"Teacher Jabba, an island is spotted ahead!" Fang Yi, acting as a temporary lookout, shouted down to the deck below.
"Have we arrived? It seems right. This is Whiskey Peak!" Jabba looked at the map in his hand, nodded, and said.
"Whiskey Peak? What a strange name!" Buggy beside him murmured in a low voice.
"Hehe... This island looks really interesting, like a few cacti!" Fang Yi came down from the mast and said with a smile.
He knew that this was the first island Straw Hat Luffy reached after entering the Grand Line. However, at that time, it was already a stronghold of Baroque Works. The island was full of bounty hunters, all subordinates of Crocodile.
Of course, Crocodile was nowhere to be found now, let alone those bounty hunters. So currently, this island should be a normal one.
However, after they landed on the island, Fang Yi and the others found a serious problem. The island didn't seem to be very wealthy. The two peaks that looked like cacti were bare, and there was only a small town at the foot of the peaks, which didn't look bustling either.
"Mr. Jabba, I'm afraid there won't be enough food for us to buy here!" Shanks said worriedly.
"Anyway, let's buy as much as we can first! If it really doesn't work... Xiaoyi, just use the magical fishing bait to catch a Seamars!" Jabba shrugged and said with a smile.
Fang Yi's face changed. He shook his head and said, "Teacher Jabba, give me a break! If I bring in something like that Island - Devouring Goldfish again, we'll really be finished!"
Since he used the magical fishing bait to attract the Island - Devouring Goldfish last time, Fang Yi had never dared to use the magical fishing bait again. The sea in this world was unfathomably deep, and you never knew what terrifying thing the magical fishing bait would attract.
"Don't worry! This is the entrance to the Grand Line. There won't be such powerful creatures here!" Jabba said with a laughing sigh.
Fang Yi didn't think so. He knew that there was a whale named Laboon at the Twin Capes, and in Little Garden, Luffy and the others also encountered a huge goldfish. It was thanks to the two leaders of the giant race that they managed to escape.
Although according to Usopp, it was also an Island - Devouring Goldfish, after Fang Yi's comparison, the one Luffy and the others encountered might only be as big as the head of the Island - Devouring Goldfish they met.
"Excuse me, is there a place to buy groceries here? We're passing travelers and hope to buy some supplies for our voyage!" After entering the town, Fang Yi casually asked a person.
"Travelers? You'd better leave quickly and don't stay here!" The man glanced at Fang Yi, shook his head, and said.
The man's words surprised Fang Yi. Why was that?
"Mr. Jabba, something seems strange here!" Shanks looked at Jabba and whispered.
"Indeed, it's quite strange. The people here seem listless, and many houses are actually closed during the day!" Jabba frowned and said.
"Why don't we split up and gather some intelligence?" Fang Yi suggested. "I, Shanks, and Buggy are still kids. I bet they won't be as wary of us."
"Okay. We'll wait for you at the tavern up ahead. Come to the tavern and find us after you've got some intelligence!" Jabba pointed at a tavern not far away and said.
So Fang Yi, Shanks and Buggy split up to gather intelligence, while Jabba led the rest to the tavern to wait.
Not long after, when Fang Yi arrived at the tavern, Shanks and Buggy also came in together.
"How'd it go?" Jabba asked in a low voice when he saw Fang Yi and the others come in.
"Did you guys find out anything?" Instead of answering right away, Fang Yi asked Shanks and Buggy.
"I got some news. Since this place is close to the entrance of the Grand Line, it's often visited by pirates. It used to be a rich island, but the pirates came so often that they turned it into what it is now!" Shanks said sadly.
Buggy nodded and said, "Yeah, and the residents here rebelled before, but the pirates who can come to the Grand Line all have some strength. They could deal with one pirate group, but they couldn't deal with all of them!"
"This is also due to the geographical location. Pirates from the Four Seas have to pass through Reverse Mountain to enter the Grand Line. Even though there are several routes to choose from starting from the Twin Capes, there are still a lot of pirates coming here. It's beyond the ability of these ordinary residents to handle!" Fang Yi nodded and said.
"It seems we've figured out the situation. This place has declined like this because of the pirates!" Jabba took a sip of his drink and said. "So, did you ask why the residents here don't leave even though it's often visited by pirates?"
"Ah? This..." Shanks and Buggy were stunned. They hadn't thought about that.
