Two days later.
With telekinesis driving the wind, the Grantaine cut swiftly through the Devil's Triangle and reached the Sabaody Archipelago.
In Sea Circle Calendar 1503, Gecko Moria had not yet moved into the Devil's Triangle.
Back in the West Blue Kahn had also searched for the Paramecia Ghost Fruit user, Perona, but never found her.
So the Grantaine did not stop while crossing the Triangle.
Upon reaching Sabaody, Kahn did not berth at a port or beach.
While still far off, he used telekinesis to lift the Grantaine and set her down upon the White Sea seven thousand meters up.
He rested the ship on a patch of non-sea water, a jellylike cloud, and wrapped himself and Robin in a telekinetic veil, then descended from the White Sea to Sabaody.
Like Aokiji with the Ice Fruit, Kahn did not fear seawater.
So long as he activated telekinesis first and wasn't submerged completely, his telekinetic veil could hold the sea at bay.
In his Heavenly Dragon form he could coat himself in telekinetic waves and swim freely in the ocean.
Once his power peaked, he could contest Kaido for the title of strongest creature by sea, land, and air.
He parked the Grantaine at seven thousand meters to prevent any mishap that might keep him from departing.
As a transmigrator, Kahn knew who would bid away the Boa sisters.
If he failed to intercept them early, he would have to compete with the Celestial Dragons.
Given their nature, conflict was likely.
If he injured or killed a Celestial Dragon, the Marines would dispatch an admiral.
In this period the admirals were Sengoku and Zephyr.
The fastest of the future trio, Kizaru, served as Sengoku's deputy.
Kahn could not be certain Sengoku wouldn't send Kizaru to stall him.
Thus he moved the Grantaine to the White Sea in advance so he could fly away after cutting in front of the auction for the Boa sisters.
Once he reached the White Sea, even if Kizaru came, he could not catch Kahn.
Speed or no, Kizaru still feared the sea.
"Master, should I head for Grove 1 now?"
They had made simple disguises.
Kahn wore a black cloak, his blue hair and part of his face hidden beneath the hood.
Robin still wore her black-and-white maid dress, with a veil over her face.
"Not in broad daylight," Kahn said, shaking his head. "We'll find a place to stay, then move at night."
Anywhere else, at Kahn's level he would not need such caution, he would simply bulldoze through.
That was how he planted flags in the West Blue.
He could stand still while near-hundred-million West Blue pirates unleashed everything and failed to scratch him.
One blow from him—like Kaido's Thunder Bagua—would wipe out any small fry who hadn't grasped internal destruction.
But the Grand Line is not the West Blue, and Sabaody's position is unique.
Here stand the World Government that has ruled for eight hundred years and, next door, Marine Headquarters, the force of "justice" that maintains order.
Few in the world can injure Kahn, but in these two places at least a dozen people could pierce the natural destroyer's defense.
Before his wings were fully grown, he would not meet force with force.
Once he came into his own, he would be as brazen as Kaido in later years.
He was not afraid—he simply followed his heart.
Sabaody has seventy-nine groves, roughly six zones.
Groves 1–29 form the lawless zone, where slavers, bounty hunters, treasure hunters, assassins, and pirates prowl.
Groves 30–39 are the civilian and commercial districts where locals and tourists gather.
Places like the Soap Bubble Park, shopping streets, and residential lanes are here.
Groves 40–49 are for sightseeing and specialty shops.
Groves 50–59 are the port district with shipyards and coating shops.
Groves 60–69 fall under Marine jurisdiction, where World Government officials and wealthy merchants passing through Mary Geoise to the New World conduct their business.
Groves 70–79 are hotel streets where most outsiders spend the night.
To find a temporary base, Kahn needed the sixth zone, the hotel streets.
He was in no rush.
They had landed in the third zone.
So Kahn and Robin wandered there for a while, then rented a two-seat bubble bike, swung through the specialty stores in the fourth zone, and bought what he needed.
There were a few specific items.
First, materials for making Vivre Cards, a New World specialty that, in the first half of the Grand Line, could only be found at Sabaody and Fish-Man Island.
Second, coral bubbles, specialties of Sabaody and Fish-Man Island, which can be shaped into protective bubbles like his telekinetic veil.
Short of physical destruction, even the pressure ten thousand meters down cannot crush them.
Third, materials for crafting Eternal Poses.
Like Vivre Cards, Eternal Poses can be made.
Members of the Roger Pirates once secretly forged an Eternal Pose to Laugh Tale; Roger hurled it into the sea when he found out, and Douglas Bullet later recovered it from a Sea King's belly.
By the time Kahn finished, night had fallen.
He rode the bubble bike with Robin to the hotel streets of the sixth zone, booked a suite in a fairly luxurious hotel, and waited.
Near dawn, after eating and relaxing with a card game, Kahn finally moved.
Lightly disguised and carrying the metal case, he and Robin slipped out.
Where no one could see, Kahn lifted Robin telekinetically, and together they skimmed low through the night.
In about half an hour they reached Grove 1 of the first zone.
"Wait here. I'll be right back."
They landed beneath a towering tree. Kahn gave his instructions.
Robin nodded and stepped into the shadowed hollow of the trunk.
Kahn's figure vanished like a ghost.
When he appeared again, he had already infiltrated a dark, vast building.
It was the auction house on Grove 1.