Download App
79.25% One Piece: Dream of Immortality / Chapter 382: Visiting Grandma

Chapter 382: Visiting Grandma

"The Big Mom pirates were here because holding hostages is apparently how she ensures that her invitations to her tea parties are answered. Not that those weaklings could have hurt you, but they might have hurt someone else in the process of trying." Cherry told Grandma Agnela after Commander Frowe had left.

"So that's what they were doing here. I thought that they might be here for something else, what with those Cipher Pol agents poking around the island as well." Grandma Angela spoke calmly, sipping her tea.

"Cipher Pol? Do you know which one they're with?" Cherry was vaguely familiar with each of the agencies and what they typically worked around, except in unique cases like with Robin's kidnapping to Enies Lobby where they just needed a bunch of agents. The perks of hanging around the Revolutionary Army for a while.

Grandma Angela shrugged. "It's not like they've announced themselves. Their disguises are well done and, as far as I'm aware, Commander Frowe doesn't know they're here."

"Hmmm, CP2 maybe? Information gathering?" Cherry rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

That would explain why she didn't pick up on them. CP2 were non-combatants who specialized in espionage, so they would be indistinguishable from ordinary civilians via Life Sense. Of course, all Cipher Pol agents were trained in information gathering, but nobody could beat CP2 at flying under the radar. That's why they were the only agency not required to train in Rokushiki; in fact they were specifically banned from doing so as having an overly trained body could be the difference between getting caught or not.

"How did you recognize them if they were disguised?" Cherry asked her.

"I can tell when people are watching me, Cherry. It's a very useful application of observation haki, to tell the difference between friendly eyes and the opposite. It's very rare to have someone paying close attention to you whilst also being wary of you." Grandma Angela explained. "Having more than one doing it within the span of a few days pretty much guarantees that it's not a coincidence."

"How could you be sure they were world government agents, then?" Cherry was curious about that point.

"They aren't as good at catching others watching them as they are at watching others." Grandma Angela smiled.

Cherry had never known her grandmother to be particularly sneaky, but she supposed that the woman had lived an entire life before she found herself in this world.

"Is that all you came here for, then?" Grandma Angela asked.

"I was just in the area, mostly. Traveling by snail is surprisingly quick, you know?" Cherry said.

Naturally Grandma Angela hadn't a clue what Cherry could mean by that. It would take more than a few leaps of logic to even begin to see the truth of the matter.

"Well, I hope that means you can visit often," Grandma Angela took it in stride, and naturally insisted on being able to see her granddaughter more often as a result.

"Of course," Cherry was glad to agree. "Oh, I came into some money. You should take some to improve some things around here, better equipment and the like."

Grandma Angela was about to refuse, partly out of stubborn pride and partly because what made for a fair amount of money for an individual wouldn't amount to much for the entire dojo.

The sound of gold spilling into a pile on the floor gave her pause, however. Her time with the Kuja pirates allowed her to gauge the rough value of the pile to treasure to be somewhere in the range of two or three hundred million Beri. The perfect example of a small fortune.

Various expenses flashed through her mind in addition to the need for a new barracks to house the increase of the more serious disciples who were in it for the long haul. Between a number of Cherry's fans from Pebbleton wanting to learn where she had and prospective marines determined to fight against the renewed vigor of the pirate era, there was quite an increase in the number of students in the dojo.

"I suppose I can humble myself just this once and call it a repayment on the resources used to raise you… with interest," Grandma Angela spoke.

"Don't be that way. There are no debts amongst family," Cherry waved her words away. "The time I spent with you is worth more than money could ever repay, so please don't ask me to cough it up."

"I will take it without hesitation then," Grandma Angela chuckled. "Any more where that came from?"

"Shall I fill the entire house with gold?" Cherry raised an eyebrow in question.

Grandma Angela laughed. "A bit of an exaggeration, isn't that?"

Cherry smiled widely, and Grandma Angela realized that she had pulled the pile of gold on her floor out from seemingly nowhere. She had been so surprised by the gold itself that she hadn't questioned where it had come from.

"Just how much gold do you have?" Grandma Angela asked tentatively.

"Do you know the Gran Tesoro?" Cherry answered the question with another.

