Sero's barrage of questions left Sabo and Koala completely dumbfounded.
Isn't joining the Revolutionary Army all about passion and ideals?!
With all these conditions and questions, why don't you just join the Navy instead?!
...Uh... Maybe it's best if Sero just stays a laid-back drifter with no real stance.
After that, Sabo never brought up the topic of Sero joining the Revolutionary Army again.
Sero was more than happy to kick back and flirt with Hancock, spouting cringey but strangely charming pickup lines:
"I suspect you're a book… because the more I look at you, the sleepier I get."
"I can hold back my tears for anyone, except you. You're not 'anyone'. You're mine."
"You know the best way to eat this dish? While it's hot? Let me feed it to you."
"I wish we'd accidentally grow old together, no matter how thorny or twisted the road, as long as it ends with you."
"It wasn't that I met you in the best years, but that your presence made those years the best."
Lines like that, Sero, this smooth-talking... scumbag, ahem, this charming and learned young man, could rattle off from morning till night.
And Hancock? She was completely swept up in the honey trap.
At this point, if Sero asked Hancock to go solo to the Red Line and fight Imu, she'd probably fly-kick her way there without a second thought.
"Screee!!!"
Just then, Little Sparrow, in her vermilion bird form, let out a sharp cry.
It was a warning of danger up ahead.
It was now nightfall.
The Land of Wano had come into view.
At Little Sparrow's current flight speed, they'd reach Onigashima in less than a minute.
However, a giant bird blocked their path in the sky.
It didn't want them entering Wano's airspace.
"That's King in his pteranodon form?!"
Sero instantly recognized the creature; it was unmistakably King the Wildfire from the Beasts Pirates.
A top-tier fighter, roughly on par with Katakuri.
Getting into a fight here would be a major time drain.
Worse, it would alert the rest of the Beasts Pirates inside Wano.
And that would ruin their chances of finding Yamato on Onigashima.
"Let's jump down now and sneak in under the cover of darkness. Little Sparrow can distract King!"
"Screech! Screech!"
"Okay, okay! Not just one feast of sea fish, this time I'll treat you to two!"
No Little Sparrow could resist a seafood feast. If one wasn't enough, two certainly would be.
Immediately, Little Sparrow spun around midair and launched all four passengers, Sero, Sabo, Koala, and Hancock, off her back.
Then she dove straight at King in his pteranodon form.
Her phoenix-like body erupted in blazing flames, a scorching light that stood out starkly in the night sky.
It completely drew King's attention, leaving him no time to notice Sero and the others falling from the sky.
"See you on Onigashima, Little Sparrow!"
"Hey, hey, Sero! Maybe now would be a good time to think about how we're not gonna crash into the sea! Ahhh!!!"
Ever since nearly drowning before, Sabo had developed a deep psychological fear of the ocean.
Seeing that they were about to plunge into the water, he couldn't help but scream.
Koala grabbed Sabo's arm in concern.
Sero, who couldn't fly, was busy taking care of Hancock and carrying the sack containing Katakuri; he didn't have the bandwidth to worry about Sabo.
Fortunately, the four of them didn't fall into the sea.
Instead, they crash-landed onto the deck of a large pirate ship.
Well… Sabo and Koala did crash into the ship's cabin...
Only Sero, Hancock, and the sack with Katakuri landed smoothly.
"Hmm… if I'm not mistaken, that's the flag of the Beasts Pirates."
Upon arriving in unfamiliar territory, the first thing to do was, of course, observe their surroundings.
Sero looked up and saw the Beasts Pirates' flag fluttering atop the ship.
Unsurprisingly, it was one of their vessels. After all, only the Beasts Pirates sailed these waters near Wano.
"Lord Jack! Two intruders just landed on our ship. Wait, no, looks like more than two!"
In the silence of the night, the noise from Sabo and Koala crashing into the cabin was impossible to ignore.
In no time, Sero and Hancock were surrounded by Beasts Pirates.
