At the start, the tiger shark Fish-Man and his group had already tried to make a move on Sabaody Archipelago.
However, due to the large number of people at the auction house and the fact that they were fighting on land, where they had no advantage, they were forced to retreat and reconsider their strategy. They decided to wait until the ship transporting their comrade was at sea before taking action.
Once at sea, they believed that they would be unbeatable. In the water, these Fish-Men could take on ten of the auction house's hired guards at once!
But, as they say, plans never keep up with changes. They did manage to intercept Wood's ship as planned.
What they hadn't anticipated, however, was how powerful Wood and Gion were. They were no match for them at all.
When Gion heard the name Fisher Tiger, she didn't have much of a reaction because she had no idea who he was.
Gion had some knowledge of pirates with bounties over 100 million from Marine Headquarters, but the name Fisher Tiger was completely unfamiliar to her.
To her, either this person wasn't a pirate, or he wasn't an important one. At least, that's how it seemed to Gion at the moment.
"Fisher Tiger..."
Compared to Gion's lack of response, Wood's expression changed drastically. He even felt like they were in big trouble.
According to the original storyline, Fisher Tiger was supposed to climb the Red Line and attack the Holy Land of Mary Geoise when Hancock was 15 years old.
That means it was supposed to happen about three years from now. Fisher Tiger, this legendary hero, would then deliver a resounding slap to the Celestial Dragons, making the entire world remember his name.
But now, Wood and Gion had beaten up Tiger's subordinates, and some survivors had escaped. What would happen next?
Based on what Wood knew of Fisher Tiger's character, if he found out that the Fish-Men from Fish-Man Island had been captured and taken to Mary Geoise, and that even his comrades were caught, would he just let it go?
Of course not! If Fisher Tiger could simply let that slide, he wouldn't be the hero who stormed Mary Geoise!
Setting aside Fisher Tiger's combat abilities, Wood really didn't want to face such a character unless absolutely necessary.
Their actions could even change history, potentially causing Fisher Tiger to climb the Red Line and attack Mary Geoise earlier than originally planned.
"Is this Fisher Tiger really that formidable?" Gion asked, noticing Wood's unusual reaction.
"Yes, he's quite a remarkable figure. He's bold and extremely loyal, and anyone from Fish-Man Island who meets him would call him Boss Tiger.
He's a master of Fish-Man Karate, and in terms of individual combat strength, he might even be stronger than King Neptune of Fish-Man Island," Wood explained.
Hearing Gion's question, the previously despondent tiger shark Fish-Man perked up, ready to speak about his idol. But he realized that Wood seemed to know a lot about Boss Tiger.
And unlike most humans who despised Fish-Men, the tiger shark Fish-Man noticed that Wood spoke with genuine respect when talking about Boss Tiger.
"So, what you're saying is that this Fisher Tiger might come after us to rescue his comrades?" Gion asked.
"Not might—he definitely will! So we need to speed up and get these people to Mary Geoise as quickly as possible.
We originally planned to hand them over to the Celestial Dragons and then carry out our plan, but now this has come up," Wood replied.
Even for Marines from Marine Headquarters, entering the Holy Land of Mary Geoise where the Celestial Dragons lived wasn't a simple matter.
Moreover, if anything happened to the slaves during transport, Wood and Gion, who were responsible for escorting them, would also be held accountable.
Wood and Gion's original plan was to deliver these slaves to Mary Geoise, then secretly cause some trouble and teach the hated Celestial Dragons a lesson.
Once inside Mary Geoise, they would have more room to operate.
But Wood hadn't anticipated an attack by Fish-Men, and even less so that the attackers would be Fisher Tiger's subordinates.
Sneaking into Mary Geoise under the guise of Marines and causing some trouble might have been covered up by Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
But if they ended up freeing the slaves, that would be a different story. Even if the Marines tried to cover it up, the World Government's intelligence agency, CP, would definitely investigate.
Fisher Tiger wasn't just any random pirate, and he had powerful allies like Jinbe. On land, Wood didn't think he and Gion would lose.
But at sea, fighting Fish-Men of this caliber was a different story. Their chances of winning weren't great.
Even if they tried to explain that they were "just" Marines, Tiger and his crew probably wouldn't believe them.
Helping the Celestial Dragons transport slaves and defeating the very comrades they were trying to rescue—could such Marines really be righteous?
And since this mission involved the World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons, failure would not look good for Wood and Gion either.
Stuck in a difficult situation, their best option now was to deliver the slaves to Mary Geoise as quickly as possible.
As long as the Celestial Dragons took over, their mission wouldn't be considered a failure.
And if Fisher Tiger didn't follow them into Mary Geoise, they could proceed with their original plan.
But if Fisher Tiger did storm Mary Geoise, earlier than in the original timeline, they would just have to make the best of the chaos.
Even though some Fish-Men had escaped to report back, Fisher Tiger and his crew were probably not on Sabaody Archipelago yet. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent these lower-ranking Fish-Men to attempt the rescue.
Fish-Men were fast swimmers, but Wood figured they still had some time.
Following Wood's suggestion, they increased their sailing speed and didn't stop to rest even at night.
Mary Geoise, the Holy Land, is located at the summit of the Red Line, between the first half and the second half of the Grand Line. It's one of the two routes to reach the New World.
Sabaody Archipelago is at the end of the first half of the Grand Line. The journey from there isn't too far, but it still takes about ten to fifteen days.
During these days, Wood and Gion took turns keeping watch and steering the ship.
In his spare time, Wood chatted with the three Hancock sisters, trying to gain their favor.
Unfortunately, while Mary and Sonia were somewhat swayed by Wood's generous food offerings and were willing to believe he was a good person forced into a difficult situation, Hancock remained wary of Wood and continued to be suspicious of his intentions.