บท 272: Teasing Sai
The former toys who didn't want to stay and take their revenge had previously stolen and left on the various pirate ships docked in the underground chamber. However, most of the ships were now returning from the tunnel they left through.
Upon coming closer, many of them were pale in the face. Some were muttering short phrases like "There's no way out…" or "Trapped… trapped…"
Robin found one that was holding up better than most, though he was drinking that away quite quickly, and asked "What happened down the tunnel? Weren't you going to run away?"
Her voice was calm, stable, and soothing; just what the pirate needed to emotionally keep his head above the deep, murky waters of despair.
"There were… bars, no… not bars. Too thin to be bars. The first ship didn't notice them in time. Sailed straight through them. Or rather, the bars cut straight through THEM. The second ship tried to cut the bars, but it was no use. We're all trapped in here…" he downed an entire bottle of whiskey, not caring in the slightest whether it killed him later. He just didn't want to die sober.
The crowd of former toys that stayed behind were perturbed by this bad news. Most had enough sense to know that if one escape route was blocked off, then the rest would be too. This was Donquixote Doflamingo they were talking about, after all.
Usopp was also noticeably nervous, but Robin was only mildly concerned. The reason, of course, was that Cherry was completely nonchalant about it. If anything she looked annoyed.
'That bastard is already back up and plotting against us? I reckoned he'd be out for the count for at least an hour.' Cherry murmured in frustration.
She knew that a shichibukai who had claimed territory in the New World would be a tough bastard, but she hadn't thought it would be to this extent.
She'd find out his secrets soon enough.
Cherry saw a familiar trio approaching her and gave them a genuine smile.
"Hey there, Chinjao. Lookin' sharp, hehe!" Cherry said with a snicker.
Some people gasped and backed away, afraid to get caught in Don Chinjao's wrath. His head was only very recently 'blunted', after all, and was sure to be a sore spot.
"Hohoho! Not as sharp as that tongue of yours. You sure do know how to poke at an old man's wounds, hm?" Chinjao spoke in good humor.
Cherry motioned with her hand for him to come closer, to which he complied without hesitation.
Right before the widening eyes of the shocked observers, Cherry coated her hand in haki then molded his head like it was wet clay on a spinning wheel. In all of a minute, Chinjao's head had returned to its former, pointy glory.
Chinjao straightened up once more, feeling his skull with a hand and giving it a few swishes in the air. "Mm, it's even better than the first time you fixed me up. Didn't even hurt this time."
"She copies my King Punch with one look and she can perform medical miracles too. Some people have all the luck." King Elizabello II said in exasperation.
Wasting no more time, they headed for the official exit to the surface with the crowd in tow.
"So, do either of you have girlfriends yet?" Cherry directed her attention to Chinjao's grandsons, Sai and Boo.
Sai looked embarrassed whilst Boo looked a bit sheepish.
"I'm engaged… technically." Sai said, clearly looking displeased with the fact.
"I've been too busy training…" Boo made a lame excuse.
"Oh, sure you have." Sai responded sarcastically.
"What's this about an engagement?" Cherry asked, feeling that was far more interesting than Boo's lack of a love life.
"I arranged it before you fixed my head the first time. I'd thought our family treasure was forever lost to us after Garp ruined me and neither of these two were shaping up properly. So in order to maintain the Happo Navy's influence, the arranged marriage was set up to tie the Happo Navy and the Niho Navy together." Chinjao explained.
"Wait, but didn't you offer me my pick between the two of them back then?" Cherry asked incredulously.
"Even back then it seemed to be worth breaking it off to rope you in. If I had known what you'd become in just a few years, then I would have even been willing to go to war with the Niho Navy, let alone break off a little engagement." Chinjao spoke.
"Yes I know, I'm amazing. You don't seem too keen on it though, Sai. Why haven't you broken it off, then? The reason for making the arrangement disappeared when the old man's head got fixed, right?" Cherry asked, then gave him a mischievous smile. "Maybe you're just shy and you really do like her?"
"There's no reason to break it off and offend the Niho Navy. Plus, our words will hold less weight if we go around breaking deals we made without good reason. We may be pirates, but we're officially affiliated with the Kano Kingdom; we have to maintain a certain reputation." Sai spoke seriously, though a light blush on his cheeks betrayed his embarrassment much to Cherry's amusement.
