Sabaody Archipelago.
For most people, this was effectively the end of the first half of the Grand Line.
The archipelago was formed from the exposed roots of the world’s largest Yarukiman Mangrove, so it possessed no magnetic field of its own.
Neither a Log Pose nor an Eternal Pose could lead directly here.
But that hardly mattered.
Any ship intending to reach Fish-Man Island would eventually be guided by its Log Pose into the waters surrounding Sabaody anyway.
The Sabaody Archipelago was divided into seventy-nine areas, each supported by one enormous mangrove root.
Area 16 was one of the island’s infamous lawless zones.
Pirates, gangsters, human traffickers, and underground merchants gathered here in droves.
The entire place was filled with people who were anything but respectable.
That didn’t mean the area was some ruined wasteland, though.
Criminals needed somewhere to spend their money too.
As a result, there were plenty of businesses scattered throughout the district.
Outside a certain tavern, beneath a large parasol—Ain sat with a glass of juice in front of her.
She wore a baseball cap and yellow-tinted sunglasses, casually flipping through a newspaper while discreetly observing a building not far away.
Her Marine sailor uniform was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, she’d changed into casual clothes: a fitted sleeveless lavender top with blue short shorts, her long pale legs elegantly crossed beneath the table.
Beside her sat Nate.
His expression was completely dead.
He’d slid so far down his chair that the back of his head rested against the top of the backrest.
Nate had changed into casual clothes as well.
A loose gray graphic T-shirt, light blue shorts, flip-flops, a small crossbody bag over his chest, and a bucket hat on his head made him look exactly like an ordinary tourist.
Unfortunately, his lifeless eyes were staring blankly at the underside of the parasol.
If he weren’t still breathing, someone might easily mistake him for a corpse.
Ain glanced at Nate, who looked seconds away from falling asleep, and struggled to keep the corners of her mouth from rising.
“Don’t fall asleep, Nate.
The fugitives could appear at any moment.” Nate answered in a hollow voice, sounding like an empty shell whose soul had already departed.
“Are you enjoying my suffering, Ain?” “I’m only reminding you.” Ain barely managed to keep a straight face.
Nate’s mouth twitched.
The entire Sabaody Archipelago had already been placed under lockdown, with Marines searching everywhere.
But even that wasn’t enough.
Sabaody was simply too large, and there were still far too many places that needed watching.
So under Zephyr’s orders, the recruits had split up.
Two people per team.
The weaker recruits were assigned to safer districts, while the stronger ones were sent into more dangerous areas.
Naturally, Ain and Nate had been assigned to the lawless Area 16.
Their target was the building in the distance.
It was an underground shipyard that specialized in coating pirate ships.
As long as the customer paid enough, they could even provide ships that had already been fully coated and were ready to dive.
If the escaped prisoners wanted to enter the New World, they would almost certainly come to Sabaody.
And if they came to Sabaody, there was at least a chance they’d visit this place.
The logic was sound.
Nate was simply miserable.
Yesterday, he’d trained until his body was completely exhausted.
Then he’d spent the entire night causing havoc inside Impel Down before carrying the fugitives all the way out of the Calm Belt in one go.
His mental energy had taken a serious beating too.
He’d barely managed to return to the Dream World and start relaxing when the emergency alarm woke him.
Then came packing.
Then boarding a ship.
Then rushing straight to Sabaody.
He’d only managed to catch a little sleep during the voyage.
And even then, Nate had spent part of that time creating personal dream spaces for his newest nodes.
He’d also pulled the ordinary escapees into the Dream World and granted them a lower level of access.
They couldn’t be possessed.
They didn’t receive personal dream spaces.
They couldn’t even enter the Dream World while awake.
But the burden on Nate was dramatically lower, allowing him to create large numbers of these weaker connections at once.
Naturally, they still received the basic benefits.
Nate had created an entire city for the fugitives to live in.
Nearly every form of entertainment found on the seas could be enjoyed there.
Fine wine, delicious food, beautiful women—There was an endless supply of everything.
At the very least, the prisoners were already completely addicted.
“This isn’t going to work.” Ain suddenly spoke.
“Even if we keep watching from outside, we might never see anything.” Nate yawned and slowly forced himself upright.
A tiny spark finally returned to his dead eyes.
“Oh?” “What do you mean?” Ain looked toward him.
“If those fugitives really came to Sabaody, they’d probably be extremely careful about hiding themselves.” “Even if they wanted a coated ship, they might not come here personally.” She folded the newspaper.
“Let’s infiltrate the shipyard and look around.” Then she added naturally, “Nate, use your ability to make us invisible.” Nate looked at her with mild interest.
“Oh.
So you can occasionally say something useful.” Sitting here doing nothing was boring anyway.
“If you don’t know how to speak politely, you can just keep your mouth shut.” Ain smiled without any warmth whatsoever.
Once again—Nate would be perfect if only he hadn’t been born with a mouth.
“Pretty arrogant for someone who’s just Ain.” Nate casually snapped his fingers.
