Chapter 9: The Kuja Pirates Group

The next day.

In waters close to area 13 Saboundy Archipelago Island. You can see a ship owned by one of the pirate groups slowly approaching Saboundy Archipelago Island. Everyone who sees the ship will immediately know the identity of the group that owns the ship. However, area 13 is an area that has no laws governing it and it's rare for civilians to come to this area. This is also what causes areas where there is no law to be very empty of visitors.

Slowly the ship began to approach land from Area 13 and immediately stopped there. The ship's cabin door immediately opened and all members of the pirate group immediately lined up neatly by straightening their bodies.

Footsteps were heard and three women along with a snake were seen walking out of the cabin.

They were Boa Hancock, Boa Sandersonia, Boa Marigold, and Salome.

"We have arrived Hebihime-sama"

"What is our next order to carry out, Hebihime-sama?"

"Stay here and guard the ship!" Hancock immediately gave a firm order, "Until one of us returns and sends a follow-up order, don't let anyone leave this place unless there is a condition that requires them to leave."

"We understand, Hebihime-sama"

"Sonia, Mary. Let's go"

"Okay, Sister"

Hancock immediately led down from her boat followed by her two younger sisters and also Salome. They immediately rushed to a building that was very familiar to them. It only took a few minutes for them to get there.

"Closed?"

Right when they arrived at the building, a sign that said "Closed" had been put up in front of the building's entrance.

"Shakky should have gone where he said before," Marigold said calmly.

Hancock's gaze immediately glanced towards a building that was located not too far from the place owned by the Shakuyaku.

"Is that the place?" Sandersonia muttered under her breath while looking at the place.

Hancock didn't move immediately but immediately released her Observation Haki ability. For a moment her Observation Haki touched the building that was targeted by her. Hancock's expression immediately turned full of surprise.

"Is something wrong, Sister?" Marigold asked quickly while frowning.

Hancock quickly regained her senses then shook her head and said seriously, "That building…It's no ordinary building."

"Not an ordinary building?" Sandersonia muttered under her breath.

"I can't feel anything in the building. What I feel is just a darkness with no end at all."

"Endless darkness?"

Sandersonia and Marigold had their curiosity on hearing that. Without waiting, the two of them also immediately used their Observation Haki ability, and immediately their expressions turned serious when they felt the same way as Hancock felt.

"…That should be the place Shakky said it was," Sandersonia said back in a more serious voice than before.

"Are we going now or are we waiting for Shakky to come back?" Marigold asked immediately.

"We're leaving," Hancock said directly, "It's too boring waiting for Shakky to come and should…The owner of that place wouldn't do anything bad to us. Hmph~ Of course, he can do it, if he can do it"

Hancock only said that to make herself feel less afraid and feel inferior. She had gotten a warning from the previous Shakuyaku regarding Allen.

"No matter what, never provoke or do anything to make the owner of that place angry."

That was the warning Shakuyaku gave to Hancock.

"..."

Usually Sandersonia and Marigold would reply in a confident tone when they heard Hancock's words. But, different from now. They have also received a warning from Shakuyaku.

"Let's go"

Hancock immediately started to lead the way towards the "Guild" building followed by Sandersonia and Marigold. Along the way, there were many thoughts currently surfacing within their minds.

*******

While inside the current guild.

"Still doing the same mission?" Allen glanced at Marko who had just returned from the dungeon giving him the mission sheet he was about to undertake at this time, "Didn't you learn from your previous experiences?"

"Back then I wasn't on my guard, Yoi~," Marko said sullenly, "At least, it would be different this time. I will always keep an eye on the area and the time to complete the mission this time should be quicker than before."

"Hmmm, well, it's up to you" Allen shrugged his shoulders then continued, "I hope you can be careful over there and don't die. It will be complicated for me to explain to Whitebeard if you die in the dungeon."

"Hey! You seem to be underestimating me." Marko said with an ugly expression, "Yesterday I thought that my hunting grounds couldn't possibly be occupied by those bastards. I do not-"

"Ring!..."

