Makoto and his group stayed on Fish-Man Island for a few days, then returned to the first half of the Grand Line.
First, they went to Amazon Lily to send the Kuja Pirates back to the island of women.
Of course, among the men, only Makoto was qualified to enter.
As for Newgate, Kaido, and the others, they naturally had to wait outside.
…
On the island of women.
Makoto and his group were sightseeing here.
Just then, a flock of News Coos flew overhead.
Makoto waved his hand, and one of the News Coos landed obediently by the ship's railing.
Makoto handed over a coin and took a newspaper.
Opening it, the headline read—
[First Time Ever! Impel Down Breached by the Roger Pirates!]
"That group succeeded in escaping?"
Megumi leaned over to take a look.
"Yeah."
Makoto handed the newspaper to the girls nearby to pass around.
"The first pirate crew to successfully escape from Impel Down in history. Their bounties will definitely increase now."
"Wow, really!"
Yotsuba took the newspaper, flipped to the second page, and indeed saw the wanted posters of the Roger Pirates.
Yotsuba flipped a few more pages, then stopped, tilted her head, and asked with an innocent look on her face.
"By the way, Makoto-kun, you've done a lot of things since coming to this world too, so why hasn't the World Government put out a wanted notice for you?"
At these words, everyone looked at Yotsuba as if she were an idiot.
Although they knew this girl wasn't very sharp, they didn't expect her to be this oblivious.
Even Nayuta turned her head and gave Yotsuba a look like she was looking at a fool.
"Why... what's wrong?"
Yotsuba felt uncomfortable under everyone's gaze and shrank her neck.
"How would they dare?"
Miku muttered quietly.
Makoto also looked at Yotsuba with a suspicious look, thinking: If he had a child with this girl in the future, would it affect the offspring's IQ?
Makoto withdrew his gaze and looked back at the photo in the newspaper.
Roger stood on the escaping ship, smiling like an idiot.
Seeing the straw hat on his head, Makoto couldn't help but think of Luffy.
Luffy was also completely unable to clear his name because of the prison break incident.
In the early part of the original work, Luffy and his crew could indeed be called the 'pure ones' among pirates. They could hardly even be called pirates, only 'adventurers'.
However, ever since Luffy turned Impel Down upside down and released a bunch of criminals, he could truly be considered a pirate in the real sense.
Although some of his actions were still very abstract, the label of 'pirate' could no longer be removed.
"Makoto-kun!"
A familiar voice came from the direction of the ship's railing.
Makoto looked up and saw Tritoma waving at him as she ran over.
Tritoma ran up to Makoto, grabbed his arm, her face full of excitement.
"Makoto-kun! I'm going to be the vice-captain of the Kuja Pirates from now on!"
"How come?"
Makoto asked.
"Shakky-sama has decided to retire and stay on Amazon Lily to teach the newcomers," Tritoma explained.
"So the vice-captain position opened up. Gloriosa-sama asked if I wanted it, and I said yes!"
Makoto nodded.
This was much more normal than the original, where Shakky moved to Hachinosu to run a bar.
Speaking of which, he wondered what Rocks was thinking, actually agreeing to let Shakky stay on his turf.
Damn, if it were Nishikawa-sama, you think you could freeload?
If you won't put out, get lost!
"Vice-captain! Vice-captain!"
Just then, a few more crew members of the Kuja Pirates ran over, shouting breathlessly to Tritoma.
"The Roger Pirates are here!"
At these words, everyone was stunned.
Makoto raised an eyebrow.
Tritoma was also stunned.
"The Roger Pirates?"
"Yes! They're on a new ship, sailing towards the port!!"
The crew member reported.
Makoto and Tritoma exchanged a glance, then walked together towards the port.
The port of Amazon Lily was built on the southern side of the island, constructed from large white rocks.
The sea breeze blew in from the ocean, carrying a faint floral fragrance that stirred the imagination.
At that moment, a new sailing ship bearing the flag of the Roger Pirates was rapidly entering the port.
Roger stood at the bow, shouting through a loudspeaker:
"Shakky—! Shakky—! I've come to see you—!"
Makoto stood at the port, watching this scene, and burst out laughing.
He couldn't help but cast a sympathetic look towards Rayleigh.
'Good grief, his own captain and the third-in-command both wanted to steal his woman.'
'If Rayleigh were given a pair of Sharingan, he would probably evolve them straight into Mangekyo right now.'
Noticing the look Makoto was giving him, Rayleigh turned his head expressionlessly.
Rayleigh's mood was extremely complicated.
Back on Elbaf, he had asked Makoto a question, 'If they succeeded in rescuing Roger from prison, would Makoto make a move against them again?'
If Makoto's answer had been 'yes' at the time, Rayleigh would never have allowed Roger to come to Amazon Lily, as they would very likely run into Makoto.
But Makoto's answer then was: "I'm not interested in you for the time being."
That was why Rayleigh agreed to let Roger come to Amazon Lily.
After all, although Makoto liked to mess with people, he had never gone back on anything he had personally said.
