Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 13, Rip-off Bar.
This was the bar Rayleigh and Shakky had opened after drifting here following the disbandment of the Roger Pirates.
The Marine might know of Rayleigh's presence here but simply pretend not to.
After all, to capture a powerhouse of this level would not only require several top-tier combatants but could also cause immense destruction.
Of course, it was also possible that Roger had made a deal with the Marine when he turned himself in.
But whatever the case, Rayleigh had lived here for a long time without encountering any major trouble.
Shakky was busy behind the counter. Hearing the door open, she saw Rayleigh return.
"Lost it all again?" she asked directly, without any hesitation.
But then she noticed that Rayleigh's expression seemed a little off.
"What's wrong?"
Rayleigh sat down at the counter and had Shakky get him a bottle of wine.
"There might be a little trouble later!" Rayleigh said, shaking his head after taking a sip.
"What trouble?" Shakky was startled.
For Rayleigh to say something like that meant the trouble was definitely not small.
"Ran into a few people. One of them was Hawkeye."
"The so called World's Greatest Swordsman?"
Shakky also dealt in intelligence, so she naturally knew a lot about Hawkeye.
"This person is not to be trifled with. Shanks has mentioned him."
Rayleigh shook his head slightly.
In the casino, the way Hawkeye looked at him was not right.
It seemed like Hawkeye had wanted to make a move right then and there.
"Wait, according to intelligence, Hawkeye is traveling with that Cyrus kid right now. With them is a man who can summon meteorites."
Shakky thought for a moment and reminded him.
"Cyrus? He's a troublesome one too!" Rayleigh sighed.
Although he had never met Cyrus, Crocus at Twin Cape had told him about his encounter with Cyrus.
Crocus seemed to have said that the man had mentioned his name.
And this Cyrus had fought with two Marine Admirals.
The man was also a Pirate Hunter no less.
"I think I also saw the person you mentioned who could summons meteorites," Rayleigh said, thinking of the blind man he had met at the gambling table.
"So the news is true. I also received a report that Cyrus landed on Sabaody Archipelago earlier, but it seems he left again," Shakky said with a grave tone, lighting a cigarette.
With these three people together, no person or force could ignore them.
"I just don't know what their purpose is. And Cyrus is a Pirate Hunter, while Hawkeye is a Shichibukai. How did these two end up together?" Rayleigh said after downing the rest of the wine in one go and setting the bottle down.
"Hawkeye is easy to guess. He likes to challenge other swordsmen to duels. He and Shanks became friends because of their past duels," Shakky speculated after a thought.
"That makes some sense!" Rayleigh nodded.
"But this Cyrus hasn't only had contact with Hawkeye. In Alabasta, he probably had contact with Crocodile as well," Shakky said, recalling the intelligence she had.
"Is that so?" Rayleigh nodded, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
He was finding Cyrus more and more difficult to understand.
"Don't forget, he also had contact with Monkey D. Garp before, and more than once," Shakky reminded him again.
Rayleigh was right this time, there might really be trouble.
"Not necessarily. I've been retired for so long. They might just be stopping at Sabaody Archipelago on their way to the New World."
"They might come looking for trouble with you. After all, you are the Dark King Rayleigh, the first mate of the former Pirate King!" Shakky said, looking at Rayleigh.
Although the information was incomplete, it was now certain that these people would definitely come to find Rayleigh at least once.
What would happen then? What happens when pirates meet?
Most of the time, they fight first and talk later.
"Sigh, what a pain!" Rayleigh grumbled, running a hand through his silver-gray hair.
"But they might not know you're here."
As soon as Shakky's voice fell, Rayleigh shot to his feet and turned to look in a certain direction.
"They're here!" Rayleigh said, glancing at Shakky.
They had just said the others didn't know their location, and now they had found them.
"Where's my sword?"
Rayleigh glanced at Shakky.
Shakky pursed her lips, stubbed out her cigarette, and pulled a sword from under the counter, placing it on top.
Then, the closed bar door was pushed open again.
Enel poked his head in. After seeing Rayleigh, he stepped aside.
Hawkeye, carrying his longsword on his back, walked into the bar, followed by Issho, who ducked his head slightly to enter.
"Dark King Rayleigh!"
This time, upon seeing Rayleigh, Hawkeye immediately reached back and gripped the hilt of his sword.
"Are you sure you want to fight here? If this place gets destroyed, what if Cyrus can't find this bar when he arrives?"
Noticing Hawkeye's movement, Issho spoke up directly.
Hawkeye froze, turned to look at Issho, then at Rayleigh and finally released his grip on his sword hilt.
Rayleigh and Shakky, who witnessed this, were both stunned.
'What does that mean? Has Hawkeye joined Cyrus's crew?'
"My apologies!"
Issho took a few steps forward and came before Rayleigh and Shakky.
"We need to wait for someone here. We may be disturbing you for a few days," Issho said with a serious expression.
Rayleigh and Shakky exchanged a look.
Shakky pulled out another cigarette and lit it.
"And if I say no?" Shakky said.
Hearing her words, Issho's expression didn't change.
"If you do not permit it, we will wait outside. The meeting place we agreed upon with Cyrus is here."
"The meeting place is here?"
Rayleigh released his hand from his sword hilt, looking at Issho with confusion.
"Yes. When we arrived at Sabaody Archipelago, Cyrus had something to do and told the three of us to go ashore first and come here, to the Rip-off Bar, to assemble here," Issho replied, still with a serious look.
He wasn't hiding anything.
"What is your purpose?" Rayleigh asked, his eyes sizing up Issho before shifting to Enel.
Needless to say, Issho and Hawkeye were formidable.
Even the man looking around the bar seemed to be no simple character.
What was the purpose of these people?
"That's not for me to say. As for what we're going to do, we'll only know after Cyrus returns."
Hearing Issho's answer, Rayleigh nodded.
"I see. Then wait here. But I don't provide lodging."
"That's fine. We're not picky. We would just ask for some food and drink, if you please!"
Issho smiled at his words, then walked over and sat down opposite Hawkeye.
"My things aren't cheap!" Shakky called out. Even powerful guys couldn't break her rules.
"No matter. I won a lot of money at the casino these past few days!" Issho said with a wave and a smile.
As soon as he said this, Rayleigh's expression changed.
'You're just trying to rub salt in the wound, aren't you?'