บท 76: Chapter 75
"...Dragon?" Rosinante was rendered stupefied, "As in 'Rebellion Dragon,' the one thought to be behind many rebellions that are occurring world-widely?"
Dragon, upon hearing Rosinante's remark through the Den Den Mushi, commented, <<...You got a company, it seems.>>
"Trustworthy ones, I assure you." Smoker replied calmly.
Dragon stood silent for a moment. The Den Den Mushi, reflecting Dragon's emotion, gazed at Smoker questioningly, to which Smoker stared back with confident eyes.
<<...Fine then. Now getting onto the point,>> Finally, Dragon yielded, <<What exactly happened during your clash with the Martini pirates?>>
"The battle primarily revealed that he was the Celestial Dragons' slave from the very start. The deaths of many marines at his hands, technically, were ordered by the World Government themselves." Smoker said solemnly, "It was no different this time around. An order most probably came from higher up to dispose of me. Hook complied, but met his end instead."
<<...You are saying, that Hook was the World Government's subordinate?>>
"Indeed."
The Den Den Mushi wrinkled up its face, reflecting Dragon's confusion, <<But then, why now of all times? The defeat of Doflamingo, followed by the promotion to Vice Admiral. Titled as the youngest Vice Admiral in history... why attack when the world placed a good deal of attention on you?>>
"Flevance is the most likely reason." Smoker replied, "One restriction that a marine has, regardless of one's rank, is to report one's destination, location, and purpose of going there. 'Flevance' was, and is my current destination. The World Government... they are highly against letting me get there, it seems."
<<...Flevance. I heard a little about how a particular disease is spreading widely in that country.>> The Den Den Mushi closed its eyes in a thoughtful manner, <<...Our intel revealed that a substantial amount of troops were sent from Marine to arrest you. They will probably track you down based on your planned route of travel. And yet, you plan to continue going?>>
"The strong countermeasures are the indications that there lies their weakness." Smoker said solemnly, "The high risk behind this operation is the reason why I must proceed with it."
<<...Hah... reckless as always.>> Dragon, chuckling lightly through the Den Den Mushi, then said,
<<Head to the Polar island, located at the northeastern section of the North Blue. There, locate a cave hidden at the back. Afterward, a man named Mallet will guide you on.>>
Smoker grinned, "Much appreciated."
__________
[January 19th, 1506; Polar Island, North Blue]
At the edge of the North Blue, there lied one island. Though its size wasn't supposed to be big, the relentless snow that engulfed the entire island, inflated its size.
Across the snowy street, people shivered as they walked with thick fur coats on them. Fishing, finding sources of heat, and simply doing what they can do to survive another day, they didn't have time to pay attention to others.
And on this street, there were two green-haired young girls in a box, shivering and hugging one another to preserve their heat as much as possible. In front of them was a small, tattered bucket.
"Anyone..." Among two girls, the seemingly older one said weakly, "Please... just one fish..."
The adults who were passing by stiffened up. They bit their lips, feeling guilt that they were turning blind eyes to children who needed help. However, they eventually continued their way; they had families of their own to feed and care of.
The younger girl, shivering in the arms of her older sister, whispered, "Monet... are we going to die?"
The older girl, named Monet, shook her with a forced smile, "...No, we won't. Don't worry. This is going as I planned."
Monet raised her head up to the ever-snowy sky. She couldn't help but wonder, 'Where did everything start going wrong?'
Was it when the chief of this village ran away with the money that villagers collected altogether? Was it when her parents became ill and died? Or was it when the villagers barged into her house upon receiving the news that her parents died, and took all valuables from them? Monet didn't know where to start.
Monet, still looking at the sky, then thought subconsciously, '...If only I had bird's wings, so that I can fly out of here.'
Her stomach growled. Her mouth was dry. Monet found herself too frail to move any longer, for all the foods that she managed to acquire for the past few weeks went to her sister, Sugar. There wasn't enough fluid for her to shed a tear even.
People, as time passed by, left the street one by one. The sky began to darken, and two girls were now the only ones left outside. And Monet instinctively felt it, that today was her final day.
"Sugar, when I die..." Monet therefore whispered into her sister, "eat me and live on."
Sugar, paling up from Monet's statement, shook her head with all her might. But Monet was adamant, for she looked at Sugar with all the strength she had in her.
"...No!"
"I know that it's a hard decision to make. But that's the only way..."
Monet, from the corners of her eyes, saw one man walking. 'It must be a reaper,' she thought as she grabbed onto Sugar with all her last remaining strength.
"Live on, Sugar. Even if I'm not here—"
"No, no, no! Stop saying that, Monet!!"
Monet, gritting her teeth, looked at the reaper who was now right next to her. Urgently turning back to Sugar, she sighed, "...You will eventually be left with no choice."
Sugar didn't answer Monet. Instead, her eyes headed to Monet's back, and she pleaded, "M-mister... please... my sister needs help..."
Monet expressed shock, "...You can see him?" She turned back to where Sugar's gaze was headed at.
And the man whom Monet believed to be a reaper, wearing a brown cloak that covered the entirety of his body except for his face, was staring at them with a crestfallen expression on his face.
Sugar looked at the man with teary desperation. However, Monet seemed to have recognized that man. She, unconsciously shielding Sugar from the man's view, muttered,
"W-White Hunter Smoker..."
