The Grand Line is infinitely more perilous compared to the Four Seas. When pirates from the Four Seas enter the Grand Line, merely the first checkpoint, Inverted Mountain, can filter out most of them.
Once you enter the Grand Line, the strength of both your competitors and the Navy stationed on each island is incomparable to that of the Four Seas.
The number of pirates who successfully reach the Shampodi Islands is considerable, but this number does not compare to the number of pirates who set sail. And after they overcome one challenge after another to arrive here, new difficulties arise once more.
Gaya Island, due to the Sky Island, halts countless pirates. However, Gaya Island is just one of the seven routes, while the Shampodi Islands are the sum total of these seven routes.
No matter which route they choose, those pirates will eventually converge here, and some are halted when they face the log pointing downward.
Those who are legally set sail can pay the Red Earth Continent's tax and take an elevator to cross over. Although they need to change ships, it is much safer.
Not all pirates have a coating craftsman like Rayleigh, and around the Shampodi Islands, ships that failed coatings and were crushed by sea pressure frequently float up, scaring many out of their wits.
Those people stayed here and began living in the illegal areas, marking the origin of the Island of Failures.
And those pirates who successfully passed through the Shampodi Islands and reached the New World will soon face the New World's terrifying weather. This is only the first test, and it won't take long before they understand why the first half was nicknamed Paradise.
Apart from those buffer zones, almost every island has its master, be it the renowned infamous pirates or newcomers banding together for warmth, all of whom are not foes that those new to the New World can contend with.
Logia-type users, who are nearly unbeatable in Paradise, are merely a slightly rare ability in the New World; what they experience is quite similar to when they first set out. The new navigation makes the Shampodi Islands the island of rejuvenation.
Ordinary pirates in the New World can barely make a ripple, only those Super Rookies who had bounties over hundreds of millions during the first half of their journey still have some appeal.
Nowadays, most pirates set sail influenced by Roger's dying words, as their purpose is to seek the legendary Grand Treasure.
So pirates leaving from Shampodi for the New World come in an endless stream, but those sailing in the opposite direction are few, which is why the appearance of the Hundred Beasts Pirates here draws some attention.
Those are newcomers with some understanding of the New World, but their time of arrival at the Shampodi Islands is not long, and those who settled here are not unfamiliar with this.
"The auction at Shampodi is about to start. It's not surprising they're here. Just do more and watch less. As long as you don't offend those people, nothing will happen."
However, newcomers always have many questions. When a group of neatly uniformed people rushed over from afar, he still expressed a query.
"Why are those people coming here?"
Their clothing wasn't exaggerated, very much resembling ordinary company employees, and they bore a logo made up of several berries. They were employees of the Shampodi branch of Hundred Beasts Fruit.
Although the business chain of Hundred Beasts Fruit is widening, with meat and dairy products, fruits, grains, medicines, textiles gradually being incorporated into the business chain, they are still using this logo which originated from fruit products.
In the specialty store on Mangrove 47, you can see them. Although this isn't a specialty of Shampodi, seeing specialties from other regions in a tourist spot makes perfect sense.
"Their boss has come; of course, these people have to come to greet them."
The relationship is straightforward if you check into it a bit, although the World Government doesn't care about this commercial behavior.
As long as the guise of Hundred Beasts Fruit is there, the ordinary public doesn't know it's a pirate enterprise, and the rest doesn't matter.
...
The members of Hundred Beasts Fruit are much more complex than the pirate crew. While the core members here are undoubtedly members of the Hundred Beasts Pirates, there are many ordinary people among the rank-and-file employees and salespeople.
The branch on the Shampodi Islands is even more so, but right now, those ordinary people are all inside the shop, and the ones who truly belong to Hundred Beasts have already gathered here.
The official docks are all in the 60 region; however, it's the domain of the World Government and the Navy, so pirates wouldn't dock there.
Due to the properties of the mangrove forest, ships can berth anywhere around the island, which also means there are no strict rules here.
The Origin's size is not much less than that of the warships executing a Buster Call. After all, it's a vessel that can accommodate giants like Saul, and on the way here, Arceus could even set up a small training ground on board.
Such a size thus occupied a piece of suitable docking space. Though there's a first-come, first-served principle here, not all pirates would adhere to it.
The pirate flag of the Hundred Beasts allowed the Origin to avoid trouble in the New World, but trouble arrived as soon as they entered Paradise.
Shortly after the Origin docked here, another ship followed, seemingly eyeing this spot as well.
In the real-life competition for docking space, the means of seizing it naturally come through cannonfire. These young, clueless pirates who hadn't reached the New World couldn't comprehend the significance of the flag flying on the Origin.
However, when they attempted to attack, Arceus and his group had already left the Origin. The ship's size blocked the view, and though they could hear cannonfire, they couldn't see what was happening.
The location of the explosion indicated they were attacking the Origin. Although there were people left behind on board, dealing with this through a cannon battle would be too time-consuming.
"Shaina, go handle it, don't waste time."
"Understood."
With a flap of wings, Shaina disappeared from the spot, and the employees of Hundred Beasts Fruit didn't mind either, thinking it would be a joke if a High-Level Official from the New World couldn't handle young fools from Paradise.
Shortly after Shaina left, two balls of fire rose up not far away, while over here, the employees continued briefing Arceus on recent updates.
"Lord Sacred Beast, the auction will begin in two days. From the currently released auction list, besides humans, there are reputably a Famed Sword and Devil Fruit. Here's the detailed list for you to review. Would you like us to arrange accommodations for you?"
"No need, just go about as usual. We'll stay on the ship at night." While the Shampodi Islands have a hotel district, for pirates, the hotel zone might not be safer than staying on their pirate ship.
Even legally authorized affiliate nation citizens living there need to be cautious, as wandering around at night might lead to misfortune...