[Cover Story Serial: Heart Pirates #1 - "How the hell did he just do that?!"]
[North Blue, Minion Island, at the edge of the Birdcage. Law (Rosinante) desperately presses both palms against the Birdcage, sweating profusely, while Rosinante (Law) watches him with a completely speechless expression...]
...
Kano Country, Water 7.
Deep within the Cold Fragrance Garden, in front of the flower grove, the Deputy Minister clasped his hands behind his back and reported toward the depths of the woods.
"...The information came from civilians around Takuya Road. They reported seeing suspicious people plotting something, intending to cause trouble in the Water City of Kyoto."
Amid the flowers, a gigantic scaled Black Shadow moved through the grove. Upon hearing this, it burst into thunderous laughter.
"Reported, huh... Hā hā hā! Good! I never expected that after nearly three hundred years, those remnants would still be alive. How interesting... Those pathetic insects have been running from place to place just to survive. What can they possibly accomplish now by secretly plotting one or two little tricks?"
The Deputy Minister bowed and asked quietly, "Then should we simply leave them alone, or...?"
Deep within the flower grove, the enormous Black Shadow suddenly turned its head. Its two eyes, as large as dark-golden lanterns, stared coldly at the Deputy Minister outside the woods.
"..."
A thin layer of sweat appeared on the Deputy Minister's forehead.
"Understood, Your Majesty."
"I laugh at them for overestimating themselves..."
The Black Shadow with those dark-golden eyes spoke coldly to itself, its deep voice carrying through the grove. Suddenly, it opened its enormous fanged mouth and tossed the cluster of pale-red flowers it had been playing with into its mouth, grinding and chewing them between its teeth.
"...But that doesn't mean they can be allowed to live."
"Yes," the Deputy Minister replied.
Even the Two Treasures Navy and Eight Treasures Navy had been forced to bow their heads and submit. What could a few surviving remnants of the demon alliance possibly accomplish?
They were nothing more than clowns, and their strength was hardly worth fearing. But they were still a serious hidden threat.
Their very existence was a threat.
Just then, a guard hurried over and whispered a few words to the Deputy Minister before bowing and leaving.
"King," the Deputy Minister called toward the depths of the woods. "It's the Marines..."
"The Marines?"
The gigantic scaled Black Shadow deep in the flower grove suddenly began shrinking.
A moment later, a short, hunched middle-aged man with a long beard slowly emerged from the woods. He wore small round sunglasses, a tiny gold-trimmed cap on his completely bald head, and a black dragon tattoo on his temple.
The Deputy Minister lowered his hands respectfully.
"A Marine battleship has passed through our territory and docked at Huatting Harbor in the east."
King stroked his long beard and said calmly, "Get them to leave as soon as possible."
"Yes."
.........
〖Kano Country, Huatting Harbor...〗
The Marine battleship slowly pulled into port. On the deck, the female Rear Admiral looked around but saw no sign of Giorno or Jolyne Cujoh. She couldn't help feeling puzzled.
"Weren't they the ones who wanted to come to Kano Country? Now that we're here, where are they?"
The Marines began searching around. Before long, a member of the logistics crew exclaimed in surprise.
"They haven't come back?"
The Rear Admiral frowned.
"What do you mean, 'haven't come back'?"
The logistics Marine recalled what had happened.
"When we could first see Kano Country's island in the distance, Giorno jumped off the battleship by himself... Ah!"
He slapped his fist into his palm as he suddenly realized.
"Did he swim directly to Kano Country?"
"Why didn't you say that earlier?!" the other Marines complained in unison. "Did he think the battleship was too slow? He didn't even say anything before jumping off! That's seriously rude!"
The Rear Admiral took a deep breath.
Then another.
Then she asked, "What about Jolyne Cujoh? Did she jump into the sea too?"
"No, she didn't..." The logistics Marine quickly shook his head.
The other Marines nodded.
"Of course. She's the Captain, after all. At least she knows..."
"After Giorno jumped into the sea, Jolyne Cujoh disappeared into thin air," the logistics Marine added.
"You should've said that at the same time!!!"
The Marines roared and lunged at him.
"BANG!"
The Rear Admiral slammed her fist into the metal deck, leaving a deep dent.
"Those two pirates are way too damn free-spirited!!"
.........
〖Farther south of Huatting Harbor, a deserted stretch of coastline...〗
The white waves crashed against the rocks, scattering droplets that drifted away in the sea breeze and brought a refreshing coolness to the air.
A young girl sat alone by the shore, holding a bamboo fishing rod. A fishing line was attached to its tip, or calling it a line wasn't quite accurate. The thing hanging from her rod was two fingers wide, looking more like a strip of broad noodles than a fishing line. It swayed gently in the sea breeze and waves.
