Chapter 58: Shampoo Land
Su Xiao took out a large bucket of fresh water, gulped down at least half of it, then poured the remaining fresh water over his head. The cool, fresh water washed away the salty, astringent seawater.
Su Xiao could clearly feel that after consuming a large amount of fresh water, his somewhat shriveled cells throughout his body were regaining vitality. He even had the illusion of coming back to life.
He let out a long breath. The series of events before could no longer be described as merely thrilling. First, he was besieged by the three of Kizaru, Garp, and Vice Admiral Tsuru. Then he was escorted to the Red Line, arriving at the first half of the Grand Line, where he had a brief underwater skirmish with the Hero of the Marines, Garp.
When Su Xiao fought with Garp, his body was already on the verge of giving out. Otherwise, he would have definitely had Bubu Wang lure Garp away and give Vice Admiral Tsuru and those female Marines a 'warm welcome.'
"Bubu, stop swimming. Be careful not to get swallowed by a Sea King."
After Su Xiao shouted, Bubu Wang rose to the surface like a 'lotus blooming out of water.' Indeed, this goofball rose up bit by bit. Su Xiao could perfectly imagine Bubu's hind legs frantically kicking underwater.
"How's that Den Den Mushi doing?"
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Bubu Wang's dog body stiffened, and his dog head slowly sank back into the sea.
Su Xiao directly grabbed Bubu Wang and hauled him onto the life raft, then untied the bundle behind him. As soon as the bundle was opened, a stream of seawater poured out. Su Xiao's heart sank halfway.
When he was surrounded by the Marines inside the villa, he had tossed Doflamingo's Den Den Mushi to Bubu Wang. This thing couldn't be put into the storage space, so it was safer for Bubu Wang to carry it.
Bubu Wang had been having too much fun swimming in the sea and momentarily forgot about the Den Den Mushi in the bundle.
Su Xiao picked up the snail-like Den Den Mushi. The Den Den Mushi in his hand was now a limp, soggy mess, but its two small eyes on the antennae opened slightly.
Seeing that the Den Den Mushi wasn't dead, Su Xiao was quite surprised. After hesitating for a moment, he took out a lighter and heated the soft flesh under the Den Den Mushi.
The pitiful little Den Den Mushi twisted its body, struggling to open its eyes. This little thing seemed to have some intelligence. Bubu Wang immediately understood what it wanted to convey, which was: "Don't roast me, I can still be saved, and I don't taste good."
Su Xiao shook the Den Den Mushi in his hand. This Den Den Mushi seemed to know that if it couldn't work, it wouldn't be far from becoming baked escargot.
Su Xiao picked up the receiver on the Den Den Mushi's back. Seawater dripped out of the receiver.
Zzzz~
As if suffering from signal interference, apart from the buzzing sound, Su Xiao heard nothing else.
"Hey, Bai, what, sound..."
Doflamingo's voice came intermittently from the Den Den Mushi's mouth.
"Can you hear me?"
Su Xiao said, waiting for Doflamingo's response.
"Can, a little."
Hearing this fuzzy voice, Bubu Wang gestured for Su Xiao to hand him the lighter.
The Den Den Mushi visibly perked up upon seeing the orange flame.
"Hey, hey? Can you hear... me... speaking?"
The voice became much clearer.
"I can hear you."
"No problem then, Bai Ye. Did you escape from the Marines?"
Doflamingo's tone was somewhat incredulous.
"I need to ask you for a favor. After it's done, I'll make you ten Apollos for free."
"What favor?"
"Amu is still in Dressrosa. Send him to the first half of the Grand Line."
"This..."
"Deliver it within five days, and I'll make twelve Apollos for free."
"Deal. Where exactly should I send him?"
"No specific location. Just send him to the Shampoo Islands for now. He'll find me."
"Alright."
Su Xiao didn't chat idly with Doflamingo. After settling the matter about Amu, he directly hung up the Den Den Mushi. This little Den Den Mushi was now fully alert.
"Our current position seems to be near the Shampoo Islands."
Su Xiao took out a sea chart and three compass needles. These were obtained from his last entry into the One Piece world.
The Shampoo Islands were just below the Red Line. Su Xiao had successfully escaped about ten minutes after the warship set sail. That meant he wasn't far from the Red Line. Another key piece of information was that there was a Marine branch nearby.
After identifying the direction using the compass needles, Su Xiao drew a circle on the sea chart. His location was between the 'Shampoo Islands' and 'Erzma Island,' slightly closer to 'Erzma Island.'
Su Xiao's first priority was to reach the vicinity of the Red Line and use it as a reference to find the exact location of the Shampoo Islands.
"Bubu, I have a great idea."
Su Xiao looked at Bubu Wang with a smile. Bubu Wang instinctively scooted backward.
Two minutes later, Bubu Wang was frantically dog-paddling on the sea surface, pulling a rubber raft behind him. Su Xiao sat on the life raft, holding a compass needle in one hand and the sea chart in the other.
As the saying goes, raise a dog for a thousand days, use it for one. Bubu Wang unlocked a new skill: Dog-pulled raft. About half an hour later, the towering Red Line appeared ahead.
"Turn right. Shampoo is almost here."
"..."
Bubu Wang gritted his teeth, kicked his paws, and continued swimming forward. Su Xiao had promised that once they reached Shampoo, he would take him to the food street for a big meal.
After two hours of Bubu Wang pulling the raft + one hour of Su Xiao rowing, a verdant island came into view. This was the Shampoo Islands.
The Shampoo Islands were different from other islands. It was composed of a large cluster of intertwined Yarukiman Mangrove roots. A total of 79 Yarukiman Mangrove trees formed the complete Shampoo Islands.
The mangrove roots were intertwined, gathering the soil on the roots. Therefore, from a distance, the Shampoo Islands appeared lush green.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked at the distant Shampoo Islands. He finally didn't have to pull the raft anymore. The original plan was for him to pull for two hours, then Su Xiao to row for two hours, alternating like that. Who knew that Su Xiao had only rowed for less than an hour before the Shampoo Islands arrived.
The Shampoo Islands were not far from the Red Line. Because of this, Celestial Dragons living on the Red Line often came to the Shampoo Islands to play.
The significance of this island was too special. It was known as the 'Island of Failure and Restart.' Pirates who wanted to enter the New World had to pass through here.
The World Government was, of course, aware of this. They had tried to set up checkpoints at Shampoo, but pirates were as numerous as carp crossing the river. Several groups of pirates arrived here every day.
After the World Government ordered the Marines to set up checkpoints here, over 50,000 Marines died on the island in the following six months. The number of pirates who died here was countless.
In the later stages, the pirates even united. Dozens, or even hundreds, of pirate groups charged the Shampoo defense line together.
After holding the line for 267 days, the Marines gave up on the Shampoo Islands. Stationing a Marine Admiral here permanently was impractical. A young Sengoku had been stationed here, which nearly worked him to death. While Marine casualties did decrease, Sengoku slept less than three hours a day. The rest of his time was spent either fighting pirates or chasing them down.
After suffering the casualties of 2 Vice Admirals + 5 Rear Admirals + 80,000 Marines, both the World Government and the Marines gave up on this place. For pirates to reach the New World, they had to pass through here. It was impossible to make those dream-chasing pirates give up.
Moreover, the pirates who could reach here were no weaklings. They were elite pirates who had survived layers of elimination.
After years of development, the Shampoo Islands developed a unique ecological balance. Marines, pirates, World Government personnel, Celestial Dragons, CP agencies, and the Revolutionary Army all appeared on the island, but they wouldn't act rashly.