"Meow-wah! So many bubbles, meow!"
Klee Meow cheered loudly as she looked at the island not far away, where colorful bubbles floated endlessly into the air.
The other Felynes also stared wide-eyed at the bubbles, their tails swaying instinctively…
Well, there was no helping it—cats are naturally drawn to moving, round objects. It just instinct.
After several days of sailing, Sherwin and his crew had finally arrived at the last island on the surface of the Grand Line first half — the Sabaody Archipelago.
Since the island is actually formed from a giant tree, it doesn't generate magnetic fields and therefore can't be recorded by a Log Pose.
Fortunately, it sits almost directly above Fish-Man Island, so as long as one sails toward Fish-Man Island direction, the Sabaody Archipelago will soon appear on the sea surface.
The reason Sherwin chose to stop here first was simply because it was still early before the scheduled meeting time Uncle Cody had mentioned.
After all, the upgraded Dodo Advance boasted excellent sailing speed.
Combined with Klee Meow good luck keeping them away from bad weather, they had already taken a casual detour around the outskirts of Marineford.
In truth, even with an ordinary ship, as long as the weather wasn't terrible, it wouldn't be difficult to reach Marineford within ten days.
However, knowing that the CP organization never played fair, Sherwin wasn't reckless enough to approach the Navy ahead of time.
After confirming that the Log Pose given by Moria was functioning properly, he turned the ship toward Sabaody Archipelago to rest and prepare.
Given the short distance between the two islands, even at normal sailing speed, the Dodo Advance could reach the destination quickly, so there was no need to rush.
It was also the perfect chance for Sherwin to take the Felynes to visit Sabaody Archipelago famous amusement park.
In addition, as the final stop on the first half of the Grand Line, auctions were held here almost every day.
Besides the vile slave trade, there were also many legitimate auctions.
After all, this was the only gathering point where all seven early routes converged.
Countless pirates would come here to sell the treasures they'd gathered along their journeys, trading them for money or other items they needed to prepare for entering the New World.
And where there demand, there supply. Many daring merchants would travel great distances to sell their goods here.
Of course, the most critical point was that the Sabaody Archipelago was close to Mary Geoise.
The Celestial Dragons would occasionally come here to "inspect" or amuse themselves.
Though those people were disgusting and dangerous, they were also extremely generous with their spending — naturally, there were always those eager to profit from them.
"It not the time to clash with those scumbags yet, so once we're on the island, keep your Observation Haki active as much as possible and steer clear of those people."
Sherwin instructed Huamei Meow, Meowjuro, Link Meow, and the other level-headed Felynes,
"Also, keep an eye on Jinx — that little one can cause even more trouble than Klee."
All the Felynes nodded in agreement. Over the past few days, jinx had caused more than her fair share of chaos and pranks on the ship. Even Huamei Meow attempts at confining her had no effect at all…
She was the embodiment of "admit your mistake, then do it again without a hint of regret."
Still, her pranks were all harmless and didn't pose any real danger. Plus, Observation Haki easily saw through most of her tricks, so Sherwin and the others hadn't felt the need to stop her too harshly.
What more… her mischief had actually forced Shermie Observation Haki to awaken, and it had provided a bit of training for the others as well. So, in that sense, Sherwin had even less reason to interfere.
Of course, if their luck really ran out and they couldn't avoid trouble with the Celestial Dragons even with Observation Haki, Sherwin wouldn't back down either.
Worst case — they'd do what Luffy did, knock the Celestial Dragon flat, then quickly board the Dodo Advance and make a break for the New World.
After all, the Dodo Advance didn't need coating to cross the Red Line, so it wasn't a big deal. The only real pity would be missing out on the Devil Fruits the CP organization had promised him.
After giving a few quick instructions to the crew, Sherwin guided the Dodo Advance into the harbor of the Sabaody Archipelago.
The Sabaody Archipelago was composed of seventy-nine giant Yarukiman Mangrove trees.
The inhabitants of the island had divided the area into six main zones based on the numbering of each tree:
1–29: The lawless zone where slave trading took place. The Navy rarely entered here. Shakky Rip-off Bar was also located in this area.
30–39: Shopping centers, the prototype of the "Arlong Amusement Park" known here as Sabaody Park, along with regular auction houses and theaters — general entertainment and commercial areas.
40–49: The main landing area for most visitors, filled with sightseeing spots and souvenir shops — the most convenient area for first-time visitors to get a feel for the archipelago.
50–59: Shipyards and coating workshops made up the bulk of this section.
60–69: The Navy and World Government headquarters area — where official forces were stationed.
70–79: Streets filled with restaurants, inns, and hotels catering to tourists.
Following the entrance near Zone 40, the Dodo Advance approached a temporary harbor where many ships were already docked.
Though calling it a "harbor" was a bit generous — it was really just a small inlet with no actual port facilities.
Regular ships and pirate vessels were moored together here, yet everyone seemed to coexist peacefully.
Normally, even on islands that tolerated pirates coming ashore to rest, the locals would still separate regular vessels from pirate ships. It was rare to see them mixed together like this.
It was more likely, however, that no one was actually assigned to manage this area at all—since Sherwin didn't see any staff or administrators around here.
In the world of pirates, this kind of situation wasn't rare. But for a well-known place like the Sabaody Archipelago—especially one with a Marine presence—it was unusual to see such lax management.
Sherwin calmly scanned the pirate ships around him. The pirates who had stayed aboard their vessels clearly recognized who he was and looked at him with wary eyes.
For now, Sherwin had no interest in catching them for bounty money. Most of those left behind to guard ships were just small fry anyway.
So he couldn't be bothered with them and, as usual, had Klee Meow leave a Flame Guardian on the ship.
Meanwhile, Purah Meow pulled out one of her latest inventions—a small Guardian.
Its appearance closely resembled the temple guardians from games, but with added Monster Hunter-style details and a few distinct feline touches—like cat ears and such.
Unlike the outdated temple guardians in the games that mainly relied on primitive weapons, the ones Purah Meow created were not only skilled with blades, spears, and swords but were also equipped with firearms.
Klee Meow originally wanted to strap a few bombs onto them, but Sherwin and Purah Meow teamed up to stop her.
When Purah Meow first completed the prototype, they had already tested its combat capability. Against ordinary pirates, it could handle itself easily—and its intelligence even surpassed that of Klee Meow Flame Golems.
However, to further test their practicality, Sherwin deliberately instructed Klee Meow to order all the Flame Golems to hide inside the cabin as backup,
leaving only a few standby Guardians on the deck—waiting for some foolish pirate to come knocking.
He also placed several surveillance Den Den Mushi in hidden spots, planning to record the Guardian combat performance.
As for whether any idiots would actually come looking for trouble, Sherwin wasn't the least bit worried.
If there was one thing the pirate world had in abundance, it was arrogant fools who didn't understand their own limits and reckless outlaws who valued money over their lives.
Once he finished setting up the defenses aboard the Dodo Advance, Sherwin brought along all the Felynes—and one fake cat, Robin—and stepped onto the island of Area 40.
Since he hadn't yet obtained the title of Warlord of the Sea, it was best for Nico Robin to conceal her identity for the time being to avoid unnecessary complications.