"Are you trying to abandon me?" Mitian instantly morphed into a picture of pitiful vulnerability.
Her objective had not yet been achieved. As a Marine, she was well aware of the danger the Legendary Four Brothers posed to the world order. However, she harbored her own designs. The World Government acted as a shield for the Celestial Dragons, and those so-called nobles were nothing but absolute filth, lower than beasts.
This world had long been overdue for a change, and at the very least, she intended to find her true purpose in it. This trip also provided the perfect opportunity to see exactly what kind of men these Legendary Four Brothers were.
Especially... Drake.
"What on earth are you blathering about?!" Drake paled in sheer horror. What was this demoness trying to pull? She was explicitly trying to ruin his reputation.
Was she seriously locking herself to him?
Drake took a swift step forward, bridging the gap to Mitian. Clapping a hand firmly over her mouth, he hissed in a panicked whisper next to her ear, "What exactly are you trying to achieve? If you keep this up, how am I ever supposed to face another girl in the future—"
"Just tell them the truth, make it clear that there's nothing between us. A woman like you shouldn't want to carry a reputation—"
"What did you say?! You want to look for other girls?" Before Drake could even finish his sentence, Mitian violently shoved him back and bellowed at the top of her lungs. "You're throwing me away?!"
"You..." Drake was left entirely tongue-tied. The narrative script was completely broken.
Weren't normal women supposed to be gentle, reserved, and modest? This was the absolute perfect opportunity for her to sever any association with him. Besides, she was a Marine! What business did a Marine have boarding a pirate ship? Wasn't she the least bit worried about giving her superiors a massive piece of political leverage against her?
To be honest, Drake could not comprehend her logic at all.
While Drake stood frozen in absolute bewilderment, the gaze of every single fighter on the coast snapped back over to lock onto his coordinate, their expressions incredibly strange.
Aboard the Thousand Sunny, Sanji's face was twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated venom, while Nami glared with absolute disdain. Even Robin maintained a completely expressionless facade. Although no words were spoken aloud, Drake easily deciphered a two-word label flashing within Nami's eyes:
Scumbag!
Even Ann, standing on his own deck, cast a highly peculiar look in his direction, though her expression was anchored more by intense skepticism than anything else.
"What is the meaning of this? There is absolutely nothing between us—" Drake's face darkened as he frantically tried to salvage his innocence.
But mid-sentence, Mitian suddenly lunged forward, pressing her lips firmly against his own.
"Mph..." This time, Drake's cognitive defenses completely collapsed.
This woman... has completely lost her mind!
A brief moment later, Mitian broke the kiss, pushing Drake back before pivoting sharply to sprint straight up the gangplank of the Guma.
At this stage, not a single soul made a movement to block her path...
The entire clearing was left frozen in a state of absolute, paralyzed shock.
This beautiful Marine... is completely unhinged! So aggressive, so intense, so...
Drake gently traced his fingers over his lips, which still retained a lingering trace of her warmth. He was entirely dazed. This was in broad daylight, right before a massive audience. Were the women of the One Piece world all cut from this exact cloth? How was a thoroughly upstanding modern youth like him supposed to survive this?
Furthermore, right when Mitian had brushed past him to storm the Guma, a faint whisper had drifted directly into his ear:
I love you...
His logic screamed at him that this woman undoubtedly harbored an underlying strategic motive and could not be trusted under any circumstances. But against a woman who played this aggressively, what man could possibly maintain a defense?
Defeated, Drake offered zero further explanations, silently following her onto the deck of the Guma.
It took a long, tense timeline before the spectators below finally managed to process the reality.
"Damn it all! Luffy's brother... he actually got a breathtaking beauty like that to... Aaargh! I am so incredibly envious!" Sanji wailed, looking as though he had been cast into the deepest pits of hell.
"Go die!" Nami delivered a fierce flying kick that sent him blasting across the deck.
"Drake... is he genuinely married?" Luffy's mouth hung wide open as he stared blankly at the Guma.
Ace stared toward the hatch where Drake's form had just vanished, murmuring softly under his breath, "Drake... I never would have guessed that out of the four of us brothers, you'd be the fastest to settle down."
Mid-sentence, he cut his gaze toward the exuberant Yamato standing alongside him.
