Kaido was probably the only man who had stayed on the island the longest in recent years.
"I really want to touch him, would he get angry if I did?"
"No idea. And is this the difference between men and women? He doesn't even wear clothes on his upper body."
The Kuja had a rather special sense of aesthetics. They possessed a normal standard of beauty. Hancock, in their eyes, was an empress as beautiful as an angel, but they also had another way of judging beauty.
Aside from looks, strength could also be equated with beauty. Of course, if someone was too ugly, the two values would likely cancel each other out.
Because of this, people who were both powerful and above average in appearance easily drew attention among the Kuja.
The constant chattering reached Kaido's ears. Their loud scheming only gave him a headache.
"That's enough! If you're going to talk about someone, don't let them hear you!"
Kaido was starting to regret taking on this job. He couldn't fight to his heart's content, and on top of that he had to escort so many people back. If he'd known earlier, he would've stayed on Onigashima and kept fighting Yamato.
"He could've found some other way to move this island. He really knows how to order people around."
Only then did Kaido belatedly realize something. Since Arceus could create Regigigas to transport New Fishman Island, there was no reason it couldn't move Amazon Lily as well. This was basically just laziness.
"Maria is way better than these women. At least she isn't this noisy."
Maria, who had grown up around Kaido, understood his preferences much better. Unlike the Kuja, who had never seen men before, she knew when to stay quiet and when to keep her distance from Kaido.
As for now—
Kaido's shout had some effect. At least, the loud scheming turned into loud scheming from farther away.
"Whatever. Let's just deliver the island to its destination sooner. Hey! Bring me some booze! I've got zero motivation like this!"
With nothing else to do, Kaido could only drink to pass the time. As long as he didn't drink himself unconscious, his flame clouds wouldn't be affected. He could fight while dragging an island along, after all. Drinking was nothing.
No traffic laws in any world ever said you couldn't pilot an island after drinking. Some people even had to down a bit of vodka before boarding a plane.
Kaido's voice echoed across nearly all of Amazon Lily. The others looked toward Hancock, as if asking whether they should bring Kaido alcohol. Once they received Hancock's approval, they immediately began scrambling for the task.
An angry Kaido was still terrifying. After that one shout, the people observing from the shadows vanished at once.
Plenty of people now wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to get a closer look at this man.
Only someone beat them to it.
"All of you, quiet down. I'll deliver it myself. One should show respect to guests."
Saying that, Hancock personally went to the Kuja warehouse, directing a few monkeys to pull carts loaded with alcohol toward Kaido.
"Granny, why are you crying?"
After Hancock left, Sandersonia and Marigold suddenly noticed Gloriosa wiping her tears with a handkerchief, wearing a deeply gratified expression.
"It's nothing. Hancock has finally grown up a little."
Watching Gloriosa get lost in her own emotions, Sandersonia and Marigold exchanged glances.
[What should we do? Should we tell Granny that Sister only went because she just got a message?]
[Forget it. Granny's getting old—let's not upset her. Let her be happy for a while.]
Earlier, Gloriosa had left to handle some Kuja-related matters, and it was during that time that Hancock received a new message from Olga.
However, after only two messages were sent, there was no further word, which is why she came to ask what exactly happened.
She had no interest in Kaido at all, she was just curious about Olga's situation. It was completely different from what Gloriosa imagined.
Likewise, Kaido had no interest in Hancock either, focusing all his attention on the alcohol instead.
Glug, glug, glug.
One barrel was quickly drained by Kaido. Only then did he properly look at Hancock.
"The alcohol here is a bit light, but not bad. What do you want?"
"Well… Mr. Kaido-san, I wanted to ask, has Sister Olga been carrying out some kind of mission?"
"Olga? I remember someone organizing some kind of Pirates Festival or something. Olga should be about to reach Mandrell's territory by now.
As for who organized that festival… why can't I remember?"
Kaido casually picked up another barrel, seemingly intending to use alcohol to help clear his head.
"Um, excuse me… is there any danger?"
"Danger? Worororo, you really care about her. There's no need to worry about that. She's one of my Calamities. If there's any danger, it'll be her enemies who feel it.
The ones who have to uphold the name of 'Calamity' are they themselves!"
As he spoke, Kaido downed another vat of alcohol. Three vats in a row—though each vat was basically just a jar to Kaido—still put him squarely over the limit for drunk driving, and in the blink of an eye, he came up with a new idea.
