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Chapter Cover Serial – Love-Sick 16 – So It Was Their Meddling After All
In the Kuja Palace, Sander Sonia and Mari Grud brought Kuma and Dragon inside. Bonney nervously eyed the two newcomers. Hancock sat lazily on the Snake Princess's throne, absentmindedly responding as she played with a carving knife, the dazzling blade's edge reflected her stunning face...
…
The water flow from the shower didn't significantly interfere with Devil Fruit's powers, so Robin's real body was bathing in the bathroom, while she projected a flower clone lounging on the living room sofa.
The flower clone was wrapped in a thin blanket tossed over by Liam. Through the eyes, ears, mouth, and nose of the flower clone, Robin once again repeated the earlier question: "Why did you sign me up for the Swordsman Tournament too?"
To that, Liam instead seemed confused and asked: "If you didn't want to participate, why are you only asking now?"
In the bathroom, Robin's hand paused mid-scrub on the inner thigh of her long legs.
Before she could reply through her flower clone's mouth, a snap sounded right beside her ear.
Snap!
Liam grinned and said: "Was it because a friend of Liam's, though not super close, was standing nearby at the time, and you didn't want to object to Liam's decision in front of them, so you figured you'd bring it up casually later, in private, just the two of us? Something like that?"
"You..." The flower clone shook its head and smiled softly. In the bathroom, Robin pressed a towel against her face, but the more she pressed, the hotter it felt.
"You're surprisingly considerate, Robin-nee... Whoa!"
Two delicate white arms blossomed from Liam's shoulder and gave his cheek a hard tug.
After some teasing, silence settled in.
The petals on Liam's shoulder scattered, and he casually brushed them off, then sat down next to the flower clone on the sofa, crossing his legs and reclining into the cushions.
"There's no special reason, really. Since we're already here, wouldn't it be a shame not to participate?"
He looked up at the nicely decorated hotel ceiling, squinting slightly: "Besides... in the eyes of the world, 'Jolyne Cujoh' is showing off a fighting style completely different from the 'old days'. Isn't that a good thing?"
"So that's what you were thinking."
The flower clone leaned against Liam's outstretched arm and tilted her face up. Her damp, dark green eyes held a faint smile.
"But what if I hadn't accidentally discovered... 'Giorno Armor'?"
Liam replied nonchalantly:
"Then just wear the B.I.B. gear. In armored form, not even Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) can really see through it."
Once the Stand Armor is donned, it's fully integrated with the user's body, merged seamlessly.
Observation Haki doesn't let you see the B.I.B. in crystal-clear 4K anyway. Once it's on Robin, at most people will just think it's some kind of aura emanating from her.
"Besides, didn't you develop that move before signing up?" Liam chuckled. "Your hypothetical doesn't stand."
He turned to look, just as the flower clone beside him smiled faintly… the soft skin on her face flaked away piece by piece… until the whole figure crumbled into blooming petals, scattering with a flourish.
Liam looked toward the bathroom doorway, there stood Robin, stepping out through a swirl of hot steam, draped in a bath towel, leaning casually against the doorframe.
Her fingers twirled her damp hair as she smiled playfully at him:
"Every time Robin-nee fights in the ring, she's got my armor clinging close to her skin... just thinking about it feels kind of nice. So you want to do it over and over again, as much as possible, right?"
On the couch, Liam slapped his thigh and leaned back in silent laughter: "Hahaha!"
"My turn for a shower."
His smile faded as he suddenly stood and strode toward the bathroom. At the door, Robin's smile widened. She leaned into the frame and called after him: "Did I guess right?"
"You're so annoying," Liam turned and reached out, grabbing Robin's soft cheek with a big hand. "Your face is already this red, and you're still asking..."
Robin's plump lips were squished into a pout by his hand as she looked up with blinking, damp green eyes.
"It's just from the heat of the shower..."
One tall, one short.
One looking down, one looking up.
Their gazes locked.
Their breaths mingled, warm and close.
Steam billowed out from the bathroom, enveloping the two figures, one tall, one short, standing in the doorway. You could just barely make out the taller figure slowly lowering their head; the shorter one tiptoed slightly, arms raised… until the two overlapped.
