"So you fought Meiser just because of this?"
"Correct."
Nami opened her mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.
But she had to admit, Sanji's experiences over the past two years... were truly pitiful.
Thinking this, a trace of pity appeared in Nami's eyes.
Sanji: "..."
Noticing the meaning in Nami's gaze, Sanji felt utterly miserable.
But soon Sanji perked up because... he saw real beauties!
"Miss Nami and... this unknown lady, it's so wonderful to see beauties like you again!" Sanji said with tears streaming down his face.
Looking more carefully, Nami had become even more beautiful than before!!
At this moment, Sanji felt like he had returned to heaven!
"Pfft!"
The next moment, Sanji's nose began bleeding profusely before he collapsed to the ground with a blissful expression.
What happened now?
"Hey, Sanji, are you okay!" Luffy scrambled over and said: "Why do you look like you're about to die?"
"I'm... I'm fine..."
Though his nose was bleeding, he felt like he had entered paradise.
Ah, truly, anywhere outside that damned Newkama Island is heaven!
"Is this guy sick or something?"
Perona looked at Sanji with clear disgust, completely failing to understand why he would react this way.
"Don't mind him." Nami shook her head.
As long as he wasn't dying, that was enough.
Then, she turned her gaze to Meiser and said: "You really pulled off something major."
When Nami saw the news about Meiser attacking Mary Geoise, she was completely stunned.
If she didn't know better than to trust the World Government, she would have believed Meiser had actually been killed.
"I had to do it that way to get that message to you all." Meiser said.
"That makes sense."
"Who is she?" Luffy glanced at Perona.
"If I remember correctly, she should be that Ghost Woman under Moria's command." Meiser said while stroking his chin.
Recalling certain events from two years ago, Meiser couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from curling upward.
Then, he activated his Sharingan.
"Eek!!"
Seeing the familiar tomoe in Meiser's eyes, Perona shuddered in fright before quickly floating behind Nami to hide.
Watching this scene, Meiser laughed outright.
This kid was still exactly the same as before.
Even though she looked more mature than two years ago, her personality remained unchanged~
Nami rolled her eyes at the sight. Since when did he enjoy scaring people like this?
Then she said: "She really is the Ghost Woman we encountered at Moria's place two years ago. Her name is Perona."
"Oh, I see."
Luffy nodded, then asked somewhat puzzled: "Then why is she here?"
Nami smiled at this, then glanced at Perona and said, "Luffy's here now, you can tell him yourself."
After spending these past few days together, Nami had gotten along quite well with Perona, so she didn't mind helping her out.
Upon hearing this, Perona fell silent for a moment before floating out from behind Nami.
But when she saw Meiser's eyes, her movements froze once again.
"Don't worry, Meiser won't scare you anymore," Nami reassured her.
After saying this, Nami turned to Meiser and said, "Right, Meiser?"
"Relax, I won't tease you anymore," Meiser rolled his eyes.
What a girl who can't take a joke.
Shaking his head inwardly, Meiser retracted his Sharingan, which made Perona breathe a sigh of relief.
Then, she flew over to Luffy, looked at him seriously, and pleaded, "Straw Hat Boy... please let me go to the New World with you!"
"Huh?"
Luffy, who had been about to stuff food into his mouth, paused in surprise before asking, "Come with us to the New World?"
Did she mean she wanted to hitch a ride?
"Perona wants to go to the New World to find Moria," Nami explained. "So she wants to take our ship to the New World."
"I see..."
Luffy didn't answer immediately but instead thought about what Meiser had told him earlier about Moria.
It could be said that Moria had done their Straw Hat Pirates a favor!
So... letting her ride their pirate ship to the New World wasn't out of the question.
Thinking this, Luffy was about to agree.
But before Luffy could speak, Meiser said, "Perona, you should know what I've done."
"You should also know what consequences come with following us."
"So... are you sure you want to come with us?"
Although traveling with their Straw Hat Pirates was indeed safe, there were still inherent risks, so he had to remind Perona to avoid any messy situations later.
"I know," Perona nodded. "But I still stand by my decision."
She had read the newspapers about the incident involving Meiser and discussed it with Nami, so she knew what the consequences would be.
But... she wasn't afraid!
As a pirate, how could she fear death?
Seeing Perona's resolute attitude, Meiser said nothing more.
When Perona saw that Meiser had fallen silent, she withdrew her gaze and turned her attention to Luffy.
Her eyes seemed to say: What's your decision?
"Sure," Luffy nodded.
"Huh?!"
Perona was stunned, then looked at Luffy in shock and said, "You agreed just like that?"
Then all the words she had prepared would go to waste?
"Or what?"
Luffy looked at Perona in confusion.
Did she expect him to set up some kind of test or something?
That would be too much trouble!
Perona: ...
Is this guy even reliable?...
"Since Luffy has agreed, you can rest assured and come with us to the New World," Nami said.
"Okay..."
"That's wonderful~"
Sanji immediately sprang up, twisting happily around the room as he said, "Miss Perona, leave the nutritious meals to me!!"
Perona:
"What's going on with this guy?"
After a moment of silence, Perona said, "O-okay... thank you."
"You're welcome!"
After glancing at Sanji whose eyes had turned into hearts, Meiser shook his head helplessly before turning to Perona. "Speaking of which... how did you find this place?"
"She came with Zoro."
Shakky chimed in, "Actually... she's Zoro's savior."
"Huh?"
Meiser was taken aback by Shakky's words. "There's such a thing?"
What did that guy Zoro do this time?
With this question in mind, Meiser turned his attention to Perona.
Noticing his gaze, Perona proudly lifted her chin and puffed out her chest. "That's right, I did save that idiot."
"If it weren't for me, he would have starved to death in the forest after getting lost."
