On the commercial street of Island 1,
Nami and the other six girls had already spent nearly one million Berries, buying all sorts of stylish and revealing outfits.
Of course, they hadn't forgotten about the two men on the ship either, buying five sets of clothes for each of them.
Just as the seven colorfully dressed girls walked out of the clothing store, a brightly feathered bird flew swiftly to Nami's side.
"A message from Ryuen," Nami said.
She reached out, and the bird dropped a small note into her hand before flying away without stopping.
Nami opened it, read through it briefly, then handed it to Kuina beside her.
Kuina looked puzzled.
She usually didn't deal with these kinds of things, yet Nami was giving the intelligence report to her now.
"You'll understand once you read it~~~" Nami said softly.
Kuina opened the note. The other five girls, curious, gathered around. Soon, all six of them had read the message.
In that moment, a powerful, icy aura burst from Kuina's body!
"Mihawk has arrived at Sabaody Archipelago… and he's here to see Kuina?!" Nojiko gasped.
Everyone else was just as shocked.
They all knew that Kuina's goal was to become the world's greatest swordsman. To achieve that, she had to defeat the current number one—Dracule Mihawk!
The six girls looked at Kuina. Instead of showing any nervousness, she seemed more excited than ever before.
Becoming the strongest—that was her dream, and she had been working toward it all this time.
Now that Mihawk was here, if she could defeat him, she would become the world's best!
"Kuina, calm down. Don't forget what Ryuen said—she told you not to fight Mihawk yet!" Nami said seriously.
Kuina froze for a moment, then slowly processed it.
Ryuen had warned her before: under no circumstances was she allowed to fight Mihawk before the year 1520 in the Sea Calendar.
She never understood why Ryuen had made such a request, but Ryuen had looked so serious back then that, despite her confusion, she had agreed in the end.
Now, there were still about six months left until year 1520.
"Hah~~~"
"I get it. I still don't understand why Ryuen made this deal with me, but I'll keep my promise to him no matter what." Kuina let out a long breath and spoke in a deep voice.
She seemed to have suppressed her urge to challenge Hawkeye, but her left hand, gripping Wado Ichimonji, was still trembling.
Seeing Kuina calm down, the other six girls also felt relieved.
"Let's go. Since we have a mission, we should get moving." Nojiko said softly.
The others nodded.
The seven girls entered the women's restroom of a restaurant. Nami opened a portal, and they all stepped inside.
The spies from various factions, who had been watching outside, grew impatient after waiting for so long. Losing their patience, they stormed into the women's restroom without hesitation.
The restaurant instantly fell into chaos.
Meanwhile, outside the restaurant, Mihawk had just arrived. He had been following the rumors about the Dream Exploration Group's movements, which led him here.
But now, something had changed—the women had vanished.
"A Devil Fruit ability, perhaps..." Mihawk muttered to himself.
Looking at the commotion inside the restaurant, he didn't linger. He glanced toward Island 13, then, without hesitation, started walking in that direction.
~~~~~~
At that moment, on Island 13—
Ryuen and Hogg sat at a table, acting like first-time visitors, casually ordering a large mug of the house specialty beer each from Shakky.
"Ryuen, and this gentleman... Hmm, getting old, my memory's failing me. Anyway, just so you know, each mug is 100,000 Berries!" Shakky said as she placed the two large mugs in front of them.
"100... 100,000 Berries?!" Hogg shot up from his seat, his eyes wide with shock, unable to believe what he just heard.
He had completely forgotten that Shakky only knew Ryuen's name and didn't recognize him. At this moment, he felt like this old woman was even more ruthless than Nami—charging 100,000 Berries for a single beer!
"Yahahaha!!"
"Look at these country bumpkins, they clearly don't know the rules around here."
"Hey, boss lady, why do you let just anyone in here? Doesn't it ruin the atmosphere for big shots like us, who've already made it to the New World?" A scruffy-bearded man with crooked teeth laughed mockingly.
Shakky, with a cigarette in her mouth, glanced in the direction of the pirate but didn't say anything. She seemed uninterested in getting involved.
After all, most people believed the Dream Exploration Group was strong, but in the Grand Line's "Paradise," everyone knew the truth—strength here didn't mean much.
So, Shakky wanted to take this chance to see how powerful the leader of the Dream Exploration Group really was. Information was her business, after all.
Just then—
A new group of people entered the bar, making the small place feel crowded.
It was the Red-Haired Pirates.
As soon as Red-Haired Shanks appeared, the pirates who had been acting all arrogant just moments ago started trembling.
They weren't bluffing earlier—they really had been to the New World.
And that's exactly why they instantly recognized Red-Haired Shanks—one of the Four Emperors ruling the New World!
Yet, despite Shanks' arrival, Ryuen showed no reaction at all. Seeing Ryuen's calm expression, Hogg also sat back down and continued drinking his beer.
"Shakky, it's been a long time. Is Vice-Captain Rayleigh not around?" Shanks asked, reminiscing.
"Hahahaha!"
"Shanks, what brings you to Sabaody Archipelago? Are you also here for that Dream Explora—"
A hearty voice came from outside, but the moment the person stepped into the bar and saw Ryuen, he stopped mid-sentence.
"There you go, the guy you're looking for is back."
Shakky motioned toward Rayleigh and then returned to the bar to continue mixing drinks.
Ryuen remained silent, watching the scene unfold with interest.
The atmosphere in the bar instantly became tense.
The other pirates, who didn't know who Rayleigh was, could still sense that this old man was no ordinary person. At that moment, they really wanted to pay their tab and leave.
But their legs had already gone weak.
"Rayleigh, don't tell me you sold yourself into slavery to pay off gambling debts again?" Shanks looked at Rayleigh, exasperated.
"Uh..."
"Let's not talk about that for now. Ryuen, my boy, I've heard a lot about your Daimyo!" Rayleigh quickly recovered and, without any embarrassment, sat down next to Ryuen.
"Oh?"
"What a surprise! So many big shots gathering in such a small bar." Another voice came from the entrance.
"Hawkeye?"
"What are you doing here?" Shanks was caught off guard.
The group of pirates in the corner was completely stunned. They quietly huddled together, trying not to attract attention from these powerful figures.
As for the pirate captain who had been shouting earlier, he looked like he was about to cry...
Nami: Hehehe, we're about to make a fortune~~~
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