At this moment, Yamato was bouncing on her heels, her eyes scanning the vast horizon with explosive excitement. This represented her definitive maiden voyage out to sea. Her heart was filled with monumental curiosity regarding the open ocean, driven by a profound yearning for the vibrant adventures recorded within Oden's journal. Consequently, she had formally enlisted with the Whitebeard Pirates.
Ace had already mapped out a strategic blueprint for her integration; once Yamato solidified her merit and commanded sufficient prestige among the ranks, he would formally bequeath the vacant position of Second Division Commander to her. He possessed absolute confidence that given her formidable strength, she would shoulder the responsibilities of the office flawlessly.
"Ace! It's time to move," Marco called out.
"Right!" Ace smiled warmly, hoisting little Otama onto his shoulder as bursts of fire erupted from his boots.
The compact sailing craft his vanguard utilized had undergone specialized, meticulous modifications, enabling them to harness his thermal energy to drive a high-velocity propulsion system.
"Ace, are we truly sailing out to sea now?" Otama's eyes widened to the size of saucers, a radiant, ecstatic smile painting her face.
"We are!" Ace chuckled. "Take a moment to bid your master farewell."
Hearing the prompt, a wave of sadness softened Otama's expression as she turned her head toward the rocky shoreline. Standing firm at the edge of the coast was an elderly figure clad in a crimson mask, his eyes pinned entirely onto her silhouette—her master, Tenguyama Hitetsu.
"Master! I'm leaving now..." Otama called out softly.
"Go on then! Isn't this the long-awaited dream you've been yearning for? I support you completely," Hitetsu waved his arm dismissively.
His voice was perfectly steady, and he anchored his posture with absolute stillness to ensure the alliance fighters couldn't detect a single crack in his composure. Yet beneath the wood of that mask, old tears were pouring uncontrollably down his weathered face. He had effectively raised Otama from infancy; watching her embark on a distant journey was an agonizing weight to bear.
But such was the inherent beauty of this world—to pursue the burning desire of one's soul, one must advance without a single backward glance. That was the essence of passion.
The master and disciple locked eyes across the widening distance, sharing a long, heavy silence that words could not bridge.
"Let's go!" Ace swept his arm forward, triggering a massive thermal eruption that sent the compact craft rocket-ing across the waves, carving a colossal wake through the sea.
Aboard the Thousand Sunny, Sanji's brow furrowed as he suddenly spoke up, "Wait, where's the moss-head? Did that bastard manage to get lost again?"
"Huh?" Chopper and the others blinked in confusion before their faces turned completely pale with panic.
"Eek!!"
"Zoro?! Where did Zoro go?!" Chopper screamed at the top of his lungs, running frantically across the deck.
"What?! Zoro is missing?!" Nami slapped a hand over her forehead, looking utterly helpless. How on earth did he manage to lose his way on a single, self-contained island?
"I'll go track him down," Luffy prepared to vault off the Sunny.
However, before he could jump, Zoro's silhouette slowly emerged from the smoke of the inner ruins, walking toward the coast.
"It's Zoro!" Relief washed over the Straw Hat crew.
"Hey! Moss-head, hurry up! You're the last one!" Luffy bellowed.
"Yeah, yeah, coming," Zoro waved a hand dismissively, before tossing a quiet remark over his shoulder. "I'm off."
Standing just a step behind him in the shadows was Hiyori, clad in her formal robes. She offered a gentle, elegant nod of farewell.
Zoro turned and marched up the gangplank of the Sunny. Hiyori lightly bit her lip, keeping her eyes fixed on his retreating back in absolute silence.
"Hey! Moss-head, what exactly were you whisper-ing to Lady Hiyori just now?!" Sanji growled, his glare dripping with absolute venom.
"Huh? What's it to you?"
"What's it to me?! Why?! Why is it that even a bastard with a lower bounty than mine gets to... Aaargh!!" Sanji screamed in a manic frenzy. The microsecond his eyes had registered Hiyori standing intimately behind Zoro, his mental sanity had completely shattered. What was wrong with the global balance of reality?
"Zoro, are we... ready to set sail?" Luffy asked, his tone shifting into focus.
"Yeah!" Zoro nodded firmly.
"Excellent!" Luffy swept his arm forward in a grand, dramatic gesture, planting his feet firmly upon the figurehead of the Sunny.
"Men! Set sail!"
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