"What are you doing?! Let go of my sister!"
"The Fifth Emperor's biting people!"
A flock of birds burst from the forest in alarm.
"What happened? Did she run into someone already?"
In the short time since they'd arrived, Rayleigh had already finished building a partitioned treehouse. Haki training was a long-term endeavor best conducted in the wild, and the beasts roaming the edges of Amazon Lily's forest would serve nicely as sparring partners for the little girl.
"Let's hope it's not the Marines." Shakky lit a fire and skewered a rabbit and some mushrooms she'd scrounged up. "Go find her, would you? It's about time to eat."
"Good grief."
Yimi's bite was anything but gentle, yet it hadn't actually injured Hancock, who could use Armament Haki. Still, the sudden attack caught her off guard.
Seeing this, the orange tabby's owner hurried over and held something out to Hancock. "I don't know if this will work, but please try it!"
"Hm?"
Hancock glanced at the object in her hand. Catnip. She took it and waved it in front of Yimi's face.
"Meow? (...)."
Yimi released her little jaws, snatched it up, and pressed it to her nose, sniffing left and right.
o(≧▽≦)o
This stuff was incredible!
The one-year-old kitten was experiencing catnip for the very first time, her eyes squinting shut in bliss. She swiped the catnip from Hancock's hand, plopped down on a nearby rock, and gnawed on it with a faint purring rumble, her tiny leather-shoed feet curling up involuntarily.
"Crisis averted." The tabby's owner exhaled in relief.
"She has cat ears and a tail, and she really does act just like a cat?"
"Should we give her a ball of yarn?" Someone crouched down and dangled one in front of Yimi's face.
"Sister, is your hand alright?" Sandersonia stared at Hancock's fingers with visible concern.
That was a Fifth Emperor's attack—what if she had some kind of "Supreme Mega Fangs"?
"I'm fine."
Wiping the saliva off her fingertips with an attendant's sleeve, Hancock settled onto her python, which had coiled itself into the shape of a chair, and studied Yimi with curiosity.
Child or not, it was exceedingly rare for someone to display hostility toward her at first sight—and not the possessive kind either. Her charm didn't just work on the same sex; it could practically rewire the aesthetic sensibilities of toddlers.
"Congratulations, Host. You have earned the achievement [There Are Actually Women in This World Unmoved by My Beauty?!]. Reward: Portal Energy +5%."
"So you're the 'Fifth Emperor'?"
A bounty of two billion Berries. Excluding the Four Emperors, there were admittedly a handful of pirates who could reach that level, but she was perhaps the only one to receive such a high initial bounty without a massive crew backing her up.
On one hand, the World Government genuinely wanted to suppress the news of the Celestial Dragons' collective humiliation. On the other, if her debut bounty went any higher, it would practically be an official endorsement that she was a full-fledged Emperor.
A tiny little thing. When Hancock had pinched her cheeks a moment ago she'd pried the small mouth open for a look—the number of teeth was clearly that of a child, nothing unusual about the race. Hancock could believe the girl had killed a Celestial Dragon, but repelling an Admiral? Not a chance.
Hancock rose and reached for Yimi's face again.
She was swatted away. Yimi had not forgotten this was the bad woman who'd bullied a cat.
Hancock wasn't particularly bothered. She sat back down. "You like that grass? I can get you as much as you want."
"Sister, we don't actually have any—" Marigold leaned in to whisper something.
Hancock shot her a look.
Marigold said, "That's right, it's a specialty of our island."
At least it would be by tomorrow.
As for why a woman who'd dropkick a cat out of her way for blocking the path was being so tolerant of Yimi—that traced back to a wretched past she went to great lengths to hide and never wanted anyone to know about. When they were young, the three sisters had been kidnapped by Celestial Dragons and tormented for a considerable time. To this day, the brand of a Celestial Dragon slave was still seared into Hancock's back.
It was for this reason she despised every man in the world, with only two exceptions: Fisher Tiger (deceased), who had liberated the slaves, and Rayleigh, who had taken the sisters in afterward.
Even with hatred for the Celestial Dragons fierce enough to want to flay them alive—even now that she possessed the strength to have been invited as a Warlord—she still wouldn't dare do what this little girl had done: kill a Celestial Dragon to vent her anger.
Certainly not being able to beat an Admiral was part of it, but there was another dimension: she was simultaneously a pirate and the ruler of a nation, and her Warlord position served that dual role.
"You have more?" Yimi craned her neck.
She wanted to take back enough to wrap both arms around—then split the strange grass into four portions: one for herself, one for the tabby cat who'd brought her here, and two to bring home for Mom and Grandma to try.
