Sabaody Archipelago, a remote port
"Jabba! You bastard, where have you been fooling around again?! We're all just waiting for you! Stop dawdling..."
A man with glasses, long blond hair, and a temperament that was slightly lazy yet sharp—Silvers Rayleigh—shouted irritably at his approaching companion.
"Exactly! Jabba, why are you so slow? The wood on the ship is about to be marinated in the scent of Rayleigh's hairspray!"
The Fishman Sunbell said while holding his nose.
"Piss off! You uncultured brat! I'm using special Sabaody hairspray! It doesn't smell bad!"
Rayleigh roared at Sunbell, his face contorting into a comical expression with sharp teeth.
"Save it, Rayleigh! You narcissist! I ran into a special situation! You think everyone is like you, staring at their reflection in the sea for half the day?"
Jabba, carrying two axes on his back, ran back panting and retorted without hesitation.
"What did you say?! You lumberjack covered in wood chips!"
"What?! You want to fight? You hairspray-loving narcissist!"
The two stood forehead to forehead, neither giving an inch, like two bickering roosters. This scene drew a round of laughter from the surrounding Roger Pirates. Such a scene played out almost every day within the crew.
"Wahahahaha! Alright, alright, Rayleigh, Jabba." A voice full of heroic spirit rang out as Gol D. Roger walked out laughing, patting the two on their shoulders.
"We're all Crew members, why the fighting? But Jabba, you really are quite a bit later than scheduled. What were you doing?"
Jabba caught his breath and said with a proud "you'll never guess" expression:
"Me? I went to rescue a fallen Damselette!"
"Eh—?!!"
The entire Roger Pirates went silent instantly. Every Crew member, including Roger and Rayleigh, widened their eyes, their jaws nearly hitting the deck.
The rest of the crew, including Roger and Rayleigh, immediately looked at Jabba with even more shocked and "disdainful" gazes, shouting in unison:
"Jabba! You actually snuck off to the red-light district!!"
Bittum, dressed like a gentleman and puffing on a pipe, was so angry his mustache curled up. He pointed at Jabba in deep distress:
"Jabba! You! You bastard! To go to that kind of... that kind of wonderful... bah! That kind of unhealthy place! And you didn't even call me! Are we even brothers?!"
Then, everyone turned their heads in unison, staring at Bittum with eyes that said, "So you're that kind of person too."
Bittum's old face instantly turned red. He coughed violently, quickly straightened his back, and pointed at Jabba with righteous indignation, trying to shift the focus:
"Cough! Cough cough! That's right! Jabba! I sternly condemn you! We are men of the sea pursuing dreams and romance! How could you be addicted to such a place!"
Everyone focused their gaze on Jabba once more. Jabba jumped in anger:
"You idiots with minds full of filth! I really did rescue a Damselette! Literally!
Didn't a pink sword slash just fly over and cut off a huge chunk of a Mangrove canopy? It almost crushed a flower-selling Damselette who had sprained her ankle and couldn't run away!
I carrie... er, I rescued her to a safe place! Get it? A hero saving a beauty!"
Everyone: "Oh~~~ I see—" Their drawn-out tone was full of playfulness and "I get it" expressions.
Roger laughed heartily and slapped Jabba hard on the back:
"Wahahahaha! I knew it! How could Jabba be that kind of person! We wronged you!"
Jabba looked at his Captain with disdain:
"Give it a rest, Roger! Your eyes were the widest just now, and you were the loudest one shouting!"
Roger was instantly stuck. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, trying to act cute to get away with it:
"Is... is that so? Hahaha, I don't remember. Jabba, you must have seen wrong! It must have been Rayleigh who shouted!"
Rayleigh pushed up his glasses helplessly, ignoring the Captain who was passing the buck. He stroked his chin in thought:
"A pink sword slash... and that powerful Conqueror's Haki that vaguely drifted from the port earlier... could it be the recently famous 'Dragon Swordsman' Charlotte Linlin?"
Jabba was taken aback. "How did you know? That Damselette did say she saw a very tall woman with pink hair flying past."
Rayleigh pushed up his glasses, the lenses flashing with a white light of wisdom as he feigned profundity:
"Isn't it obvious? Among those currently known, who else but her could slash that signature pink sword energy and possess such powerful Haoshoku?"
Jabba immediately undercut him. "Oh—so after all that, you only know of one person who can slash pink sword energy? And here I thought you were so knowledgeable, you narcissist!"
Rayleigh's forehead pulsed with a vein. "You want to fight?! Lumberjack!"
"Bring it on! I'm not afraid of you! Narcissist!"
Seeing the two about to butt heads again, Roger once more laughed and pulled them apart:
"Wahahahaha! Alright, alright! Rayleigh, Jabba, don't forget our purpose for coming to the Grand Line this time!"
He spread his arms, his face overflowing with the ultimate romance and dominance of a pirate:
"As pirates set to conquer the Grand Line, how can we miss the most beautiful and precious 'treasure' on this sea—Shakky of the Kuja Pirates!
They are destined to be the most brilliant embellishment in the sailing history of our Roger Pirates!"
Jabba crossed his arms, not backing down. "Hmph! Roger, I can yield to you on other things, but when it comes to winning Miss Shakky's heart, it's every man for himself! You don't have any Captain's privileges here!"
On the lookout, a Crew member with a pair of huge bat wings—Doringer—poked his head out and said weakly:
"Um... actually, I think... that Charlotte Linlin we were just discussing... she's also quite good-looking? She looks great on her bounty poster..."
Spencer, who was nearby, said, "You brat, you just like the extra-large beauties, don't you!"
Doringer scratched his head and laughed awkwardly. "No, no!"
Spencer gave him a disdainful look and continued:
"Charlotte Linlin isn't bad! But she's not 'World's Number One'! Only the 'World's Number One' is worthy of our Roger Pirates coming specifically for an encounter and... snatching her back!"
...Meanwhile, on a certain calm stretch of sea.
A merchant ship that was decorated quite lavishly was currently in a state of total disarray—not from physical destruction, but from a mental collapse.
The guards on the ship were sprawled across the deck, their weapons tossed aside. They weren't heavily injured, but rather seemed to have experienced some massive shock, losing all will to fight. Their eyes were vacant or filled with infatuation as they muttered to themselves:
"Too beautiful... simply impossible to resist..."
"We've been attacked by pirates!" a woman screamed in terror.
"Why aren't you fighting! What are you men doing!" another woman stomped her feet in anger at the fallen guards.
"The opponent... is quite terrifying," a man lying on the ground murmured, a strange blush of happiness even appearing on his face.
"That kind of beauty... fighting is a profanity..."
"There was no way to fight back... the moment I saw her... I... I..." another guard covered his face, as if reminiscing about some ultimate beauty.
"Even the Marines find them difficult to deal with... it's 'that' Pirate Crew..." The Captain sat slumped by the gunwale, looking lost.
The attackers didn't engage in wanton destruction; they only took some supplies they needed and all the treasure. And the culprit behind all this was none other than a pirate ship with a giant sea serpent carved on its prow and sails painted with the Kuja emblem!
Its name was—the "Kuja Pirates"! From the mysterious Land of Women, Amazon Lily!
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