After spending another day in Mock Town without hearing any system notifications in his mind, Kairo D. Arashi decisively gave up on staying any longer and prepared to begin the next leg of his journey.
Back aboard the Traveler, Kairo D. Arashi found himself facing a bit of a dilemma.
If he followed the route from the original story, then since he had already reached Mock Town, he really ought to head to Skypiea and travel around there for a while!
However, if he went to Skypiea now, the release of his interview footage would be delayed.
That involved a reward of 200,000 Travel Points.
Kairo D. Arashi had no intention of putting that off!
So in the end, he decided not to visit Skypiea for the time being.
Heading directly to Sabaody Archipelago and broadcasting the interview footage was the most important thing right now!
Once he had made up his mind, Kairo D. Arashi no longer hesitated. After saying goodbye to Shang De, that pirate-world equivalent of a honey badger, he set sail once again with a clear destination in mind—Sabaody Archipelago.
If he followed the route from the original story, then after leaving Alabasta he should have gone to Skypiea, followed by Long Ring Long Land, Water 7, and only then Sabaody Archipelago.
However, that was the route dictated by Luffy and the others' Log Pose.
Kairo D. Arashi had absolutely no reason to follow the same route!
Sabaody Archipelago was located fairly close to Marine Headquarters.
Of course, "close" was only relative when talking about sailing distances.
The entire Sabaody Archipelago was formed around seventy-nine enormous mangrove trees. Each tree was numbered, and every one of them had towns and facilities built around it.
Groves 1 through 29 were mainly occupied by human trafficking shops, slave auctions, and lawless zones.
Groves 30 through 39 mainly contained Sabaody Park.
Groves 40 through 49 were mostly sightseeing districts and souvenir shops.
Groves 50 through 59 mainly contained shipyards and coating craftsmen.
Groves 60 through 69 were home to Marine stations and World Government entrances.
Groves 70 through 79 were mainly filled with hotels, inns, and other accommodation facilities.
Standing aboard the Traveler with a telescope in hand and looking toward Sabaody Archipelago in the distance, Kairo D. Arashi finally relaxed completely!
After sailing at full speed all the way from Mock Town, he had finally learned just how exhausting forced travel could be!
It had honestly been even more miserable than when he left the Calm Belt and hurried toward Alabasta!
If it weren't for that 200,000 Travel Point reward, he would never have rushed like this.
He would much rather have taken his time and explored one island after another!
"Notification: Congratulations, Host. You have arrived at a new travel destination, Sabaody Archipelago. You have received a reward of 2,000 Travel Points, along with a Water-Repelling Pearl and Divine-Level Swimming!"
"Notification: The Water-Repelling Pearl has been transferred to the system inventory and may be withdrawn at any time. The reward of 2,000 Travel Points has been successfully credited to the Host's account. The Host's current Travel Point balance is 15,000!"
"Notification: New mission activated."
"Mission 1: Experience the overall scenery and atmosphere of Sabaody Archipelago, then visit the Human Auctioning House and participate in an auction!"
"Mission Reward: 5,000 Travel Points."
???
Only 5,000 Travel Points?
Hearing the mission notification in his mind, Kairo D. Arashi couldn't help freezing.
A mission had finally appeared after all this time, and this was all it offered?
Wasn't the system being way too stingy?!
At this rate, who knew how long it would take before his Conqueror's Haki could reach Level 9?
Fortunately, he still had the interview footage.
Otherwise, Kairo D. Arashi really might have regretted skipping Skypiea, Long Ring Long Land, and Water 7 to come directly here!
Still, it didn't matter too much.
Even though he had already arrived at Sabaody, once he finished broadcasting the interviews and completed the mission here, he could always go back and continue earning Travel Points elsewhere.
Besides, the mission wasn't difficult at all!
Experiencing the scenery and atmosphere of Sabaody Archipelago was something he would have done even without a system mission.
