Badak's face darkened. "Guess whether I'll guess or not."
"Alright, enough joking. You also mentioned something about the 'Will of D' and the 'Will of F.' The rest was too unclear. Where did you learn about these things?" Shanks grew more serious. "Are you also from the 'D' clan?"
"Ha, what 'D' clan? Aren't D and F just about a woman's generous bosom?"
"You bastard, stay away from Uta!" Shanks, now channeling Nami's temper, grabbed Badak by the collar and roared.
"Come on, I don't like 'little' girls. I only like 'big' sisters."
"Uta will grow up too—" Shanks suddenly caught himself and swallowed the rest of his words, waving his hand to shoo Badak away.
But Badak wasn't in a hurry to leave. He said to Shanks, "Shanks, have you heard the legend of the Demon King of Songs?"
"Demon King of Songs? Some powerful figure?"
"Legend says that on the music island of Elegia, an immortal demon king is sealed away. Though imprisoned, he left behind a key to break the seal—a mysterious musical score. If a user of the Sing-Sing Fruit sings that score, the demon king will awaken from his seal and destroy everything in sight. Uta ate the Sing-Sing Fruit, right? It's said that the score will find its way to the fruit's user on its own." Badak paused before continuing, "But don't worry too much. The key can't stray too far from the demon king. As long as you don't go to Elegia, the score won't reach Uta."
"Oh, an immortal demon king? No matter what, I'll protect Uta. Thanks, Badak."
It was unclear whether Shanks took the warning to heart. Badak scratched his head—he couldn't elaborate further, not about Shanks' missing arm or Ace's existence. These were things Badak shouldn't know.
"Shanks, do you have a map of Sabaody Archipelago?"
"Benn should have the map. Are you really getting off here? Sabaody's crawling with pirates. At your current strength, dealing with them would be tough, wouldn't it?"Shanks was being quite reserved with his words. It wasn't just troublesome—it was something they might not be able to handle.
Sabaody Archipelago was located in front of the Red Line in the middle of the Grand Line. The island was formed by the roots of the world's largest mangrove trees, the Yggdrasil. As the gateway to the New World, the island attracted numerous pirates, merchants, and bounty hunters. Among the pirates were many rising stars whose bounties had skyrocketed past 100 million Belly in a short time. Take Luffy's generation of rookies, for example—though Kizaru kicked them around like toys, none of them were pushovers. The red-haired Shanks standing beside Badak had also been one of those rookies back in the day, though he hadn't been in a hurry to reach the New World.
"Haha, don't worry. I'm just waiting for a ship back to the West Blue. I won't be staying long."
Badak had considered staying on Sabaody Archipelago, but his current strength wasn't enough. He needed a safer place to grow stronger—unlike the Straw Hat crew, he didn't have plot armor to bail him out of every crisis. The West Blue was his first choice, and besides, he wanted to visit the original owner's home, even though the family was long gone. Sabaody was also frequented by Celestial Dragons, and commoners were expected to kneel before them. With his personality, kneeling to so-called "World Nobles" was out of the question. Throwing a punch would be restraint enough—if he lost his temper, he'd end up in Impel Down.
"Back to the West Blue? That's a shame. Our next stop is the East Blue."
"The East Blue? That's the home of the Marine hero Garp! Aren't you worried about drawing his attention, being a big-shot pirate and all? Even I know Garp regularly sweeps through the East Blue to clean up pirates."
"That old man Garp? Yeah, his punches hurt. I'll just avoid him... Wait, why are you looking at me like that?"
What kind of look? The look you give a liar! "Avoiding him" led you straight to his hometown, and you even tricked his grandson into becoming a pirate. If I were Garp, I'd spend the rest of my Marine career doing nothing but chasing you down.
"Nothing. Just admiring your bravery. Anyway, I'm going to find Benn Beckman."
"Tch. Feels like there's more to that."
...
Benn Beckman had one defining trait—he was never without a cigarette. Every time you saw him, he had one dangling from his lips, and this time was no exception. He was busy assigning tasks to the crew. They were about to dock, but Shanks, as usual, left everything to him: who was in charge of food supplies, who handled alcohol, who managed weapons and ammunition, who took care of medical supplies, who dealt with loot from other pirate crews...
Despite the workload, everything was meticulously organized. No wonder Oda himself had dubbed him the smartest pirate around.
"Badak, you looking for me?"
"Beckman, I wanted to borrow a map of Sabaody Archipelago. Do you have time?"
"A map of Sabaody? I only have a simplified version, but it covers all the major landmarks. It's on that bookshelf over there—just look for the label."
"Got it. Thanks."
Badak found the map easily. The shelf was filled with maps, arranged chronologically—apparently, they were all islands the Red Hair Pirates had visited. If you included uninhabited islands, they'd been to a lot of places. Unlike the Straw Hat Pirates, who rushed straight to Laugh Tale.
Unfolding the map, Badak studied it carefully.The Sabaody Archipelago consists of 79 mangrove trees, each corresponding to a numbered area with towns and facilities built upon their roots. The divisions are as follows: Areas 1 to 29 contain human trafficking shops, auction houses, and lawless zones—this district is pirate-heavy, unfriendly to civilians, and frequented by Celestial Dragons. Areas 30 to 39 feature amusement parks and shopping streets with attractions like Bubble Park and the Bubble Ferris Wheel. Areas 40 to 49 are tourist zones selling local specialties. Areas 50 to 59 house shipyards and coating craftsmen, though pirates often linger here. Areas 60 to 69 host Marine bases and World Government access points. Areas 70 to 79 comprise hotel streets and similar establishments.
"Hmm, I'll limit my activities to Areas 30 through 49. They're relatively safe—just need to avoid Celestial Dragons," Badak decided, folding the map back into place.
By now, Benn Beckman had moved elsewhere. Badak returned to his quarters to pack, ready to disembark soon. Shanks hadn't charged him any fare—the animal pelts, tiger fangs, and deer antlers he'd brought remained untouched in their bundles, and he'd even scored a free outfit.
As the ship shuddered against the docks, Badak knew they'd arrived at Sabaody.