"Yes?" Grandma Angela had of course heard of it. It was quite famous among all the seas.

"I have most of what was in Gran Tesoro's vault on me right now. Although I suppose it doesn't all belong to me, but rather I'm keeping it safe from thieves and the like." Cherry spoke casually.

Grandma Angela couldn't even fathom the amount of wealth the world's largest and most famous casino had contained. The Gran Tesoro was widely regarded as an unofficial country in its own right, and just how much wealth did the average kingdom have?

Less than the Gran Tesoro, that much was certain.

"I'm sorry that I have to cut this visit short, but I have a wedding to attend tomorrow and it isn't going to wreck itself. I already blew half the daylight at old man Martin's place. I promise I'll come visit soon." Cherry stood up and gave her Grandmother a big hug. "Oh, yes, do keep this den den mushi here somewhere. It'll be easier to find my way with a familiar way point. Just don't answer any calls."

When Cherry set the den den mushi down on the table, Grandma Angela understood this probably had something to do with what she said about 'traveling by snail', but she couldn't imagine how.

Luckily, she didn't have to imagine it, as in the next moment Cherry turned to ghostly flames and disappeared into the den den mushi without a trace.

"Huh." was all Grandma Angela could muster to say about it.

"Master Angela," Slenk called from outside the front door.

Grandma Angela went to answer it and saw both Commander Frowe's and Cherry's shoes still in the entryway. Sighing softly, she slid open the door.

"Can Cherry spare some time for the children? They keep asking me to do that trick with the flying slash and I don't have the guts to tell them I can't." Slenk spoke honestly.

"She already left, I'm afraid. If it's just a flying slash, I suppose I could show them a few…" Grandma Angela felt generous in her good mood.

"Oh no, she made one of the children make one. No offense, but… Master Angela can't do that can she?" Slenk asked, trying and somewhat failing to say so diplomatically.

"Really?" Grandma Angela was genuinely surprised by that. She wondered at what level of swordsmanship that Cherry has reached, and if she might have the chance to observe a fight of hers someday. "Maybe she's given up on that 'Cheapshot' nonsense and is properly focusing on the sword now?"

Slenk didn't look confident in that conclusion.


next chapter

Chapter 383: Sneak Thieves

It was in the late afternoon, close to evening, that Cherry returned to the supply closet inside the Whole Cake Chateau.

"I'm probably not too late for supper, am I?" Cherry wondered, picking up the bewildered den den mushi and leaving the supply closet.

She left the little snail outside the communications room with a knock, and pranced off to the kitchens.

As it turned out, she was not too late for supper; but even if she were, Streusen assured her that he would bend over backwards to make her a meal if he had to. She supposed that his regained vigor was something that he was very grateful for.

"Ah, I would ask that you settle for the cooking of my subordinate chefs if you require a late night snack. I have a wedding cake to work on in the early morning and I must be at my best when I do so," Streusen added.

Cherry left the kitchen pulling a feast fit for ten behind her on a serving cart. Aoon, she arrived outside a room that she expected to be a prison, but was surprised to find was actually a library.

'I see, so it's both a library and a prison. That explains why Pekoms' life signature was so weird…' Cherry thought as she walked inside.

"This is not a place you should be, soir." An egg shaped man blocked her path.

"I'm just here to have dinner with Pekoms. You can join us if you mind your manners," Cherry said.

"Pekoms is not here. This is a bibliothèque," Tamago insisted.

Cherry blinked at him.

Tamago blinked at her.

Cherry glanced at a specific book on a shelf that held many oversized books ranging from three to four meters in height, then back at him. Tamago knew that was the very same book that currently held Pekoms within its pages.

Tamago's lips stretched thin beneath his mustache as he frowned.

'Do we have an information leak? No, this one has probably been snooping around…' Tamago considered quietly.

This was a tricky situation to find himself in. While any actions in direct opposition to the Big Mom pirates taken by Cherry could be responded to in kind, lesser subordinates like himself were forbidden from offending her only hours ago. Cherry wanting to share a meal with Pekoms was hardly a jailbreak, but it was easy to see how it could become one.

Unfortunately for Tamago, just going along with whatever she wanted could lead to that exact circumstance and if he failed to stop her, then excuses about what he was ordered not to do would more likely result in his head flying rather than being considered acceptable.

