Ruka Island—the very island where Kilo and Robin were currently located.
Despite being a small-to-medium-sized island, Ruka Island was home to a gathering of many pirates.
All of this was due to Ruka Island's unique geographical location:
As a transit island near the entrance to Reverse Mountain in the West Blue, Ruka Island was an indispensable stop for entering the Grand Line.
In other words, every pirate crew intending to enter the Grand Line would pass through Ruka Island.
At this moment, within the Gray Terminal on Ruka Island.
From amidst the mountains of trash, a series of heavy footsteps echoed.
Tap, tap.
"Damn it, this hellish place is so filthy!"
A burly, fierce-looking man wearing a single-eye patch cursed under his breath. With a look of disgust, he vigorously shook the sewage off his shoes.
[At this point, I hope readers remember our domain, 101kanshu.com, for a smooth reading experience.]
If Kilo were to see this man, he would surely recognize him immediately.
His face was identical to the one on the bounty poster; he was clearly the Captain of the Black Wolf Pirates, a Devil Fruit user with a bounty of 24 million Berries—The Wolf!
The Great Pirate Era that began two years ago had attracted a large number of powerful pirates to search for the legendary ONE PIECE, and The Wolf was one of them.
Relying on the Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Black Wolf that he had obtained by chance, The Wolf had almost no rivals in the West Blue, where powerful experts were scarce.
Following the path in his memory, The Wolf finally found the objective of his trip.
As his footsteps stopped, an extremely well-hidden secret door slowly opened amidst the unremarkable ruins, revealing a pitch-black passage.
Looking back at the empty space behind him, The Wolf frowned. He always felt as if something was watching him, but after confirming no one was there, he leaned in and entered the secret door.
The surroundings fell back into a heavy silence.
After nearly a few minutes, The Wolf suddenly reappeared from the secret door. Only after scanning the still-silent surroundings did he feel at ease enough to enter the passage.
A moment later, a footstep sounded, and the figure of a young man with a sword at his waist appeared.
Looking at the hidden door before him, Kilo's eyes turned cold as he darted into the passage, following behind.
...
After descending a long flight of stairs, light appeared before The Wolf's eyes, and a vast Underworld space came into view.
Bright electric lamps hung in the air, illuminating the entire underground space.
On both sides of the large corridor, several rows of iron cages, each as tall as a person, were neatly arranged.
And inside each iron cage, there were actually living slaves!
Their faces were numb, and they wore tattered, thin rags; it looked as if they had been imprisoned for some time.
Among them were not only humans; as he went deeper, he could vaguely see rare tribes, such as the Tontatta Tribe and the Mink Tribe.
The Wolf bypassed these slaves and expertly made his way to a meeting hall beside the corridor.
Inside the room, several figures were already seated.
Once The Wolf saw their faces clearly, he frowned.
One of them, a young man in a suit wearing gold-rimmed glasses, immediately stood up with a smile upon seeing The Wolf's arrival.
"Mr. Wolf, you've finally arrived!"
"It's because your meeting place is so remote—hard to find as always!"
The Wolf didn't care and carelessly pulled out a chair to sit down.
Before the young man in the suit could speak, a thin man nearby wearing a tall hat and carrying two long swords immediately spoke up in sarcasm.
"I didn't expect the Black Wolf's brain to be unable to figure out even such a short path."
"I wonder how you even became a pirate Captain."
Hearing this, a dangerous killing intent surfaced in The Wolf's eyes as he looked at the dual-wielding swordsman.
The other man was an acquaintance he had clashed with many times, and also a great pirate of the West Blue.
The Captain of the Rapier Pirates, Fushawen.
A bounty of 26 million Berries.
Including The Wolf, there were a total of five people seated.
Aside from the young man in the suit, everyone present was a renowned great pirate of the West Blue.
Ignoring Fushawen's provocation, The Wolf looked at the young man in the suit with an unfriendly gaze.
"Kiki, why did you call these people?"
"Wasn't it agreed that our pirate crew would handle the slave trade?"
The smile on Kiki's face remained unchanged, and his tone was calm.
"Mr. Wolf, the auction at the Sabaody Archipelago is about to be held, and the demand for slaves is very high."