Both of them immediately vanished from sight.
He slowly stood and began walking toward the shipyard.
“Come on.
Don’t make any noise.” Nate could project new sounds, but he couldn’t erase sounds that already existed.
“Wait, Nate!” Ain’s confused voice came from behind him.
“Where are you?” “Hm?” Nate turned around.
Through his own illusion, he could clearly see Ain looking around in embarrassment.
She didn’t know Observation Haki and couldn’t see through Nate’s illusion.
Which meant she had absolutely no idea where he was.
Nate couldn’t help laughing.
“And you were talking about infiltrating the place?” “S-Shut up.” Ain’s face reddened slightly.
“Just figure something out!” “What is there to figure out?” Nate reached over, took Ain’s hand, and pulled her forward.
“Let’s go.” “Nate, you—” Ain jolted in surprise.
She didn’t even manage to finish before Nate cut her off.
“I already told you.” “Don’t make noise.” Ain immediately shut her mouth.
She lightly bit her lower lip.
‘That rude bastard.’ ‘How can he just grab my hand whenever he wants?’ ‘If this weren’t for the mission…’ Yet— ‘His hand is really big.’ ‘And warm…’ The heat seemed to travel all the way up her arm and straight into her face.
Nate glanced back thoughtfully.
His gaze passed straight through the illusion and landed on Ain’s faintly flushed face.
‘Tch.’ ‘Little maiden, are you lusting after Brother Nate’s flawless body again?’ The two entered the shipyard without any trouble.
Its interior was enormous.
Several ships were currently being coated, two of them openly flying pirate flags.
One pirate ship had already finished the process entirely.
Nate felt Ain squeeze his hand.
He immediately understood.
Besides monitoring suspicious locations throughout Sabaody, the recruits had also been ordered to watch every fully coated ship that had yet to descend beneath the sea.
The escaped prisoners could simply steal one, after all.
This ship was another potential target.
Nate had to admit Instructor Zephyr had planned things thoroughly.
Because one fully coated ship really had been prepared for the fugitives.
The only problem was— ‘They’re still quite a distance from Sabaody.’ As for this particular ship…
Nate openly walked over with Ain in tow and stopped beside its hull.
Then he casually dragged one finger across the coating wrapped tightly around it.
‘Finger Pistol.’ The tough membrane was instantly ripped open.
Pop!
The entire coating burst like an enormous soap bubble.
“What?!” The coating workers froze.
“Hey!
What the hell happened?!” The shipyard owner stormed over with an ashen expression.
“Who was responsible for this ship?!” “Damn it!
The client is coming to inspect it soon!” His voice rose in panic.
“He’s a pirate with a bounty of more than fifty million Berries!
If we piss him off, we’re all screwed!” The coating workers stared at one another without knowing what to say.
“What are you standing around for?!” The owner roared.
“Stop everything else you’re doing!
Everyone works on recoating this ship first!” Ain couldn’t help quietly laughing.
‘Nate really is awful.’ The workers looked rather pitiful.
But once she remembered they made their living coating pirate ships, every trace of sympathy vanished.
‘Serves them right.’ If they weren’t in the middle of a mission, Ain would’ve arrested every last person in this shipyard already.
The two continued searching the facility for a while.
After confirming there was nothing suspicious, they quietly left.
Once they were far enough away, Nate canceled his ability.
“Anyway, let’s get dinner.” He looked toward Ain lazily.
“I’ll give you the honor of treating me.” Ain rolled her eyes.
“Why would I pay?” “Because you’ve been taking advantage of me this whole time.” Nate’s voice remained perfectly casual.
Ain stared at him.
“Who exactly has been taking advantage of you?” Nate said nothing.
He merely tilted his chin downward.
Ain instinctively followed his gaze.
The next instant—Her entire face turned bright red.
She was still holding Nate’s hand.
Nate lightly shook their joined hands and looked at her with amusement.
“I let go ages ago, you know.” Ain reacted as though she’d been electrocuted.
She instantly threw his hand away and even stumbled several steps backward.
“I-I-I-I—” “No need to panic.” Nate shrugged.
“The fact that you can’t bear to let me go just proves you’re a woman with excellent taste.” “But don’t get any ideas about monopolizing me.” He spoke with complete seriousness.
“I’m a treasure belonging to the entire world.” “NATE!
SHUT UP!!” Ain’s face became so red she was practically screaming.
Nate sighed deeply.
“Tch.
Taking advantage of me and then acting offended.” His tone became philosophical.
“Woman, thy name is greed.” “NATE!!” ‘Can I kill him?’ Ain screamed internally.
‘How can someone as irritating as Nate possibly exist in this world?!’ Nate’s lips curved upward.
‘Ain is pretty fun to tease.’ Still—His thoughts shifted elsewhere.
‘Luna should be meeting up with the fugitives around now.’ ‘Which means the operation to infiltrate the deep sea is about to begin.’ Nate’s smile deepened.
‘Sorry in advance, Instructor Zephyr.’ … …