"Delete it!!!"
"No."
Hawk Eyes's face darkened as he clenched his teeth, glaring furiously at the innocent Den Den Mushi in Orin's hand.
"Orin, you bastard…"
Mihawk had no choice. He casually walked over to Orin's side as if nothing had happened, then suddenly reached out.
Naturally, he grabbed nothing.
The Den Den Mushi vanished just before he touched it, reappearing in Orin's other hand.
"Alright, alright, so you're playing sneak attacks now, huh?"
Seeing his ambush fail, the cold and aloof Hawk Eyes's expression grew even darker as he tried to snatch it back.
But under Orin's Warp-Warp Fruit ability, everything was pointless.
In the end, Mihawk only gave up after Orin promised not to spread the recording. Folding his arms, he sat down quietly.
Meanwhile, nestled in Moria's arms like a porcelain doll, the beautiful little Perona poked her head out.
She curiously eyed the handsome young man with black hair and a long blade on his back—the one who had just held her.
Mihawk noticed her gaze but only closed his eyes impatiently.
Brats like this…
He really had no way of dealing with them.
...
At the same time, in the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Well then, Crocodile, now that we've brought you back here, our mission is complete."
At the harbor, a Marine battleship slowly docked. Rows of Marine Headquarters soldiers stood guard, watching as a cloaked figure walked off the ship.
It was none other than Crocodile, who had been imprisoned in Impel Down for quite some time and was finally released.
"It's been a long time, this land…"
All this time, she had been confined in the cold and damp prison of Impel Down. Poor food, restless sleep, and not even two cigars smoked.
She thought she was tough for not surrendering, but those bastards like Orin had already defected, making her suffer for nothing.
Now that she was back, she was determined to wash away the ill fortune and enjoy herself.
Heading straight for Sammi's office, she ran into many who recognized her along the way, though none stopped her.
"Oh my, isn't this Crocodile? When did you get back?"
Sammi was sipping afternoon tea, gracefully holding a small teacup.
Just recently, one of the Sea Emperors, BIG MOM, had sent her an invitation to attend a tea party. After consulting Orin, Sammi gladly agreed to attend.
But since she was usually busy handling Orin's affairs, she rarely had time for tea or manners, so she had to brush up on tea party etiquette now.
The sudden sight of Crocodile's return surprised her.
Crocodile walked into the room, sat down moodily on the sofa, and grabbed a cigar from the table to light.
"Phew…"
She had been suffocating without this.
"Looks like you were just released. Impel Down's environment is pretty harsh, isn't it?"
Sammi sipped her tea casually.
But the mention of it only darkened Crocodile's face.
"Yeah… if I could, I'd never want to return to that damned place."
Crossing her legs, she smoked leisurely on the soft sofa in the warm, comfortable room.
This was the life of a human being…
"By the way,"
As if suddenly remembering, Crocodile raised her head and looked at Sammi, who sat serenely enjoying her tea.
"Orin and Mihawk, those two—did they ever come back?"
Ever since they had parted ways, she hadn't seen them. She asked out of rare concern.
"Orin-sama and Mihawk-san? They came back about two months ago, but they soon set sail again."
Since Orin's whereabouts weren't exactly a secret to Crocodile, Sammi thought for a moment and told her honestly.
But the answer left Crocodile in disbelief. A vein bulged on her forehead, her gaze fierce.
"Nani? You mean they already teamed up and went sailing together?"
"And that was two months ago!!!"
Crack!
Her cigar snapped in half, crumbling into sand and scattering away.
She had thought the two of them were wandering somewhere, too busy to rescue her.
But it turned out they had known all along—and after giving Sammi a heads-up, they had already gone out to sea together, shoulder to shoulder.
Seeing Crocodile's grim expression, Sammi broke into a cold sweat.
Had she said something wrong?
For several days, Crocodile remained in a foul mood.
Even at the casino, the manager tread carefully, arranging shills to deliberately lose against her, afraid she'd erupt into a sandstorm and tear the place apart.
This continued until Orin and Mihawk returned.
"Our next stop—let's head to Fishman Island."
Hands in his pockets, Orin casually escaped from a crowd of fangirls while chatting with Mihawk.
"Fishman Island?"
"Yeah. For one of the future Seven Warlords of the Sea candidates, and also to revisit an old place."
Over the years, Orin had always traveled between Paradise and the New World by leaping over the Red Line. It had been ages since he last visited Fishman Island.
Beautiful mermaids, lovely architecture, fun Sea Kings,
And a whole bunch of fishman punks.
It was still a place Orin was quite interested in.
"Whatever you say."
Mihawk didn't care. Although he didn't recall any fishman among the Warlord candidates, as long as Orin had decided, that was fine.
The two of them walked through the bustling district, heading straight for Sammi's office building.
"Finally back. This trip really did take quite a while…"
As soon as they entered, Orin's two little attendants rushed to greet him. Hugging his waist happily, they hurried off to prepare massage and food.
Orin patted their heads, then looked around the room. His gaze met a pair of eyes.
A pair of shadowed, brooding eyes.
"Oh, isn't this Crocodile? Long time no see~"
Orin greeted with a smile, completely ignoring her ugly expression.
Mihawk stood to the side, watching the show. Though he was involved too, it was clear Crocodile's anger was directed mainly at Orin.
"…"
Crocodile was not swayed by his smile. Instead, she strode forward, cigar clenched between her teeth, her face filled with anger.
She grabbed Orin by the collar and shouted furiously:
"What the hell!! You bastard!!"
"You went sailing with Mihawk and completely forgot about me?!!"
Orin's expression turned strange. He didn't understand why Crocodile looked so furious after such a long time apart. But after listening carefully and thinking it through, realization struck him.
"I thought you'd been released and gone off to party."
"Don't tell me… Crocodile, you refused to join the Seven Warlords, so while we were out having fun, you were actually rotting in prison?"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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