"Because this is also an opportunity!" Fang Yi smiled and said. "There are very few residents left in the town now. The ones who really live here... are all bounty hunters!"
Hearing Fang Yi's answer, Jabba smiled and gave a thumbs - up. "Just as I expected, little Yi. You always get the job done."
"How did you figure it out, teacher?" Fang Yi asked curiously when he saw Jabba so confident.
"Look at the layout of the tavern. There are wanted posters everywhere on the walls, and some of them are even the latest ones. Neither the tavern owner nor the bartender looks like an ordinary person. And the customers here aren't surprised by the wanted posters at all! Considering all these factors, plus the news you just brought back, the answer is obvious!" Jabba said proudly.
"You're still the best, teacher!" Fang Yi complimented.
Watching the two of them praising each other, Shanks and Buggy both curled their lips in disdain and secretly called them shameless.
Now that they had a clear understanding of the situation on the island, there was no need to worry anymore. After visiting several shops and purchasing all the necessary supplies for their voyage at a premium, Fang Yi and the others planned to return to the Twin Capes.
However, when they returned to the ship, they were blocked by a group of people.
"Leave your property and supplies, and we'll let you go!" Apparently, they had been so generous when buying supplies that they had caught the attention of these bounty hunters.
"No way? Haven't they seen our wanted posters?" Fang Yi asked in surprise.
If they had seen their wanted posters, these bounty hunters should have known that they were not just any ordinary prey.
Fang Yi's bounty of eight million wasn't much, but Jabba's was incredibly high. Moreover, most of the crew members on Roger's ship had wanted posters. Even a somewhat smart bounty hunter wouldn't target them.
"Kid, what are you looking at? Didn't you hear what I said?" Seeing Fang Yi looking at him in surprise, the leader of the bounty hunters roared angrily.
"Shanks, Buggy... I'll leave them to you. No problem, right?" Fang Yi didn't even feel the need to intervene in dealing with these people.
"No problem!" Shanks said with a smile.
"A bunch of poor guys. I'm not interested!" Buggy said, but still stepped forward, ready to fight.
In no time, Shanks and Buggy had knocked down all the bounty hunters blocking their way, except for the leader.
"Wait... Please, don't hurt them!" Just then, a little girl suddenly rushed out and stood in front of Shanks, pleading with a worried look on her face.
"This..." Shanks was a bit at a loss when the little girl suddenly appeared.
"Xiaoya, come here quickly. They're pirates. They're very dangerous!" The leader of the bounty hunters shouted anxiously at the little girl.
However, the little girl named Xiaoya didn't leave. Instead, she still stood in front of Shanks.
"Little girl, it's not that we want to attack them. They're blocking our way!" Shanks shrugged helplessly.
Later, after the little girl's explanation, they learned that these so - called bounty hunters were actually the original residents of the town. Due to the harassment of pirates, they couldn't live in peace. Once, they fought back and killed a pirate. To their surprise, they received a bounty from the Navy.
This gave the people in the town a new idea. Since pirates could rob them, why couldn't they take the pirates' heads to get bounties?
So the remaining residents became bounty hunters, specifically targeting the pirates who came to the town.
However, they weren't strong enough to fight against the pirates. As a result, the residents in the town lived a very hard life.
Originally, Fang Yi and his group hadn't done anything bad. According to the town's rules, they wouldn't have targeted Fang Yi and the others.
However, they purchased a large quantity of Tansui and food. Their financial strength tempted these people, which led to the incident of them being intercepted and robbed.
Initially, Fang Yi and his group wouldn't have been able to buy so much food because these provisions were basically all the stock of the town's residents.
However, since they planned to rob it back later, they sold all the food to Fang Yi and the others.
After figuring out the whole situation, Jabba and the others discussed it and left half of the food and Tansui as relief provisions for these residents.
If they weren't short of provisions themselves, they would have given all the provisions to the residents.
"Big brother... These are the vegetables grown by my family. Here, I'm giving them to you! I heard that if you don't eat vegetables during a voyage, you'll fall ill!" As Fang Yi and the others were about to leave, the little girl Xiaoya gave a small bag of vegetables to Shanks, which made Shanks very emotional.
"Brother Yi, I really wanna help them!" Standing on the deck, watching the residents wave goodbye to them, Shanks said a bit reluctantly.
"Then go for it!" Fang Yi tossed some magical fishing bait to Shanks and said with a smile, "Go and give it a shot! Anyway, I'm not gonna use it anymore!"