This is Tushire City, which is located on Sennecroft Holm island. Pirates from all over the Vast Expanse congregate on this island; some are benign and some are malevolent.
With the marines helping the agents, the Sennecroft Holm is essentially the second-closest island to La Isleta Cortada, the location of the world government's prison. Despite being the "island of pirates" and the meeting location for the next generation, it is not the safest place to be owing to the likelihood of seeing strong agents or marines.
Despite this, the marines and agents plan to stay away from Sennecroft Holm because they may wind up being overwhelmed by the number of pirates there. Therefore, it is also one of the safest places for pirates to assemble.
Even though this is a pirate island, it's not assured that everyone will cooperate, and the majority of them only come to humiliate other pirates or steal their hard-earned riches. But here setting foot is none other than the pirate we have been following from the beginning, The White-Haired Pirate Tim, who has arrived on this island and has a $300,000 bounty on his head.
"Etuna advised me to take the local transportation on the Sennecroft Holm in order to reach La Isleta Cortada. Still, she forewarned me about the issues I would encounter due to the lore of this island." It would be simple to walk on the ship if he could, but being a pirate makes it hard because public transportation in this city is only available to civilians.
Fortunately, the pirates stay on the side of the people and don't wreak havoc or hurt them. The world government constructed a new route and divided the eastern side and the western side of the island with a large river in between due to the war that broke out a few years ago and resulted in the loss of many lives.
The civilian side is on the eastern side, nearer to La Isleta Cortada, while the pirate side is on the western side, which is further away. This plan calls for giving the citizens advance notice of an impending attack so they can use the transport ship to quickly reach La Isleta Cortada.
"I have about a day to get to La Isleta Cortada, but I have no idea what time the public ship leaves. I need to know the time." Etuna gave him directions to La Isleta Cortada, but as he was new to the island and didn't know where he was, he needed to obtain information because he couldn't have known what time the ship would set sail there.
At the moment he was stuck on the civilians' side and due to being one of the newest pirates on the Vast Expanse, none of them realized who he was. They minded their own business, and for the pirate island to be quite near, they seemed awfully fine.
"I'm not sure if I ought to ask about the ship's departure." He was convinced that the people of Sennecroft Holm were the ones who constructed the public transit system. Because he didn't know the hour, he would come out as an outsider if he queried as to what time the ship was scheduled to set sail.
On top of that, the general public would also be aware of the precise timing of when it was set to sail.
He thought, "I need to find a different approach, " and moved onward.
His method of gathering the data was somewhat iffy, but it was necessary if he was to make it to La Isleta Cortada on time. When passing by, he took care to keep himself incognito as a regular citizen and do his own business. But he intended to eavesdrop in the depths to listen for an answer.
He kept doing that for a while, but he never got the response he was looking for. "Argh! There has to be a way for me to find the answer I need. You'd think someone would mention it but no; nobody does. It's actually useless." He gripped his own forehead in frustration over his inability to obtain information since he wanted to sneak into the ship but lacked the means to do so.
Then, however, he heard something. "Hey! Psst! You there, sir!" It was intended to be a child's voice reaching out for Tim. He searched the area in search of the child, but he was unable to locate anyone. They whispered, "Behind the tree!" and Tim, at last, turned to look.
He pointed at himself after blinking in confusion. When the child nodded, he asked, "Me?"
"Come here!" Tim listened and cast a wide-eyed glance in the direction of the youngster behind the single tree, not knowing what to make of him.
He checked to make sure everything was clear, then discreetly approached the kid.
"I'm here, um. What did you...?" Tim exclaimed, "Dinny?!" as his eyes widened wide with shock. It was the child that Tim had encountered on the Grim Isle after rescuing him from a subordinate of Clawford's.
Tim was abruptly silenced by Dinny, who also made it clear that he didn't want anybody else's attention by slapping his hand over Tim's lips. Finally dragging his arm away, Dinny said, "Not so loud."
"Dinny? What in the world are you doing all the way out here?"
Dinny chuckled as his hands were placed on his hips. "Natan recently visited Grim Isle where he met Raoul, so that's something."
~ One week ago...
The Grime Isle, dark as ever was now at peace after Clawford's defeat.
Natan made his way through the barren woods before approaching the woman who was selling supplies and meals. Someone yelled, "Natan!" while Natan was packing the groceries and other purchases. Dinny was the one who went up to him.
"Dinny? What's up with you? Don't say you were expecting me." Dinny acknowledged, emphasizing that he was mainly anticipating him. "Have you finally come back to the Grim Isle? I genuinely believed you would stay with Tim and the others."
Natan stored the bought items in the bag and leaned it on his shoulder after he thanked the woman. "Sorry kid, but there are still missions I need to do. I just decided to come here while I'm on my next task. Tim and the others know of it."
