Chapter 508: Opportunity
In July, pursued by the World Government and the Marines, the Roger Pirates were forced to spend more time avoiding their gaze.
CP0 Director-General "Black Dragon", and Army General "The Storm Dragon", two Top Tier Combatants of the World Government, had both targeted them.
They were also closely watched by Roger.
Even with Garp, Roger didn't want to get too entangled.
Once targeted by these two Monsters with flight ability, the trouble would be endless.
The strength of Army General "The Storm Dragon" posed no threat to them; they didn't take him seriously.
The powerful CP0 Director-General might be somewhat troublesome, but could also be dealt with.
But this was in the case of direct confrontation.
If they simply stayed in the air and followed them, the Roger Pirates would have no way to deal with them.
Realizing this, Roger fully utilized his ability to play hide-and-seek with the Marines and the World Government.
Sometimes the World Government and the Marines would determine the approximate location of the Roger Pirates, yet still couldn't find them.
However, the Government and the Marines weren't worried.
The Former Half of the New World was their Territory, and no matter how much they hid, there were some places they had to go.
In the First Half of the Grand Line, in the Sea Area near the Red Line, the Area with Coating Materials was primarily the Sabaody Archipelago.
In other words, to reach Fish-Man Island, the Sabaody Archipelago was a necessary passage for the Roger Pirates.
Even an Illegal Coating Spot wouldn't be too far from the Sabaody Archipelago.
Normally, the World Government could turn a blind eye.
Now, to deal with the Roger Pirates, they would absolutely not miss any Opportunity.
In this necessary passage, the Marines and the World Government were already prepared.
They had set up a Heaven-and-Earth Net, like a Dragon's Pool and Tiger's Den.
This was also an Open Scheme.
Coating wasn't something that could be done just anywhere.
No matter what, the Roger Pirates had to brave it.
As for the bounty of "Demon" Roger, it had climbed to five billion Beli over the years.
Vice-Captain Rayleigh's Bounty reached 3.6 billion.
Gaban's Bounty reached 2.5 billion.
Kozuki Oden's Bounty was 1.3 billion.
The overall bounty of the Roger Pirates had exceeded twenty billion Beli, approaching thirty billion.
This was an astonishing amount, making them unmatched in Prestige for a time.
Even "Golden Lion" Shiki was a step below Roger, with a bounty of only 4.8 billion Beli.
The World Government began a strategy to make the Roger Pirates enemies of the entire World by elevating them, especially hoping the Flying Pirates would launch war against the Roger Pirates again.
Unfortunately, the Flying Pirates didn't fall for this trick and made no moves during this time.
Instead, the Prestige of the Roger Pirates continuously increased during this period.
The Flying Pirates were the first major obstacle the Roger Pirates had to overcome.
They had passed it, but this didn't mean they were free to roam the skies.
The World Government and the Marines were the true formidable challenge they had to face.
Although they had escaped the encirclement campaigns of the Marines and the World Government multiple times before, the further they went, the more prepared the Government and the Marines became.
The Roger Pirates avoided all Informants and quietly arrived near the Sabaody Archipelago.
They obtained some Coating Materials on the Sabaody Archipelago.
The Roger Pirates only needed the Coating Materials; there was a Coating Craftsman on their Ship.
The entire Sabaody Archipelago was filled with Informants from the World Government and the Marines.
All Islands were under surveillance, and the Roger Pirates would be discovered as soon as they approached.
Even so, it made the Roger Pirates extremely uncomfortable.
If they couldn't get Coating Materials, they couldn't go to the New World, unless they returned to the North Blue or West Blue and took a detour through the Four Seas to reach the New World.
But this would contradict their goal of completely circling the World.
For this, in the Underworld, through various connections, they managed to contact a Faction willing to provide them with Coating Materials under the pressure of the World Government and the Marines.
The value of one set of Coating Materials reached not just three hundred million Beli.
The Roger Pirates also needed to go to the Sabaody Archipelago themselves to retrieve it.
The World Government and the Marines' action of controlling Coating Materials would undoubtedly offend the Pirates of the entire New World.
After all, the New World needed fresh blood from the Four Seas and the First Half of the Grand Line.
It even affected the commercial trade of various Factions.
Over time, various Factions would exert pressure on the Marines and the World Government.
"Golden Lion" Shiki certainly wouldn't miss this Opportunity, especially since he couldn't currently display his Influence as a Pirate Admiral.
However, just dealing with the Roger Pirates posed no problem before facing the pressure from the Great Pirates of the New World.
The price of three hundred million Beli was undoubtedly hundreds of times the original, but the Roger Pirates still accepted it.
To ensure a smooth journey, any price was acceptable.
Moreover, the value of three hundred million Beli was relatively reasonable, as the Faction operating in the dark still needed to countermeasure the pressure from the Government and the Marines.
They would likely face repercussions next, essentially trading with their life.
The Roger Pirates didn't have many friends; very few people would risk their life to help Roger and his crew.
Those acting in the dark were naturally the major Superpowers.
The Flying Pirates were their support target, but the performance of the Roger Pirates had also entered their eye.
A living Roger Pirates was clearly more beneficial to them, especially since they also knew about the history of the Void Century.
At the very least, the Roger Pirates couldn't fall now; they needed to hold on for a while longer.
It must be said that the World Government's control over the seemingly insignificant Coating Materials was fatal.
It completely choked the Roger Pirates.
To obtain Coating Materials, the Roger Pirates would definitely take risks and come to the Sabaody Archipelago.
At that time, all hidden combatant strength would strike, destroying the Oro Jackson immediately, making it impossible for the Roger Pirates to escape even if they wanted to.
Through the strength secretly controlled on the Sabaody Archipelago.
Helping the Roger Pirates obtain Coating Materials.
With someone helping, they could definitely buy some time, giving the Roger Pirates an opportunity to escape, rather than having no opportunity at all.
Fish-Man Sambell, holding a wooden barrel filled with special liquid, jumped directly into The Sea and quickly swam towards the distant hiding place of the Roger Pirates.
Just ten minutes later, Island Number 13 of the Sabaody Archipelago, where the trade took place, was surrounded by the Marines.
The leading Marine Vice Admiral looked at the three hundred million Beli, which served as evidence of the trade, with a grim expression.
Just for a mere three hundred million Beli, they had directly ruined the Marines' hard-earned strategy, making him so angry he wanted to kill them with a single punch.
"Arrest and interrogate everyone."
"Take all the stolen goods back!"
This small Faction had been completely abandoned; their destiny was decided from the moment they were instructed to carry out this mission.
The mastermind fled immediately, or rather, he never directly participated, only controlling things remotely.
The participants likely never knew that their trade partner was the Roger Pirates.
When Fish-Man Sambell came for the trade, he also disguised himself.
No matter how the Marines investigated, they couldn't find anything.
Such small Factions were originally meant to be scapegoats.
For example, the Kronos Kingdom controlled quite a few.
The Roger Pirates obtained the Coating Materials, and their next target was to head to Fish-Man Island.
"There isn't much time left for our World. Given the speed of the Roger Pirates, Coating will take about three to four days. During this time, we must find the Roger Pirates."
"Otherwise, the slaves from this period will all be wasted."
"They aren't far from the Sabaody Archipelago. Send out all warships and sweep through the Islands in the surrounding Sea Area. The Ship cannot move during Coating."
Kong of Marine Headquarters continuously sent out messages.
Coating is a very dangerous matter; it concerns life.
If one is not careful, the entire Ship will be destroyed in the Deep Sea.
The Roger Pirates cannot move, which is also an opportunity for them.
(end of chapter)