"You got a picture of her, by chance?" Cherry asked curiously.
"No." Sai said immediately.
"Yes." Boo pulled out a photograph.
"Why the hell do you just have a picture of Uholisia?!" Sai demanded to know, completely bewildered.
"In case Cherry ever wanted to see her?" Boo answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I always knew you were the smart one, Boo." Cherry snatched the photograph right before Sai dived for it.
"Damn! Look at her! I don't know what your problem is Sai, some men would die to have their head squeezed between those thighs." Cherry whistled.
Robin leaned over to have a look as well. "Luscious blonde hair, fashionable, confident, good proportions too; she has a lot of great qualities you rarely see in one person."
"Yeah, but look at her face- OOF!" Boo spoke carelessly before getting a mean punch to the ribs.
"I changed my mind, you're not the smart one." Cherry said with a sharp look.
"Her face is irrelevant. She has 25 husbands already." Sai spoke, feeling a bit of schadenfreude from Boo's punishment.
"Oh yeah, that's a kicker. I understand your hesitance now." Cherry said, genuine sympathy in her tone. "That said though, you go girl! Harems always seemed like they'd be a pain in the ass to me, but she seems pretty pleased with herself just going by the picture."
"I've told that boy he doesn't have to worry so much about our reputation and can just break off the engagement as he pleases, but he's too stubborn. Personally, I never much liked her father even though there's no great enmity between us." Chinjao huffed.
"Well, Dressrosa is full of beautiful, passionate women. Maybe he'll fall in love at first sight,eh? Hehehehe!" Cherry laughed.
"Hmph! I'm not such a whimsical man to believe in such silly things." Sai insisted.
Cherry disagreed, but didn't voice her opinion on the matter any further.
บท 273: Clima-Tact
Three dozen kilometers away from Dressrosa on the sea.
"Are we being chased, Brook?" Nami called up to the crow's nest, some trepidation in her tone.
"I do not spy with my little eye any enemy ships following behind! Of course, I don't have any eyes to spy with! Yohohohoho!" Brook joked.
Brook's usual nonsense did a lot to lift the mood of the ship; such was the job of the crew's resident entertainer.
Nami let out a sigh of relief. They had used the Coup de Burst three times in a row to ensure they got a good lead in case Akainu's steam ship followed them.
However, Franky had mentioned that they couldn't just keep using it over and over. For one, it took time for Cherry's Fizzy Pop revolver to refill the barrels. More importantly, no matter how tough the Thousand Sunny was, there was only so much strain from the Coup de Burst that the ship could take before it started falling apart.
Without Franky and Cherry on board to find and fix any damage, that was a genuine concern they had to keep in mind.
Now that Brook had confirmed that they weren't being chased after, he went ahead and had a good look around the horizon for any other anomalies.
"Ah, I see a ship off the portside bow!" Brook called out.
The ship in question, he quickly realized, was enormous in size. A Man-o-War, in fact, was exceptionally rare to see in the Grand Line. That was mainly due to the chaotic weather patterns; such a large ship had limited maneuverability to dodge cyclones, maelstroms, and the like.
The reason these people dared to sail such a massive ship on these dangerous waters became quickly apparent. It turned to face them with unnatural speed, making it clear that they had spotted the Thousand Sunny as well.
At the front of the Man-o-War, the figurehead was a big goofy face wearing a crown. Though Brook could not hear it, the face moved its mouth in a way that gave Brook the impression that it was singing a song.
The body of the ship was styled to look like cake and candy, and upon the main sails of the ship was a jolly roger wearing lipstick and large letters reading "BIG MOM".
"BIG MOM?!" Brook shouted in alarm.
"""BIG MOM?!?!?!""" The others parroted in shock.
"Well that isn't good." Jinbe said, already turning the ship to starboard.
"What are we going to do?! We can't fight Big Mom!" Nami screamed.
"It isn't very likely Big Mom herself is aboard that ship, if that makes you feel better," Jinbe said. "Big Mom has an infamous appetite; one that can't be as easily sated while out at sea. She only leaves her territory when she has to."
That did make Nami, Chopper, and Momonosuke feel better, but only a little bit. It was still Big Mom's crew that was chasing them after all.
