"The Arctic is colder!"
"No, Antarctica is colder!"
"No, it's obviously the Arctic that's colder!"
Shanks and Buggy, both eight years old, interns on the Roger Pirates, had been on Roger's ship from a very young age.
The argument led to a quarrel, and eventually to a scuffle. However, the members of the Roger Pirates seemed to be used to this and didn't find it strange at all.
"Alright, you two, you were arguing about this even on the ship. If you want to know the answer, why not check out both places?!"
But now was clearly not the time for a fight. With a punch each, Rayleigh fairly resolved the issue.
"This is not the time for you to argue. Hurry up and gather supplies; we're setting sail soon."
After the battle of Divine Valley, the bounty of the Roger Pirates did not change. According to the reports by the World Government, it was entirely a Navy victory. They personally crafted the title "Navy Hero Garp," elevating him as a symbolic figure to boost the Navy's prestige.
Although Garp's strength deserved the title of hero, the World Government played a significant role too.
As a direct participant of the events, Garp pursued the Roger Pirates whenever he discovered their whereabouts over the years, almost treating Roger as his destined enemy.
However, the World Government's cover-up made Garp uncomfortable, and coupled with his inherent dislike for the group of Heavenly Celestial Dragons, he consistently refused the promotion to Admiral.
Becoming an Admiral would limit his freedom, as they must station at specific locations to respond to special events. In comparison, Vice Admirals have much more freedom in their actions.
To better chase Roger, Garp refused the position of Admiral.
The person most affected by this was Sengoku. The mechanism of the three Admirals had been established for a long time, but now the Admiral positions remain vacant; Zephyr had moved behind the scenes to become the Chief Instructor, and Garp refused promotion, leaving Sengoku particularly busy at times.
Every time he saw Kong, now the Navy Admiral, at the Navy Headquarters, he would complain about this issue incessantly.
Their generation of the Navy lacked others who could bear the position of Admiral, so the Navy temporarily maintained this status. After the battle of Divine Valley eliminated Rocks, the sea had relatively calmed.
Sengoku managed to cope with a bit more overtime, and as the new generation grew, the vacancy of the Admiral would naturally be filled in. It's better to leave the position vacant than to fill it with someone underqualified.
The Roger Pirates had just shaken off Garp's pursuit, and to prevent being caught again, they had to gather supplies quickly and leave.
Even interns have work to do. Shanks and Buggy had to buy supplies as well. After being reprimanded by Rayleigh, the members of the Roger Pirates spread out to complete their tasks.
At this time, Olga was haggling with someone, uninterested in the bickering. She wasn't interested in those pirate slaves; she didn't need any labor.
Since she chose the path of piracy, she prepared herself for anything. So, her target was ordinary people, which also made them the cheapest type in the slave market.
Population trade here was legal, but in Adhering Countries, it wouldn't be publicly displayed and would have hidden names like job introduction agencies.
Here, prices were clearly marked.
Criminals and citizens of Non-Adhering Countries were the transaction targets, and as for citizens of Adhering Countries, sorry, only citizens of Non-Adhering Countries were captured here, and this barely covered humans.
Nearly two hundred years ago, the Dragon Palace Kingdom of Fishman Island became a member of the World Government, yet Mermaids were always the highest priced type. Once a Mermaid appeared, they inevitably fetched a high auction price.
Olga and Elizabeth had a total of ten million Belly, which was a huge amount of pocket money.
Population trade had pricing guidelines. According to the value of goods decades later, ordinary humans started at 500,000 Belly in auctions. Still, auctions' starting prices generally were much lower than the item's value.
The average price of those Olga fancied was around 1 million Belly. She merely wanted to take a few people; quality was far less important than quantity.
"Look at these people, how thin they've gotten! And this one, practically dying, how can you charge that price?"
Since the Natehuo Kingdom kidnapping incident ended, all the patterns on her clothes had been changed. Now, she wore a T-shirt printed with the Hundred Beasts Pirate Flag, which gave the slave trader across from her a chance to explain patiently.
Pirates with territories in the New World did not wish to offend them, and Kaidou had already joined this group.
"Miss, this price is already very cheap. And look at these people; although skinny, they are healthy and will recover with a few days' nurturing. Eight people for 10 million Belly is really a bargain. They can work just fine."
"Fifteen, fixed price. These aren't top-quality goods; they are worth this price."
"You're making this hard for me... Okay, I can give you thirteen, but they can only be children, and I'll throw in a bonus."
In the slave market, women usually cost more than men, and young adults more than the elderly or young children. Olga was uninterested in strong pirate slaves, so age and appearance determined the price.
As Olga mentioned, there were no "top-quality goods" here. Those were all sent to the auction. What remained here had already been screened once.
He had exactly thirteen kids left, lacking outstanding looks, neither young nor old, just between twelve and thirteen, not useful as adult labor or as trained loyalists.
He wanted to offload these burdens too; keeping them incurred losses, and feeding them cost money. Seeing Olga willing to take them, he intended to sell.
"...Deal, what's the bonus?"
"Here, it's said to be a Treasure Map, but I'm not sure what's hidden."
The trader handed a nautical chart to Olga, along with a chain, as slave collars were too high-end for this place.
These people were simply bound with ordinary chains.
"Hey! You two, stop wandering around, watch over these people. I bought them with my own money." Here, letting them escape means directly sending them back to the traffickers. So Olga ordered some of the Hundred Beasts folks.
She was indeed an intern, but not an ordinary one, being part of the staff reserve.