"I'm afraid your pirate crew alone cannot meet such a large demand."
Before The Wolf could say more, the young man in the suit named Kiki tapped the table, signaling for everyone present to be quiet.
"Our guild is very satisfied with the slaves you all have collected during this period."
"I will distribute the corresponding Berries to you shortly."
"Now, let's discuss the next plan."
Kiki clapped his hands, and a waiter beside him immediately distributed a roster to everyone.
It clearly listed several tribal names, including the Mink Tribe, the Tontatta Tribe, and so on.
"These are the rare tribes that the nobles value the most."
"As long as you capture these slaves."
Kiki held up five fingers:
"For every slave of a special tribe, I will give you five million Berries!"
"Of course, if you capture an extremely rare slave like one from the Merfolk Tribe..."
"I, Kiki, on behalf of the Thorn Merchant Guild, guarantee that anyone who captures a mermaid will receive one hundred million Berries!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's breathing in the room immediately became heavy.
Although they were all renowned great pirates of the West Blue, their bounties were only around twenty or thirty million Berries. When had they ever seen as much as one hundred million Berries?!
However, as the favorites of the Celestial Dragons, the Merfolk Tribe had long since become rare and seldom appeared.
Considering the difficulty of capturing a mermaid, the Captains gradually calmed down.
Fushawen, with the two swords on his back, suddenly asked.
"Wait, how did your guild get in touch with the auction at the Sabaody Archipelago?"
"Don't the Marines do anything about it?"
Hearing this, several other Captains present also became curious.
They were only responsible for capturing slaves and handing them over to Kiki's Thorn Merchant Guild in exchange for payment.
But they had no idea how the slaves managed to evade official surveillance and be transported all the way to the Sabaody Archipelago.
Facing their curious gazes, Kiki suddenly chuckled, his face showing unconcealed mockery.
"The Marines?"
"They are nothing more than the lackeys of the Celestial Dragons. Why would they interfere with a slave trade that the Celestial Dragons are involved in?"
"Forget about daring to interfere; they even have to protect our slave ships!"
Meeting the astonished gazes of the pirates, Kiki proudly gestured with his fingers:
"You should know that the 71st, 72nd, and 73rd Marine Branches in the West Blue will all send Marine warships to protect our ships all the way to the Sabaody Archipelago."
"The Marines? They're just lackeys under the World Government!"
Having said this, Kiki seemed to lose interest in continuing the conversation.
Signalling with his eyes to the waiter beside him, several heavy chests were brought before the pirate Captains.
The Wolf took a chest and opened it to check; a chest full of Berries met his eyes.
He smiled greedily, carefully counting the amount of Berries, and closed the chest after confirming it was correct.
The other Captains were much the same, all with satisfied smiles on their faces.
Kiki stood up, looking at the pirate Captains present with a smile.
"Everyone, it's been a pleasure working with you!"
"Same as the old rules: on this day next month, deliver the slaves you've captured here!"
"Rest assured, you will be well compensated!"
Before he could finish speaking, noisy sounds gradually drifted in from outside the meeting hall.
Kiki frowned, pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, and looked toward the outside of the hall with a hint of dissatisfaction.
Bang.
The door to the meeting hall was slammed open, and a waiter with a sweating forehead rushed in frantically to report to Kiki.
"This is bad, my lord!"
"Someone has broken in!"
Kiki laughed instead of getting angry upon hearing this; the presence of an intruder didn't worry him.
Because today he happened to have gathered several partner pirate Captains here, and that unlucky intruder clearly had no idea what they were about to face.
Shifting his gaze to the pirate Captains who had not yet left, Kiki put on a hypocritical look of apology.
"I'm sorry to disturb your mood, but I hope you will lend a hand and subdue the intruder."
The pirate Captains had clearly heard the waiter's report as well and knew that someone had invaded this stronghold.
"There's no need to trouble your guild with such a small matter."
The dual-wielding swordsman Fushawen spoke up with a sinister grin, clearly very satisfied with the Berries he had just received.
He didn't mind doing the guild a small favor; as a famous great pirate of the West Blue, he was very confident in his own strength.
Passing by the other Captains, Fushawen picked up his two swords and strode out of the meeting hall not knowing what's awaiting him.