As for visiting the Human Auctioning House and participating in an auction...
He would have gone there to take a look sooner or later anyway.
So for Kairo D. Arashi, this was basically a free reward!
Still...
What exactly was this Water-Repelling Pearl?
Was the system hinting that he should head directly to Fish-Man Island afterward?
With something like this, could he even skip coating the ship entirely?
And Divine-Level Swimming?
What was that supposed to mean?
Was it meant to be used together with the Water-Repelling Pearl?
Fine.
If it existed, there had to be a reason for it.
He would gladly take it!
After accepting the mission, Kairo D. Arashi steered the Traveler directly into the harbor at Grove 71!
Since he was completely exhausted from the journey, Kairo D. Arashi casually found a hotel, booked a suite, and immediately collapsed into bed.
By the time he woke up, it was already noon the following day.
After casually ordering some food and filling his stomach, Kairo D. Arashi immediately began working on distributing his interview footage.
It wasn't until evening that the entire process was finally completed!
Now all he had to do was return to the hotel and wait for the interviews to appear on every outdoor Video Transponder Snail screen across Sabaody Archipelago!
Half an hour later, every giant screen throughout Sabaody Archipelago displayed the exact same image.
On screen, a middle-aged man dressed in a suit faced the camera with an excited expression and announced, "Good evening, everyone! This is Sabaody News Agency! Next, our station will be broadcasting an exclusive interview recording! This footage was provided by a gentleman who wishes to remain anonymous. The contents are absolutely explosive, and I firmly believe that once this recording is broadcast, it will create an enormous sensation throughout the entire world..."
As the host's excited voice continued echoing from the screens, dense crowds rapidly gathered in front of nearly every giant display across Sabaody Archipelago.
Everyone had obviously had their curiosity completely stirred up.
And this news host really did know how to work an audience.
He continuously threw out eye-catching teasers one after another, yet stubbornly refused to actually play the interview footage!
"It's this bastard again!"
Beneath one of the giant screens in Groves 50 through 59, more and more people were being drawn over by the host's dramatic claims.
However, the moment some of them recognized the man on screen, they immediately shook their heads and cursed.
"This is the same bastard from last time! He hyped everything up like it was the biggest news in the world and dragged all of us over here, then the damn thing cut to advertisements!!!"
Among the crowd, a man dressed in rough work clothes shook his head and said with boredom, "Forget it, I'm leaving! From now on, whenever this bastard shows up, I'm ignoring it!"
"Hahaha! There's no harm in watching for a while. We've been coating ships all day. Relaxing a little wouldn't hurt!"
Another man, who stood more than three meters tall and looked almost like a bamboo pole, laughed before lowering his head toward the elderly man standing beside him.
The old man wore reading glasses and had a head full of curly white hair.
"Right, Mr. Rayleigh?"
Hearing this, Rayleigh slowly raised his head and smiled.
"We really have been working hard today. How about we head back and gamble a few rounds instead?"
Just then, the host on the giant screen suddenly raised his voice and shouted excitedly, "And now, everyone, please enjoy this exclusive interview!!!"
The moment he finished speaking, the image on the giant screen suddenly changed.
Immediately afterward, Garp appeared on screen, wearing the coat of a Marine Vice Admiral.
Then Kairo D. Arashi's voice rang out.
"Hello, Mr. Garp. I'm Kairo D. Arashi, a traveler. Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to accept this interview..."
Rayleigh, who had just started to turn away, suddenly snapped his head upward.
Then he immediately turned back around and stared without blinking at Garp on the screen!
Before Rayleigh could fully react, Kairo D. Arashi's first question to Garp echoed across the entirety of Sabaody Archipelago!
"Pwahahahahaha...!"
The moment Rayleigh heard the question—and saw Garp freeze stiffly before spraying juice everywhere—he could no longer hold himself back.
He burst into completely unrestrained laughter!
There's more to come!!!
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