"Sero, your smile looks so sneaky!"
Sabo, who had somehow regained consciousness, was lying there weakly, yet still couldn't resist teasing Sero.
Even though Sero's smile was bright and cheerful.
"Why are we going to the Kingdom of Dressrosa?"
"To deal with Doflamingo, of course! He's one of the Warlords of the Sea and was invited by the Navy to Marineford to block the Whitebeard Pirates from rescuing Ace!"
Sero felt that his reasoning was flawless.
And honestly, it was.
Once he said that, no one else raised any objections.
The air fell into a strange silence again.
Everyone had just been through intense battles and needed to rest.
Except Yamato.
She had never left Onigashima before, nor ever been outside of Wano.
Now, suddenly hundreds of kilometers away from Wano, Yamato stared out at the vast open sea in awe.
"So this… is the outside world?!"
At this moment, everything still felt surreal to her.
She was even afraid that it was just a dream, that she'd wake up and still be on Onigashima.
"Enjoy the feeling of freedom, Yamato!"
Sero, knowing Yamato's past, shared similar experiences himself. He understood exactly how she felt.
When he first came to this world, he felt much the same, like a dream he couldn't quite wake up from.
"That's freedom? I can finally set out to sea just like Kozuki Oden!"
Yamato stood up and raised both arms high, shouting freely toward the sea.
She kept shouting until she tired herself out, then sat down and giggled.
Sero then turned his attention to Little Sparrow.
"Little Sparrow, you lazy thing, where the hell were you from last night till this evening?!"
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
"What? You lured King, in his pterosaur form, all the way to the Red Line's Mary Geoise?!"
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
"And the Celestial Dragons nearly captured him?! That wild?!"
No wonder Little Sparrow had been gone for so long.
Turns out, she had taken a detour to the Red Line.
Sero had no idea how King, being from the Lunarian race, dared chase her there—wasn't he afraid the Celestial Dragons, who had always wanted to capture him, would succeed?
If King had been caught, Sero's plan would've fallen apart.
Kaido wouldn't have led the Beasts Pirates to Marineford; he'd go straight to Mary Geoise instead.
Which got Sero thinking again...
Would Kaido bring his whole crew to Marineford?
Yamato had shouted earlier that she was going there to rescue Ace, so Kaido surely knew her destination.
Plus, he probably already received word that Jack had been taken away, stuffed into a sack by Sero.
And Kaido had always had the intention to meddle in the Summit War.
Putting all that together, Sero guessed there was a 60–70% chance that Kaido would lead the Beasts Pirates to Marineford.
"My head hurts just thinking about it."
"Then rest, Sero!"
Always by Sero's side, Hancock eagerly began massaging his temples.
It felt so good that Sero unknowingly drifted off to sleep.
When he awoke, the sun was already up.
And he wasn't at sea anymore.
He seemed to be in a bustling town.
"Sero, you're awake? We arrived in the Kingdom of Dressrosa in the middle of the night. I saw you were sleeping so soundly, so I didn't wake you... Please punish me, Sero!"
He had never heard someone request punishment like that before.
Sero hadn't planned on punishing Hancock out of politeness.
But at the moment, in this unfamiliar land, he had no idea where to even find a whip.
So he negotiated with Hancock to postpone the punishment to another time.
She bashfully agreed.
"I'm kinda hungry. Let's go get breakfast."
The moment he stepped outside, Sero saw countless toy people walking the crowded streets.
It felt like a fairytale.
But Sero knew that these toy people were humans who had been transformed by Sugar of the Donquixote Family using the Hobby-Hobby Fruit.
It was a tragic thing.
But honestly, had nothing to do with him.
He happily walked into a nearby restaurant, only to find Yamato and the others already digging in.
And by "others," that included Sabo, Koala, Little Sparrow, Katakuri… and Jack.
"What the hell?! Who let Katakuri and Jack out of the sacks?!"
"That would be me."
Yamato casually answered Sero's shocked outburst.
After they arrived in Dressrosa, Sero was still fast asleep, with Hancock focused entirely on caring for him.
Sabo, still weak, had been taken straight to the inn by Koala.
That left Little Sparrow, who didn't care, and Yamato, who was still bursting with energy.
Eventually, the two burlap sacks ended up at Yamato's feet.
Curious, she opened them up.
Finding Jack, the big oaf, inside one of them made her laugh uncontrollably.
As for Katakuri, whom she didn't know, well, she found his appearance oddly pleasing.
Maybe it was something in the bloodline.
So she dragged both of them into the restaurant to feast, with no intention of paying.
"Good thing their Sea-Prism Stone cuffs are still on…"
Sero walked over and confirmed that the restraints were still in place.
The sacks had been more for disguise than actual security.
"You damned brat, where the hell are you planning to take me?!"
Now that he'd eaten and recovered some strength, Jack was feeling bold again.
He shouted at Sero like a fierce beast,
Only to get kicked dozens of meters by Hancock before he could finish.
Not only did he crash through the restaurant wall, but he also wrecked several adjacent buildings.
"How dare you be so rude to Sero! Unforgivable bastard!"
"Hancock, that's enough!"
Sero stopped her before she stomped Jack further.
They still needed him for the upcoming war at Marineford; no point in breaking him now.
Then Sero walked over and, with one hand, dragged the beaten Jack back.
"You'd better pay for that meal, and all those broken walls too, Jack!"
"You bastards stuffed me in a sack and dragged me here! Where the hell would I be carrying money?!"
"Then rip out those tusks and pawn them off for the owner!"
As expected of the shameless Jack, Sero wasn't having it.
Unlike Jack, Katakuri was quiet.
He sat alone in a corner with his back to everyone, calmly eating sweet after sweet.
He didn't want anyone to see how messy he looked when eating.
"Hey, Katakuri! Your Big Mom Pirates declared war on the Red-Haired Pirates!"
This was true; MSero had just read it in the newspaper.
"Shocking! The Big Mom Pirates Declare War on the Red-Haired Pirates, All Because of What the Red-Haired Cousin Did to Big Mom!"
If Sero guessed right, the "red-haired cousin" the paper mentioned was him.
Even though he'd never even met Big Mom.
Reading further, he saw the article claimed Sero had "kidnapped" Katakuri from the Big Mom Pirates.
Total clickbait.
"What?!"
Katakuri, hearing that, didn't even bother covering his sharp-mouthed face with his scarf.
He turned and snatched the newspaper out of Sero's hand.
Just one glimpse of his normally hidden mouth nearly made Hancock and Koala scream in shock.
They never realized how much a scarf could determine someone's level of attractiveness.
"Damn it!!!"
Katakuri slammed the newspaper on the table and glared furiously at Sero.
Which, naturally, ticked Hancock off again.
But this time, Sero stopped her just in time.
He was about to say something to Katakuri to twist the narrative,
When suddenly, two lumps, cough, no one barged into the restaurant.
A woman who made Sero's eyes go wide in shock.
Right behind her, several toy soldiers followed.
"You cheating woman, pay for your food already!"
"Losing a bet means you don't have to pay?!"
"Give me back my million, Beli!"
"Pay back the five million Beli you owe, or we'll hand you over to the Donquixote Family!"
"You kids must be her accomplices, huh?!"
No one knew what was going on.
Everything was chaos.
Even Yamato and the others lost their appetite.
Sero stood there, stunned, staring at the woman now hiding behind him.
Without a doubt, this living, breathing woman was the reward he had received last night for escaping Onigashima alive:
"Sero, you don't want me calling your husband in front of your girlfriend… right?!"