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Chapter 52: Perona's POV — The Lonely Ghost and the Missing Master
Gecko Moria-sama, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, was basically a father to me. When I was just a little girl, Moria-sama took me in, and he had raised me ever since…
My life on Moria-sama's pirate ship, Thriller Bark, was incredibly fulfilling. My colleague Absalom was a peeping-tom pervert, and Hogback was annoying about a lot of things, but… surrounded by my cute animal Wild Zombies, I lived a comfortable, carefree life back then. But two years ago, on that day… everything changed when the Straw Hat Pirates arrived on Thriller Bark.
Normally, a rookie pirate crew like them would have been easily annihilated by my powers alone…! Yet… that damn Negative-nose completely threw off my pace. Kumashi was purified, and I was covered in cockroaches. J-Just remembering it makes me shiver…! To make matters worse, Oars—the Super Special Zombie powered by Straw Hat's shadow—went completely berserk… and turned into a perverted zombie starved for women.
And if that wasn't enough, Bartholomew Kuma, a fellow Warlord just like Moria-sama, decided to attack us too. Are you kidding me?!
Thanks to Kuma's powers, I was sent flying to some place called Kuraigana Island without really understanding why. It was a comfortable place to live, sure, but it was a super~ lonely, isolated island… Poor, pitiful me… After that, I ended up living with "Pirate Hunter" Zoro—who had also been sent flying by Bartholomew Kuma—and the Warlord who originally lived on the island, "Hawk-Eye" Mihawk.
Neither of them had an ounce of cuteness to them, but unlike Oars or Absalom, those two sword-idiots had very little interest in women, so I didn't have to worry about being assaulted. That was a relief. They even caught the cockroaches when they showed up in my room, so they were occasionally… kind of nice.
And just like that, a year passed on Kuraigana Island. Roronoa's sword training came to an end, and the day for him to return to his Straw Hat crewmates had finally arrived… supposedly.
"Thanks for taking care of me," he grunted, trying to leave the island.
No, no, no… A hopelessly lost bastard like you will absolutely never make it back on your own! Having no other choice, I decided to escort him all the way to the Sabaody Archipelago. 'I can go by myself,' my ass! Like hell you can! Know your place! And be grateful!
"…I need to search for clues about Moria-sama anyway, so there's a good chance I won't be coming back here! See ya! Horo horo horo!" I called out to Hawk-Eye as we left the island.
"I see. I hope you find him."
Too kind!! You're usually so blunt! Don't just suddenly give me such a gentle response at a time like this! It almost made me cry! Thanks for everything up until now! Uwaaaah!
And so… after safely delivering that lost bastard Roronoa Zoro to the Sabaody Archipelago, I decided to stay on the island for a while to investigate Moria-sama's whereabouts… However…
"I can't find a single trace of Moria-sama…"
I was already at my wit's end. A year ago, after the conflict with the Straw Hat Pirates… Moria-sama, as a Warlord of the Sea, had participated in the "Summit War" between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines. But after the war ended, Moria-sama mysteriously vanished. The newspapers claimed he died in battle, but Hawk-Eye told me he definitely wasn't dead… Hmm…?
With no clues to go on, the days just kept slipping by. My funds were starting to run low, so I began to think about giving up for now and heading back to Kuraigana Island…
It was right then.
"Good afternnon! Slutty Pink-chan! Please keep me company for my training!"
"…Huh?"
Line called out to me. Line dragged me back to his house, and I listened to his circumstances. He wanted to get stronger through training so he could save his homeland, Dressrosa. And to do that, he supposedly needed my powers…
Horo horo horo! He has a good eye! I wouldn't have minded helping him out for a few days… but he actually asked me for a whole year! That's way too long! Obviously, I had to refuse! To make him back off, I told him I'd do it if he paid me 1 billion Berries…
"Ah, I'll pay for that, then. Here you go."
"Eeeehhh!!?" x2
Why could she just pull that out instantly?! That rabbit girl!!
…But whatever. Let's think positively. Earning 1 billion Berries in just a single year is not bad at all… In fact, it's incredible. Plus, they offered to let me stay at their house during the training, which meant I wouldn't have to be lonely for a while. It would probably be easier to gather information on Moria-sama here than on an isolated island like Kuraigana, too! Horo horo horo!
And besides…
"...…"
Stare~
"? What's up, Perona? Why are you staring at my face?"
"Ah!? N-Nothing! You perverted breast-groping fiend!!"
"Perverted breast-groping fiend!?"
