Nao did not interrupt his divination. Instead, he watched the entire process with great interest from the side.
A rather fascinating ability—unrelated to Devil Fruits. Who knew whether it was some secret technique passed down in Hawkins' family, or something he learned elsewhere?
"So, you recognize me?"
Nao casually removed the hood over his head as he asked.
"You must be joking."
Hawkins gave a bitter smile. "With your reputation and renown in the New World… there are fewer people who wouldn't recognize you on sight than there are outcomes my cards fail to predict."
"Then why aren't you even the least bit nervous?"
Nao glanced at the black Jolly Roger fluttering from the mast. Only then did he realize—it belonged to the Beasts Pirates.
"That is precisely what I intended to explain."
Hawkins placed a hand to his chest and bowed slightly. "If we were ordinary pirates, we would be scared to death right now. Our identity… isn't what you seem to think—"
He suddenly froze, raising his head in shock as he stared at the grinning Nao.
"You… you already knew?!"
"What do you think?"
Nao didn't answer directly. He turned his gaze toward a certain figure behind the crowd, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
"Long time no see, Galio."
"Nao!!!"
With a cry of delight, a round, chubby figure came barreling forward and crashed into Nao with a full-force hug.
"Haha! It really IS you! I saw the lightning around you earlier and thought it might be, but I wasn't totally sure—looks like I guessed right!"
"If not for your aura giving you away, I almost wouldn't have recognized you from appearance alone."
Nao laughed heartily and gave him a strong bear hug in return. When they separated, he looked at the blond, thick-bearded, middle-aged fat man before him, his expression turning slightly strange.
"I mean… we've only been apart a few years, right? How did you get this much fatter all of a sudden?"
This man was none other than Shia's former most devoted admirer—the King of the Lott Kingdom, Galio VI.
A stubborn, simple-minded, somewhat childish king.
Nao had always held a good impression of him. In his memories, Galio was silly, yes, but also a handsome blond pretty boy.
How did he turn into a water-balloon shape so quickly?
"Hehe."
Galio chuckled sheepishly, scratching his hair.
"I couldn't help it! Aria's cooking is just too good. Back home, I'd always eat an extra meal every night. Two years of that and… well, I gained over a hundred pounds."
Aria?
Nao blinked, then suddenly recalled—years ago, when he was still at Headquarters, Shia had mentioned that Galio eventually held his grand wedding.
His bride was the daughter of a longtime admiring minister—yes, that should be her name. The couple had a very harmonious and loving relationship, and their marriage was seen as a romantic tale throughout the Lott Kingdom.
Truly… a happy married life is the greatest catalyst for making men gain weight.
"Your Majesty," Hawkins chimed in, unable to resist asking, "you and Lord Nao… have known each other for that long?"
"Yes, yes!"
Still overwhelmed with excitement at seeing Nao again, Galio giggled with delight.
"That was eight or nine years ago! When I first represented my father at the Reverie in the Holy Land, Nao personally escorted me!"
At that time, I was serving as a Rear Admiral in the West Blue, right? Eight or nine years ago? Has it been that long already…
"It has been a long time indeed…"
For a moment, Nao felt nostalgic. But seeing Galio, who was still hyped beyond reason, his smile gradually faded. Under Galio's increasingly nervous gaze, Nao looked down at him expressionlessly:
"So then, Your Majesty Galio—would you care to explain why the Lott Kingdom is several thousand kilometers from here, yet you, a reigning king, have somehow appeared in this place?"
"Uh…"
Galio stole a guilty glance at Nao, opening and closing his mouth without forming a sentence. He shot Hawkins a pleading look, but the latter simply shrugged—clearly saying, You're on your own.
…
A few minutes later.
"…So, that's what happened."
Beneath the sunshade on the deck, Galio sat with a miserable expression, stammering his way through the story.
Sitting across from him, Nao stared at him speechlessly.
There was nothing particularly special about the story—basically the classic folktale of a young king sneaking out of the palace.
Galio had an active, restless personality. Staying in the capital for long stretches always made him feel suffocated, so he would frequently wander all across the kingdom for no reason—often without guards or attendants, traveling incognito.
This kept his ministers in a constant state of panic, unable to find him most of the time and fearing for his safety. After countless admonishments from them, and gentle persuasion from the queen, Galio finally calmed down for a while.
Until recently—
When he heard that Nao had appeared at the tea party and single-handedly annihilated the entire Big Mom territory, he got so excited he couldn't sleep all night.
