"Then you're paying," Liam said, patting his Stand's shoulder.
B.I.B. said nothing. With a thought, far away in the ruins atop the royal highlands, where crowds surrounded a massive golden pillar, threads of gold began to melt and stream away like liquid, flying toward the port city.
Grabbing a bit of that gold, Liam paid the doctor's bill and then went wandering around the city with Robin and Ross.
They visited several towns before finally buying enough supplies, mostly rice and other grains, plus all kinds of seasonings, fruit, and drinks.
"Pay up," Liam said with a snap of his fingers. B.I.B. also snapped, though its sound was inaudible to normal ears, and once again, from the palace's distant direction, a thin stream of golden light flowed toward them like liquid wire.
As for meat, that wasn't a concern. So long as they were out at sea, neither Liam nor Robin would ever be short on ingredients.
"This place has gotten so poor it almost feels wrong to buy so much," Liam said, sitting in a shabby restaurant. "If people start starving because we bought out all their grain, it's gonna look bad on me…"
Robin only smiled quietly as she sipped her hot water. Ross ate silently, occasionally stealing glances at Liam.
It was that same feeling again, Liam, and Jolyne too. They were pirates, yes… yet somehow, Ross kept forgetting that fact.
Neither Liam nor Jolyne had ever denied being pirates, but in their day-to-day actions, they were nothing like any pirate Ross had ever known.
Even the Warlord Heina and her subordinates, despite being officially recognized by the World Government, still carried many ruthless pirate habits. But someone like Liam, who actually thought about the well-being of the local people and restrained himself from buying up all the food in one town, such a pirate was unheard of.
Most others would've simply killed the shopkeepers and stolen everything without a second thought, and that would've been considered merciful.
Crunch, crunch…
Ross was lost in thought as she ate when suddenly something felt wrong. Why… why was her chewing making that strange creaking sound?
She looked down, and to her shock, there were now some metal components sitting in her bowl. They were parts of a Den Den Mushi communication device!
Liam was casually dismantling two Den Den Mushi units and had tossed the leftover hardware right into Ross's bowl.
"Waste is shameful," Liam said earnestly, releasing the two Den Den Mushi back into the wild.
"…" Ross was silent. Creak. Creak. She started chewing up the communication parts, piece by piece.
Before long, tears filled her eyes. She didn't want to admit it, but somehow, it… actually tasted pretty good.
Creak…
"I… also have something I want to buy…" Creak…
"Then buy it!" Liam snapped his fingers.
B.I.B., without a word, once again used the power of the Gold-Gold Fruit, manipulating the massive golden pillar still under its control. From its top, threads of molten gold peeled away and streamed through the air toward them.
B.I.B. couldn't help but think: at this rate, until Liam took back control and canceled the Gold-Gold Fruit ability, that golden pillar was basically going to be paying for all their expenses.
Ross, meanwhile, felt her own combat ability was far too lacking. Whether she used the Munch-Munch Fruit or switched back to the Tube-Tube Fruit, her personal battle skills weren't strong enough to draw out much power. So, she decided to buy some guns and ammunition instead.
Although this was still a legitimate World Government Allied Kingdom Member, in an age dominated by great pirates, there was no way to completely ban the trade of guns and weapons.
Add to that the recent years of chaos in this country, Ross easily found a shop at the corner of the street selling flintlock guns that fit her grip perfectly, along with several crates of ammunition.
Though they were flintlocks, they were multi-shot flintlocks, a far cry from ordinary muskets.
Bang! Bang! …
By the time Robin finished buying a few books and tucked them away inside Little Green's inner "City Castle," she stepped out of the town just in time to see Ross in the woods outside, test-firing her guns.
Liam sat up in a tree, munching on a fruit. "Those guns probably won't do much against pirates under the Warlords of the Sea, you know."
Smoke curled from the gun's barrel. Ross pressed her lips together and said helplessly, "I know… but at least, they'll give me the courage to face them."
"That so?"
Liam grinned, leaping lightly down from the tree. "Then let's set off."
He was about to toss away the half-eaten fruit, but Robin caught his wrist. "Waste is shameful," she said.
Robin opened her mouth as if to take a bite, then suddenly shoved the half-eaten fruit straight into Liam's mouth and snapped his jaw shut with a playful pop!
Liam nearly choked. Robin burst out laughing, and Ross couldn't help but smile too.
And so, the three of them made their way to the shore. Liam reached into Little Green's mouth and pulled out a small sailboat, tossing it onto the waves. One after another, the three jumped aboard.
B.I.B. planted its foot against the hull and gave a powerful push, Whizz!
The small sailboat sliced through the waves like an arrow, speeding toward the distant sea.
Behind them, Real Gold Island faded into the horizon. The black war armor followed close behind their sailboat, and high above in the sky, thin golden threads drifted slowly after them…
Back in the palace ruins, the massive golden pillar was now bound tightly with ropes as workers climbed up and down, trying to move it. One minister rubbed his eyes and muttered in confusion, "Huh? Why does it look… shorter than before?"
…
"Laute Heina is… the Grand Duchess of the Sikeal Kingdom?"
Inside the small sailboat flying a JOJO skull-flag, B.I.B. was, as always, steering the helm in the cabin. On the table lay Ross's Eternal Pose pointing toward Crycana Island, beside it, Little Green dozed peacefully.
Within Little Green's inner City Castle, Liam listened to Ross's explanation, looking slightly surprised.
Ross lowered her head, a bitter smile tugging at her lips.
Back then, when a strange rotting plague spread throughout the Sikeal Kingdom and panic consumed the nation, it was Heina's arrival that stopped the outbreak and quickly brought it under control. Because of that, her father, the king, broke royal convention and granted Heina the title of duchess.
A pirate had become a high noble, and yet, the people of Sikeal had no objections at all. In fact, they believed it was only right to reward the one who saved them.
Robin said, "The Shichibukai are recognized as legal by the World Government. So, if a king of a World Government–affiliated kingdom grants a noble title, that's automatically recognized too."
"True enough," Liam nodded.
He was only surprised, that's all. After all, there were far crazier examples in the manga, like Doflamingo.
Everyone knew he was a pirate, yet he still became a king. And legally, too! Compared to that, Heina, being a mere duches,s was practically modest.
As the topic of the Warlord of the Sea, Heina came up, Robin shared what she knew.
"After she was granted the title of Warlord years ago, Heina's Red Coat Pirate Crew faded from public view… They weren't a large crew, and most of them were women. Her most famous subordinates were four female pirates known as the Four Knights. They were said to have destroyed the once-notorious Silver Axe Pirates."
Robin rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Some even say that, if not for the era they lived in, or if they hadn't chosen to follow Heina, each of those Four Knights had power on par with later Warlords like Crocodile himself."
(End Of This Chapter)
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