But even so, Rayleigh still didn't want Roger to come.
After all, unless absolutely necessary, he really didn't want to meet this monster again.
But helplessly, Roger had been locked up for nearly half a year and was too pent up. He came out crying and clamoring to find Shakky.
Rayleigh simply couldn't stop him.
Seeing Roger's behavior, not only were the Kuja Pirates speechless, but even the female players who had come with Makoto to watch the commotion, as well as Newgate, Shiki, and the others waiting outside on the Rocks' Fury, were quite speechless.
They also lusted after Shakky's body, but Roger's actions still baffled them.
'Coming out of prison and immediately rushing to find a woman, was he that pent up?'
Gloriosa also came over, furious.
After all, she had always had feelings for Roger, but she hadn't expected him to rush to find her best friend as soon as he got out of jail.
Her face alternated between shades of green and red, her fingers clutching her sleeve tightly until her knuckles turned white.
Seeing her like this, Makoto couldn't help but tease, "You should take better care of yourself, so you don't age too quickly."
Gloriosa glared at him.
Makoto was genuinely reminding her.
Recalling the future, Roger would rather randomly find a not-so-good-looking female passerby to relieve his urges than come looking for Gloriosa…
Makoto suspected it was because Gloriosa had aged terribly by that time.
Though it was only about ten years until the start of the Great Age of Pirates, and Gloriosa was definitely a top-tier beauty at this stage…
So logically, ten years later, she would only be nearly forty, which means she shouldn't be too ugly…
But considering that the women in this world aged more and more abstractly, perhaps by forty she would be hard to look at.
Makoto felt he was really kind-hearted to remind her to take care of herself.
Being teased like this by Makoto, Gloriosa's mood worsened even more, silently cursing that men were no good.
Under Roger's 'cringey' actions, Shakky was finally called out.
A black long dress, long hair draped over her shoulders, a thin cigarette dangling from her mouth.
The [Supreme Great Succubus] had appeared.
Instantly, countless eyes turned into hearts.
Only one person had a very complex expression… Rayleigh.
Facing everyone's adoring looks, Shakky lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.
Then, she raised her hand and pointed in one direction.
"I've already been shaped by this man."
"If you want to have me, take him down first."
Everyone looked in the direction her finger pointed.
The entire scene fell silent.
The next second, Shakky moved.
She strode up to Makoto, grabbed his head, and leaned in to kiss him… her plump lips glistened enticingly in the sunlight, about to touch Makoto's mouth.
She wanted to give these simps, especially Rayleigh, a thrill.
However—
Just as Shakky's lips were less than two centimeters from Makoto's, a palm covered her face.
"Your mouth reeks of smoke. Don't touch me."
Shakky's movements froze.
The entire scene fell into dead silence.
The Roger Pirates stood there dumbfounded, watching this scene.
Shakky stood frozen in place. For the first time in her life, she had been rejected by a man like this.
Seeing her expression, Makoto seemed to feel he had been a bit harsh. Nishikawa-sama had always been very gracious to girls, especially those who threw themselves at him.
Makoto thought for a moment, then added:
"If you want to do it, go brush your teeth first."
Shakky's face alternated between green and red.
The surrounding air seemed to freeze.
Roger's mouth hung open, forgetting to close it.
Everyone else had similar expressions.
Shakky took a deep breath.
She threw her cigarette on the ground and crushed it with her foot.
Then, she turned and left.
"Is she really going to brush her teeth?"
Tritoma asked quietly.
"Who knows."
Makoto shrugged and turned to leave.
"Let's go, let's go. Back inside."
He led the female players, marching grandly towards the interior of the island of women.
Nayuta walked at the very back, holding Pochita.
After walking a certain distance, she stopped, turned back, and looked at Roger.
"Still not leaving? Want to watch your goddess get plowed? Or want to help push her hips?"
Roger: "..."
Watching the departing figures of Makoto and his group, Roger felt a deep sense of melancholy.
He had a premonition—
The bike that even Rocks had been reluctant to ride, Makoto was going to stand up and pedal.
"Don't take it too hard."
Gaban patted Roger's shoulder and comforted him expressionlessly.
"Stop staring. We're lucky he didn't throw us back in prison."
Ever since meeting Ripley, Gaban felt, for some reason, that he had lost interest in Shakky.
The figure of that red-haired female giant kept lingering in his mind.
Roger let out a long sigh.
"At least... it's better for Makoto to plow Shakky than for Rayleigh to plow her."
"???"
Rayleigh whipped his head around, his eyes wide as saucers.
Roger, not noticing his good brother's change in expression, continued talking to himself.
"Mainly, Makoto is too strong. If Shakky chooses him, I can accept it without forcing the issue."
"But if Shakky chose Rayleigh, I would really be unconvinced."
"Why?" Gaban asked.
"I feel Rayleigh is inferior to me in every way."
Roger answered matter-of-factly.
Rayleigh: "???"
To be honest, he was starting to want to leave the ship.