"Jack?!"
Sero caught the key name.
Soon, he saw the pirate the others had referred to as "Lord Jack."
Huge body. Twin ivory tusk-like decorations.
This was Jack the Drought, one of the Beasts Pirates' top three All-Stars, alongside King and Queen.
A future meme legend known for saying, "Who do you think I am? Bring the ship over."
"Who the hell are you two?! How dare you barge onto Lord Jack's ship! You got a death wish?!"
Jack looked down arrogantly at Sero and Hancock.
He didn't recognize Hancock as a Warlord of the Sea.
Not surprisingly, though, Jack once failed to recognize even Sengoku, Tsuru, and Fujitora.
"Ahem! Sero, where the heck are we? Why is there a ship here? Still, anything's better than falling into the sea, hahaha!"
Sabo, now recovered, leapt back up from the cabin with Koala in tow, laughing like someone who had just narrowly escaped death.
"I've got some good news and some bad news. Sabo, which do you want first?"
Sero smirked, ignoring Jack's growing fury.
It's not that Sero was underestimating Jack; it's just that Jack was that bad.
Looking confused, Sabo glanced around and replied:
"Uh… the bad news first, I guess?"
"The bad news is: we're surrounded by the Beasts Pirates, led by one of the Three Disasters."
"You serious?! Then what's the good news?!"
"The good news is: it's just Jack the Drought, not King the Wildfire or Queen the Plague."
Hearing that, Jack completely lost it.
He roared and swung a massive fist at Sero in fury.
As one of Kaido's top officers, he couldn't stand being disrespected by some nobody.
"Oh! Then we're good!"
Sabo relaxed instantly.
He casually countered Jack's punch with a fire punch of his own and sent Jack flying.
"Sero, should we tie Jack up too and use him to help rescue Ace? I mean, yeah, Jack's trash, but he could at least soak up a bunch of bullets!"
Sabo's fire punch hadn't hurt Jack.
But the words that followed, suggesting Jack was only good for being a human shield, made Jack cough up blood from rage.
So I'm just a walking bullet sponge now?!
Even a saint couldn't put up with that!
Jack sprang back up and transformed into his mammoth form, roaring furiously at Sabo and even messing up his hairstyle.
"I'm gonna ram you to death, you little bastard!!!"
With that, mammoth-form Jack charged straight at Sabo.
Sabo calmly told Koala to move back, then prepared to fight head-on.
Meanwhile, Sero had an idea.
"Hancock, could you petrify all these Beasts Pirates?"
"Please don't say 'could you', doing anything for you is my honor, Sero! I'll turn all these annoying pirates to stone immediately!"
Being able to do something, Sero asked, filled Hancock with bliss.
She immediately activated her Love-Love Fruit powers and petrified everyone on the ship, except for Jack, who was too angry to feel love.
Effortlessly done.
Sero then hoisted the sack containing Katakuri and walked to the helm, steering the ship toward the hidden cave entrance into Wano.
There are two main ways to enter Wano:
Get pulled up the waterfall by a giant koi.
Take the elevator inside the waterfall cave, with Kaido's or Orochi's permission.
Since Sero was now captaining Jack the Drought's official ship, the elevator route would be smooth sailing.
Way better than climbing a waterfall.
"Sabo! Finish Jack off quickly!"
Sero shouted back at Sabo.
Already mid-fight, Sabo ignited even fiercer flames.
"Perfect timing, I was just getting hungry. Let's roast this mammoth and eat him!"
During the earlier group fight with Katakuri, Sabo hadn't mastered his Flame-Flame Fruit powers.
Now he was more skilled and eager to test them in real combat.
Even though Jack was only half a worthy opponent, he was good enough for a warm-up.
Time to build some confidence by roasting this halfwit.
Meanwhile, in his mammoth form, Jack had never felt more furious in his life.
"You damn brat, did you just say you're gonna eat me?! Do you have any idea who I am?! I'm Jack the Drought!!!"