"Meow!" The tabby smacked her shin with a paw.
Don't forget she's the enemy of cats!
Yimi snapped back to reality and resumed hissing at Hancock.
"Sister, I think it's because you kicked the little cat earlier."
"Is that so?" Hancock swept her long hair aside and let the Love-Love Fruit's charm ability flare. "That wasn't my intention at all. Would you like more of this?"
Yimi hugged the tabby protectively and eyed Hancock with suspicion. The cat didn't care about her beauty. The cat only cared about where this stuff came from.
Onigashima.
"'Fifth Emperor'—what kind of joke is this?" Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, crumpled the newspaper into a ball and hurled it to the floor.
"Don't take it seriously, Boss Kaido. Have you been drinking too much again?"
Whether it was weak tolerance or simply Kaido's nature as a drunkard, even though a drunken rampage followed every binge, his crew witnessed his belligerent episodes at least once or twice a week.
Perhaps there were too many grievances festering inside him. Wano possessed exceptional weapons-forging technology, and as a pirate he'd naturally seized the country eighteen years ago, propping up a puppet ruler and killing the not-terribly-clever shogun's son, Kozuki Oden. His metaphorical midlife crisis had started right around that period.
First: although Oden had scarred Kaido in their very first clash, Kaido still didn't believe he'd actually lose—until at the critical moment some old hag allied with him transformed into Oden's son, causing Oden to falter, and Kaido clubbed him down in one blow.
At the time, feeling the duel had been interrupted, Kaido had simply killed the old woman to vent. But over nearly twenty years, the more he thought about it the worse it sat with him—as though the man who was now a full-fledged Emperor had won through underhanded means like some petty villain.
Then there was his son (daughter). Whether cursed or struck by karma, ever since Oden had been boiled to death, the child had seemingly split personalities—calling herself "Kozuki Oden" day in and day out, declaring she would inherit Oden's will. At eight years old, the rebellious phase had arrived early.
It drove Kaido up the wall. What on earth had that idiot Kozuki Oden done that made you worship him after a single glance? Was it his topknot that you thought looked cool?
As any loving father would, Kaido had naturally disciplined Yamato—starving her for days, clamping Seastone handcuffs on her that would explode if she left Onigashima. The result: by now Yamato not only refused to admit she was wrong but had taken to screaming about defeating Kaido every single day.
"What garbage are you reading now?" Yamato snatched up the newspaper with a hostile look—then froze. "Wait... isn't that my daughter?!"
"How could that possibly be your daughter? Have you been drinking too much too?" Queen the Plague's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
Yamato was convinced that Hawk-Eye had somehow gotten pregnant and birthed her daughter, because that was what Dad had told her while he was hammered.
But rather than this unseen daughter, her attention was pulled to the article below—the one that should have been the headline but had been bumped by the "Fifth Emperor" story. It was about Ace's impending execution and the likelihood of the Marines clashing with the Whitebeard Pirates.
She and Fire Fist Ace shared a history. They'd only met once, but two people who both resented their own fathers had hit it off immediately. For Yamato, who'd been trapped on Onigashima for twenty years without a single friend, Ace mattered more than almost anyone.
Eyes blazing, she glanced at her passed-out drunk father, grabbed her kanabō, and cracked him across the back of the skull—then turned and bolted for the exit.
"Young Master Yamato?!"
The blow, of course, couldn't actually hurt Kaido. Even with the Seastone handcuffs removed, Yamato might not be able to hurt him. But it did sober him right up.
One palm slammed this "dutiful" daughter of his flat on the ground. Every time Kaido witnessed his only daughter pull a stunt that made his vision go dark, he felt as though he'd aged more than a year in an instant.
Sometimes the thought crossed his mind unbidden: if the kid on the newspaper really were Yamato's child, that wouldn't be the worst thing. The main account was already a lost cause—might as well invest in an alt.
"Let me go! I have to save Ace!"
"Save what? You ungrateful brat—is taking a swing at your father how you show respect?!"
Yamato pushed against the floor, realized she couldn't break free, and burst into tears. "Please, Father! I have to go save Ace!"
"..."
This was the first time in twenty years that his lunatic child had lowered her head to him.
Kaido picked up the crumpled newspaper and finally noticed the article about the potential war between Whitebeard and the Marines.
He glanced at the sobbing Yamato, hefted his kanabō, and returned the favor with a blow to the back of her skull, knocking her out cold.
"Idiot. You think I'd let you run off to save some reckless brat?"
But he intended to take Whitebeard's head while the old man was busy fighting the Navy.