"You—!"
Kalifa gritted her teeth at Reiju's mocking tone. With a sharp motion, she raised her leg to unleash a Tempest Kick, but Reiju countered with a single step, effortlessly blocking the strike.
A twitch appeared on Kalifa's forehead. Strike after strike had been anticipated and countered. Her anger reached its peak.
"My turn."
Reiju smiled calmly, grabbed Kalifa by both arms, and lifted her high into the air before slamming her down with brutal force.
Kalifa had just enough time to react.
Iron Body!
Boom!
The ground cracked beneath the impact. Her mask shattered on impact, revealing a pained expression on her face.
"Still conscious? Looks like I underestimated you."
Reiju raised an eyebrow in surprise.
When she'd tossed Sara earlier, she'd only used a fraction of her strength, and that had been enough to make her beg for mercy. But with Kalifa, she'd used her full strength—and yet, she was still awake.
Robin, Anna, and Shalria watched from the side in silence, clearly impressed. To withstand a full-force slam from Reiju was no small feat.
"Cough... You all..."
Kalifa coughed harshly. Without activating Iron Body in the nick of time, she would've been down for good.
"Heh."
Reiju chuckled and grabbed her again, lifting her effortlessly into the air.
Kalifa's eye twitched.
Iron Body!
Bang!
Iron Body!
Bang!
Iron—
By the third slam, Kalifa was completely unconscious.
Reiju casually fastened a pair of sea prism stone cuffs around her wrists and tossed her limp body to Anna and Shalria.
"Take her back to the ship and lock her up. Wait for Sora's orders."
"Got it. We won't let anyone see us."
"After that, go meet up with Sora."
"Yes, Reiju!" the two replied obediently.
Robin returned from a nearby shop with a giant stuffed bear. Anna and Shalria stuffed Kalifa inside and carried the bear through the streets, back to the Divine Slave.
"Come on, Robin. Let's go shopping."
"Mm."
With the mission complete, Reiju took Robin's hand, and the two headed off toward the shopping district.
Back at the Galley-La Company president's office—
As Sora and Iceburg discussed how to open a new sea train route between Water 7 and Alabasta, a Galley-La employee delivered a letter to Iceburg.
"If you're busy, Mr. Iceburg, I can leave you to it," Sora said with a polite smile, noticing the slight frown on Iceburg's face.
"It's nothing," Iceburg replied quickly. "Kalifa just sent in a sudden leave request to return home. That's all."
Looks like Reiju and the others succeeded.
Sora smiled faintly. With Kalifa captured, his objectives in Water 7 were nearly complete. All that remained was to wrap up the sea train deal and move on to the Florian Triangle to find Moriah. He still had a gothic little cutie named Perona waiting for him—and he didn't plan to keep her waiting long.
Two hours later, the meeting concluded.
They had finalized the plan: Iceburg would send a team to scout out a safe route between Water 7 and Alabasta. Sora would fund the construction of the sea train and the track infrastructure, and would handle negotiations with the Alabasta side.
"Well then, Mr. Rain—pleasure doing business!" Iceburg said, shaking his hand warmly.
Expanding Tom's sea train legacy was a dream Iceburg had held for years.
"Likewise," Sora replied with a smile. 'Mr. Rain' was the alias he was using for this visit.
He then added, "Mr. Iceburg, how about I provide 5 billion Berries' worth of gold as the initial investment?"
If there was one thing the Divine Slave had in abundance, it was gold.
"Even better!" Iceburg grinned. Gold was the most reliable currency in the pirate world.
Shortly after, Sora, Iceburg, and a team of Galley-La staff made their way to the dock where the Divine Slave was moored.
Anna and Shalria had just cleaned Kalifa up and secured her in Sora's quarters. Seeing Sora and Iceburg arrive, they hurried down to greet them.
Sora then ordered Anna and Shalria to begin hauling gold from the ship to hand over to Iceburg.
"Wait—isn't that Iceburg himself?"
"And he's escorting the Five Seas Chamber president? This guy must be big."
"Whoa, what's that shining stuff?"
"Idiot! That's gold!"
"Damn, no wonder that president is so generous. Look at that pile!"
On the adjacent Marine battleship, sailors watched in awe as Anna and Shalria moved chest after chest of gold. Murmurs of envy spread quickly.
"Mr. Iceburg," Sora said, smiling as he listened to the chatter, "whose battleship is that?"
"Hmm? Oh, that's Captain Hana's vessel—from Marine HQ. She came with Admiral Akainu from the North Blue last month. Her ship had mechanical issues, so she stayed behind while the fleet moved on."
Hana? Just returned from the North Blue?
She must've been hunting me, Sora thought with amusement.
He'd expected to cross paths with her during the Marineford War—he hadn't expected to run into her this soon.
Still, Hana—cool and elegant—was easily his favorite woman in the Navy.
Once the 5 billion Berries' worth of gold was handed over, Sora said his goodbyes to Iceburg and returned to the Divine Slave.
By now, Reiju, Robin, Nami, Vivi, and the others had returned from their shopping trip.
With everyone accounted for, Sora prepared to set sail from Water 7.
Since Marines were nearby, he refrained from using any ship control abilities and instead left it to Nami to organize the crew and begin the departure.
Soon, the Divine Slave unfurled its sails and glided from the docks under the golden rays of sunset—watched by Iceburg and the curious Marines.
Inside the captain's quarters—
Kalifa, hands and feet shackled, glared at Sora with fury burning in her eyes.
"Miss Kalifa, why did you attack my crew?" Sora asked, sipping red wine as he gazed at her with amusement. Her current outfit was a bit too revealing to match her usual composure.
"Who are you really?!"
She no longer believed he was some president of a merchant chamber.
No ordinary businessman had subordinates as powerful as Reiju.
"Heh. Miss Kalifa, you ought to recognize me."
Sora smiled, then wiped his face with a damp towel, washing off the disguise.
Miss Golden Week's palette-based illusion disappeared with water—just one of its peculiar properties.
When Kalifa saw his real face, her eyes widened in shock.
"You're... the God-Slayer, Sora!!!"