As if recalling something amusing, a smile immediately appeared on Perona's face.
Meiser:
Perona's words left Meiser speechless.
Thinking about it carefully... that does sound like something Zoro would do.
'Probably the only reason Zoro managed to find this place was because of this woman,' Meiser thought to himself.
Otherwise, who knows when that guy would have made it back to Sabaody Archipelago.
However...
He was somewhat surprised that Perona hadn't used this as leverage to negotiate terms with Luffy.
Was she unwilling to demand repayment for her kindness?
It seemed this somewhat tsundere Ghost Princess had quite good character.
"Thank you, Perona," Luffy said with genuine sincerity. "Thank you for saving Zoro."
"W-why are you being so polite?"
Hearing Luffy thank her so formally actually made Perona feel somewhat awkward.
She then lifted her chin and declared, "In the end, I was just looking for a servant for myself. It's not like I intentionally saved him."
Unfortunately, Luffy didn't understand her meaning, simply thinking Perona was a good person willing to help his crewmate.
Meanwhile, Meiser showed a strange expression. Was this really the case?
Just then, Meiser noticed something unusual about Sanji.
Why was this guy suddenly...
"Damn Moss Head!!" Sanji suddenly looked up and roared. "Why does he get to have a beautiful woman accompanying him too!"
It was bad enough that bastard Meiser had enjoyed two years in the Land of Tenderness, but why did that Moss Head bastard get the same treatment?!
Not only that, but that bastard was the first one to reach Sabaody Archipelago...
At this thought, Sanji's expression twisted again.
"Moss Head, you deserve to die!!!"
Perona: !!!
This guy really is sick!
Seeing Sanji's expression, Nami's face immediately showed anger. What was with all this sudden shouting?
But then she remembered what he had been through these past two years and fell silent.
Well... his reaction was actually quite understandable.
"Where is that Moss Head bastard?!" Sanji said through gritted teeth.
Just thinking about that bastard having a beautiful woman's company for two years made Sanji's blood boil.
"He should be at the beach," Shakky said after a moment's thought. "I think he mentioned earlier that he was going fishing."
"The beach?"
Sanji was stunned. A directionally challenged guy going fishing at the beach by himself?
"Will that idiot really not get lost?"
Meiser shared the same concern and immediately asked, "Did he go alone?"
"Of course not." Shakky shook her head. "He took Merry with him."
"That's better."
Hearing that Merry was accompanying him, Meiser felt relieved.
After all... Merry wasn't directionally challenged!
"I'll go look for them," Sanji said as he turned to leave.
"Do you even know where they are?" Meiser asked helplessly.
He could understand Sanji's feelings, but the problem was... whether he could actually find them!
"Your pirate ship is at Tree 42," Shakky said. "So he should be nearby."
"Tree 42, huh..."
Sanji thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, I understand."
"I'll go find that bastard after I buy some ingredients!"
Since they would be departing soon, they needed to stock up on supplies first.
After finishing the shopping... he'd go kill that Moss Head bastard!
With that thought, Sanji immediately headed out.
"Do you have money in your pocket?"
"Don't worry, I have enough for shopping," Sanji waved dismissively as he opened the door, then left without looking back.
Perona, who watched Sanji leave, commented, "What a strange guy."
"Sanji's personality might be a bit odd, but he's actually quite a good person," Meiser said.
This time Perona just nodded without saying anything more.
Meiser didn't press further and instead turned to Shakky. "Sister Shakky, do you have any news about Moria?"
"This young lady already asked me several days ago," Shakky said helplessly. "But unfortunately, no."
She would have liked to get information about Moria too, but the problem was... there simply wasn't any!
"I see..." Meiser said with some disappointment. "Then it seems we can only keep investigating slowly."
Listening to their conversation, Perona's expression became somewhat downcast.
At that moment, Luffy said, "You can stay on the ship until you decide to leave."
Seeing Perona looking at him in surprise, Luffy continued, "Don't worry, we'll protect you."
Looking at this boy who was grinning at her with all his teeth showing, Perona fell silent.
Feeling Luffy's sincerity, the last trace of unease in Perona's heart disappeared.
Then she lowered her head slightly and said very sincerely, "Thank you."
In response, Luffy didn't say anything more, just waved his hand to indicate she shouldn't be so formal with him.
Understanding Luffy's meaning, Perona nodded and likewise said nothing more.
Seeing this, Meiser smiled, then glanced at Shakky.
Shakky nodded in understanding and said, "If I get any news about Moria, I'll notify you immediately."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Shakky smiled, then poured each of them a drink.
After doing this, Shakky looked at Meiser and said, "Shouldn't you take that thing out now?"
"That thing?"
Nami was startled, then asked curiously, "What thing?"
What kind of secret were these two talking about?
"The Devil Fruit," Meiser said as he took the Devil Fruit out from his clothes. "Didn't I go to Mary Geoise?"
"I managed to get some things there, including a Devil Fruit."
As he spoke, Meiser placed the Cloud-Cloud Fruit on the table.
Then, he said to Nami, "Here, this is for you. Eat it."
"A Devil Fruit?"
Nami's eyes immediately lit up when she saw the Devil Fruit on the table.
Excitedly, she said, "Can I sell this?"
Meiser: ???
Rayleigh: !!!
Shakky:
All three looked at Nami with different expressions, none expecting her to say such a thing.
After finally obtaining a Devil Fruit that could make her stronger, this girl only thought about selling it for money?
What kind of logic was that?
"This is a Logia-type Devil Fruit," Meiser said. "Are you sure you want to do that?"
"Logia type?"
Before Nami could respond, Perona spoke first.
She said excitedly, "This is actually a Logia-type Devil Fruit?"
"Hey, Nami, just eat it."
She knew what Meiser had done, so... for Nami's safety, it was best to eat it!