"Miles, you're already a young man. You should learn to do this kind of thing yourself."
Kidding aside, though Miles was still young, people in the world of One Piece grew up fast.
He was already over 1.7 meters tall now.
Taking along a 1.7-meter-tall boy versus taking along a little girl—was there even a choice?
Gion was curious too.
With a high jump, she grabbed the edge of the skylight with one hand and flipped up as well.
Raleigh glanced at Gion but said nothing.
Holding Belo Betty in his arms, he forcefully stomped on the air, using Moon Walk to dash toward the distant giant snails.
As the distance closed, the giant snails gradually grew larger in size.
When viewed from the elevator earlier, the giant snails were clearly visible, while people appeared as small as ants.
Now, up close, they realized these snails were as large as houses.
"Master, these snails are so huge," Belo Betty, nestled in Raleigh's arms, poked her head out to look at the climbing giant snails.
"There's a strong person approaching. Everyone, stay alert."
Before they even reached the giant snails, Raleigh's sharp hearing picked up the conversations among the people on the snails.
"He can actually walk on air. This isn't someone from the Four Seas, is it?"
"Who cares? I see this person is wearing a Marine uniform. He probably won't attack us."
Listening to the chaotic yet calm chatter, it seemed these people were quite knowledgeable and had seen others walk on air before.
Tap... tap...
Raleigh landed on the largest snail, his leather shoes making a sound on the hard shell.
"Hello, Marine sir. Is there anything we can help you with?"
On the back of the giant snail, there were firmly fixed seats.
The one who greeted Raleigh was a well-dressed merchant sitting in the center.
"Hello, this is our first time seeing such a marvelous creature. Both my disciple and I are very curious, so we came to take a look."
Raleigh's polite attitude put the people on the snail at ease.
After all, they were on the towering Red Line, thousands of meters high.
Most of them were just merchants who knew a few ordinary tricks.
When faced with a truly powerful individual, they could only comply with their wishes.
"Raleigh, you didn't even wait for me."
Gion followed closely behind, landing on the hard snail shell and walking over while angrily calling out to Raleigh.
"Allow me to explain, you two Marine sirs."
"These snails are a type of giant snail that live near the Red Line. Many years ago, our ancestors discovered them. At the time, they realized these snails could walk on steep cliffs, so they intentionally bred and raised them."
"We found that these snails have two layers of shells. By breaking off a small part of the outermost shell, we can stuff goods into the middle for transport. Even a smooth wall like the Red Line can be scaled. Using this method, our ancestors specialized in trading goods across the Four Seas."
The well-dressed merchant explained.
"I see. Such a marvelous creature. I never would have imagined."
Raleigh handed Belo Betty over to Gion and jumped down to the broken shell to examine it closely.
Just as the leader had said, looking through the opening, he could see neatly stacked goods inside.
After comparing the shell sizes horizontally, Raleigh could estimate how much cargo such a giant snail could carry.
Simultaneously, he keenly observed that these giant snails could not only transport goods but also be fitted with seats for passengers.
At present, they were far more efficient than the Marines's lifts.
Although the lifts represented the Marines's advanced technology, without Vegapunk's involvement, their technological level wasn't particularly high.
Currently, their transport efficiency couldn't match that of utilizing a group of giant snails.
"No wonder we never knew how those pirates returned from the Grand Line to the Four Seas—it turns out to be these miraculous creatures."
Raleigh's sudden remark startled everyone present.
Gion also keenly grasped the key point.
Indeed, in today's seas, even the Marines, as the dominant maritime power, found it difficult to return to the Four Seas, let alone the less advanced pirates.
Previously, the Marines hadn't paid attention to the merchants' activities and naturally hadn't noticed that they already possessed transport tools like giant snails.
"Raleigh, I think we should report this to headquarters."
Gion spoke urgently, as the remnants of the Rocks Pirates were becoming increasingly active, and the Marines was powerless to deal with pirates who escaped back to the Four Seas.
They had never understood how the pirates returned to the Four Seas, making their countermeasures ineffective.
Now that they knew the pirates' method of crossing, targeting them would be much simpler.
"Honorable Marines officers, you can't act like this."
The leader spoke anxiously.
"Don't rush, Gion. Let's hear what he has to say first."
Raleigh declined Gion's suggestion, preferring to listen to what the merchant before them had to say.
"Honorable Marines officers, you are symbols of justice. We understand your need to deal with vicious pirates, but please understand us as well."
"No one wants to die if they can live. Making such trips four times a year is enough for us to live happily. But pirates don't care about our lives—when they find us, they don't use money to resolve things."
"Last year, my friend Rex and his family were brutally murdered for refusing to provide giant snails for pirates to ride. You Marines have ample strength to confront them, but we are just helpless civilians. In such situations, refusal means death."
The merchant leader seemed to recall some sad past event.
Even though it was inconvenient to move on the snail's back, he still took out a handkerchief and wept bitterly.
Raleigh nodded.
Sometimes policies and systems needed to consider practical circumstances.
This was the first time Raleigh had discovered that giant snails could be used to transport people and supplies, but it was likely the Marines had long been aware of this phenomenon.
As for why they hadn't addressed it, perhaps too many issues were involved.
After all, those wanting to cross the Red Line via giant snails weren't just pirates.
In fact, pirates were only a small fraction among them.
Everyone knew that to reach the New World in the latter half of the Grand Line, one had to coat their ship at Sabaody Archipelago and proceed to Fish-Man Island.
However, the Marines had never considered controlling the coating workshops on Sabaody Archipelago, nor had anyone thought to take control of Fish-Man Island.
Although Raleigh didn't fully understand who was behind these operations, he could guess the underlying purpose.
The goal of that individual, or that organization, was to prevent the Marines from blocking the pirates' path!