New World, Savila Island.
The island wasn't particularly large—smaller even than Dressrosa—and in the New World it was completely unremarkable.
Yet it was surprisingly prosperous. With little land and almost no natural resources, it had once been nothing more than a convenient anchorage where passing fleets stopped to take on fresh water.
No nation or major power had ever claimed it.
In theory, it was just an empty island. Later, however, some fleets began leaving troublemakers from their ships here as punishment.
As time passed, the island became a lawless zone and eventually fell under the control of the underworld.
Now, Savila Island had become an important underworld base in this sea area. Many black-market merchants, slave hunters, bounty hunters, and smugglers gathered here to trade goods, share information, and make money.
Pirates were naturally regular visitors too.
To be honest, although pirates often robbed others, and most pirates lived by robbing, any experienced pirate who was not a fool would avoid attacking an island like this.
After all, pirates were already outcasts from mainstream society. The underworld, however, did not really look down on them. It could help them sell stolen goods, enjoy themselves, buy illegal items, and obtain information. If they attacked a place like this, their reputation in the underworld would be ruined from that day onward. Later, when they crossed paths with other pirates or underworld figures, they might find themselves attacked and killed.
In short, Savila Island always had plenty of pirates.
Early that morning, the Happo Navy fleet, once famous throughout the seas but far less prominent now, arrived here.
Chinjao, who stood five meters and twenty centimeters tall even without counting his pointed head, slowly disembarked from the ship. Behind him followed several officers of the Happo Navy, along with a huge man whose build was no less imposing than his own.
"Are we stopping here for supplies, Chinjao?" the huge man asked.
"That's right. We will restock supplies and fresh water, buy some information, and also see whether any shop here sells an Eternal Pose for Wano, which is now Frost Island," Chinjao said with a nod.
The huge man beside him was his sworn brother from Kano Country in the West Blue. He was also the leader of the Niho Navy, and his name was Tofu.
Before they left the West Blue, Chinjao's daughter-in-law had become pregnant, and Tofu's daughter-in-law had also become pregnant. The two men had directly agreed that if the children were a boy and a girl, they would be engaged and later become husband and wife.
Of course, if both children were boys, they would become sworn brothers just like the two of them.
After arranging those family matters, Chinjao could no longer sit still. He was indeed a very greedy man and loved treasure deeply. Now that he had heard about the great treasure and Pirate King Roger's sixty billion Berries, how could he not be tempted?
So he immediately gathered his men and prepared to head for the New World to search for the treasure.
Tofu, who had become Chinjao's sworn brother, was also very interested in those sixty billion Berries. However, he had never been to the New World before, so he had been unsure whether he should fight for it.
Before he could make up his mind, he heard that Chinjao was returning to the New World. This made him unable to stay calm, so he immediately discussed it with Chinjao and decided to go together. When the time came, they would split the treasure evenly.
Chinjao thought about it and also felt that since he had not gone to the New World for several years, and since that sea was full of powerful people, having a brother help him would make things smoother.
On top of that, he was certain that his son would surely have a son. If their families became tied together in the future, then the treasure he shared with Tofu would still remain in the hands of his own people.
Because of that, Chinjao agreed at once. After all, this brother of his was even a little stronger than him, making him a very good helper.
Before long, the two huge men entered the noisy underworld market.
In Chinjao's mind, an Eternal Pose for Wano had to be a very rare item. After all, that place had been extremely closed off. Back when he traveled across the New World, he had never gone there. Even among the people he knew, almost none had ever been to Wano, so it was impossible for many Eternal Poses to have spread out.
But when he found a merchant who specialized in selling Log Poses, he was completely stunned.
"How much?" Chinjao asked in surprise as he looked at the Eternal Pose in his hand.
"Two million Berries. No bargaining," the merchant said impatiently.
Chinjao stared at the Eternal Pose in disbelief, then hesitated and asked, "You are not selling me a fake, are you?"
Two million Berries was not expensive.
It was even too cheap.
An Eternal Pose could be used again and again. The harder an island was to reach, the more valuable its Eternal Pose would be. When Chinjao first asked to buy one, he had already prepared himself to spend heavily. He thought it would cost at least around ten million Berries.