It was frustrating to admit, but… Line's appearance was exactly my type. He was incredibly cute! The top hat and the black coat. Even his fashion sense was super cute!! Horo horo horo horo!! If he dies, I might just turn him into my servant as a Super Special Zombie. Just kidding.
And so, my communal life with Line and the others began. At first, the people surrounding him (the Vice-Captain of the Pirate King, the former Empress of Amazon Lily, the Hero of Sabaody, a Transponder Snail that ate a Devil Fruit) completely shocked me… but as we lived together, I quickly got used to it. I was already accustomed to living with people who had crazy titles anyway.
As for my training with Line… Aside from the Negative Training where I just spammed Negative Hollows at him… we played tag in the air, played Red Light Green Light, went exploring on a Sky Island… It was all actually quite fun.
"Perona! Thank you! You're really saving my life here! Fuhehe!"
Unlike those two sword-idiots on Kuraigana Island, whenever I did something for him, he always expressed his gratitude properly. It felt nice. When I made him bagel sandwiches as a snack for working so hard, he ate them with far more joy than I expected… Horo horo horo! What a cute guy! I'll have to make them for him again.
I initially thought his boob-obsession and perverted nature would be super annoying… but as time passed, even that stopped bothering me. Getting used to things is scary. It was probably because I was forced to watch him do this and that with Esune and Densuke around the clock. Flirting, flirting, flirting at every given opportunity…! Honestly! If you're forced to watch that all day, you eventually build up an immunity to it! Such shameless people!
"…But Perona-san, you've been flirting with Big Brother quite a lot lately too, haven't you?"
"L-Like hell I have!!"
False accusations! You rabbit girl!
Just like that, my life on Sabaody passed the one-year mark. Astonishingly, in just a single year of training, Line had grown strong enough to defeat the Dark King, Rayleigh! Since he had a 1 billion Berry bounty on his head, he was obviously strong to begin with, but I never expected him to reach the Dark King's level… Honestly, it was amazing.
Seeing Line so overjoyed about getting stronger made me feel happy too, for some reason. Horo horo horo!
"Now I can finally go save Dressrosa!"
"Yes! Big Brother!"
⌁ "Jiii!" ⌁
"...…"
However… Line's training being over meant that my reason for staying here was gone too… It meant I was going to be all alone again… What should I do now? I never did find any clues about Moria-sama, and going back to Kuraigana Island now just felt… ugh.
While lost in those thoughts, I was wandering around aimlessly, a short distance away from Line and the others, when—
"P-Perona…! I finally found you…! Fos fos fos fos!"
"Eh?"
From behind me, a painfully familiar laugh echoed out.
"Fo~s fos fos! Perona! I've been looking everywhere for you!"
The owner of that laugh was none other than a member of Moria-sama's pirate crew, just like me… the genius surgeon, Dr. Hogback.
"H-Hogback! What are you doing here!?"
"That's my line! You vanished from Thriller Bark and never showed your face again!"
"W-Well, a lot happened… Horo horo horo! Anyway, long time no see! Where are Moria-sama and Absalom? They're with you, right?"
If he was here, that meant Moria-sama had to be nearby too. I quickly scanned the area, but they weren't anywhere I could see. Were they lounging in a hotel somewhere? That sounded exactly like Moria-sama! Horo horo horo!
"...Ah, right… about that, Perona…"
"Hmm?"
"Calm down and listen to me. Moria-sama was… well, he was captured by the Celestial Dragons… as a slave…"
"Ehh... EEEEEEEHHHHH!!?"
A-A slave!? Moria-sama!? To the Celestial Dragons!?
"What the hell does that mean!? Hogback!!"
"Gweh~! D-Don't pull on my neck! I'll tell you! I'll tell you, just let go!"
I yanked Hogback close, demanding an explanation. According to him—
First, after the Summit War… Moria-sama was stripped of his Warlord title because he was deemed "too weak." …Too weak? …Ah! It was definitely because the Straw Hat Pirates beat us! Damn it! If only that damn Negative-nose wasn't there…! Well, no point crying over spilled milk now…
Anyway, after the Summit War, Moria-sama was beaten half to death by Doflamingo, taken directly to Mary Geoise, and forced into slavery. Waahhh! How awful! Moria-sama!
"To save Moria-sama, Absalom infiltrated Mary Geoise all by himself, but…"
"!! He did!? Absalom went!?"
"…He never returned. It's been half a year…"
"EEEEEEHHHHH!!?"
