It's before Alabasta, though some also consider Alabasta to be a good jumping-off point since it's where the series starts really cranking up on the worldbuilding which is one of the highlights of the series.I read up to Allabasta or some **** last time, is that before or after? Also, this time I'm reading it through the Manga+ app so I'm not financially invested which probably helps
It's also just a generally really good arc with one of my favorite villains in the series