She had been fishing like this for some time, staring blankly at the endless horizon.
Suddenly, the bamboo rod dipped.
The girl snapped back to reality and blinked in surprise.
The rod sank even farther, as though she'd hooked an enormous fish.
"..."
Only then did the girl begin struggling to pull it up. But just as the bamboo rod had seemed weighed down by something heavy, it suddenly became light.
A tall, sturdy figure leaped out of the sea in front of her, holding a fish in each hand.
Slap. Slap. Slap...
The man raised the two fish and asked the girl sitting on the shore, still clutching her bamboo rod,
"Were you fishing for this big one? Or this one... Oh, this one's pretty big too."
The girl ignored him.
She simply stared blankly at his feet.
The man's feet went "Bang! Bang!" as each step exploded through the air. His whole body rose and fell with every step, yet he never actually dropped into the sea. It was almost as if he could fly.
Seeing the girl staring at him without saying a word, Liam scratched his head in confusion.
"Is she a dummy or something?"
He shook his head, used Geppo to leap onto the shore with the fish in hand, then casually tossed one of them toward the girl with a grin.
"You don't even have a fishhook. I'll give you a fish if you show us the way. How about it?"
Smack, smack.
The fish landed beside the girl and flopped around on the ground.
"Us?"
The girl looked at Liam but still said nothing, simply staring at him blankly.
Sure enough, there was no fishhook attached to the end of the long strip hanging from her bamboo rod. It was just a strap. There was no way she could possibly catch a fish with that.
Well... she did catch something.
She caught Liam.
"I have to admit, you really do have a way with girls..."
Another woman's voice suddenly came from beside him.
The girl blankly turned her head and saw a tall woman who had appeared at some point without her noticing. Her clothes, like those of the man who had just jumped out of the sea, were clearly not in the style of Kano Country.
Robin lowered her sunglasses slightly and glanced at the girl sitting there fishing alone.
"Last time on Zou Island, you also happened to run into a little girl who had fallen from the sky..."
"I have to disagree with that," Liam protested. "You were there every time too. Why can't you be the one who has a way with girls?"
Robin gave him a look that clearly said, 'Do I really need to explain this?' Then she pointed at him, followed by herself.
The meaning was obvious.
'Because I was one of those girls you happened to have a way with...'
Liam scratched his head and laughed.
"Ah, right."
Robin put Vane into her bag, then walked over to the fishing girl and bent down, asking gently,
"Young girl, what's your name?"
The girl remained silent. Instead, she put away her bamboo rod, carefully wrapped the long strap around it, hoisted the rod onto her shoulder, and walked away.
"Is she really a dummy?" Liam muttered, rubbing his chin.
Robin put her sunglasses back on and watched the girl's retreating figure thoughtfully.
"Her clothes are very old and don't fit her properly. It looks like she isn't living very well..."
Liam looked around the coastline. It was nothing but wilderness. There were no fields, no forests, and the rugged terrain didn't look suitable for living in at all.
"She's still a local. Let's follow her and see where she lives. We can also ask about the location of the Eight Treasures Navy that Rayleigh mentioned."
His Kenbunshoku Haki swept across the area. There were several presences farther ahead in the direction the girl had gone, suggesting that there was indeed a settlement nearby.
Robin nodded and followed him.
『B.I.B.』 floated along behind them, carrying the Den Den Mushi that had brought Robin here. It raised its chin toward the girl ahead, who was carrying the bamboo rod on her shoulder.
『She's an Ability user...』
Because it possessed the ability to steal and bestow Devil Fruit powers, 『B.I.B.』 also had an instinctive way of determining whether someone was an Ability user. That was how it had instinctively recognized that Zou was an Ability user back then.
"An Ability user?"
Robin looked surprised, but she also seemed to suddenly understand something.
'Why does this plot feel so familiar?'
Liam exchanged a glance with his Stand.
They continued following the girl carrying the bamboo rod. Before long, a shabby little village came into view.
Suddenly, someone up ahead called out to her.
"Yu! Come here! Don't go any farther! Hurry!"
Yu?
Liam sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness her name isn't Tama."
Robin looked at him strangely.
'What difference would that make?'
I hadn't originally planned to start the Heart Pirates' cover story this early. I thought it would be more surprising if I waited a while before bringing it back, but I noticed that quite a few readers were especially concerned about Baby 5's fate.
All I can say is: I care about it even more than you do...
Don Sai? What kind of crooked melon and cracked date is that? Law is obviously the better match!
(End of Chapter)
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