"Vice Admiral Tsuru, tell your Fleet Admiral that I will be waiting in the New World. He has five days. If he is late, the hostages die." Rakuya watched the figures below shrink, then remembered the important part. Knowing Garp, who knew what he would actually report to Steel Bone Kong. Tsuru was the reliable one.
"Damned brat," Tsuru muttered, eyes gone cold.
"Hey, kid. Come down here and fight fair if you dare. I will show you what big sister can do."
The clear voice came from near Tsuru. Rakuya glanced over and saw a striking young woman at her side. Pale skin, silken hair loose over her shoulders, beauty sharp enough to cut.
"Momousagi?"
"That is right. Coward. Come down and face me if you have any guts."
"No nerve at all," another voice bellowed. Chaton, eager to score points with Momousagi, was shouting himself hoarse.
The jeers multiplied. Even Rakuya's temper had a limit. In the end, their venom won.
"So I ignore you and you think I am easy prey."
"Universal Pull."
Rakuya flicked his right hand toward Momousagi. Her body jerked tight, then shot skyward, dragged into the air before anyone could process what was happening.
"Momousagi." Tsuru reacted first, head snapping up.
Chaton froze, then exploded into motion, stamping into Moonwalk as he leapt to grab her.
"Out of my way."
Rakuya threw a punch. The phantom blow hardened in the air as it flew, swelling into a ten-meter force fist that came down on Chaton like a falling cliff.
"Whoa." His pupils pinpricked. Too late to guard. The fist smashed into him.
Boom.
The impact scattered him and sent his body spinning toward the ground.
"Here is a parting gift. Repulsion, Meteorfall."
A slab two hundred meters across bloomed in the sky. On Rakuya's gesture it hurtled toward the Marines.
"This is a warning. Do not make a habit of offending me." He laughed and turned toward the New World without looking back.
Behind him the boulder screamed down.
Kra-koom.
The roar shook the clouds. Marines wailed and the earth bucked. Rakuya did not spare it a glance. He had a more pressing sight floating at his side.
"What was it you were calling me a minute ago?" Rakuya regarded Momousagi with open curiosity. There was an effortless command in her poise, a cool mature edge that made the stray locks across her brow all the more arresting.
"Vile little brat. I will see you carved into a thousand pieces. Let me go. Now."
"I cannot, Miss Momousagi. If I open my hand you will drop. Do you truly want to end as a stain on the pavement?"
Her chin dipped despite herself. White throat and long legs shifted against the sky, a picture designed to test a man's patience.
"I do not care." She lifted her eyes again, stubborn to the bone. "If you will not release me, I will die with you."
Rakuya chuckled. "Your threat lacks bite. I pulled you up here for two reasons."
"Two?"
"First, you mouthed off. There should be consequences."
"And second, I happen to be short a bed-warmer. Given your… qualifications, I will let you audition."
"What?"
Momousagi stared at the smile that held just enough wickedness to be infuriating, and shrieked.
"Hey, look. Down there. Mary Geoise."
"What? Mary Geoise?"
"We are over the Holy Land. Finally get to see what the World Government looks like."
"All those Celestial Dragons I cannot stand. I ought to drown them in a stream of my own."
"Like hell we are leaving without a souvenir."
"Come on, boys. Line up. Let those bastards taste pirate pee."
"Hahaha. Let's see who can pee farther."
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