"If it's upright, we attack the merchant ship and plunder it."
"If it's reversed, we let it go and leave."
With his rule set, Hawkins drew a tarot card and saw it was an upright Fool.
As he stared at the Fool card and its grotesque, wide-grinning clown, Hawkins frowned.
Then he began a divination to predict the outcome of the battle.
However, the longer he went on, the more cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and the paler his face became.
Because no matter how he read the cards, his own odds of surviving the battle were—
Zero.
"Chance of defeating the Five Seas Merchant Guild: zero."
"Chance of surviving defeat: zero."
"Chance of successfully escaping in the current direction: one…"
"Chance of successfully escaping by returning to the Sabaody Archipelago: fifty…"
"Chance of escaping while facing the three Admirals at Sabaody: ten. Chance of survival: twenty…"
Faced with these odds, Basil Hawkins fell silent.
Against the Five Seas Merchant Guild, his survival rate was zero.
Returning to the Sabaody Archipelago and facing the three Admirals… oddly had better chances.
Why, for him, did the Five Seas Merchant Guild pose a greater threat than the Navy's top brass?
What kind of twisted logic was this?
Shaking off his confusion, Hawkins immediately gave the order.
"Turn around. Full speed back to Sabaody."
If the cards had spoken, then for the sake of his own life, Hawkins had no choice but to follow their guidance.
The crewman in the bishop's robe hesitated, then said, "Captain, the three Admirals are already on Sabaody, searching for Godslayer Sora. If we go back now, we're walking into a trap!"
Hawkins replied coldly, "This is divine will."
The bishop-masked crewman froze for a second, then nodded respectfully. "Yes, Captain."
If it was divine will, then there was no arguing.
Following Hawkins' command, the Grudge Dolph pirate ship sharply turned around and headed straight for the Sabaody Archipelago.
…
Aboard the Divine Slave.
"Young master, it looks like they're heading back toward Sabaody."
"Should we keep chasing?"
Anna stood at the bow, peering through a telescope at Hawkins' pirate ship in the distance. She turned to Sora.
Back to Sabaody?
Sora sat up from his lounge chair, picked up a telescope, and confirmed it himself—Hawkins' ship was indeed sailing back toward the island.
Did Hawkins not know the three Admirals were stationed there, hunting pirates?
Was he seriously heading straight into that mess?
Now Sora had to decide—was it worth continuing the chase?
As he watched Hawkins' ship enter the inner waterways of Sabaody again, Sora furrowed his brow and began turning the ship away.
Sure, the Paramecia-type Straw-Straw Fruit was valuable, but it wasn't worth the risk of encountering an Admiral.
Even though the Divine Slave was disguised as a Five Seas Merchant Guild vessel and shouldn't draw suspicion…
Sora knew better than to push his luck. No point in putting his head on the chopping block.
Just as he was about to fully pull away, another pirate ship suddenly burst from Sabaody's inner waterway right in front of him.
When he saw the silhouette on the ship's bow, Sora's eyebrows rose, and he immediately gave up on Hawkins.
He redirected the ship to pursue the newcomer instead.
Why?
Because that ship belonged to Jewelry Bonney—the pink-haired glutton.
Devil Fruits were nice and all… but a beautiful woman with pink hair? Way more tempting.
And Bonney's Devil Fruit wasn't half-bad either.
The ability to seamlessly switch between girl, woman, and mature lady? For Sora, that trumped Hawkins' scarecrow dolls any day.
Besides, continuing to chase Hawkins meant possibly dealing with the Admirals. That wasn't worth it.
So the decision was obvious.
…
Aboard Bonney's ship.
Jewelry Bonney watched as Hawkins' crew passed by and frowned.
Their bizarre maneuver made her uneasy.
But when she reached the outer waters and saw no Marine ships—only a single merchant vessel—she finally relaxed.
Whatever Hawkins was doing, as long as it wasn't Akainu chasing her down, she'd manage just fine.
With a wave of her hand, she gave orders to her crew.
"Speed up. Get away from Sabaody. Once the Admirals leave, we'll return."
"Yes, Captain Bonney!" her crew answered and sprang into action.
Bonney glanced back at Hawkins' ship one last time.
She saw him at the rail, watching her with a weird expression. She couldn't figure out what he was thinking.
"What a weirdo. Acting like a priest's wife. Doesn't even act like a man."
She muttered in annoyance, starting to doubt whether Hawkins' 200 million-plus bounty was even justified.
Not long after they left the island's waters, one of Bonney's crewmates ran up to her.
"Captain, that merchant ship's still following us. It doesn't look like a normal merchant vessel."
"Merchant ship?"
Bonney turned around in surprise and spotted the ship flying the Five Seas Merchant Guild flag. It was definitely following them—and it was fast. At this rate, they'd be caught before long.
"Captain Bonney, that ship belongs to the Five Seas Merchant Guild of the North Blue. They're known for hunting pirates."
"Hunting pirates?"
"So they've got their eyes on my bounty now?" Bonney laughed in outrage.
Suddenly, she recalled Hawkins' North Blue background. Her heart skipped a beat.
'Could Hawkins have turned back because of that ship?'
'He'd rather face the three Admirals than deal with them?'
The realization struck her hard—and filled her with dread.
She thought back to the eerie way Hawkins had looked at her. It made her even more uneasy.
She immediately shouted to her crew:
"Full speed! Shake that merchant ship off our tail!"
"Yes, Captain Bonney!"
…
Back in Sabaody's inner river.
Hawkins, watching as the merchant ship gave up on him and turned to chase Bonney instead, let out a breath of relief.
Then, he reached into his deck and pulled out another tarot card—a Substitution Doll.
"So that's why the survival rate for returning to Sabaody was fifty percent…"