The Sabaody Archipelago is divided into 79 areas, with zones 60-69 occupied by naval bases. The permanent military presence here rivals a G-class Navy fortress in the New World. In the future, when Luffy defeats the Celestial Dragons, a large number of Navy forces will immediately be dispatched here, indicating Luffy's control over the fleet.
However, in contrast, there still exist unlawful zones 1-29 on the Sabaody Archipelago. Moreover, Donquixote can openly run his auction company here, suggesting that not only pirates and the Navy have settled on the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Ugh, politics again! What a hassle, I really don't understand why the Navy has to deal with this politics!"
In Smoker's opinion, the Navy's task is to fight pirates. It's the Navy's involvement in politics that makes justice dirty.
"And where do you think your uniform, my warships, our salaries come from? Do they fall from the sky?"
"Are you saying the Navy is doomed to participate in politics?"
Karl nodded: "That's almost right. Until the Navy becomes self-sufficient... You know how to kill pirates, but do you know how to make money and negotiate?"
Smoker remained silent.
"See! Don't overthink it. Look how calm Ain is."
Ain rolled her eyes at Karl. In truth, she shared Smoker's opinion but kept her doubts to herself.
"By the way, let's change outfits and head to that illegal area."
"Why?"
Karl replied as if it were obvious, "Of course, to catch those breaking fishing laws! I've heard there are many human traffickers here. I hate human traffickers more than anything in the world."
"Since we're here, we should at least catch a few human traffickers before we leave!"
By saying this, Karl was actually testing his luck to see if he could find Fish-Men or mermaids among the slaves held by human traffickers, to ensure more safety on their journey to Fish-Man Island.
He didn't want to perish due to some unforeseen factors.
Smoker pondered and decided that this made sense. If they did indeed encounter human traffickers, he could experiment with the smoke formation he had created.
A quarter of an hour later, the three of them emerged from their rooms. Upon seeing each other, Karl and Ain burst into laughter at Smoker.
The reason was that Smoker was wearing a leather jacket, without any undershirt, and leather pants with hooks, chains, and other stylistic elements, which made him look like a rogue.
"Smoker, what are you wearing? Do you only have this outfit?"
Smoker blushed and said, "What do you know? This is a trend! Do you even know what a trend is?"
Ain got serious, pointed at Smoker, and said, "With that look, you'll easily compromise us. How about I go with Karl, and you go alone?"
Having said that, Ain secretly glanced at Karl, and seeing that he didn't object, she was delighted. She finally had the opportunity to spend time alone with Karl.
"Hmph! As you wish."
Smoker waved his hand and left alone. Now only Karl and Ain were left.
It's worth noting that this was the first time Karl saw Ain in casual clothing. She looked stunning.
The white princess dress and lace gloves made her look like a real princess. She was as striking as ever, but instead of a black suit, she now wore dark blue.
"Do I look beautiful?" Ain asked.
Without even glancing at her, Karl replied straightforwardly, "Ah, yes, yes, beautiful, very beautiful!"
Ain rolled her eyes, unwilling to argue with Karl, and took his hand.
"What are you doing?" Karl inquired.
Ain nonchalantly said, "Pretend we're a couple, so others won't suspect anything."
Karl thought about it briefly. "Alright, let's go!"
Island No. 2 is very close to Island No. 1, but compared to the thriving Island No. 1, it is simply a slum.
And the only reason for this is that it's a lawless zone, where ordinary residents don't go at all.
"It seems everyone here is staring at us." Ain seemed a bit frightened and held onto Karl's arm more tightly.
Indeed, the pairing of Karl and Ain, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, simply doesn't fit with this place. The locals are watching them with unabashed greed.
Karl looked around and suddenly came up with a plan. He loudly said, "Darling, it seems we've wandered into the wrong place. Is this a tourist area? Let's get out of here!"
Retreating to attack, he creates the appearance that they are just a lost couple.
Although Ain knew it was just an act, her body still felt a bit warm. She thought it would be better if it weren't just a game.
In the darkness, a man wearing sunglasses watched Karl and Ain through a telescope and excitedly waved his fist.
"Excellent! Even though they are just ordinary people, their quality is too high! Even if the price is 100 million... someone will definitely buy them!"
This handsome boy looks familiar; I think I've seen him somewhere before.
He immediately took out his Den Den Mushi: "Mr. Disco, there's a pair of perfect victims on Island No. 2. It seems they wandered here by accident. Do you want to take them?" —
"Are you sure?"
"confirmed."
"Good, capture them as soon as possible. We need a finale for today's auction!"
"Don't worry."
Then the man in sunglasses hung up and said to the two burly guys beside him, "Let's go! Go catch that young couple!"
On the other side, Karl, retreating to attack, was leading Ain away from Island No. 2, but it seemed there was no way out.
"What are you going to do?"
A fat man with a disheveled appearance burst into indecent laughter: "Heh-heh-heh, your girlfriend knows how to throw money around! How about we have some fun?"
Ain, covering the half-open small bottle shop out of shame and anger, shouted: "Don't even dream of it, my boyfriend loves me very much! "Don't worry, beautiful, your boyfriend hasn't said a word yet!"
Then the fat man pulled out a gun, aimed it at Karl's head, and looked at him with a smile.
"Bro! Don't kill me! Just let me go, my girlfriend..." Karl looked at Ain hesitantly, as if he had made up his mind.
"Do what you want with her!"
The fat man and his men laughed: "Ha-ha-ha, you're such a spineless white-faced coward!"
Ain looked at Karl in surprise, as if he shouldn't be acting this way!
At this moment, the man in sunglasses, hiding in the corner, nodded: "We probably won't need these two, let's go!"
Bang, bang, bang~
After several shots, the fat man looked in disbelief at the wound on his chest and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
The man in sunglasses approached with a few others: "These two fat sheep are the Donquixote family's spoils. If you don't want to die, get out of here!" Several thugs, already scared out of their wits, scattered, wishing they had more legs to run with.
The man in sunglasses smirked, approached Karl, and looked him up and down.
"Such an enviable face you've got! Those aristocrats would probably go crazy for it!"
This reminded him of the most handsome guy in the world, who had been popular some time ago... Wait!
"You, you're that..."
Karl whistled, and a black Raven landed on his shoulder from the roof of a nearby building.
"So quickly uncovered! I wanted to play a little longer!"