"What a massive snail!"
"Why would they pull a boat with a snail?"
"I have no idea, but it looks so cool. I want a snail boat too!"
Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were excitedly discussing the strange ship. Their comments deeply hurt the feelings of Momoo, who was resting in his tank; even though Luffy already had a sea beast to pull the Sunny, he was already dreaming about another ship's snails. The large Germa vessel came to a halt, and a tall, graceful woman with pink hair appeared at the bow.
Luffy stared at her for a moment, his eyes locking onto her curly eyebrows. "Huh? It's Sanji!"
Usopp and Chopper immediately smacked him on the head. "That is clearly a girl!"
"Reiju? Why are you here?" Sanji asked, looking completely shocked by her appearance.
Reiju gave a helpless sigh. "Father is terrified of the Straw Hats, so he sent me to block your path. He knows we have a good relationship. Sanji, my dear brother, how have you been all these years?"
The crew was curious to hear she was Sanji's sister, but they remained quiet. They knew this was a family matter and waited for Sanji to decide how to handle it. Sanji stood silently and lit a cigarette. After a long pause, he finally spoke. "I'm doing great. I'm the chef for a crew of the Five Emperors. If it wasn't for a certain b*****d trying to use me again, I'd be even better. I wouldn't have had to come back to the North Blue at all!"
Reiju sighed again, sensing the deep resentment in his voice. She knew Sanji had officially left the Vinsmoke family and was no longer under their father's control. Judge's attempts to manipulate him had clearly backfired, leading the Straw Hats directly to their doorstep. Still, Reiju had her orders to delay the Straw Hats until the Big Mom Pirates arrived to assist. Her father had even told her to sacrifice her own body if it would buy them time. While she hated the order, she felt she had no choice but to try.
"Dear Fifth Emperor, please allow me to introduce myself," Reiju said, turning her attention toward Luffy with a polite bow. "I am Reiju, the eldest daughter of the Vinsmoke family. My father sent me to negotiate. Germa has no wish to be your enemy. I ask that you please calm down; everything that happened before was just a misunderstanding."
Luffy was not interested in excuses. "I already know the truth. We are here to beat Germa and show you with our fists that Sanji is a free pirate. He is the only one who controls his own life and marriage! Also, the chefs at the Baratie are my friends. Since you tried to threaten them, I have to teach you a lesson!"
Luffy was determined to fight. While he usually seemed carefree, he possessed a sharp intuition for his friends' feelings. He could tell that Sanji still carried a deep-seated fear of Germa from his childhood. Luffy knew that words wouldn't help; he had to crush Germa to show Sanji that with the Straw Hats behind him, he never had to be afraid again.
"Then I have no other choice," Reiju said softly. "My orders are to stop you no matter what. I cannot disobey my father."
"Oh? And how are you going to stop us?" Luffy asked, cracking his knuckles. "Do you want to fight?" Ever since the trouble with Big Mom began, Luffy had been itching for a fight. Now that one of his targets was standing right in front of him, he wasn't going to hold back.
Suddenly, Reiju changed her posture, putting on a seductive look and winking at Luffy. The crew was stunned. Brook fell to the deck, a massive nosebleed erupting from his skull.
Luffy just blinked, looking confused. "Is something wrong with your eyes? Why are they twitching?"
The crew nearly face-planted. They had forgotten that Luffy was completely immune to female charms. Even Boa Hancock, the most beautiful woman in the world, couldn't get a reaction out of him. It wasn't that Luffy was strange; he just didn't care about those things at all.
Reiju felt her face go stiff with embarrassment, but she pushed forward. "I will dedicate myself to you, Captain. If you accept me, can we let this matter go?"
Luffy tilted his head. "Dedicate yourself to me? Why? What would I even do with you?"
"You could do anything you wanted," she replied. "Even... lewd things."
"Lewd things? Oh, I see. No thanks, I'm not interested in that," Luffy said bluntly. "Because you're Sanji's sister, I won't hit you. Just get out of the way. I'm going to go find your dad and beat him up!"
Reiju was frozen in shock. She couldn't believe a man—especially a powerful Emperor—was completely unimpressed by her beauty. She began to wonder if Luffy simply didn't like women at all.
"Reiju, stop wasting your time," Sanji said. "Luffy doesn't care about that stuff. It wouldn't matter even if you took your clothes off. Besides, you're only doing this because that b*****d of a father ordered you to. To give an order like that is inhuman!"
Luffy finally understood the situation and his anger flared. "Wait, your father ordered you to give up your body just to settle a fight? What kind of father does that?! No wonder Sanji hates him! Just wait, I'm definitely going to blow him away. Someone like that doesn't deserve to be a father!"
His words left Reiju speechless. She hadn't expected this Emperor, whom she had just met, to be so angry on her behalf. "So this is the Straw Hat Captain? Sanji really did find a great leader," she thought, feeling a sense of relief for her brother.
However, Reiju still felt she had to fulfill her mission. Her purple cloak began to flutter like wings, and a faint purple mist rose from her body as she prepared to use her poison powers to stop them.
Suddenly, the cold steel of a blade was pressed against her shoulder from behind.
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