"This feels too slow. Tell your people to get ready, we're speeding up!"
Before Hancock could even react, Amazon Lily's movement speed suddenly increased. If it had been moving steadily before, now everyone on the island could clearly feel the tremors.
"Your booze… the kick is pretty strong, Worororo!"
Amidst a burst of wild laughter, a high-speed island race began in the skies above. The message Olga had sent earlier was fairly long, and because Hancock's Rotom wasn't the full version, it lacked an automatic notification feature, and Hancock read messages by flipping pages.
She failed to notice that there was one final line on the last page.
"Don't let the Governor-General drink alcohol, don't give him even a single drop!!"
In Mandrell's territory, Mandrell was leisurely sitting on a rooftop, basking in the sun, as if everything happening around him had nothing to do with him.
Someone had previously asked whether he wanted to go support New Fishman Island, but knowing how the Beasts Pirates made decisions, he wasn't in a hurry.
He said it was enough just to take care of this island.
"Dad, there's an island flying in the sky, and it's flying really fast!"
"Maylo, you must be seeing things. How could an island fly in the sky? There aren't any Sky Islands in our waters."
It wasn't that there were no islands in the sky, Mandrell just wasn't very interested in Sky Islands. They were basically a vast expanse of white, and anything they had up there also existed down below.
Still, Maylo's words made him think about taking some time to bring his daughter to see a Sky Island someday, if only to broaden her horizons.
"No, I'm not mistaken. That island is huge. Meowna and Wolff saw it too. If you don't believe me, ask them."
The Beasts Pirates' routine group activities sometimes placed members who were still basically children on random islands. Given the current environment, kids who couldn't yet face powerful enemies on their own had no choice but to stay active within the territory.
Mandrell's and Tesoro's territories became the most popular spots. Thanks to family and environmental factors, both of them placed great emphasis on building entertainment facilities.
"That's right, Uncle Mandrell. If you don't believe it, look over there, the island hasn't flown far yet."
"Yeah, yeah! That island can drift, too!"
The word "drift" was something they'd learned on Tesoro's ship, coined from the racing competitions held there.
Urged by the children, Mandrell removed his eye mask and sat up, just in time to see an island drifting past with a sharp, curb-drifting turn.
"That cloud… that's Boss Kaido, isn't it?"
Kaido's flame clouds were very different from ordinary clouds. These youngsters had never seen Kaido fight before, but Mandrell was one of the old-timers who had followed Kaido from the very beginning. He was intimately familiar with this technique.
"Looks like Boss Kaido drank too much again. Those people are really unlucky. The last time Boss Kaido drove drunk was when he'd just entered the New World… ah, those were the days. Wait, why haven't I retired yet?"
Lost in memories, Mandrell suddenly realized something; he'd long since strayed from his original goal.
"Um, Uncle Mandrell, you're usually not in Onigashima, so you might not know."
"At the last meeting, Uncle King and the others said—"
"If you want to retire, you're probably going to have to wait until your next life."
Meowna and Wolff delivered the harshest reality in the gentlest possible words, hitting him right in the heart.
"Mom also said you and Grandpa Hitsugisukan probably have a lot in common."
Just then, a black dot appeared on the horizon and gradually grew larger. Regigigas, dragging New Fishman Island, had arrived in the area. It didn't leave immediately, instead stopping some distance away.
According to the original plan, it would pause here for a while, allowing the Fish-Men on the island to rest and resupply. Those Fish-Men who chose to stay behind would also leave New Fishman Island at this point and remain in these waters.
"My fellow brethren, welcome! Boss? You came along too? That's great!"
Arlong, who had already switched professions to become a Fish-Man greeter, went to receive these compatriots who had traveled from afar. To his surprise, many young and strong Fish-Men, including Tiger, had stayed behind instead of leaving with Regigigas.
"Boss, is there something important going on?"
"Earlier, those Celestial Dragons sent a message to King Neptune, demanding that we hand over Jinbe and a certain number of slaves in exchange for peace."
"What?! Neptune wouldn't agree to something like that, would he?"
"Of course not. But us Fish-Men's retaliation is about to begin as well. Lord also believes my idea is reasonable."
With that, Tiger took out his Den Den Mushi and dialed Morgans' number.
"Hello? Who is this?"
"Fisher Tiger. Fisher Tiger, who once freed the slaves of the Red Line."
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