No matter how you look at it, that means his infiltration failed! He definitely got captured just like Moria-sama! Useless! That utterly useless Ero-salom! I knew anyone whose hobby was peeping was trash… Line would never resort to cowardly tactics like peeping. He'd proudly and boldly sexually harass people right from the front! Horo horo horo! ….Wait, none of that matters right now!!
"…Left all alone, I wanted to go save them, but there was nothing I could do…" Hogback said, dropping heavily to his knees. Well, it was true, Hogback was a non-combatant. "That's why I've been trying to hire bodyguards on the Sabaody Archipelago to storm Mary Geoise in my place… but I haven't been able to find a single person willing to do it…"
Of course not. No matter how much money you offered, absolutely no one would willingly attack Mary Geoise. It was common sense even a child knew: never defy the Celestial Dragons.
"I was completely at my wit's end when I finally spotted you. Fos fos."
"So that's what happened…"
To think that Moria-sama… and Absalom too, were captured in Mary Geoise…
"Anyway! We have to go save Moria-sama right now!"
"H-Hey now! Perona! Don't tell me you're planning to storm Mary Geoise all by yourself!?"
"Of course I am! Our Master is in trouble!"
"Don't do it! Even Absalom failed! As a genius, I can assure you. You will absolutely get captured too!"
"Ugh…"
That… might actually be true… Absalom has the Clear-Clear Fruit. He's an invisible man. When it comes to "not getting caught," there is no one better than Absalom. And yet, Mary Geoise was a place where even someone like him could get caught…
"...…"
Technically, my Hollow-Hollow Fruit was a power highly suited for covert actions too… but my training with Line had taught me that Negative Hollows could be completely nullified by "excessive Haki." If you lay a hand on a Celestial Dragon, a Marine Admiral shows up. There was a very high chance that a Negative Hollow wouldn't work on an Admiral. I-If that happened, I would…
"Uuu…! It's terrifying… but Moria-sama is… uuuugh…!"
What should I do… What should I do… I was clutching my head in despair when—
"Fuhehehehe! I heard everything!! Perona! And you, Doctor Eggman!"
—Line made a dashing entrance right in front of us.
"L-Line!!"
"Who the hell is Doctor Eggman!? I am the genius of the century! Dr. Hogba—gweh!?"
I shoved Hogback aside and rushed up to Line.
"Line! What should I do?! Moria-sama is… Moria-sama is…!"
"It's alright, Perona! I'll go with you!" Line said, as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
He was… going to help me? I was incredibly happy. But…
"…B-But, Line…"
"Hmm?"
"Moria-sama tried to steal your shadow during the Summit War… you said so yourself, right…?"
"Yep."
"…Don't you… not want to save a guy like that?"
This was my biggest concern. Line and Moria-sama had fought as enemies during the Impel Down Summit War. Normally, you wouldn't want to save someone who was your enemy. What if he changed his mind halfway through and said, 'Actually, never mind~'? That terrified me…
"Well~ it's true. Moria tried to steal my shadow. And he called me a 'micro-dick'…!! So, if you ask me whether I want to save him or not, honestly, I don't!"
"Uuuugh… I knew it…"
"But from your perspective, Perona, you absolutely want to save Moria, right?"
"...Yeah… Moria-sama is… basically a father to me…"
"Then I'll save him!" Line flashed a bright, toothy grin. "You're the one in trouble, Perona. No matter the cost or the history, I'll absolutely save him for you!"
He actually… said that for me…
"~~!! B-But, the enemies are Celestial Dragons, and…"
"Hah! Who gives a crap about the Celestial Dragons! I've picked fights with them plenty of times already! Fuhehe!"
"I-I don't have any money to pay you back, you know? The best I can do is return the 1 billion Esune gave me…"
"I don't need money. If saving Moria makes you smile, then that's more than enough for me!"
"—!!!"
What was with this guy…? He was usually just a cute little pervert… so why was he being so… incredibly cool right now…?
Tears immediately welled up in my eyes. The truth was, he probably wanted to set sail for Dressrosa right this instant… but he was doing this… for me…!
"Of course, I'll help too! Please allow me to help rescue Perona-san's father, as she will be my future wiener-sister!"
⌁ "Jiii! If Master and Big Sis Esune are going, Densuke is going too~!" ⌁
Before I knew it, Esune and Densuke had arrived as well.
"Y-You guys! Uwaaaaaaah!! Thank you! I love you all so much! Eeeeenn!"
I threw my arms around the three of them, sobbing out my thanks.
"Fos fos fos! ...I guess I'm just air, then…"
Yeah. Hogback. You're staying behind to watch the house.
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