Dinny walked with Natan, talking to him to maybe figure out what. "What's the mission about? I really want to know." But Natan never gave any answers and continued moving to the docks until somebody crossed his path. "Wow, look at you, shadow rider. I didn't expect you to talk to children. I heard you were trying to be all cool and be a lone wolf when it comes to your bounty hunting." Natan stood still, observing what the man would do.
"Who do you think you are? You didn't come here to strike up a dialogue, did you?" He questioned, attempting to maintain composure before having to attack. "Raoul here, and I'm here to negotiate a deal with you. I'm looking for larger bounties, and this pirate is in my current line of sight." Raoul pulled out a poster with the name "White-Haired Pirate" Tim printed on it. $300,000 in bounty.
"I've heard rumors that you know of him, yet despite being a bounty hunter, you haven't yet eliminated him." Raoul inquired but remained ignorant. "He is not someone I know or have ever seen. If I found him, I'd track him down, but I'm in hot pursuit of someone else right now."
The bone sword that Raoul was carrying on his back gave off an ominous appearance as he rolled the poster and fastened it to his belt. "I believe I may have given it too much thought. But it doesn't imply I no longer intend to work with you on a contract. I'm going to guess that you're looking for Silvio, the Yasuda family's assailant." That was sufficient to elicit a response from Natan. "Honestly, Shadow Rider. I can assist you in finding Silvio, so let's collaborate. I'm aware of his current whereabouts, but I've also heard that 'White-Haired' pirate Tim plans to stop by. I'm confident that if we cooperated, we could find them."
Natan was about to leave without consenting when Raoul slipped the bone sword in front of him, stopping him. "Come on, who said we were finished? Listen, I know you want to find the person who assaulted the Yasuda family, but if you continue in this manner without a clear understanding of his whereabouts, it will be nearly impossible to apprehend him. If you accept my offer, I'll even give you the leadership position and follow your instructions."
Natan acknowledged Raoul's argument, and the prospect of making it simpler to track him down was quite alluring. "Of course, you'll accept one agreement if you do comply. My other two companions must be picked up in Sennecroft Holm, therefore we must travel there. So, is there an alliance?" ~
"Natan and Raoul refused to allow me to accompany them, despite my desire to do so. I, therefore, awaited the ideal moment to sneak onto Raoul's ship. When Natan and Raoul arrived at Sennecroft Holm, I waited for them to pick up their two bounty hunters. However, I lagged behind their ship as I was exploring the island because of my tardiness." Dinny explained while Tim listened, feeling a little ashamed and awkward.
"Raoul then told him of Silvio's location. That makes sense, that's why he landed there before us." Dinny appeared taken aback and interested by Tim's remarks. "Is that to say you ran into him again? That's fantastic, but do you think you could help me with returning to Natan? There are pirates on the opposite side of this enormous lake, and they don't appear as kind as you do, so I don't like staying here."
Tim felt terrible as sweat ran down his face. "I'm very sorry. I really want I can't to help you, but I can't. Chiaki might be killed if I don't find her in time; I only have 24 hours to do so. Additionally, returning to Winterpeak would be pointless. I'm not sure what Natan had in mind for his next move." Tim explained while grappling with a difficult idea.
"That's right, Where are your friends? Don't say that you are no longer a crew." However, Dinny became peaceful after Tim refuted his assertions. "We didn't disband. We basically split up before the global government came after us and started looking for us. Don't worry, after two years pass, we'll be back together." Dinny grinned and took hold of his chest.
"That's great. Okay, I've got a thought!" Tim was at that point perplexed. "I'll go with you if you can't take me back to Natan. I won't have to stay here that way." Tim's thinking, though, made that notion appear absurd. "You can't, I'm sorry. I'm about to do something that is incredibly risky. I can't both defend you and save Chiaki at the same time. If the international government knew you were with me, you would be a sitting duck for them to strike."
"I know the danger, but I promise I'll stay out of your way! And, do you honestly think you can do this by yourself? There's one of you and hundreds of agents. You wouldn't stand a chance, not to mention the top of the incredibly strong agents!" Tim realized that it would actually be a slaughter and came to his senses. "I've heard that a different pirate faction plans to break into the headquarters. You might want to join forces with them." Tim was astonished and in awe of those words.
"A different crew of pirates? What? What actions do they have in mind?" Tim was puzzled, taken aback, and concerned. "I've heard that the crew of the "Sea Wolves Pirates" includes a very strong "Sea Noble" who navigates the seas. He has a bounty of $7,050,000,000." Tim felt slightly uneasy after hearing the final words and information.
"The Sea Wolves Pirates?"
To be continued...