But a Vice Admiral was someone he couldn't possibly be ignorant of.
This woman was indeed a Marine.
"Are you still doubting that I harbor some ulterior motive?" Mitian asked.
"Err..." Drake's expression stiffened, and he let out a sheepish laugh.
How was he supposed to answer that?
"Where did Sabo... and the others go?" Drake bypassed the question, asking once more.
Mitian cast a casual, passing glance at Drake. She could naturally see through his little calculations, but she didn't care in the slightest, stating directly, "I don't know. They've probably already returned to the Revolutionary Army."
"However, the Revolutionary Army will likely be going to war with the World Government next."
"Going to war?!" Drake was caught off guard.
The Revolutionary Army was going to war with the World Government this soon?
"Your second older brother, Sabo, and his crew came this time precisely to conduct reconnaissance. I imagine that day isn't far off."
"So fast!"
"Indeed. And right now, it's not just that the Revolutionary Army wants to wage war—the World Government has already issued orders to completely purge the Revolutionary Army's forces."
"It's likely already underway as we speak. However, the Revolutionary Army's operations are usually exceptionally covert. Tracking down their people is harder than scaling the heavens."
When it came to intelligence, Mitian truly held it all in the palm of her hand.
Drake fell silent for a brief moment before asking again, "Then the Warlord system must have been officially abolished by now."
"How do you know that?" Mitian was a bit surprised.
After all, this news shouldn't have reached Wano yet; even she had only unearthed this intelligence a short while ago. She was practically certain that Drake had been rooted in Wano this entire time, so how had he obtained the news?
"Hahaha... Just hearsay, hearsay..." Drake waved his hands hurriedly.
When he looked back at Mitian, she was simply staring at him in absolute silence, throwing the atmosphere into instant awkwardness.
"Ahem!" Ultimately, Drake couldn't help but be the first to break the silence. "If you don't have anything else, I'm heading back."
Granted, he had taken a beating, but she had paid him back with classified intelligence, hadn't she? It wasn't a total loss.
Therefore, Drake decided to let it slide. There was no need to push further, especially since Mitian didn't harbor any actual malice toward him. Under these parameters, it was best to just leave it at that.
With that, Drake turned and began walking away so rapidly he was practically flying.
"Hold it right there!" Mitian stood up and called out.
"Uh... is there something else?" Drake paused in his tracks.
"I'm coming back with you."
Drake: ???
"What did you say?" Drake thought his ears were playing tricks on him. What kind of script was she reading from?
"I said, I'm coming back with you." Mitian walked straight over, linking her arm firmly through Drake's and dragging him straight toward the center of Onigashima.
Drake remained in a total daze the entire way. This woman truly defied all standard tactical expectations.
Meanwhile, the banquet grounds had reached the absolute peak of their roaring momentum. The entirety of Onigashima was filled with booming laughter as the fighters raised their cups to drink deeply. Immense quantities of food were laid out to sustain their joyful revelry.
This was the first time in twenty years that the samurai had been able to truly open their hearts, drinking and talking through the night without a single care.
Mitian and Drake's sudden arrival immediately triggered another minor commotion.
"Yo! Drake, are you done with your business? Get over here and grab a bite!" Luffy called out, holding a massive piece of meat on the bone in each hand, his mouth completely stuffed.
"Luffy! Coming!" Drake grinned. But the microsecond his lips curled, his heavily swollen cheeks twitched with a sharp, stinging pain.
It was an exceptionally intense sensation.
Hiss...
Taking a sharp breath of cold air, Drake cast a deeply resentful glance at Mitian. It was all because this demoness had been entirely too ruthless with her strikes.
Yet Mitian simply kept her arm linked through Drake's, showing absolutely zero intention of letting go.
Before long, they arrived before the food stations. Drake dropped cross-legged onto the stone, completely disregarding his public image as he began to frantically eat.
Luffy, who was in the middle of gorging himself, suddenly caught a clean look at Drake's completely disfigured face. He instantly sprayed his mouthful of food straight out.
And it landed precisely on Drake's face.
