Traveling day and night with the unparalleled speed of the Seraphim Ship, it still took Michael three days to reach Sabaody Archipelago.
He docked the Seraphim Ship on a nearby island before boarding a massive cruise liner with Yamato to reach Sabaody proper.
Jack's imposing figure made him too conspicuous, so he remained aboard the Seraphim Ship, ready to provide support if needed.
Upon landing, Michael immediately activated his Observation Haki.
While lacking Issho's unique ability to discern good and evil in people's hearts, its range was nearly comparable.
After enveloping the entire Sabaody Archipelago, Michael began systematically scanning the area.
His search finally led him to the Marine base on Sabaody, where he detected familiar presences...
"Why has that unlucky fool Saul been dragged into the Marine base? Wasn't he supposed to stay in the Giant Area around Grove 16?"
"Well, Sabaody is Robin-nee's territory... If she really wants to enter the Giant Area to arrest someone, who could stop her?" Yamato chuckled.
"Besides, most visitors to the Giant Area aren't actually Giant warriors..."
"Enough. Come with me to the Marine base."
"Huh? We're just going to waltz right into the Marine base like this?"
"What else? Should we wait for little Robin to release them herself?"
Michael sighed before leading Yamato toward Sabaody's Marine headquarters.
The prosperous sights along the way drew nods of approval from Michael.
"But you have to admit, Robin's governance of Sabaody is truly impressive... It genuinely feels like a golden age of peace."
"I think it's about the same as Alabasta."
"The geographical significance is different. This is the endpoint of the first half of the Grand Line, one of the gateways separating the New World from Paradise. Any problems here would be far more troublesome than in Alabasta."
As they walked, Michael pointed at various individuals in the crowd.
"See? Just on this ordinary street, I've spotted at least two pirates with bounties over 50 million berries... Yet here they are, keeping their heads down."
"Pirates can operate so openly here?"
"Since my time, Sabaody's policy toward pirates has always favored channeling over suppression... As long as you don't cause trouble on the archipelago, I'll turn a blind eye and send you off to the New World to thin your own ranks."
"Is that... really appropriate?"
"Perfectly so. This approach extracts wealth from pirates to recirculate in the economy while effectively reducing pirate numbers... The New World has limited capacity. When pirates become too numerous, they start fighting among themselves."
As Michael explained this to Yamato, they soon crossed the bustling street and continued toward the Marine garrison.
The closer they got to the Marine base, the fewer people surrounded them.
The types of people shifted from civilians and pirates to Marines.
Naturally, the Marines paid extra attention to two hooded travelers.
Especially since their direction was clearly heading straight for the Marine base.
"Father… it seems we've already been noticed."
"Let them notice. I never intended to hide my identity for this trip."
Michael glanced at the distant Marines.
After a few hushed words among them, someone immediately ran back toward the base.
No need to guess—they were definitely calling for reinforcements.
As for the high-ranking officers currently stationed on Sabaody Archipelago, aside from Gion…
There were also Tokikake and Borsalino.
Michael was quite curious—would all three of them come out in person?
...
"Report! Reporting to Rear Admiral Robin! Two unidentified, suspicious individuals have appeared outside the base and are heading straight for us!"
"Did you send anyone to intercept and question them?"
"W-we did…" The Marine soldier swallowed hard. "First, Commander Oki, who was guarding the gate today, was knocked out with a single punch!"
"Then, after these two entered the base, several patrolling captains arrived in time… but they were effortlessly taken down too!"
Robin frowned and asked,
"Have the others been notified?"
"Before we could even inform them, Admiral Kizaru had already led Vice Admiral Gion and Vice Admiral Tokikake to the gate. And…"
"And what?" Robin stared at the Marine.
Even someone as composed as her couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat at his hesitation.
"I… I heard Admiral Kizaru address one of them as…"
"Michael!"
Hearing that name, Robin shot to her feet, unable to hide the excitement on her face.
Meanwhile, Olvia, sitting nearby with her hands symbolically bound together, chuckled softly.
"Robin… I told you, you can't keep me locked up."
"Hmph! So what if it's Vice Admiral Michael? I'll have him join you in interrogation soon enough!"
With that, she swallowed the food in her mouth.
Olvia obediently set down the spoon in her hand.
The Marine soldier standing nearby didn't dare make a sound.
Who would've thought that when he came in to report, this woman who looked like a prisoner—despite having her hands bound—was feeding Rear Admiral Robin with a spoon…
The scene was just… too bizarre.
Though… this woman looked strikingly similar to Rear Admiral Robin!
"What are you staring at? Come with me!"
Robin yanked on her Justice cloak, the word "JUSTICE" gleaming under the sunlight as she stepped outside.
Olvia watched Robin's retreating figure, her eyes growing moist.
"You really grew up well, Robin."
...
Inside the Marine base,
A high-alert siren blared.
Everyone quickly armed themselves to the teeth.
But when the Marines saw their enemy, they all froze in place.
The earlier briefing had mentioned unidentified intruders forcing their way into the base…
Yet upon arriving at the scene, they found the person before them had already removed his hood.
It was none other than… the former Grand Inspector of the Marines, Michael.
For a moment, the garrison forces on Sabaody Archipelago found themselves deeply conflicted.
Sabaody Archipelago was undoubtedly Michael's strongest stronghold.
Whether it was the original garrison stationed there or the warriors from Amazon Lily who later joined the military forces, all regarded Michael as their idol.
But now... their idol stood before them, already stripped of his Marine rank.
It was... truly agonizing.
"How scary~, isn't this my favorite Michael?"
"What brings you suddenly to Sabaody Archipelago?"
Borsalino stepped forward, positioning himself before Michael.
Though his tone remained characteristically flippant, his eyes betrayed intense seriousness.
"Really now..."
"How terrifying."