"Hehehe, Shirogai, how many children do you want to have with this Princess?" Shalria purred, clutching Shirogai's wanted poster to her chest as if it were the most precious treasure in the world. Her knees shook with excitement, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.
In her mind, she was already imagining a life with Shirogai, marriage, children, and the perfect family living happily in Mary Geoise.
Then, overwhelmed with joy, she fainted.
Since then, Shalria had been itching for a chance to sail the ocean — an environment she once despised as dirty and chaotic — just for a chance to search for Shirogai's whereabouts.
But her father, Saint Rosward, blocked her at every turn, preventing her from fulfilling her wish.
Only in the past few days, when Saint Rosward left the Holy Land with her elder brother Charloss and elder sister Princess Rulia, was she finally able to sneak out in pursuit of her beloved.
…
"Oh, this Princess has at last found an opportunity to meet you…" Shalria murmured as she came back to herself on her soft bed, clutching her bubble helmet and blushing shyly.
"Hehehe, this Princess is very happy about this news. Go down and claim your reward!"
The six burly attendants smiled and kowtowed deeply.
"Thank you for the reward, Saint Shalria!"
Among the Rosward family's Celestial Dragons, the youngest, Shalria, was known for her generosity toward her subordinates.
Though arrogant like other nobles of her kind, when she was pleased, she bestowed lavish fortunes without hesitation.
Compared to stingy Celestial Dragons who hoarded riches for themselves and gave nothing to others, serving Shalria was considered a stroke of luck.
…
On the Thousand Sunny
"Hmm, Shirogai, this Immortal sees that you have a peach blossom fortune today!"
Usopp, with a fake white paper beard taped to his chin, sat in a chair pretending to read Shirogai's palm. Stroking his fake beard, he adopted a deep, serious tone.
"Today, you will meet a woman, a very beautiful one at that!"
"Hehe, very accurate." Shirogai smiled, his gaze scanning the two attractive women lying on deck chairs on the second-floor deck, soaking up the sun.
"I already saw them."
"Wow! Usopp, you're amazing!"
Luffy and Chopper beamed, thrilled by Usopp's "reading," and eagerly reached out their hands for a turn.
"Let us see too! Usopp the Great Immortal!"
Usopp puffed out his chest proudly.
"All right, since you're so enthusiastic, this Immortal will reveal your future!"
"Me first! Me first!" Luffy shouted, holding up his palm.
"You fear seawater, you will drown if you fall into the ocean, so in this life you must stay away from it, and instead live on a ship."
Luffy's jaw dropped, tongue flopping out in dramatic shock.
"Wah ah ah! It's so accurate!"
"What about me? What about me?"
Chopper held out his little hoof eagerly.
"Hmm, as for you…" Usopp looked at Chopper's hoof and closed his eyes in deep pretended thought.
"Your family line was broken, meaning you were separated from your family in your youth. Fortunately, your luck turned around, and after being taken in by a kind person, your family was restored…"
"Wow! So accurate!"
Chopper's eyes went wide, starstruck.
"Usopp the Great Immortal, you are amazing!"
"Of course!" Usopp preened proudly.
"If I wasn't a pirate, being a fortune teller would be easy!"
"…Zoro," Shirogai muttered under his breath.
Zoro, leaning against the railing with one eye half-open, gave his idiotic companions a tired look.
Accurate? Well, it wasn't entirely wrong.
But it was still nonsense.
Luffy is a Devil Fruit user — of course seawater is dangerous for him.
And he lives on a ship because he's a pirate.
And Chopper? Usopp already visited Drum Kingdom and learned about his life from Dr. Kureha.
So it wasn't surprising.
"Idiots…" Zoro muttered and closed his eye again, attempting to continue his sleep.
But Usopp the Great Immortal wasn't done.
Pointing proudly at Zoro with dramatic flair, Usopp shouted:
"And you, Zoro, you are a swordsman!"
Zoro's eyelid twitched, not even bothering to open his eye.
"Wow!!!" Luffy and Chopper cheered wildly.
"And a Three-Sword Style lost swordsman!!!"
"Usopp the Great Immortal! Usopp the Great Immortal!!"
Their excitement finally earned Zoro's ire.
"Usopp, it seems training hasn't tired you at all. Come on, I'll give you extra training!"
Zoro's grip tightened on his sword hilts as a spectral three-headed, six-armed aura of Haki swirled behind him, enormous pressure radiating outward as he stepped toward a trembling Usopp.
"I, I…" Usopp stammered, eyes darting wildly.
"Cough cough, this Immortal calculates by the stars, and today is not suitable for fighting! Farewell!"
With that, he turned tail and bolted.
Indeed, heavenly mysteries must not be revealed, otherwise there would be backlash, he thought as he ran.
…
After lunch
"Oh ho ho ho, Usopp the Great Immortal, I beg of you!"
Brook, caught up in the exaggerated praise showered on Usopp, presented his skeleton hand for a reading.
"Your lines…" Usopp peered at Brook's pale bones, then declared:
"Very ominous! I see you once encountered a calamity of death!"
"Usopp the Great Immortal is truly accurate!"
Brook's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"It's truly amazing!"
"…Zoro," Shirogai said again, watching the chaos with amusement.
Zoro was unfazed, leaning in a corner and pretending not to hear anything.
Shirogai leaned back in his chair, smiling as he watched his lively crewmates. Ever since Franky joined, most of the crew had more free time, leaving Franky at the helm of his beloved ship — a task he enjoyed immensely.
It thrilled him to steer the ship he had helped build.
Nami and Robin, however, found the group's antics too ridiculous and had gone to the Takoyaki No. 8, which was following behind the Thousand Sunny, to talk with Kemi and the others.
Nami gushed about Fish-Man Island fashion, especially upon learning that Pappagu, the starfish, was a famous designer there.
His chest puffed proudly as he promised to cover all of Nami's fashion expenses once they arrived.
Robin, meanwhile, discussed Fish-Man Island's history with Kemi, proposing that the island's existence deep beneath the sea might connect with the Red Line's missing sectors.
…
Suddenly, a woman's terrified scream echoed across the distant sea.
"Help! Help!"
Everyone on both ships froze, then instantly rose to locate the source of the distress.
"I heard it, a beautiful woman's cry for help!"
Sanji, in his apron, dashed out of the kitchen and scanned the horizon excitedly.
"Beautiful lady, don't be afraid, I'm coming to save you!"
Shirogai smiled slightly as his eyes focused on a tiny black dot floating on the water ahead, a faint smirk playing at his lips.
"Interesting."
____
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