Smoker, lowering his eyes to the ground, gritted his teeth as if enraged. Then, he abruptly grabbed the box that contained two girls and began walking away,
"H-hey... where are you taking us to... you trash!!! Scum!!! You—"
to who-knows-where.
__________
Monet abruptly woke up from a comfortable bed, with her eyes widened and her breathing quickened.
"Sugar!"
And right when she shouted out her sister's name,
"You're awake."
a woman's voice was heard. And just before Monet could do anything,
"Drink."
A cup of water was shoved onto her mouth. It pushed against Monet's face, and Monet was forced to drink the water to prevent herself from being choked by it.
"Huff... huff..." And when Monet finally finished drinking,
"Eat."
A loaf of bread was shoved into her mouth.
"MMMFF!!!" Monet thrashed her head, but the pink-haired woman, Hina, was persistently shoving the bread into her mouth, until,
Creak—.
"...What are you doing, Hina-san?" Rosinante entered with a bowl of porridge in his hands.
Hina tilted her head, "This is how I treat Smoker when he is injured. Hina confused."
Rosinante immediately barked at her, "Don't place Smoker-san in the same standard as this teenage girl, alright?! He's a literal monster who heals simply by eating!!"
Putting the bread away, Rosinante then brought the porridge closer to Monet, "Here. Sorry about what she did. Make yourself worm with this and take some rest—"
Then, Rosinante slipped, and the hot bowl of porridge was spilled all over the floor. Monet gazed at the fallen meal with a dull expression, before lowering her body and licking the porridge over.
Rosinante, immediately standing back up, tried to stop Monet with a troubled look, "A-ah, don't do that. I'll get you a new one—"
"It... it tastes so good," Said Monet as she was on four, licking over the spilled porridge without a control. The tears dropped from her eyes and rendered the porridge salty, but she didn't seem to have realized it.
"..." Rosinante, with a grimace, watched as Monet continued her act. His heart ached from the miserable state that this teenage girl was in. Hina's expression softened, expressing concern for Monet.
And eventually, Monet stood back up. She warily gazed at two people in front of her before bowing, "...Thank you for the meal." Then, she raised her head back up and asked,
"So where did you take my little sister to?"
Rosinante, scratching the back of his head in response, opened the door. Upon opening, Monet saw,
"Arghhh, stop!! Stop already, you little—"
"Ahahahaha!!! Say moo, cow man!!!"
Sugar riding on the back of one dark-green-haired man with a muscular physique, Aramaki. Sugar was laughing genuinely as the man shouted in annoyance, and the sight of Sugar laughing was something that Monet didn't see for a long time.
"...White Hunter." Monet, after watching them in silence, then muttered, "He brought us here, didn't we."
Hina replied, "Yes, he did. Said he's going to a different island and left, before suddenly coming back with you two."
"So you work for him?"
"Technically."
Monet pursed her lips, "...I need to apologize for calling him bad things."
Hina sat back down and said, "Then you'll have to wait for some time. Right now, he's gone elsewhere."
"...For how long?"
Rosinante shrugged, "Quite some time."
__________
__________
"...A bounty? Betrayal? Hah, just like me it seems."
In an unknown location, there sat Diez Barrels, who was busy smoking as he read through the newspaper that he got his hands onto.
"But what's with this bias? His bounty is far higher than mine, when there was only one level of difference in ranks!" Barrels clicked his tongue, exhibiting annoyance.
Crocodile, who too was smoking an expensive-looking cigar, bickered at Barrels's antics, "Because he killed Martini Hook, idiot."
Barrels gazed at Crocodile stoically, before turning his head away with an underlying nervousness. Crocodile snorted at that, before going into a thought,
'But White Hunter Smoker... he must have nowhere to go. And considering his situation where he became wanted for killing the pirates, and is unreasonably getting chased by the marines... whatever loyalty he had for that organization must've diminished. If he doesn't come to hate Marine after this incident, then he isn't normal.' Crocodile grinned, finding this as an opportunity. 'Then surely, he won't reject a company, will he?'
Crocodile walked up to the deck, planning to order one of the crew members—those who used to be marines in the past—to turn the ship to where he speculated that Smoker must've gone to. However, before he could speak, one crew member from the Crow's Nest shouted with visible exhilaration,
"WAITTTT!!!!! W-WAIT!!!! REAR—C-CAPTAIN!!! YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THIS!!!!!"
Crocodile, morphing his body into sand, swiftly travelled to where the member stood. The member, upon finding Crocodile next to him, gulped but nonetheless passed the binoculars to the man.
Crocodile didn't bother speaking a single word to the member. Instead, he immediately placed binoculars in front of his eyes and took a look at where the member has been looking at. Then,
"...Hah," Crocodile's arms trembled as he lowered the binoculars from his eyes. On his face was a wide grin, one that he wasn't able to suppress.
"A heart-shaped devil fruit. There's no doubt."
What Crocodile managed to see was a tiny piece of ground in the middle of the ocean. And on that ground stood one frail-looking tree, and that tree managed to produce one single fruit—one bizarre-looking fruit.
"It's the Op Op fruit."
Crocodile's eyes flashed in greed as he immediately flew toward the devil fruit.
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