. I want to buy something. Afterward, I'll take you to the amusement park," Vic said, patting Rebecca on the head.
"Great! Let's go, hehe." Rebecca was delighted and let Vic pat her head.
Garp and Tsuru had gone to the Marine Base, apparently to discuss something. Vic wasn't an official Marine yet and couldn't be bothered with that. He would take care of his own business first. He wondered how his luck would be and whether he could find what he wanted.
Vic led Rebecca through Grove 60. The area was relatively prosperous, with shops lining the streets and no fighting or robbery in broad daylight. Afraid of missing the auction, Vic didn't linger. If they needed anything, they could buy it on the way back.
They crossed the bridge connecting Grove 60 to Grove 0. There was a waterway beneath it, a distinctive feature of the Sabaody Archipelago. The entire island was divided into small plots of land.
They arrived at Grove 0, which served as a buffer zone of sorts. Although there were plenty of robberies and kidnappings, people weren't seized and robbed as openly as they were in the lawless areas.
As soon as Vic entered the area, he sensed that the two of them were being watched. A sweep with his Observation Haki revealed exactly what was going on: several groups had set their sights on the handsome man and beautiful woman. This was what human traffickers loved doing most.
Handsome men, beautiful women, and members of all sorts of rare races were their targets.
Pirates, on the other hand, preferred treasure and liked to rob and kill. Vic didn't strike first. These small fry couldn't amount to much, and most of them were merely keeping watch.
"Vic, someone's following us." Rebecca frowned. She had noticed them too.
Someone was already trailing them. Perhaps this wasn't a suitable place for a kidnapping, or perhaps someone had gone to report back. Maybe they wanted to wait until the two were farther from Grove 60 before making their move.
"It's fine. They're just small fry, nothing to worry about. We'll deal with them later. Our business comes first," Vic said calmly.
The small fry had indeed gone to report back. Mainly, they had seen that the two were dressed as swordsmen and carried themselves remarkably well, so they didn't look weak. The men had gone to call their leader over to capture them.
Vic and Rebecca crossed the connecting bridge into Grove 10. They hadn't gone far when a group appeared ahead and blocked their path. Many running footsteps also sounded behind them.
Vic had already sensed them with his Observation Haki. The people who had followed them had blocked the way behind them too. A cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. There really were people lining up to offer themselves to him. His hands were itching.
"Why are you surrounding us? We've never met, have we? There's even less chance we've offended any of you," Vic said mildly. Rebecca was calm too. With Vic there, she wasn't afraid of anything.
"Hey, we haven't met, but I took a real liking to you two. I want to offer you both a wonderful future: living in a big villa and eating and drinking the best. Hehehe!" The burly man in the lead wore a lecherous smile.
He had the thin legs and big belly typical of the pirate world. His face was covered in hair, but he was bald on top, and a large saber scar crossed his forehead. Combined with his height of over three meters, he was indeed somewhat intimidating.
"Oh, I've heard a saying: don't accept rewards you haven't earned. Are there only benefits? What would we have to give in return?" A teasing smile played on Vic's face.
Chad was somewhat displeased by Vic's smile. He, Chad the Quick Blade, was a prominent figure in Grove 10. Who didn't show him some respect when he went out? He had a bounty of 45 million Beli, and the people he had killed could fill a small river. Now just anyone could give him attitude?
"Hmph, kid, don't push your luck. I'm not offering any other choices. It'd be better if you came along yourselves. If you don't want to move, we'll carry you away, but I'm afraid you'll have to suffer a little first." Chad's expression turned cold. He was already growing impatient.
Chad was working for others in the Sabaody Archipelago because he wanted to earn enough money to buy a Devil Fruit and increase his strength.
Society had beaten him down so hard that even the top of his head had gone bald. He had come to realize that in this world full of strong people, he was nothing. He could only remain at the bottom, chased from place to place by the Marines and attacked by others in the same trade. He had escaped with his life by sheer luck, but all his companions had been buried in the sea!
He had now found a backer in Sabaody and planned to lie low until he got a Devil Fruit. He was still a little short on money, so he had been working diligently lately.
Vic didn't waste any more words. He was ready to kill this bunch. Their auras stank too badly, and he disliked them intensely.
