Worldwide Smoke (sans Ren, who went ahead to the grove where the Robinson was docked with Rayleigh) headed out from grove 13 and traveled to the tourist trap areas of the Sabaody Archipelago, groves 30-49. Shaska, legs still broken, traveled in Lulupo's hair. Sabaody Park was located between groves 32 and 34. It was filled with all sorts of fantastic rides and games, and the lights of the park could be seen from all over the archipelago. Shaska once again thought of her childhood and the fateful day where she had the time of her life… and then lost her sister.

"Korla…" she thought. "I hope you're still out there, somewhere…"

"So, Shaska," Puerco said, disappointed he was unable to look up her skirt from this position.

"Hm? What is it, doctor ki-Puerco?" Shaska asked, snapping out of it while she blew smoke.

"What happened to the plan to recruit those Mercury Collective people? Are we just gonna screw ar-"

"Shshshshsh…" Shaska interrupted, holding out her finger in Puerco's direction. "We can do two things at once. We've got three days, after all."

Shaska puffed on her cigar again, then said "those collective people should be roaming around the place looking for food and stuff. It was a week's voyage here, and they were barely holding on as it is."

"Why are we hiring a bunch of half-dead peasants again?" Schwarz asked, hands clasped behind his head.

"Because they have nowhere else to go. And we need people to help maintain the ship. It's getting kinda filthy with no one to swab the decks," Shaska replied. "Besides, I'd feel bad if I didn't compensate them for destroying their society. Even if that society was a totalitarian hellhole."

Shaska flicked ash off her cigar (once again making sure not to hit Lulupo's hair), and continued. "I want to at least give them the option of coming aboard and working for an actual wage instead of doing whatever 'Dear Leader' tells them. If nothing else, we should try to talk to them before any slavers or Celestial Dragons can get their grubby hands on them."

"Oh… I sure hope we do not encounter any World Nobles…" said Zinnia.

"I won't lie, darling, it would be extremely inconvenient if one showed up in the next several days," said Lulupo.

"They can be quite mercurial; you do not know what one might do…" Zinnia replied. "There were many occasions where Saint Legree would ride me like a horse."

"Please say you mean that literally," said Roxanne, blowing smoke

"I was his favorite method of conveyance," Zinnia continued. "Though he would also-"

"This conversation seems like it's gonna get incredibly dark, so let's move on," Puerco interrupted.

"In addition to having the ability to buy slaves, consequence-free, they will also kidnap people in public to be used as slaves, or worse, as spouses," said Zinnia. "I have witnessed it many times during my time as a slave on Vicks Davis Island. Saint Legree often came here. He never brought me or Ruth, but he would often come home with a new wife. He has many wives… but he would always come back to me for-"

"Zinnia!" the rest of Worldwide Smoke shouted. Ruth even joined in with a hiss.

"You're killing the mood, snake girl," said Shaska.

"Zinnia… you… obviously have some unresolved trauma that you don't know how to deal with," Roxanne said, wincing.

"I will break Saint Legree in half if I ever see him again, is what I was trying to say. Laws be damned," Zinnia said.

"That's the spirit," Shaska said, patting her on the shoulder.

—-

As Rayleigh laid down soap resin on the Humo Robinson, Ren dismantled the hull where the gash was so she could start rebuilding it properly. Rayleigh was in a prime position where he could get a look down Ren's shirt. A smile crept its way across his face as he did so.

"So, Ren, how old are you?" he asked.

"Seventeen," was her curt reply.

Rayleigh's eyes shot open, and he began to sweat while the gears in his head immediately shifted from "dirty old man" to "kind grandpa".

"You're awfully young to be a shipwright. Small, too. All the shipwrights I've met in my travels have been big, burly men."

"Mah dad was a big, burly gah. As were th'gahs who Ah worked with back home. Ah had mah own shipyard once, but…"

"But that Marine destroyed everything," Rayleigh said solemnly.

Ren gave an exasperated sigh. "Wah does everyone feel th'need t'bother me wahle Ah'm workin'?!"

"Those Marines are something else," Rayleigh continued. "Some of them are heroes… but a lot of them do some pretty evil things. Roger and I became good friends with a Vice Admiral once."

"Well, good fer you! Mah encounter with th'Marines ended with everyone Ah knew an' loved dead!"

Rayleigh took a sip from his hip flask, then continued. "I'm getting the feeling you're not much of a talker, Ren."

"Yer… yer just hittin' on a lotta touchy subjects, is all. Th'massacre that Shaska got blamed fer is still fresh in mah memory…"

"I understand. Well, I'll leave you be, if'n ya want. Ah get kahnda lonely doin' this job," Rayleigh said.

