They boarded the Sabaody Archipelago. The ground here was actually made of the gigantic roots of mangrove trees. The roots continuously secreted a kind of liquid, and like bubble solution, it kept producing tough bubbles.
Such a magical sight—even the somewhat high-strung Selibe couldn't help but get a little lost in it.
"No wonder it's a lawless zone. You can feel a lot of eyes watching us."
Vane's Observation Haki was fully active, and he could sense some people's gazes, intentionally or unintentionally, drifting toward their group.
District 13 is huge… wait, District 13? Only then did Vane react—this area they'd landed in had the same number as that District 13 whose defense system leaked like a sieve.
They casually grabbed a local to ask, and very quickly they locked onto the famous Rip-off Bar in District 13.
"Shakky's Rip-off Bar… are we really going in? Feels like we'll get ripped off for a ton of money, meow."
Along the way, everyone's best description of this place was simply: a black shop.
A black-hearted lady—one drink sold for over a million Belly.
An evil witch—methods extremely brutal.
Even terrifying pirates who went in could very well be stripped naked, beaten, and thrown out the door.
After all, she used to be one of the queens of the Amazon Lily. Her strength was beyond doubt. In the first half of the Grand Line she definitely counted as a top-tier powerhouse—there weren't many pirates who could do anything to her.
And even if things went wrong, Rayleigh had her back. The Pirate King's right-hand man—anywhere in the world, that's top-tier strength.
To avoid unnecessary losses, even if the Marines knew Rayleigh was here, as long as he didn't cause trouble they wouldn't waste manpower trying to surround and suppress him.
"Don't worry. The intel here is the best… of course, the price isn't cheap."
Shakky's fees were indeed high, but it depended on what you came for. If you came to drink, you'd think this was a black shop. If you came to buy information, it was worth every penny.
The group had just gotten close to the door when they heard the sound of fists hitting flesh.
They pushed the door open and went in, and saw a beautiful black-haired woman grabbing someone by the collar and beating him up like crazy with a few swift punches and kicks.
Hearing the door, Shakky turned her head and showed a fairly friendly expression.
"New customers, huh. Wait a moment—I'll deal with what I'm doing, and it'll be over soon."
Then Vane saw something like a Tom-and-Jerry scene—like Jerry the big cousin sweeping a bunch of cats out the door with a broom and dustpan. Shakky's way of handling it was pretty much the same.
"So, members of the Rocket Team, what would you like to drink?"
"Meow, this woman knows we're the Rocket Team, meow."
"Would be strange if she didn't. After all, you've made quite a big splash."
"The Twin Kingdom, Drum Kingdom, the Holy Church Nation… and the kingdoms you hit before entering the Grand Line. The luckiest ones had huge sums of money taken by you."
"If their luck was a bit worse, their king was killed by you."
Slander! Absolute slander! The Future Country neither touched their king nor their treasury.
"'Nation-Slayer' Vane, the captain, has a bounty of 400 million Belly. The vice-captain is the great pirate Moria with a bounty of 350 million Belly. Under them are plenty of talents, with a great many Devil Fruit users."
"The Marines' evaluation: extremely dangerous."
Although the Marines still didn't know exactly how many users Vane had under him, one thing was certain—there were definitely quite a few.
"I've been here on Sabaody for many years. A pirate like you who arrives already carrying a 400 million bounty—you're the first."
Whether it was the captain's potential or the team's scale, once Vane's group went to the New World, they were definitely aiming for the very top positions.
"Miss Shakky is exaggerating. The pirates in the New World are far stronger than our little crew… We didn't come here to drink. There are other things we want to get through you."
"Our ship needs coating. We hope you can introduce a reliable coater."
Shakky: "No problem. I know a guy—his skills are very good."
"I want to know the information on all the slave shops on this island, big and small."
Shakky raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Also no problem."
"As for information on other pirates, I might grab a few pirate ships… Oh right, have that skilled coater put coating on those ships too."
The information implied by these requests was quite a lot.
"Oh, and if there's any news about Devil Fruits, that would be even better."
"Coater, slave trade locations, information on other pirates, and news about Devil Fruits… 50 million Belly."
Meowth's mouth twisted—he clearly hadn't expected the price to be that high.
Vane had been mentally prepared, but he was still a bit surprised. Aside from Devil Fruits, to be honest, those pieces of information weren't particularly hard to get—yet the price was 50 million Belly.
Luckily, their crew lacked everything except money!
"Meowth, pay up."
Meowth helplessly pulled out a large amount of paper Belly from inside his body.
When the team spent money, they always spent paper Belly first, then jewelry and antiques, and finally gold.
Belly, jewelry, and antiques would depreciate—especially Belly, which inflated extremely easily.
But gold wouldn't, so gold had to be used sparingly.
"Been a long time since I've met such a generous person."
More like it's been a long time since you met such a big sucker!
"As a show of sincerity, you can have this first."
Shakky took out several maps of Districts 1 to 29, with clear markings on them.
"The marked ones are all shops that conduct slave trading. The biggest one is the underground auction house. Every auction will definitely feature slaves—and of course, there's also a chance of Devil Fruits… though that's rare."
In the original story, the underground auction house was Doflamingo's turf. Right now he was still being chased all over the North Blue by Vice Admiral Tsuru and hadn't extended his hand here.
So this auction house should currently be an investment by those kings of the underworld.
"Really worth the money. Tonight we can go look for some fun."
Sugar's eyes were also shining. She liked following Vane to look for fun too… that was just her personality.
...
About an hour later, a blond man with a somewhat scruffy beard walked into the bar.
"Shakky, I heard there's work? That's great—you have no idea how poor I've been lately. I can't even afford a drink."
Shakky glanced at the somewhat unkempt man.
"That newcomer with the 400 million bounty is here. His ship needs coating… and not just one."
"These next few days, Sabaody should be pretty lively."