In other words, he was stuck between a rock and a hard boiled egg.

Tamago sighed, he could only do his best and hope for the best in turn. "Very well. I will be supervising, however."

"Do as you wish," Cherry said.

Tamago pulled the book out himself and turned to the correct page holding Pekoms' cell to avoid any shenanigans from Cherry.

"Pekoms! I brought some food for you," Cherry said when she saw the lion mink.

"Why?" Pekoms asked.

"Why not? At present, most of my crew is indisposed so I can't have a meal with them very easily, and I've grown quite used to having my meals with company. You're available, so why not?" Cherry said, setting up a folding table from the cart up against the bars in the book.

Pekoms was pinned to the back wall of his paper cell and naturally he pointed out this particular inconvenience. "I'm not exactly in a good position to keep you company either, as you can see."

Cherry looked at Tamago.

"Don't look at moi. It is not within my pouvoir to release him; neither by authority or ability." Tamago decided to be as unhelpful as he could be within reason.

"Guess you'll have to feed him then, with those long arms of yours," Cherry said, as if it were the only natural solution.

Cherry finished setting the table with three places, her own place being absolutely stacked with food.

Tamago looked at Pekoms and saw that his old comrade was drooling a bit. He could only set aside his own pride and acquiesce, it seemed. Pekoms certainly wasn't complaining as he'd hoped that he would.

Watching all this from the hallway were Brook and Pedro, who had intended to rescue Pekoms before moving on with their other goal. Stealing an etching of the road poneglyph from Big Mom's vault, while important, was not quite as important as saving an ally from certain doom.

"What should we do? Can we entrust Cherry to rescue Pekoms?" Pedro whispered a question quietly to Brook.

Brook stared into the room for a moment before turning to Pedro and… shrugging.

"That doesn't exactly inspire confidence," Pedro said.

"I don't believe that she'll let him come to harm… probably not anyways. It's possible that she has some other plan in mind with him, and by intervening we may put her in a bad position." Brook said. "Personally, I do not think that Cherry has taken quite as much of a liking to Pekoms as the rest of us, though."

Pedro stole a glance back inside the library and saw Cherry delightedly relaying a tale about how she had met Gol D. Roger earlier today, and that the old pirate king had had 'some work done' to avoid recognition.

"She seems to like him well enough, to me," Pedro remarked.

Brook said, "If Cherry is smiling at you, she is just as likely to see you as a friend as she is a walking dead man. You can trust my word on this, since I happen to be both. Yoho-!"

Brook's laugh was quickly silenced by Pedro placing a hand over his teeth and clamping his jaw shut. He had had to do this more than a dozen times since they had infiltrated the chateau. He was beginning to think that Brook had some sort of obsessive compulsion to tell bad skeleton jokes rather than just liking them.

Little did Pedro know that Brook only retained what little sanity he had left by telling himself those jokes over his half a century of isolation on a ship filled with his dead friends' skeletons. He really couldn't help it, but he also couldn't care less. There were people to laugh at his jokes now, and that sound brought him more joy and solace than anyone could imagine.

It was rather inconvenient to burst out laughing when he was trying to be sneaky, though, so he was grateful to have Pedro here to cut him off.

"I will just trust in her good nature. She helped my people for little reason and even less reward, I'm sure she will not leave Pekoms to die." Pedro chose to trust her. "I'd rather not fight with Tamago, either, so we should steal the poneglyph etching while he is distracted."

Brook nodded his agreement and the two of them skulked off to another part of the chateau where they would undoubtedly achieve their goal with little to no resistance whatsoever.


Load failed, please RETRY

Weekly Power Status

Batch unlock chapters

Table of Contents

Display Options

Background

Font

Size

Chapter comments

Write a review Reading Status: C382
Fail to post. Please try again
  • Writing Quality
  • Stability of Updates
  • Story Development
  • Character Design
  • World Background

The total score 0.0

Review posted successfully! Read more reviews
Vote with Power Stone
Rank 200+ Power Ranking
Stone 260 Power Stone
Report inappropriate content
error Tip

Report abuse

Paragraph comments

Login

tip Paragraph comment

Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.

Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.

GOT IT