Marko's words immediately stopped when he heard the sound of the doorbell ringing. Allen and Marko immediately turned their attention toward the entrance and discovered the presence of Hancock and the others who had just entered the guild,

"Oh? They… I see, it seems Shakuyaku still pays more attention to the place where she was before." Allen thought casually.

The moment Hancock and the others entered the guild, their attention was immediately drawn to the two portals inside the guild.

"That object…"

"That should be the portal Shakky told us about…"

"That means this place…"

"Yo ~ Isn't this the Shichibukai - Boa Hancock?"

"Huh?"

Marko's voice immediately caught the attention of Hancock and the others. They immediately glanced in the direction of the voice and immediately their expressions changed when they saw Marko who was in the building.

"You…"

"Whitebeard Pirate Group First Division Commander - Marko "Pheonix" Hancock said in a serious voice while her gaze narrowed seriously.

"Oh? I am recognized by you? I guess I can use this to make my brothers jealous of me." This was Marko and Hancock's first meeting and Marko couldn't help but say that he was mesmerized by Hancock's beauty. It's just that, he managed to restrain himself with the charm that Hancock had.

"Hmph!" Hancock snorted coldly at that and continued, "What brings you here? Isn't your base of operations in the New World? Or perhaps you intend to carry out movements in this area of the ocean?"

"Why can't I be here? Everyone has the freedom to move wherever they want" Marko replied, "Besides…" A smile appeared on Marko's face, "Your guess was correct. Due to the appearance of this place, in the next few days, our main force will come to this place to carry out the movement here."

Sandersonia and Marigold immediately took a deep breath hearing that. Meanwhile, Hancock's gaze became very serious hearing this.

"...You guys should have been told by Shakky about this place, right?" Marko asked back immediately, "There's no way for you guys to know about this place unless it's given by him."

"...You guys are really lucky to have someone who can help you with information. I was lucky enough to be here before and happened to find this place" Marko continued.

"As it happens?" Hancock was a little surprised to hear that, "Does that mean he had business here before and happened to find this place? Wasn't Rayleigh the one who told him this information?"

"So do you want to continue the conversation or do you want to carry out this mission?" Allen suddenly jumped right into their conversation.

This voice of Allen immediately caught the attention of Hancock and others. They immediately stared at Allen and Allen also stared at them.

"You guys should be from the Kuja pirate group, right?" Allen's gaze then glanced at Hancock, "Empress and Shichibukai - Boa Hancock" Allen's gaze then glanced at Sandersonia, "Boa Hancock's younger sister and one of the higher-ups of the Kuja pirate group - Boa Sandersonia" Allen's gaze then glanced at Marigold, "Its identity is the same as Sandersonia - Boa Marigold"

Sandersonia and Marigold were instantly stunned as both of them were recognized by Allen.

"Are you Allen?" Hancock asked in a serious voice.

"Hmm? Has Shakuyaku introduced me to your identity?" Allen asked back and didn't let Hancock continue, he quickly said, "Well, I guess she did. Allen Migard, you can call me, Allen. Nice to meet you"

"He Allen?" Hancock looked at Allen with a concerned gaze, "…His strength…Why can't I feel any threat from him? Is this person really that strong?"

"You guys came here wanting to be adventurers, right? You guys can queue up for now" Allen said casually "I'm currently dealing with Marko and after him, you guys will be served by me"

"Hmph!"

Hancock was not too happy to hear that. However, she did not dare to say it directly because of the warning Shakuyaku had given her. In addition, there is the existence of Marko who is here. A comparison of the status of the two is of course very clear. Marko had a bigger status compared to her.

"I didn't think that you could resist her charms," Marko said with a smile, "I guessed it, could there be a woman who is prettier and more charming than the Pirate Queen in the dungeon?"

Hancock could hear Marko's words.

"Well," Allen didn't close and nodded, "On the top floor of the dungeon, scattered many beauties whose beauty even exceeded Hancock's."

"Impossible!"

