Traveler in the Pirate World

After passing the doomsday-looking volcano, there is a yellow-brown rocky forest. The wind here is howling violently, and the fragile rocks are rolling along the ground, being smashed into pieces and scattered into fine gravel.

The low shrubs grew tenaciously in the cracks, becoming a rare green in this wasteland, slightly relieving people's tired vision.

The seemingly never-extinguished flames of the volcano stopped far behind us, and the dark clouds and thunder were eternally intertwined. Compared with the sky above that was dyed red by the setting sun, it seemed like another world, giving people a strong sense of separation.

Lily was holding Lab in her arms, with Bubble sitting on her shoulders, dressed in the stout clothes of the locals, walking in this uninhabited area.

Wearing a headscarf made of gauze, Lily walked between the cliffs of the wilderness. Large pieces of rubble from the cliffs kept falling from her head and the edges, and some of them were smashed into pieces on the cliff walls, or fell into the rushing river at the bottom of the cliff dozens of feet high, and disappeared without a trace.

The goshawk circled in the sky, overlooking the entire land with ravines and gullies. The human caravans walked cautiously on the winding mountain roads like a string of ants.

The bandits with knives were already waiting in a familiar place. They guarded the road that caravans and pedestrians had to pass through, and collected a toll that was not too high. As long as they paid enough Bailey, they could pass through peacefully. If not, they would be prepared for their families to arrange for them to redeem them, or they would sleep forever under the rushing river.

Lily walked into the increasingly crowded crowd, handed over a thousand Baileys according to the rules here, and walked with the crowd.

At regular intervals on both sides of the cliff, there were one or two bandits guarding the area, wearing uniform leather armor and holding the same standard muskets.

"Are these guys really bandits?" A businessman who had just arrived at the ramp asked his companion, carefully sizing up the gun-wielding young men.

"That's right. When I first came here, I was also shocked. I heard that they were not like this more than ten years ago. They were all in rags, just like the bandits we saw in the past.

In the blink of an eye, in just over a decade, they have built a city right under the nose of the kingdom, in this desolate land of Doomsday Volcano. You will be surprised to see them soon. I really don’t know where they got such strength. Now the kingdom has no way to deal with them. ” The merchant’s companion sighed.

"Tsk tsk tsk... That weapon was produced by the underworld emperor of Don Quixote family. These guys are so rich." The businessman keenly noticed the tiny mark on the butt of the gun in the other party's hand. It was the unique mark of Doflamingo from Don Quixote family.

"Who says it's not true? Look at them. They charge a toll of 1,000 Baileys per person just to cross the road. If they want to do business in the city, even if it's just setting up a street stall, they have to hand over 20% of their total profit. They are really a bunch of bandits, robbing people!"

"Then why did you come all the way here?" The businessman couldn't help but tease his old friend. This guy has always looked like this and hasn't changed in more than ten years.

"Well, it's because we have too much inventory and have nowhere to get our money back, so we come here to sell it off. Any profit we can get is a plus."

"You are a dishonest man. I have to be more careful when doing business with you in the future!" Seeing that he was not telling the truth, the businessman could not help but laugh and scold him twice, but he was not angry. It was just that he was now desperate. Although the relationship between the two was very good, he always felt uneasy coming to this remote place alone.

"Come on, brother! You are kidding me. The main reason is that this place is more rule-abiding than other places. As long as we follow their rules, we can do business peacefully without so many worries.

In the past, when we did business in other places, the city guards would extort money, the nobles would take whatever they wanted, and the gangsters would come to eat from time to time. The losses were much higher than this protection fee!" The businessman's tone was sad, as if he had suffered a lot of grievances in the past.

"Oh, you guy, you are still so slick after all these years, and you can't tell a word of truth in ten sentences. Which of those costs have not been charged to the buyers by you?" Hearing him say this, the businessman couldn't help but feel a little angry.

Seeing him like this, the business partner shook his head helplessly and spoke less incoherently, "I know you don't like this about me, and I know you really care about every one of your customers, but that is the law of survival in the outside world, and it is the rule of this era. If I don't do this, I will starve to death."

"Like me?" Upon hearing this, the businessman's face turned red with anger. He imagined arguing with his old friend as he did before, but suddenly he sighed helplessly, with a lonely look in his eyes.

"Yes, like you!" The old man sat down beside him, sighed, and was silent for a moment, then turned to look at him, "So I brought you here, where you don't have to change yourself to adapt to the times like I did. You can continue to be yourself instead of becoming one of the countless me's. Believe me, you will like it here, even though it is a city built by bandits, even though it is located in this barren mountain area."

At some point, the convoys on both sides bypassed the winding cliffs, and a huge black city stood at the end of the road. The black city walls resisted the howling wind, and the huge city gates were wide open, revealing the buildings and people inside.

The merchant looked at all this in a daze. He had never imagined that on this barren land that had been considered an uninhabited area by people for generations, there really was such a huge city and such a group of people living and recuperating here.

"Welcome to the land of bandits - Rodsim. I actually prefer to call it the City of Order!" The merchant's partner looked at him with a smile.

Lily walked past them, with Bubble sitting stupidly on her shoulder, blowing out two bubbles stupidly, obviously surprised that such a big guy suddenly appeared here.

Lab looked at the dark city wall and called "Lily... Lily..." twice. It felt a unique breath on the obsidian-like city wall, which was very heavy and ancient.

Lily gently touched its smooth big head. She looked at the huge high wall from afar and nodded her head gently. "A relic from several eras ago, a creation that has guarded several eras, is now just an old city. Time is really a terrible power!"

After paying one thousand Baileys for the city entrance fee once again, Lily finally set foot in this ancient city. Walking on the central avenue, the city was bustling with people, and bandits armed with standard muskets could often be seen patrolling among the crowd.

The midday sun was scorching, but the streets were crowded with people, all flowing in one direction. Lily mixed in with the crowd, going with the flow.