"Nojiko, eat this."
After obtaining the Castle-Castle Fruit, Yami opened an air door to dispose of the body while handing the Devil Fruit to Nojiko.
As Nojiko took the Castle-Castle Fruit, Nami immediately reminded her, "Devil Fruits taste awful, but you only need to eat one bite. So, whatever you do, don't spit it out."
"Okay, I understand."
Nojiko nodded, then opened her mouth and bit into the Castle-Castle Fruit in her hand.
The next second, Nojiko's brows furrowed slightly, and she quickly chewed and swallowed the fruit pulp.
"So, do you feel any changes in your body?" Nami asked with an expectant look on her face.
Carina and the other girls also turned their gazes towards her.
Nojiko didn't answer immediately. Holding the remaining fruit, she stood on the spot and felt the changes in her body.
A short while later, a look of amazement appeared on Nojiko's face. She exclaimed, "Unbelievable. I can actually see inside my own body. The inside of my body has turned into a castle."
"Nojiko, let me go in and take a look," Nami immediately said with great interest.
"Okay."
Nojiko didn't refuse. She first threw away the remaining fruit, then touched Nami.
Creak!
The sound of a door opening suddenly came from Nojiko's body.
A gate suddenly opened on Nojiko's stomach.
Then, a transparent white light shield appeared out of thin air, enveloping Nami's body.
Under the effect of this light shield, Nami's body slowly shrank and flew through the gate into Nojiko's body.
"This is so magical! There really is a castle inside Nojiko's body, and it's super big."
Standing at the entrance, Nami released her unique Observation Haki and sensed the space inside Nojiko. She immediately looked at the super-giant-like Yami and the others and said.
"Really? Let me go in and take a look too, Nojiko."
Carina was also interested and gave Nojiko a fawning smile.
Faced with her sister's best friend's request, Nojiko naturally wouldn't refuse.
And so, Carina's body also shrank and entered Nojiko's body.
Looking around the castle inside Nojiko, Carina said with a look of amazement, "It even has its own light source. As expected of the bizarre Paramecia types. It's truly incredible!"
"Nojiko, I want to go in and see too."
Perona finally couldn't hold back and went to Nojiko.
Nojiko also didn't refuse and let Perona into the castle.
Then, Nojiko looked at Yami and Robin and asked with a smile, "Master, Sister Robin, do you want to come in and take a look?"
"Then let's go in and see."
"I'm also very curious about an ability with its own independent space."
Yami and Robin both nodded, then shrank and flew into Nojiko's body.
After letting Yami and Robin into the castle space, Nojiko also entered her own body. Her external body instantly transformed into a tank at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Perona, your ability will be truly unbeatable from now on."
"Yeah, when fighting others, Perona just needs to hide her main body inside Nojiko. Unless someone can kill Nojiko, Perona will be invincible."
After wandering around the castle for a while, Nami and Carina, who had been developing combination techniques recently, didn't think about the convenience of the castle first, but rather how much this portable castle would amplify Perona's abilities.
"Mhm, mhm..."
Perona also nodded repeatedly, her heart filled with a sense of security.
"Nojiko, send me out, and then come with me to a place."
After wandering around for a while, as if he had thought of something, Yami suddenly said to Nojiko.
"Yes, Master."
Nojiko, who had been watching everyone with a smile, immediately nodded obediently.
Then, Nojiko took Yami out of the castle space.
Although curious about where Yami was taking Nojiko, Carina and the other girls didn't ask too many questions and began to discuss how to decorate Nojiko's castle.
In the future, if they had to spend the night on an island, they wouldn't need to stay in a hotel; they could just live in Nojiko's castle.
Valuable items could also be stored in Nojiko's castle.
So, choosing a room and decorating Nojiko's castle was a necessary task.
After all, from now on, this was their second home.
Outside, after Yami left the castle space, he immediately took Nojiko to the Drum Kingdom.
During this time, Yami had been busy building up Hancock's affection and had forgotten to go to the Drum Kingdom to retrieve the medical materials.
When he left the Drum Kingdom last time, Yami had given the Isshi-20 one week to collect and organize all the medical and research materials of the Drum Kingdom.
With these materials, Yami could become the world's greatest doctor just by casually looking through them.