"Rebecca, leave the others to me. The leader's yours. Test their strength and see what your training has accomplished," Vic said softly to Rebecca.
"Okay, leave him to me!" Rebecca grew a little excited and stepped toward Chad.
Vic stayed where he was for the moment. Rebecca hadn't learned Observation Haki yet, so he needed to guard against her being surrounded. If anyone was foolish enough to try, he would show no mercy.
"Who are you? Give me your name. I'm Chad the Quick Blade of the Rod Family. I don't cut down nameless nobodies," Chad said somewhat disdainfully. They were just two people he had never heard of; they weren't worth his attention.
"You don't need to know who I am. Go down below and ask the King of Hell." Rebecca had already drawn her longsword, and she charged forward.
In the blink of an eye, her longsword was chopping down at Chad's head. Chad was startled by her speed and hurriedly drew his saber to block. With a clang, Chad felt a tremendous force travel through the blade. His arm bent, and he barely managed to stop the blow.
Chad put aside his contempt and began taking the fight seriously. He was quite fast with his saber too, and the two exchanged blows back and forth.
The onlookers were astonished as well. It was rare to see a young girl fight Chad the Quick Blade to a standstill.
Seeing the two evenly matched, one of the underlings couldn't stand watching and tried to help.
Before he could get close, Vic knocked him unconscious with his scabbard. Vic also dodged the blades that came at him with ease. His Observation Haki wasn't just for show, and he was so fast that only afterimages could be seen.
Vic knocked everyone who attacked him unconscious. He didn't want his blade stained with the blood of those foul-smelling people. Once he saw that Rebecca could handle herself, Vic stopped holding back and knocked all the remaining underlings down. Then he stood to one side, watching the two fighters with interest.
This put Chad under tremendous pressure. He knew he had run into someone far beyond him, and he would probably come to grief today.
The spectators were excited too. There weren't many normal people in the Sabaody Archipelago!
Chad's head was covered in cold sweat. He badly wanted to turn and run, but he knew that the moment he turned around, this woman's sword would pierce his body.
This woman wasn't too much of a problem; he felt he could still handle her. But the man behind her was different. Smiling all the while, he had knocked all of Chad's men down.
He had been so composed, doing it so casually and effortlessly. Even Chad himself would have been seriously injured if those underlings had surrounded and attacked him, but this man was completely unharmed and still had strength to spare.
Rebecca's current strength was roughly on par with a pirate with a bounty of 50 million Beli. If she encountered certain Devil Fruit Users, she would have some difficulty. For a girl in her teens, reaching this level was already quite impressive. The new era had yet to arrive, and Vic wasn't worried about what she would achieve in the future.
An evenly matched opponent, especially one she could use lethal force against, was a great help in honing her swordsmanship. So Rebecca treated Chad as a tool for sharpening her sword. She used every sword move she knew to test its effectiveness, refining her techniques and extracting their essence.
Now Rebecca felt that the tool named Chad was no longer of any use, so she didn't prolong the fight. She swept his great saber aside, lunged forward, and thrust her longsword into his chest. It happened too quickly for Chad to react. He hadn't expected her to have hidden her strength.
Chad stared at the longsword in his chest in disbelief. They had just been exchanging blows, and now his body had been run through. Was she playing him? Did she have no morals at all? Chad fell, unwilling to accept it.
"Does anyone recognize this man? Does he have a bounty?" Vic asked the crowd watching nearby.
"My lord, hehe, that's Chad the Quick Blade. He has a bounty of 45 million Beli. He committed all kinds of evil; he even sent his own aunt away to be sold. Good riddance," someone said ingratiatingly.
"Whoever goes and fetches the Marines can have his bounty. Tell the Marines to arrest everyone lying on the ground," Vic said.
"Me, me, me!" someone shouted.
"I'll go, I'll go."
"I'll go right now."
A clamor broke out. Everyone wanted to make this quick money.
"Stop shouting. Discuss it among yourselves and send one person to report it. The rest of you help keep watch. When the time comes, have that person share some of the bounty with you."
The crowd soon reached an agreement. They sent the strongest person, while the others stayed where they were.
Vic paid them no further attention and continued on with Rebecca. After the two left, one of the people who had been watching took a Den Den Mushi from inside his clothes.