"Pfft... Hahaha!" Luffy pointed a mocking finger at Drake, laughing hysterically. "Drake, what happened to you? Did you get beat up?"
Drake froze, a sudden sense of impending doom washing over him. Luffy truly never disappointed.
Predictably, the gazes of everyone in the immediate vicinity snapped over to lock onto his coordinate, including the members of both the Dragon Flag Pirates and the Straw Hat crew.
"Bwahahaha..."
A thunderous chorus of laughter instantly erupted across the clearing.
Drake's mouth twitched violently. Catching sight of Bael, who was desperately trying to suffocate a laugh, Drake leveled a fierce glare at him. Bael frantically clamped a hand over his mouth, but alongside him, Kenshin showed no such restraint, laughing completely aloud.
At the same time, Kenshin was secretly baffled.
By standard metrics, the moment alcohol entered Drake's system, he should have blacked out instantly. Just moments ago, Kenshin had been assuming that Drake wouldn't be making an appearance until after the banquet concluded, given that he would need to sleep it off.
Yet Drake had returned within such a remarkably short window.
This struck Kenshin as completely bizarre. It defied logical consistency. Drake had undeniably downed more than two cups earlier.
"Ahem, Drake, do you feel any physical discomfort anywhere?" Kenshin walked over to his side, asking with a trace of hesitation.
"Hmm?" Drake's eyes turned cold. This bastard is explicitly trying to rip open my wounds to enjoy the view.
Discomfort? Look at my face! Is there a single fraction of my physical vessel that feels comfortable right now?
Kenshin, you've changed. You weren't like this before.
"Drake, exceptional work!" At that moment, Ace walked over as well, nodding at Drake with an expression of profound, proud satisfaction.
The reaction left Drake entirely bewildered.
What is the narrative here? This world is broken.Ace is looking increasingly unhinged.
"Here, husband. Eat up." Mitian suddenly selected a piece of fruit and held it directly against Drake's lips.
The intimate display instantly ignited the envy of the surrounding onlookers. X Drake, who had been keeping his eyes pinned to Mitian the entire time, was thoroughly shell-shocked.
The logical parameters of reality had expanded past his comprehension. This was not normal.
The Vice Admiral Mitian was actually actively feeding someone? A man, no less?
Because Mitian had spoken in a soft murmur, the surrounding crowd hadn't caught her choice of words. But Drake had heard her with absolute clarity.
He immediately hissed in a hushed whisper, "This wasn't part of our sacred agreement! Permitting you to accompany me back was my trade for your intelligence. You're overstepping the boundary!"
"Husband..." The corners of Mitian's lips curled into a gentle, melodic smile. "Come, take a bite."
Beneath that radiant sweetness, Drake easily detected a flash of lethal warning. Had he refused to comply, he could easily visualize the catastrophic beating that would immediately follow.
"Fine, I'll eat!"
I'll endure it!This is entirely out of respect for the news she gave me about Sabo.
Gritting his teeth to the point of fracturing, Drake swallowed the fruit in a single bite.
"Is it delicious, husband?"
Drake's mouth twitched violently, though his head nodded automatically as he mumbled, "Delicious, exceptionally delicious..."
What calculated game is this demoness playing at? She certainly knows how to spin a narrative.
As a faint dawn began to paint the horizon, the monumental celebration gradually drew to its definitive close.
The banquet had raged without a single pause for three entire days and nights. It wasn't just the alliance on Onigashima celebrating; the entirety of the Land of Wano was simultaneously rejoicing in Shogun Hiyori's formal ascension. Every citizen had been granted access to food and clean water—a luxury that was exceptionally rare in recent history.
Over these few days, the entire nation joined in unified celebration.
The massive food reserves distributed by the castle were more than sufficient to sustain them for a substantial period. A great number of citizens had even chosen to meticulously hoard the majority of their shares, unable to bring themselves to consume it all at once. It could be said that for these few days, the entirety of Wano had transformed into a continuous banquet.
On this specific morning.
A sharp, incredulous screech sundered the peaceful sky above the island.
"What?! I'm banned from drinking?!"
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