As the Red Sash Pirates Sail onwards to the next island in the Grand Line, our gaze shifts to a familiar face in another section of that stretch of sea to Eudora D. Azar. Leroys Older Brother.
It'd been months since Azar had seen Leroy on Arabasta, and over a month since he'd been following the lead on the man named Black Beard. He'd been leaving a papertrail of contacts, fights, and destruction wherever he went.
And despite all of that, he still hadn't garnered a bounty. No picture, no name revealed. The only thing known for sure were the officers he surrounded himself with.
The Marines Required a picture for their bounties, a sketch at least. But by Azar's assumption. Vane was playing it safe, of course he was. He'd known this man for a long time. And if anything, reckless was a word that could not be used to describe how Vane operated. He did just enough to stay under the radar
"Ugh…Where is this guy" Azar groaned as he stretched out on his Chert Striker. He was shirtless with suspenders, his boots leaned against the side of the bike in the back where his back and supplies were packed.
The Firebrand was currently looking for a known associate of Vane known for being a prospector of sorts for crews. His name was simply Booker, his job was scouting out crews in need of members, and then finding individuals in need of a crew. People from all over the sea came to him, and according to his informants, which was a long list of 'I know a guy', Booker had come under the employment of Vane to search far and wide for this growing crew of his.
"Ugh! There's millions of Islands, he could be on any of 'em!" The hot tempered Fire-Human said in a huff as he stood on his bike and hurled a fire bar in anger where over a dozen meters away the ball exploded into a hundred meter ball of mist and steam from hitting the ocean
All he knew was that Booker knew where Vane was if he was getting crewmembers for him. But he still had no idea where he actually was. It'd already taken 6 months to even find out there was even a lead in the form of this Pirate Prospector.
But, he did have a feeling where to look to start. Giving a hasty breath, Azar slammed his ass into the seat as shoved his foot down on the kickstart of his bike, causing it to roar to life as he fueled the it the rest of the way with the combustion of his fruit
It was another 2 days of going from island to island, each one known for being on the shady side of things before Azar got a hook. From an island where everyone lived on a large plateau of an island, the flatest surface being raised from the shore with buildings and mine along the edge and under its surface, to a thick Tropical Jungle where small dock settlements surrounded the entire island, typically infested with merchants of the illegal variety and Pirates.
Azar fingered the brake with two fingers, his bike slowly coming to a stop on a new island. The Island itself was small, maybe only 12 km. Filled with a Temperate Rainforest. A light drizzle came from the overcast sky above.
The buildings had small iron lanterns on their walls, and near the street. They rose at least 4 meters from the ground, the buildings were all stilt houses, and were elevated. Many bridges and walkways connect buildings to one another. The docks themselves seemed to be elevated and could float to the top the water.
Each of the buildings had a distinct water line of moss and barnacles from where the sea rose to meet it over the course of a year. Speckles of white dotting their surface from the Salt in the sea.
Azar gave a small groan, and reached into his back to pull out a rain slicker that was a deep auburn color and wrapped it around his sleeveless turtleneck.
Making sure everything was in place, and covering his stuff with a small tarp for moments just like this, Azar began to walk up rickety stairs up to become level with the other buildings around. He saw pirates, civilains, and people of the night all the same leaning over the wooden railing
The Island of Slough, known for being an 'out of the way' or 'in the boonies' in a matter of speaking in regards to the normal islands of the routes. It was a rouge island that came and went with it's magnetic signature, making it perfect for all sorts of seedy individuals or those looking to get away to reach.
Azar would have to play this smart. With over 700 million on his head, and his face plastered on ever bounty board and notice board in the world, if we wanted any sort of information, he either had to strong arm it out of people, or he'd have to be low key and play himself as a newbie pirate looking for a crew. Which this far into the grand line would be a death sentence to anyone not already established
"Lets see…" Azar closed his eyes, focusing. He could hear vague conversations inside from the fire of candles. Mentions of another crew with quite the bounty on their heads sitting at the coast, then another voice broke through that made his face twitch, a feminine voice was talking about a close call with a group of pirates in Territory near the Red Line.
Opening his eyes, Azar could see the feint hazy cloud outline of people around him, seeing straight through the walls and added by his Devil Fruit. When it came to Devil Fruits, Logias allowed utter control and associative utility with their element, so seeing the heat of people wasn't out of the question.
"That could be anyone…but–" 'If I'm going to be thorough, I best be sure to not to miss anything that could be a lead…' Azar shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk across the bridge to the building where the voice came from