"There can't be anyone prettier than Sister." Marigold immediately replied, "Sister is the most beautiful and perfect woman. There can be no one prettier than her."

"Hmph~" Hancock immediately replied to Allen's words with a disgusted look.

"That's your opinion and this is mine, okay?" Allen replied lazily, "A dungeon is a place where each floor is a world different from this one. That is, there are many opportunities to be had to find a woman whose beauty surpasses Hancock. Call it on the top few floors of the basement, there are lots of beautiful women who are there and it's very easy to find their whereabouts. However…"

Allen shook his head, "Too bad~ That floor is a floor full of politics and power madness. There usually marriage is only done because of necessity or because of political games and power. There is no such thing as love or anything like that. Couples get married because it is requested by the family or there are other things. Well, the point is, they didn't marry because they wanted to but because they were ordered to.

These words from Allen instantly silenced Marko and the others.

"…If you are interested in seeing that floor, you should go up to the top of the dungeon" Allen smiled, "Despite the many political problems as well as other bad things, it's a very interesting place. It was different from the floor below which was probably slightly smaller than this world. The upper floor of the dungeon has a very large size even from the 25th floor and above, the size of the dungeon floor is already twice the size of this world."

"Doubled?!"

Marko and the others immediately exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this.

"Y-you…You weren't kidding?!" Hancock asked with a doubtful expression.

"It's hard to believe what I'm saying" Allen replied immediately, "You can directly verify what I'm saying by going up to the top floor of the dungeon. But…Well, you guys have to work hard to do it. Because to go up to the top floor, not only do you kill the floor boss then you can go up to the top floor, but on some floors, there are special conditions that you must meet to go up to the next floor and those conditions will cause you to have to compete with each other."

"Special conditions?" Marko frowned at this.

"You guys will know that later and maybe you shouldn't need to know right now. As long as you reach a floor, I will give a more specific explanation about it." Allen said casually then immediately confirmed the mission that Marko wanted to do.

The sound of information related to the confirmation of the mission was immediately heard by Marko. He saw a holographic panel appear in front of him.

"That…"

The appearance of the hologram panel immediately made Hancock and the others curious but they didn't ask anything about it.

"I have confirmed the mission that you want to do," Allen said back, "You can carry out the mission now, and also please remember this. Don't die, you can die as long as Shirohige has come here. I don't want anything to do with Whitebeard, it's troublesome"

Marko immediately pouted at this, "Who's going to die, Yoi~? I won't just die, there's no way that low-class monster can kill me"

"Someone said that when yesterday almost died because of his stupidity"

Marko's face immediately turned red at this and he immediately turned around. He was truly sorry for telling his experience to everyone. Almost always he gets ridiculed by Rayleigh and Allen.

Marko quickly went straight back into the dungeon.

Allen's gaze then glanced at Hancock and the others, "Okay, it's your turn now"

"Hmph!"

Hancock immediately walked forward with a sullen feeling from previously being compared by Allen to the woman in the dungeon. Even though she had a sullen and angry feeling, there was a sense of interest inside her because this was the first time Hancock had gotten a gaze without lust from a man.

"Has Shakuyaku explained the information regarding this place to you?"

"Shakky did explain it. However, the explanation given to us is only a general explanation and not in detail" Hancock replied immediately.

"Okay, I guess I need to explain to you guys, and maybe…There are some additional explanations that you guys need to know"

"Additional explanation?"

Allen immediately started explaining to them about guilds, dungeons, and various other things. Hancock and the others began to take in the information and slowly absorb it. Their expressions were very calm upon receiving the information since they had been given general information about this place.

"What do you mean by the experience received by me will be divided?" Hancock asked with a serious expression.

"The experience you will earn will be divided between the beast or your partner," Allen said while glancing at Salome, "However, the distribution will not affect the amount of experience you gain."

"Huh? What does it mean?" Hancock was a little confused to hear that.

