The travels of the Celestial Dragons require thorough and rigorous inspections and approvals from both the World Government and the Marines for their destination.
They even begin purging pirates, gangs, and other elements from the Grove months in advance.
Any factor that could potentially endanger the Celestial Dragons must be completely eliminated.
But this time, the Celestial Dragons' decision to go to the Sabaody Archipelago came as a surprise.
And the reason left the World Government's reception staff speechless...
"What do they mean there's no good slave stock left, so they're personally coming to the Sabaody Archipelago to buy a batch?"
"And they're saying we, the people serving the Celestial Dragons, are totally incompetent!"
"What a joke! Ever since that great purge, who would even dare conduct slave trafficking on the Sabaody Archipelago anymore?"
Two of the Celestial Dragons' attendants walked down the main street of Grove 1. Once the largest slave-trading hub in the seas, the place had become nearly deserted since the previous purge.
Back then, the slave traders and their supporting gangs had all been cleanly wiped out by Vice Admiral Gion and her adjutant.
Now, with the Marines' intervention, Groves 1 through 29 had even shed their label of "lawless zone" and were repurposed as settlement Groves—places to house the homeless or former slaves with nowhere to go.
They weren't particularly fond of the slave trade. Although they served the Celestial Dragons, after witnessing so many slaves tortured to death by those same Celestial Dragons, even they couldn't help but feel a sense of bitter sympathy.
After all, who could say whether one day, with just a single word from a Celestial Dragon, they themselves wouldn't go from World Government officials to chained slaves with a brand burned into their backs?
"But even so... do you think those Celestial Dragons can understand why the slave traders were wiped out by Vice Admiral Gion and her people?"
"Even if they don't understand, it won't stop them from getting furious at us when they see there are no slaves to buy."
The more they talked, the more disheartened they became.
It was a dead end, a no-win situation.
As for running?
As attendants scouting ahead for the Celestial Dragons, if they disappeared, the ones sent after them would be the demons hiding beneath the white suits of CP0.
Just as the two were at their wits' end, a tall figure suddenly stepped in front of them.
They looked up—to find a towering albatross.
"Morgans? The 'Big News' Morgans, one of the Underground Emperors?"
"That's right, it's me!"
Morgans' demeanor was exceedingly polite, brimming with the air of a cultured gentleman.
But as attendants of the Celestial Dragons, the two of them knew just how formidable this big bird truly was.
For starters, his age was unknown.
It was he who exposed the God Valley Incident back then, leading to the public abolition of the slave system.
And after that expose, instead of punishing Morgans, the World Government and Celestial Dragons allowed the World Economy News Paper to become the sole authoritative media outlet in the entire pirate world.
Everyone knew that the man behind the World Economy News Paper, Big News Morgans, was only interested in news.
He never took bribes, never reported on things he didn't want to, and loathed anyone trying to control what he published.
"May we ask why Morgans-san stopped us?"
"Of course, of course. One does not stop others in the street without reason," Morgans said, draping his wings over their shoulders as he led them toward Grove 13. "Come, come, the street's no place for conversation."
Whether they wanted to or not, they were dragged along.
Though he started as a journalist, Morgans still had ties to the underworld, and he could certainly fight a bit.
After all, he was a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user—his physical strength wasn't low.
Half coerced, half invited, the two attendants were brought to Grove 13. Morgans stretched out his long bird neck, glancing around as if searching for something.
"Oh, there it is."
Suddenly, Morgans muttered and strode off toward a specific direction.
The two attendants raised their heads and saw where he was going.
It was a small, somewhat hidden tavern, with a sign that read: " Shakky's Rip-off Bar."
This was obviously a shady place!
What kind of decent person would put the word "Rip-off" on their storefront?!
The two dared only to complain in their hearts—who knew if saying it aloud would anger this bird and get them killed on the spot?
Ding-a-ling ding-a-ling—
Morgans pushed open the door. A crisp chime rang out, entirely at odds with the bar's ominous name.
After walking inside, Morgans shoved the two Celestial Dragon attendants forward.
Then he took a seat at the counter and started chatting with the bar's owner, who was busy wiping glasses.
"Shakky, give me a pure malt beer to calm my nerves!"
"Damn it! I'm a reporter! My hands are for risking my life to snap news photos and write earth-shattering headlines—not for kidnapping!"
"Sure, I've done my share of abducting informants... but since the God Valley Incident, I haven't personally gotten my hands dirty like this!"
The woman he addressed as "Shakky" was, of course, the former Empress of Amazon Lily, ex-Captain of the Kuja Pirates, who had retired from the pirate world at the age of twenty-two, still in her prime.
Yes—Shakky, the Empress two generations before Boa Hancock, had actually stepped down even earlier than Gloriosa, the Empress three generations back.
Shakky had retired four years before the God Valley Incident that shocked the world.
She poured him a glass of fine-quality beer and slid it over.
"Heh, Morgans, your mouth complains, but your body is very honest."
"Of course it is! If you'd had that guy—who's clearly not a bird but has wings anyway—grab you by the beak and threaten you, you'd have come crawling back to the old ways too."
Morgans rolled his eyes.
From a corner of the bar, a woman dressed in the traditional Amazon Lily royal attire looked up and stared at him.
"Tch. Still such a coward, damn bird."
Morgans turned around with a scowl, but when he saw her face clearly, he was stunned.
"G-Gloriosa?"
"Didn't you go missing after the God Valley Incident?"
"What... are you doing here?"
She was Gloriosa, a former member of the Rocks Pirates and the Empress of Amazon Lily three generations ago.
Though not young anymore, she was only about ten years older than Shakky—and she still looked as stunning as ever.
"I've always been here. No one ever found me, that's all."
Just as Gloriosa was about to say more, the tavern's back door creaked open.
A man in Revolutionary Army uniform walked in, with wings so pure and holy behind him that others felt ashamed in his presence.
But it was the two men who followed behind him that made Gloriosa's brows furrow.
Rayleigh. Gaban.
Pillars of the force that brought down the Rocks Pirates.
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