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"Welcome back, Lord Aus! Mr. Mihawk..."
Every girl on the red-light district streets went absolutely wild when they spotted the two returning. Especially when they saw Aus—their excitement hit full-blown fangirl territory.
Thanks to their reputation as total monsters, Sami had been crushing it in the underworld. Guy was practically being crowned the underground king at this point.
The red-light district business? World-class now. Rivaling even the New World's pleasure quarters. Daily profits hit nine figures easy.
So these two weren't just the girls' protectors—they were walking ATMs.
What's not to love?
Aus strolled ahead, flashing that killer smile as he greeted the beauties. A chin lift here, head pat there, that handsome face radiating warmth that left women of all ages completely melted.
Mihawk stayed ice-cold, arms crossed, trailing behind. These painted dolls couldn't budge his laser focus on swordsmanship one millimeter.
But when they hit the district's center, they bumped into a gorgeous young woman cradling a baby.
Anyone hanging out in the VIP zone with an infant? Yeah, her identity was crystal clear.
"It's been forever, Aus-san, Mihawk-san." Rouge smiled softly, holding her child while looking at Aus with pure gratitude.
"Well damn! If it isn't Lady Rouge!"
Ever since Aus brought Rouge to Sabaody, she'd been living the good life. One pregnant woman's expenses? Pocket change to a guy who wiped his ass with hundred-million-berry bills. That sword "Ace" alone was worth over a billion.
A year back, she'd delivered Captain Roger's son—Ace. Aus even ditched his island training to be there for the birth.
Still remembered Rouge trying to make Ace call him godfather. Nearly gave him a heart attack. He'd waved that off real quick.
That would've made him Roger's generation...
How the hell would he face Rayleigh after that? "Yo, bro Rayleigh"? Then have Ace call him big brother later? Nah, that was all kinds of wrong.
Roger really screwed up the family tree having a kid so late.
"Mr. Aus" worked just fine.
"Taking little Ace out for some sun... Look at this energetic little monster. Definitely Roger's kid."
Smart baby too. Soon as Ace spotted them approaching, he reached out his tiny arms.
Aus scooped him up, bouncing Roger's son while eyeing Mihawk standing there all stoic and arms-crossed. His grin turned wicked.
"Hey, Hawk-Eyes. Want to hold the baby?"
"What?" Mihawk's stone face cracked with confusion.
Then Aus was shoving the kid at him.
"Wait... hold on, you..."
Watching Mihawk go from deadly swordsman to panicked babysitter—still holding Ace like he was made of glass—had Aus dying laughing.
Compared to the baby, messing with Mihawk was way more fun.
"Haha, alright, alright..." Aus cracked up as he returned Ace to Rouge.
"We're back to prep for a voyage. Gonna be gone a while. Anything comes up, hit up Sami or call my Den Den Mushi, Lady Rouge."
After pinching Ace's chubby cheek, he waved goodbye.
They headed upstairs to the central building, hitting Sami's office.
"Oh my! Lord Aus and Mr. Mihawk! You should've called ahead—I would've prepared..."
They were used to Sami's enthusiasm by now.
Both dropped onto the couch. Aus kicked his feet up while No. 6 and No. 7 rushed over with drinks.
"Yo Sami, Mihawk and I are setting sail. Get us sorted."
Aus spoke casually with two little maids perched in his lap. Mihawk sipped wine in silence—they'd already hashed this out.
Aus had spent his downtime over two years mapping out their entire route and timeline.
Sami was ready, naturally.
"Everything's been prepped for ages, Lord Aus."
The maids chimed in:
"Yep, yep! Super prepared—clothes, food..."
"About ten billion berries cash, packed in tons of boxes."
"Nice, thorough work~"
"Can No. 6 and No. 7 come along?"
"Mm-hmm, Lord Aus! We can massage, feed you, scrub your back, warm your bed..."
"Hell no. This isn't a pleasure cruise. The ocean wants to kill you. Even I can't guarantee you'll make it back."
"Aww... but why..."
"..."
As they flirted and chatted, Mihawk had been quietly drinking. Started fine, but the longer this went on, the more his eye twitched.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore:
"Hey, you idiots..."
"You're forgetting something pretty damn important. To sail, you need a SHIP!"
Aus froze.
Like someone just slapped him awake, he smacked his forehead.
"Oh shit!"
He'd been teleporting everywhere for so long he'd actually forgotten normal people needed boats to travel.
Sami just smiled calmly: "Actually, about that problem..."
"Actually, I've got that covered, Aus."
A gruff older voice cut in. A scruffy figure appeared in the doorway.
Aus had sensed him coming with Observation Haki, so no surprise there. Just grinned and waved.
"Yo, Uncle Rayleigh."
"'Dark King' Silvers Rayleigh!" Mihawk's eyes locked onto him like a targeting system.
Meeting this legendary swordsman made Mihawk's blade-lust spike hard. But he knew better than to start something here.
Rayleigh had been crashing on Sabaody for two years, constantly mooching drinks on Aus's tab. They'd met plenty of times.
But Rayleigh always held back, never gave Mihawk a real fight.
From Aus's perspective, current Mihawk would get demolished by prime Rayleigh anyway.
Seeing Rayleigh show up right when they were talking ships, Aus raised an eyebrow.
He peeked ahead with Future Sight and his eyes went wide.
"Uncle Rayleigh, you actually..."
"Oi Aus, using Observation Haki like that ruins all the surprises!" Rayleigh grinned and dropped his bombshell:
"Go on, Aus. Show this new era what us old-timers were made of.
Take the Oro Jackson!"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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