Ren stopped what she was doing and looked up at him. "Are… Are ya makin' fun o'mah accent?!"

"I've been to a lot of places in my time. The only places where people talk like that are on Vicks Davis Island in the New World, or in comic books."

Ren said nothing and just stared, eyes wide open.

"Besides, I heard your real accent earlier," Rayleigh said, smiling. "Remember? When you were surprised Shaska knew me and Roger?"

"Oh… Right…" she peeped.

"Tell me, Ren, why don't you talk normally?"

Ren explained how she picked up the accent from her favorite comic character, and how she did it to deal with her feelings of inadequacy.

"I see. Well, you don't need to fake an accent to be special. You already stand out from the crowd by being a shipwright who's a cute teenage girl instead of a big, muscular man."

"Ah… I… I've just grown so used to it though. Crew would be shocked if I started talking normally," Ren replied.

"They're your friends. They should be, anyway," said Rayleigh, sipping from his flask. "Shaska can be… pushy… with her emp-"

"She is bitch," Ren said bluntly. "Only recently did she start calling us by our actual names."

Rayleigh couldn't help but burst out laughing. "I wasn't gonna put it in so many words. But the point I was making is that long voyages and hard-fought battles bring people together. Y'know how Roger and I first met?"

"Hey! That's a nice ship!" exclaimed a young man in a straw hat.

"Oh, this? I stole it," said a young Rayleigh. "I live here now after my house burned down."

"Really?! What's your name?"

"Rayleigh."

"My name's Roger! This meeting is fate! The start of the greatest adventure the world has ever known!"

"…and I thought I drank too much…"

"Soon enough, we were the closest of allies. I'd have died for that man. In the end, my only anger with him was that he didn't come to me to raise… Never mind… The point is, those people in Worldwide Smoke? They're your family now."

Ren thought back to how Zinnia comforted her after the massacre… and how Puerco told her his story to forge a bond… and how Schwarz had saved her life, twice.

"Schwarz…" she thought, slightly blushing.

"Hm…? That look on your face tells me there's someone you really like!" Rayleigh said playfully. Ren went beet red at this.

"I! Ah! I!" she stammered.

"Hehe, it's alright, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Ren straightened herself up and said "it's… been nice talking to you, but let's just get back to work."

"Fahne bah me," Rayleigh said, taking another swig.

—-

Sure enough, the tourist trap areas of the archipelago were overrun by people from the Mercury Collective, begging for food, water, and money. Park security was harsh with them, even though they were just skin and bones.

"Please…! We just escaped a repressive-"

"All of you, go away or I will call the Marines!" shouted the security guard.

"Looks like Shaska was right, darlings. The survivors of that dreadful Mercury Collective are here," said Lulupo.

"Yo! Mercury Collective guys! Over here!" Shaska called.

The starving citizens of the former Mercury Collective turned to face Worldwide Smoke. Some were completely overcome with emotion. Some didn't know who she was and had confused expressions on their faces. Some passed out due to the hunger they were experiencing.

"Is that… the big lady who took out Dear Leader…?" asked Freddie.

"It is…!" exclaimed Delilah. "It's her! The strong one!"

Unfortunately, the security guard recognized Shaska, too. "Is that… Shaska the Greedy…?" he thought, sweating. "This is bad. I really don't want to get any Marines involved, but a mass murderer like her is a massive security risk…!"

As the Mercury Collective survivors gathered around Worldwide Smoke, the security guard pulled out his baby transponder snail and began to dial. Thankfully, Schwarz noticed this, and teleported over to him, snatching the snail out of his hand.

"Listen, peasant, we don't want any trouble right now. I don't know who you think you're calling, but Worldwide Smoke is friendly today. We're just trying to head to Fishman Island."

"New Dear Leader!" cried one of the collective survivors. "Please! Give us guidance!"

Shaska was taken aback by this. "Whoa, whoa, none of this 'Dear Leader' crap. It's creepy," she said, holding up her hands. "You guys don't know how to function without a boot on your necks, do you?"

"Please… big, strong lady…" said Delilah. "Help us once more… We are still starving, but don't have the means to procure our own food anymore besides fishing. And that runs the risk of sea monster encounters."

"First, my name is Shaska," she said. "And I was actually planning on hiring you goons to do odd jobs around my ship when it's done being coated. There's only eight of us right now, nine if you count the snake, and it's a biiiig ship."

"Really? 'Goons'?" Roxanne thought, flicking ash off her cigarette.

"You're not gonna be working to survive. You're gonna be working to thrive!" Shaska declared. "I can start up to fifty of you at a rate of nine hundred berries an hour. You'll live on our ship, but only get paid during certain hours."

"What… What about the rest of us?" asked a starving young woman.

