Stand 4 was…Not what they wanted. It was a bustling port to be sure. But there was just so many people around at that one destination. The Stand had the grassy surface of its roots shaved down to be a slope to meet the Water Line.
There wer many roots that lined the slope and extended out to the sea where structures to serve as dry dock were put
There were different "Levels" of docking. Some of the branches came up and had docks on them for larger ships to be met right at the railing. Small ships, smaller docks. Taller ones, taller docks.
The Ember was ordered to go to a taller doc by a man that was portly in a tug boat with a fishing hat who screamed up and directed people around to go into place. The crew had the sails down. So their Jolly Roger was flapping in the air as they came to a stop.
Someone in a visibility vest waved at them as the Blossom Anchored with Kirk pressing a few buttons on the dash. "Welcome to port 4!" The woman said. "Day pass is…u-uh."
She looked up and widened her eyes as saw the pirate flag. "Go ahead…" She corrected herself as she stepped back to let them pass. This caused the captain to give a cocky smile.
He'd be lying if he didn't feel good about scaring people like that. Having such a presence, being seen as scary? It was nice in a very strange way
"Heheh…" He chuckled to himself. Causing Jeane to ask "What funny cap?"
"Nothin' Nothin'. Just that girl. She seemed to shit her pants at seeing us. Felt kinda good. But I also feel kinda bad too." He had a fist up to his mouth as he laughed
"Well. That's to be expected. Especially with you captain." Raven said with a soft chuckle of her own "You've got a half billion bounty. Thats nothing to scoff at. Anyon who has a bounty like that has made a name for themselves certainly.
"Oh yeah?" Leroy cocked a brow "What do you think Hornigolds bounty would be if he weren't a Marshal?"
That caught her off guard. Her mouth a bit agape "Oh ah, hm…well. Hornigold himself admitted that he had become a bit sedentary. Many of the Marshals serve certain purposes, though they still need to be strong but they are far and away from equal…I'd say if he was unfrozen. Probably about…350 million. But if he hadn't became so complacent and remained more a ladder that a fighter…Maybe even 500 million."
"Really! That much huh?"
"Hornigold was quite a force of Nature when he was younger before he became a Marshall. Even in his first few years he seemed to be growing quite a lot from his stories he was so fond of saying. But then he lost his hands when he got cocky and went up against a stronger opponent. He never said who it was. But it painted a clear picture"
"Marshals have a place. They serve a purpose. If they were only attack dogs. They'd be sicked on everything. But theyre not. They're watch dogs that know how to bite. And hard. Why be in a place yourself, when you can pay someone from the other side to do it for you."
"So they're bitches?" Calliope asks bluntly.
"Aahahaha!" Leroy suddenly lurches forward in a laugh
"Hmhmhmh." Raven chuckles "No I don't think so. Put they certainly aren't the strongest. But some–"
"Are the strongest." Kale extends on her sentence. Referring to the Worlds Strongest Swordsman Hannibal Wolfhart
The Crew Continued to Walk Along the Dock until they stepped off and onto the grassy surface of the Stand of Trees to look around. The ground beneath them felt sturdy but also spongy. As if it were–
"Its not Grass." Raven said patting at the ground "Its moss! Really thick moss. Though it feels dry like grass."
It was incredible to look around and see the tall trees that were kilometers tall. And the way they connected to one another. It looked like entire towns and city blocks surrounded the trees and were even built into and were a part of the Trees. Stand 4's was called Mangro, The Buildings were made of Cement and were pretty sophisticated. Like the island of Sabaody was in perfect sync with the nature around them. Modern and old at the same time. Plenty of the Buildings were wooden and one story, while others were brick or cement that were a dozen meters wide and closely compact to another
Some of the Stands seemed to have wide open 'Fields' due to the low amount of buildings on them. While others used every square centimeter of space to maximize how much was on the Stand. This one in particular was focused around general purpose. There was a few bars, a couple hotels, restaurants, shops and the like. But it was mainly a 'Come Back and Relax' destination.
Just by watching the flow of Traffic it was clear that many here were also docked at Port 4
"So we need a maybe correct?" Kirk said as he walked through the paved roads. The Roots were shaved smooth so that material could be poured onto it. It was made of a composite from the bark of the 'Desamare Tree's. They constantly absorbed and filtered Salt Water, and when mixed with more salt water the 'Descrete' was incredibly durable. And about twice as strong as reinforced concrete by itself.
"Mornin! Ain't seen you around before must be new!' A younger gentleman behind the counter spoke. Her had brown hair and a small patch of hair under his bottom lip
"Name Marc, what can I do for ya?" He set his hands on the wooden counter with many things and goods behind the counter and on the wall behind him, and also on shelves around the walls.
"Yeah…Ya got a map of this place?" Noir asked
"Oh a Map of Desamare? Yessir I do. Right over there" He pointed to a barrel of rolled up maps. "1,000 berry each."
"Damn!" Kirk said picking one up and unfurling it. The Island of Sabaody was….Huge. At least from the looks that the map gave. There were over 5 dozen numbered Stands, and about half as many Swales. Many of them color coded and labeled. "Residential' 'Economy' 'Entertainment' 'Food' 'Industrial' 'Commerce' Finance' 'Housing' 'Wild Lands' 'No Mans Land' 'Port' (There were many parts labeled as such and thus numbered) 'Greenery', 'Marine' and finally 'Control'. There were also 5 Stands that were unlabeled with a specific and thus called 'Unknown'
The map also had some information on the Islands via Diagrams. One of them described the Desmare Trees and said that they were on average 13,000 feet tall. With the tallest being three specific ones, each of them were over 5km tall.
This changed the crews perspective who thought they were taller. Some thought they were shorter.
"Hmmm this is a lot…Okay uh…Sir?" Kirk looked up at Marc "Yes?"
"Where on this Island is the guy called Old Man Zeke?" Those words caused the mans lips to quiver slight and his eyes to widen while his brow lowered. "Why on earth would you want to talk to that…Freak."