In the end, the price was only two million Berries. That was almost the same as the price of an Eternal Pose for the Sabaody Archipelago.
That kind was the cheapest. Usually, it could be bought for just over one million Berries, because Sabaody was too open, too well known, and had too many visitors. Because of that, Eternal Poses for Sabaody were everywhere.
Many proper merchants from the four seas would travel through Mary Geoise, go down to Red Port on the Paradise side, and then take a ship to Sabaody. There, they would turn blank Log Poses into Eternal Poses.
After that, they would bring those Eternal Poses back to the four seas and sell them to young people who wanted to go out to sea. Because of this, many rookie pirates did not even need to care about the seven routes in the first half of the Grand Line. They could simply head straight for Sabaody.
When the merchant heard Chinjao's question, he froze for a moment before saying, "You only came back to the New World recently, right? Hm… why do you look so familiar… Wait, you are Chinjao the Drill!?"
"That's right, it is me!" Chinjao straightened his chest when he saw that someone had recognized him.
"No wonder. You have not been in the New World for years. A few years ago, an Eternal Pose for Frost Island, which used to be Wano, would have cost at least ten million Berries, and you might not even have been able to buy one. But now, the price has dropped hard. These things are everywhere in the New World. I heard the Valthior Pirates are selling them cheaply on purpose, all to attract more people to Frost Island," the merchant explained.
"Frost Island has opened up?" Chinjao raised his brow in surprise.
"More than opened up. It is practically welcoming people from every direction. Many refugees are heading there. I also heard that Frost Island is preparing to build a large underworld base. Once I sell this batch of goods, I plan to go there and take a look myself. What about you? Are you going there to join the Valthior Pirates too?" the merchant asked with a smile.
He had already sold quite a few Frost Island Eternal Poses to pirates, and most of those pirates wanted to go there to offer their loyalty to the Valthior Pirates.
Because of that, the merchant naturally assumed Chinjao had the same idea.
Chinjao frowned when he heard that and said, "Join that brat? Who do you think I am? I am going to Frost Island to deal with him and force the location of Laugh Tale out of his mouth."
He did not bother hiding his thoughts.
There was no need.
There were surely many people who had thought of taking this shortcut, but only those who were truly confident in their own strength would actually try it. Otherwise, going there would just mean throwing their lives away.
So there was no need to hide anything.
The merchant froze and looked at Chinjao, not knowing what to say for a moment. But after thinking carefully, Chinjao had indeed been a major figure in the New World years ago. Even Rocks had once invited him.
For someone like that to say such things, it was not strange.
So the merchant nodded, accepted the two million Berries, handed the Eternal Pose to Chinjao, and said nothing more.
Chinjao also had no intention of wasting words. He turned and left to buy other things.
Before long, more people gathered in front of the shop, asking questions and buying this and that.
Some pieces of information also spread from there.
"Have you heard? Wrath of Winter Valthior is heading this way. Not long ago, the Devil Scholar Spencer bought information about the Happo Navy's movements from Fuster, that information broker…"
"Who is Chinjao?"
"No idea. Never seen him. Go back and look through the wanted posters. I heard he used to be a great pirate, the kind with a bounty of five or six hundred million Berries."
"Then isn't something big about to happen?"
"They will probably fight, right?"
The merchant , who was still selling his goods, heard these conversations. After staying silent for a moment, he quickly began cutting prices, trying to sell everything in the shop as fast as possible so he could leave.
What kind of joke was this?
Chinjao was on this island, and the Valthior Pirates were also looking for him. That meant Chinjao might soon hear the news as well. When that happened, he would not need to go to Frost Island at all. He could simply wait here for Valthior to come to him.
Once those two met here, judging by what Chinjao had said earlier, a major fight would be impossible to avoid.
Anyone who still stayed here might soon get dragged into the clash between those two dangerous men.
So it was better to leave quickly and go take a look at Frost Island instead.
Time to run!
It had to be said that news traveled very quickly in the underworld. Before long, many people had recognized Chinjao and learned that the Valthior Pirates were looking for him.
Savila Island, which had already been lively, suddenly became even busier. Many merchants began selling off their goods at low prices, while ships at the port were constantly being booked for departure.
Clearly, once this rush was over, the island would likely become much quieter.
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