Mist swirled. Shapes blurred. You couldn't see clearly. You really couldn't see clearly.
Oh, but there was something you could see: A bath towel flew out from within the cloud of steam.
…
The JOJO Pirates, just two members, had directly defeated the Marine force led by Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Onigumo...
This news spread like wildfire across the resort island.
The locals and tourists alike couldn't help but whisper and gossip while pointing at the Marines.
All around the island, various Swordsmanes and tournament participants who had been paying attention to the island's happenings quickly learned about the pirate-Marine skirmish that occurred earlier that evening.
"Interesting. This trip all the way from the New World wasn't a waste after all!" Someone cackled wildly on a street corner.
"Haha! I'd like to see whose sword is faster, mine or that JOJO Pirate guy's!" Someone else swung their blade twice at a training ground, shua shua.
"Tch, it's just a Vice Admiral… Hey, Captain, a Vice Admiral from Marine Headquarters isn't the same as one from West Blue!"
"Just how many terrifying monsters have slipped onto this tiny First Half island...?"
More and more people were left shocked by the JOJO Pirates' strength. A pirate crew of just two… had managed to push back a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral-led unit head-on.
And the rumors said… they weren't even injured.
Such a pirate crew, in this First Half of the Grand Line, was already deserving of the title "Monster." Unless a Marine Admiral personally intervened, it seemed no one could stop this strange and formidable "little" pirate group.
"Chopper N. Giorno... Kuujou Jolyne..."
On the other side of the island, among the Big Mom Pirates, a plump woman bearing a striking resemblance to Amande looked up in surprise after hearing the news.
Her name was Charlotte Monde, a member of the snake-head tribe, just like Amande, Ashu, and Effilé. They were quadruplets. Monde was the eldest of the four and also the second daughter of the Charlotte Family.
All four sisters were swordswomen, though only Amande truly mastered swordsmanship, and only she had formally trained in it. The other two younger sisters scoffed at this kind of "Paradise-level" tournament and didn't bother to come. Monde, however, had a close bond with Amande, so she came along to have some fun.
In Monde's eyes, this so-called "World's Strongest Swordsman Tournament" organized by that Morgan guy was basically an easy win for Amande. With her skill, both the championship and the title of "Greatest Swordsman" were well within reach.
But then, unexpectedly, they ran into that guy. Dracule Mihawk, aka Hawk Eyes.
A lone swordsman of such formidable skill, his power likely rivaled even the elites in their own household. That was Amande's assessment.
Earlier today, Monde had already been surprised when she returned from dinner and heard that a young man had intervened in a skirmish between Amande and Mihawk, and wasn't killed by Amande on the spot.
And then came the evening news: Two individuals from this so-called JOJO Pirate crew had first laid waste to the Sun Pirates, the same crew once led by the world's most wanted criminal (Dragon's identity still being a secret), and then proceeded to completely crush the Marines who arrived to retaliate. Among those Marines were a Headquarters Vice Admiral, a Rear Admiral, and a promising Commodore...
"Looks like those two have entered the tournament too," Monde said while munching on dessert, her thick neck making it hard to tell she was from the snake-head tribe at all. "Guess they'll be tough opponents tomorrow as well."
"Doeasn't matter..." Amande leaned against the balcony railing, eyes cold, a slender cigarette hanging from her lips, its smoke curling upward.
"Haha, true," Monde chuckled as she stuffed more dessert into her mouth, her eating habits reminiscent of her mother, Big Mom. "For you, the only real opponent... is that Hawk Eyes guy, right?"
"Seems like that Red-Haired guy has decent judgment after all."
On a high balcony under the moonlight, a man known as Hawk Eyes smiled faintly.
He sat in a high-backed chair, legs crossed, swirling a wine glass filled with dark red liquid that reflected the distant starlight.
"But not showing up for the tournament... that's disappointing."
Because the Swordsman Tournament was happening tomorrow, there were already hordes of journalists gathered on the island. And with such explosive news dropping, there was no way they could completely cover it up, not even to protect the Marines' reputation.
Many reporters were already rushing to fax their dispatches back to the news agencies via Den Den Mushi that very night.
(End Of This Chapter)
PS-"For every 100 power stones, I'll release one bonus chapter (Current-06)!"