This way, Yami's crew would have a ship's doctor.
When the time came, he could set up a medical office and play doctor and patient, or doctor and nurse cosplay with Robin.
After taking all the medical materials, Yami did not return the hearts to the Isshi-20, leaving them by Wapol's side, on standby.
By the time Yami teleported back to the Pegasus with Nojiko, Carina and the other girls had just finished touring the castle space.
"Master, where did you get so many medical materials?"
Carina, who had come out of the castle, held a medical document she had just stored inside and looked at Yami curiously.
"I got them all from the Drum Kingdom. If you have time, you can look at the poisonous insect encyclopedia. It will be useful for identifying unknown insects when we go to uninhabited islands in the future."
Yami answered while controlling the Pegasus to ascend into the sky, flying towards Amazon Lily.
Yami did not use the More-More Fruit to multiply the Pegasus's flying speed.
So, by the time the Pegasus left the West Blue and entered the Calm Belt where Amazon Lily was located, it was two days later.
Yami didn't know that during these two days, the higher-ups of the Amazon Lily Kingdom were in a state of chaos.
Because... the Empress was sick!
No matter how the royal physicians examined her, they couldn't find the cause of the Empress's illness, but the Empress looked like she was on the verge of death.
Her appearance not only made Sandersonia and Marigold cry with anxiety but also alarmed Gloriosa, who lived outside the palace.
When Gloriosa saw Hancock bedridden and struggling to breathe, she was struck as if by lightning.
"During her last expedition, did Hebihime meet a man outside?"
Gloriosa, who had a vague guess about Hancock's illness, immediately asked Sandersonia and Marigold.
However, Sandersonia and Marigold, with tears in their eyes, shook their heads. "No, Her Majesty stayed on the ship during the entire expedition and didn't meet any men at all."
Gloriosa looked at the rapidly breathing, flushed-cheeked Hancock and frowned deeply. "If she didn't meet a man, then why would she get lovesickness? Could it be that my guess was wrong?"
"Elder Nyon, lovesickness?" Sandersonia quickly asked, "Will Her Majesty die?"
"Yes... she will die."
Gloriosa nodded, her expression grave. "The previous empress died of this illness. If the empress before her and I hadn't left the country back then, we would have died of this illness too."
"But this illness only occurs when one longs for someone to an extreme degree."
"Hebihime didn't meet a man during her last expedition. Could it be that she met a woman who left a deep impression on her?"
"Has her aversion to men reached such a level?"
"That... that..." Sandersonia suddenly said weakly, "Although Her Majesty didn't meet a man outside, a man did appear here a few days ago and stayed for several days."
"What?!"
Gloriosa's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Sandersonia and Marigold, and then at the constantly panting Hancock on the bed. "A man actually snuck into Amazon Lily, and you let him stay here?!"
"Quickly, tell me, what on earth happened?!"
Since Hancock couldn't speak right now, Gloriosa could only stare sharply at Sandersonia and Marigold.
Sandersonia and Marigold, having violated the Kuja's prohibition, could only obediently report everything.
After learning that the man was a user of the Op-Op Fruit and had helped remove the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon, Gloriosa finally understood why Hancock had fallen ill with lovesickness.
But to confirm her guess, Gloriosa deliberately asked, "Sandersonia, what is that man's name?"
"His name is Black Hole Ya—"
"Ah—!"
The character for "Yami" had just left Sandersonia's mouth when Hancock, lying on the bed, let out a piercing scream.
"Your Majesty!"
Sandersonia and Marigold immediately rushed to Hancock's side in a panic.
"I was right. It really is lovesickness," Gloriosa said with an ugly expression. "Sandersonia, Marigold, when did that man leave? Did he leave any contact information for Hebihime?"
"Lord Yami left two days ago. He didn't leave any contact information for Her Majesty."
Sandersonia shook her head, then added, "But he said he was going to pick up his maids and would be back in a few days."
"Ah—!"
Hearing Yami's name, Hancock let out another scream.
Gloriosa's eyes widened again as she looked at Hancock in disbelief. "He's coming back in a few days, and Hebihime still got lovesickness? Just how severe is her longing for him after only two days?"
"That man... who in the world is he?"
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