"That is, you will still get the amount of exp that you should receive and the division mentioned by me is just a division that is divided but does not reduce the amount you get" Allen explained slowly, "In essence, you will still get the same amount of exp while your net partner gets half the amount of exp from the amount you get without reducing the amount you receive"

"I see," Hancock felt relieved to hear that.

"Allen, can you explain to us how to build a fellowship?" In contrast to Hancock who still used an arrogant tone towards Allen, Sandersonia looked much more polite and calm.

"Alliance creation can come directly to me" Allen immediately explained, "There are certain conditions that one must meet to form a fellowship. The first condition is required to have a building that will be used as the main headquarters of the alliance. Buildings are required to be in dungeons and not in the outside world. There are no provisions related to location, the point is that there is a building that can be used as a place to be used as the main headquarters…"

Hancock and others listened intently to the passage.

"The second condition is that a person is required to gather at least five people who will build an alliance with him. Less than five people, the guild building proposal will be directly rejected by me. The third condition is to pay the guild building fee of one white gold coin. "

"What?!"

Hancock who heard the number immediately exclaimed in surprise. Not only Sandersonia and Marigold, their faces immediately changed hearing that.

"Why is it so expensive just to build an alliance?" Hancock asked in a tone full of anger.

"That's to limit the number of alliances built." Allen replied, "Too many alliances aren't good either. That would cause a lot of people trouble in having the fellowship they want to be. Compared to building a lot, a little is better but the fellowship can run well and it's not a little bit of the dissolution of the fellowship or other things."

"..."

Hancock and the others were speechless listening to Allen's words.

"Okay, that's just the third condition and there's more," Allen said again and continued, "The fourth condition, a person or group of people who want to build a partnership must prepare initial funds that must be deposited into the account belonging to the association where the initial funds that must be prepared are 10 crystal coins and it is a must do. As long as a person or group of people who want to build an alliance are unable to do so, the proposal to create an alliance will immediately get rejected."

"T-ten crystal coins?"

The expressions of Hancock and the others immediately became ugly upon hearing that. It's hard for them to raise money with the strength they currently have. If they could use the money from the world they currently live in, it would be easy for them to do so. However, it was different from inside the dungeons where the strength they possessed would return to the point where they first practiced it.

"Those are four conditions that must be met as long as you want to build a guild in the dungeons," Allen said back, "Don't think too much about building a guild right now. Your current strength is impossible to achieve unless…You mobilize the number of members of the pirate group that you have. As long as you guys do that, there's a chance you'll be able to build an alliance in this near period. Well, you need to remember that only by including the members of the pirate group that you have. If not or with just the efforts of the three of you, it would be hard for you to do it now"

"What do you think, Sister?" Sandersonia asked immediately.

Hancock didn't immediately answer but kept silent while thinking about something. It took a few minutes before he finally made up her mind, "We'll do it alone for today and when we come back later, we'll choose people who are truly worthy to be included in the exploration."

"Well, I guess that's the best option" Marigold immediately agreed with the decision made by Hancock, "There must be some of our members guarding the ship, we can't bring them all together."

"Is that your decision?" Allen asked with great interest, "Well since it's your decision, you are free to make it. Do you guys want to register as adventurers now or, do you still have a question you want to ask me?"

"...Is there an item in the dungeon that can help heal a permanent wound?" Hancock's voice immediately became very serious followed by a cold tone devoid of emotion.

"Hmm? An item that can permanently heal wounds? Well, that's an item there. You just need to look for it in the dungeons, it's just that such items are a little difficult to find and take a little extra effort to get."

Hancock and the others didn't care about the extra effort they had to spend to get the item. Hearing that there was a chance for them to obtain an item that would allow them to permanently erase any injuries they had, their expressions immediately turned full of joy.

"Now, are there any more questions? Or, can we proceed to your registration section?"

"Hmph! Nothing" Hancock sniffed proudly.

Right now she couldn't wait to register as an adventurer. The same goes for Sandersonia and Marigold. Allen who received the confirmation immediately took out the crystal ball that was under the table and started helping the three register as adventurers.