At this point the ship came into view for those on the main deck as well. Cresting over the horizon was a behemoth of sweets, the happy go lucky figurehead's smile seemed much more menacing than it was with the massive ship as a backdrop.
"Oh, that's the flagship." Jinbe said. "The chances that Big Mom is aboard are a bit higher then."
"Stop it, Jinbe! You're gonna jinx it!" Chopper pleaded.
"In my experience, talking about jinxing makes the jinx more likely. That's what happened to my old crew, Yohohoho!" Brook spoke cheerfully, but with an unusually serious undertone.
Chopper quickly bit his tongue.
"Bahhh." Merry commented.
"What do you mean 'We can take them!'?! Look at the size of that ship!" Chopper replied.
"Bahhhh Baaah!" Merry countered.
"It doesn't matter how bloated it is, we're outgunned!" Chopper insisted.
Nami looked out to the seemingly empty ocean before them contemplatively. "Jinbe, turn another 15 degrees starboard."
"Aye." Jinbe assented immediately. He hadn't had much of a chance to see her navigational skills for himself, but the others had practically gushed over her expertise in that particular area. As such, he trusted her judgment without question.
"We hardly changed directions at all. How will this help, O-Nami?" Momonosuke asked, curious and hopeful.
"There's a cold front coming in from this direction." Nami spoke mysteriously, gripping her Clima-Tact till her knuckles went white.
Caesar, who had been quiet till now, spoke up with widening eyes. "You aren't going to… That isn't possible, it won't work."
"It'll work." Nami smiled, both confident and nervous.
A few minutes later, the Big Mom Man-o-War was steadily gaining on them. The crew aboard the monstrous ship shouted and jeered at them. The occasional warning shot was fired in their direction, but they were still outside the range of their cannons.
"Hand over Caesar, Bon! If you do this, we'll even let you go on your way!" The voice of someone was projected to them from Big Mom's ship. Cherry would recognise the voice as Tamago if she were here.
"Don't do it! I'm the world's greatest scientist! I'm worth keeping for yourselves!. Just don't give me to that woman!" Caesar pleaded when he realized he was the target.
"Don't pay any attention to them. Just keep going." Nami said.
"Thank you!" Caesar said, almost half genuinely.
"I'm not doing it for you!" Nami snapped at him. "Now be quiet, I need to focus!"
Nami wielded her Clima-Tact and began to launch heat balls to the right, left, and behind the ship. Streaks of plasma were left in the wake of the heat balls as they landed in the water, releasing vast amounts of boiling steam in the air.
On the Queen Mama Chanter, Pekoms and Tamago watched Nami's actions closely. They wouldn't dismiss her actions out of hand just because she wasn't one of the strong members of the crew.
"It seems that they're getting desperate. She's creating fog to cover their escape, Bon." Tamago surmised.
"Gao! I'd agree with you, but for some reason my instincts are tickling the back of my mind. In any case, we should be careful of that weapon. It can probably set the ship aflame with just a touch." Pekoms said.
Nami was soaked in sweat. No matter how short a time she was close to each heat ball, she had still thrown a couple hundred of them so the temperature was getting to her.
"Come on, come on! Just a little more… THERE! Prepare to Coup de Burst immediately!" Nami screamed at them.
Hearing the urgency in her voice, they moved quickly. Fortunately, the most time consuming part of the process, replacing the cola barrel, wasn't necessary. Fizzy Pop had refilled the barrels by now.
The familiar warbling could be heard by the Big Mom pirates, but they could not see what was going on. They prepared for battle, in case the Thousand Sunny came out of the fog to fire some manner of weapons at them.
Pekoms shot out of his chair. "Get us out of here, RIGHT NOW GAAAOOORRR!!!"
The Big Mom pirates were momentarily stunned by his sudden outburst, but quickly went to follow orders.
"What is wrong, Pekoms? Bon." Tamago asked with trepidation.
Pekoms didn't need to answer his question, as it soon became very apparent.
The sky grew darker.
A tinge of green filled the atmosphere.
The fog cover started to swirl.
Everyone on both ships, with the exception of Nami, shouted in unison…
"CYCLONE?!"
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
200+ การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
174 หินพลัง 
ความคิดเห็นย่อย