Vic didn't leave for long; he returned after a few hours. He went to catch up with Hina, who, like Smoker, hadn't seen Hina, his old friend from the Navy, for quite some time.
He hadn't even gone to see Smoker before, so it was even less likely he'd go to Hina. If he went, wouldn't people gossip? Would he go see his brother instead of the woman who liked him? So after sensing Hina, he wanted to catch up with her, and he only left after Robin integrated into the Straw Hat Pirates.
When Vic returned to the Going Merry, the oppressive atmosphere on the ship was gone, replaced by a joyful one. This was a typical day for the Straw Hat Pirates. As Vic watched this scene unfold, a smile appeared on his lips. In his previous life, he could only see such scenes in anime, but now he could experience them in person!
Finding a secluded spot, Vic sat cross-legged and began cultivating his Haki. With his current strength, no one on the ship could detect him. The reason he remained on the Going Merry was that Vic needed the ship to guide him.
After leaving Alabasta, the Straw Hat Pirates experienced some adventures, but none of them were what Vic wanted, so they could only stay on the ship and wait.
Although he had seen it in his previous life, too much time had passed, and he didn't remember some of the plots and short stories very clearly. He only remembered that the story took place on the route between Alabasta and Jaya.
However, he couldn't remember the name of the island, and he also had to be wary of Luffy and his crew, otherwise they would ruin this opportunity. That's why Vic had to follow Luffy.
Otherwise, with Vic's current strength and influence, finding that island shouldn't be difficult. Knowing that the island is on the shipping route between Alabasta and Jaya would make it easy to find.
What he feared most was that the opportunity would be ruined, which would be a huge loss for him, as many events would only occur when the protagonist arrived at a specific place.
Many rare and precious treasures only appear when the protagonist arrives, which is the powerful force of the protagonist's halo. Therefore, Vic can only settle for second best and patiently wait for that opportunity to arrive on the Going Merry!
Another new day begins, and a black dot appears on the horizon. Experienced seafarers can recognize it immediately.
However, this time the experience was wrong. Black dots are not necessarily islands; they could also be warships intercepting ahead. And this time, warships appeared, and not just one. Several other black dots appeared later.
These warships received intelligence from the Navy, which had suffered a setback with the loan Zenny and the Straw Hat Pirates, that the Straw Hat Boy with a bounty of 100 million Beli was about to arrive in their jurisdictional waters, so they blocked their way in advance.
The moneylender Zenny was the protagonist of a short story that happened a few days ago. Legend has it that he had a lot of money, but in the end, it turned out that all his money was eaten by a goat. That's where the Straw Hat Pirates met the Marines!
The Going Merry continued sailing with the wind. As they drew closer, Zoro, who had been dozing at the top of the mast, seemed to sense something and finally opened his sleepy eyes, looking around.
After being stunned for a while, he remembered that he seemed to have seen something. He rubbed his eyes and looked carefully, and finally saw several Marine warship not far in front of him!
"Navy! There's a warship! Everyone, get up!"
Seeing that they were not far from the Marine warship, Zoro shouted and did not stop his other actions. He jumped off the mast lookout and rushed into the wheelhouse to start turning the rudder.
At this moment, the others were also awakened by Zoro's voice. As pirates, the word "naval" should be the most sensitive word to them. Just hearing these two words would make them sit up in fright, even if they were in the middle of the night.
So Sanji, Usopp, and the others quickly rushed out of the other cabin. Next came a sleepy-eyed Chopper, and finally Nami and Robin, who were dressed neatly. Vic just opened his eyes, glanced at them, and then ignored them.
After a chase and some brilliant maneuvering by the Navy, the Going Merry finally escaped their pursuit and was fortunate enough to stumble upon an island, where they could rest and resupply. So Luffy immediately had the pirate ship dock at the island's pier and happily took everyone except Zoro aboard.
Upon seeing an island, Vic opened his eyes. He didn't intend to land on it, but simply released his Observation Haki, just as he had done before. He wouldn't leave the Going Merry until he was certain it was the island he was looking for.
"Wait a minute, you lot! On our Ruluka Island, if a boat wants to dock at the port or the outer coast, it has to pay an entry tax!"
"Entry tax?"
"So they just want us to pay!"
"Wait a minute! Why do we have to pay a tax just for stopping the ship?"
"Because this is an obligation! Are you going to pay it or not?"
Just as Chopper was excitedly leading the way, a soldier appeared and blocked their path, demanding that they pay taxes.
Chopper had never heard of paying taxes for stopping a ship since he was born, but Usopp knew exactly what it meant as soon as he heard it.
However, Nami didn't want to pay the money and immediately went forward to argue. The soldier-looking man became impatient, pulled out a gun, pointed it at the group, and demanded to know whether they would pay or not.
Vic, aboard the Going Merry, was instantly jolted awake by these conversations, which stirred up some memories within him.
Because the island he was looking for was a place where you had to pay taxes for everything. However, in the ocean under the World Government's rule, there are quite a few places like this with burdens like the Heavenly Tribute. But this point couldn't be confirmed at all, so Vic decided to continue to observe and see if there were any other clues.
"Hey! I said, don't be rude to ladies!"
"What did you say?"
"Time to eat! Time to eat! Time to eat..."
Seeing the soldiers pointing their guns at Nami and Robin, Sanji immediately stepped forward and stood in front of the gun barrels.
This provocative act made the soldier's face even darker. Just as he was about to shoot the blond kid to teach him a lesson, he heard a series of urgent shouts and running sounds, and then saw a boy in a straw Straw Hat trampling the blond kid under his feet.
Moreover, after stepping on the man, the Straw Hat Boy didn't stop for a moment and instantly appeared in front of him. He had no time to react at all, only seeing the Straw Hat getting bigger and bigger, and then he felt a pain in the back of his head and back before losing consciousness.
"Wait a minute! I'll go too!"
Hey! You over there!
With the soldiers no longer blocking her way and demanding money, Nami decided to go to the island to buy some things. Sanji, upon hearing Nami's decision, immediately decided to go with her, and Chopper also shouted that he wanted to come along. So the three of them separated from the others.
Usopp originally wanted to go too, but a strange voice called out to him, and then an oddly dressed old man appeared, attracting the attention of Usopp and Robin.
"I have something I'd like to ask."
The strange old man asked with a serious expression. The old man's Henzo, and he was a scientist who studied the Rainbow Mist. He had been on the coast not far away and came here after seeing the ship landing.
He needs information from people coming from the outer sea about the Rainbow Mist. The main reason he studies the ethereal Rainbow Mist is that fifty years ago, several of his companions disappeared into the Rainbow Mist, and he wants to rescue them.
"A rising comedian?"
"Maybe he's a swindler!"
Robin looked at the strangely dressed old man with a large box on his back and thought he was an actor, but Usopp thought he was a shrewd businessman.
During their voyage, Luffy caught a swindler living in a seashell submarine while fishing. The swindler was scared away upon hearing the name Monkey D. Luffy. Seeing the old man's attire, Usopp figured he was undoubtedly another swindler.
"That's not right! Did you see the rainbow-colored fog?"
"What? A seven-colored mist?"
"Fine! He's just an idiot!"