Shaska reached into her jacket and pulled out a wad of cash, then tossed it to the starving young woman. "That should be enough to allow the rest of you to survive here on the archipelago."

The young woman started to get tears in her eyes. "Why… Are you being so… generous…?"

"That's not free money, there," Shaska responded. "There's a catch. I want you all to set up a business of your own, then give me a cut every time I come back to Sabaody." She cracked her knuckles and said "if you don't pay up, there'll be hell to pay. I can't technically attach my name to it right now, because I'm ALLEGEDLY a mass murderer, but that won't stop me from making more berries."

"Always a catch with her," Roxanne thought, rolling her eyes.

"So! Who wants to join me on the adventure of a lifetime?" Shaska asked, holding out her arms. Numerous hands shot up, including Freddie's and Delilah's. Shaska couldn't count them all and said, "come to grove 41 in three days. I'll be giving interviews. The ones who make the best impression get to join me."

—-

Three days came and went, thankfully without any incidents involving Marines or Celestial Dragons. Worldwide Smoke successfully goofed off at Sabaody Park, and wasted quite a substantial amount of money at the various tourist traps. Lulupo, Roxanne, and Zinnia enjoyed shopping at the numerous shops, while Schwarz (who carried Shaska this time), Puerco, and Johnson got in a show or two at the Sabao Dome. Just like on their previous amusement park excursion, Puerco once again got sick from the roller coasters. Shaska had to bribe the people who ran the rides to let her on because she was "too big".

The Mercury Collective survivors had fun, too, stuffing themselves with the most delicious food the Grand Line had to offer after decades of barely surviving on stale bread, fish, and poorly cooked vegetables. For the first time, they were truly happy.

The Humo Robinson was fully coated in the soapy resin, and the gash that had been there since the stop in Salt Town had finally been repaired. Shaska sat on her favorite deck chair, flanked by Schwarz and Lulupo, to give interviews to see who'd be the best fit for extra hands on the ship.

"So… 'Freddie', is it…?" Shaska asked, looking down at a sheet of paper as she puffed on her cigar. "What kinda skills do you have?"

"Oh, well, back at the collective, I worked in the arms factory," Freddie said.

"Hm. And do you actually know how to use a gun…? We might get into scrapes with pirates or Marines and you'll need to defend yourself. Or, more importantly, me," Shaska said, blowing smoke.

"No…"

"Tell me, what was this arms factory for?"

"We supplied weapons to the rest of Minus World. Dear Leader never let us have any weapons of our own, though," Freddie explained.

"Sounds about right," said Shaska. "Hm. Well, we'll call you."

"But I don't have a transponder snail!"

"We'll call you."

—-

The rest of the day passed similarly without incident. Shaska sat on her chair, puffing on her cigar, and said "we had to have interviewed at least two hundred people, and not one would be good for a voyage to the New World!"

"Yeah, who'd have thought attempting to recruit starving peasants wouldn't be a good idea?" Schwarz asked.

Shaska responded by blowing smoke in his face, then said "traveling the New World with a crew as small as ours would be suicide. We can't just wander into Emperor territory and expect to survive with a crew this size."

"Emperor territory?" Schwarz asked.

"Also known as the reason I didn't really set up shop in the New World. The Three Emperors run the show over there. Most of the islands there are under the control of Whitebeard, Kaido, or Big Mom. And even I'm not crazy enough to wanna cross them. Yet, at least. If we can take out that king guy, that should be enough of a message to the Emperors to not mess with us. But their crews are big enough to be their own navies, while we're just one ship."

Shaska paused for a second, then blew smoke and flicked ash off her cigar.

"...although, if we can strongarm the suits at Kemurchant Corporate, we might be able to get a decently sized fleet of our own. I used to run the business world in this half of the Grand Line, y'know."

"We know, darling," said Lulupo.

"If I can get my navy back, we'll be cooking!" Shaska declared, mind abuzz with the potential applications of having an entire fleet of powerful bounty hunters at her disposal again.

"Shaska, darling, what if we took the poor citizens of that dreadful collective and trained them up? Like what I'm doing with Roxanne?" Lulupo asked.

"Hm. It's a thought," Shaska said. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so hasty to dismiss them…"

She clapped her hands and said "got it! Pretty b-Schwarz and Lulupo, go round up those Mercury Collective people and the rest of our crew. We got a long few months ahead of us on Fishman Island if we're all gonna be training. And putting the hurt on the suits at Kemurchant Corporate. That sound like a plan?"

Schwarz and Lulupo looked at each other, then at Shaska, followed with a nod.

"Awesome. We'll start our descent to Fishman Island in the morning," Shaska said, blowing smoke.

TO BE CONTINUED