And after hearing rumors that Nao's next target might be another Sea Emperor—Kaido—his curiosity surged. Unable to resist, he secretly slipped out of the palace at midnight and set sail straight for Wano, wanting to witness history with his own eyes.
Such a ridiculous request would never, ever be approved by the old-fashioned, upright captain of the royal guards—and the journey was far too dangerous to travel without protection.
So Galio simply sought out a merchant caravan's escort group with a good reputation in the Lott Kingdom—Hawkins' crew—and temporarily appointed Hawkins as his Royal Guard Captain, having them escort him along the way.
They even flew the Beasts Pirates' flag to intimidate pirates along the route and avoid unnecessary trouble.
To be fair, the journey had actually been quite smooth.
What they didn't expect was that instead of running into pirates, they ran into a terrifying ocean storm just as they were nearing Wano.
"Idiot."
Nao couldn't help slapping the table and scolding him sharply, pretending to be furious.
"I swear, I want to crack your skull open and see what's going on inside!"
"The Beasts Pirates' base is an incredibly dangerous place! Other pirates, hearing a war is about to break out there, would run as far away as possible! But you—thousands of kilometers away—decided you needed to rush straight into the chaos! Do you not know how to spell the word 'death'?!"
"I… I know Kaido is dangerous…"
Startled by Nao's harsh tone, Galio lowered his head and said pitifully,
"B-but… but you were going to be there too… and when the fighting starts, you'd defeat the entire Beasts Pirates quickly, right? S-so… so maybe he wouldn't even notice me…?"
"…You…" Nao put a hand to his forehead with a long sigh. "You really have that much faith in me?"
Galio nodded vigorously.
For a moment, Nao truly didn't know what to say. He turned his head slightly and looked at Hawkins, who had been quietly standing by the entire time.
A crew that, in the original story, should have lingered in the North Blue for years before entering the New World as one of the Supernovas ten years later—yet here, because of the altered events, had become a well-known merchant-escort group, trusted and relied upon by a king, walking down a completely different path.
This was yet another example of the far-reaching butterfly effect. Those six months he spent running around the North Blue had not been in vain.
Seeing Nao's gaze, Hawkins gave a helpless bitter smile and spread his hands.
"My lord, I tried to persuade His Majesty before we left. But he insisted on going—there was nothing I could do. And… I agreed with His Majesty's judgment. I also believed the Beasts Pirates were nowhere near your match. If anything went wrong, I believed I could protect His Majesty long enough to retreat."
"Whether I win or lose has nothing to do with your safety."
Nao shook his head slightly.
"Kaido indeed isn't my opponent—but the Beasts Pirates still number in the tens of thousands. After what happened at the tea party, they are absolutely gathering forces, tightening security, and preparing for battle."
"Any disturbance near Onigashima will be noticed instantly. Kaido wouldn't even need to act—if any of his commanders spotted you, your lives would end right there."
He looked at Hawkins, whose expression grew increasingly uneasy.
"Or… do you have such confidence that you think you can escape with your entire crew from the hands of people like Queen the Plague? Or Sena the Drought?"
Queen the Plague, Sena the Drought—both infamous monsters in the New World. Hawkins flushed with embarrassment.
"…I was too naïve, Lord Nao."
"As long as you understand."
Nao gave a small nod.
It was, after all, ten years before the manga's timeline. From Nao's perspective, Hawkins' strength was nowhere near enough. And the Calamities weren't like Kizaru—who, aside from stomping on people's dignity, could still hold back and slack off to absurd levels. They would not let anyone escape so easily.
"Go back, Your Majesty Galio."
He rose from his seat and glanced at the anxious, uneasy king.
"It's one thing if you can't sit still in your own kingdom. But this sea—the New World—is still far too dangerous for you."
"You're a king. All the talk about responsibility to the nation and your people—your ministers have probably lectured you endlessly about it, and you're tired of hearing it, so I won't repeat it."
"I only hope that before you throw yourself into danger again, you think of your family—especially… your loving wife."
"Mm…"
Galio lowered his head gloomily. But Nao could see he wasn't convinced at all.
Turning away, Nao looked toward the distant horizon and added calmly:
"Endure a bit longer. The day you can sail freely through the New World… will come. And not too far off."
"If you really can't hold back even until then, suit yourself. When you die, I'll bring Shia with me to attend the Lott Kingdom's funeral feast—happily."
As soon as his voice fell—
Zzzzt!
Lightning exploded around him. His figure transformed into a streak of azure light, shooting into the sky and disappearing in an instant.
"What terrifying speed… truly worthy of Lord Nao…"
Hawkins watched the streak of light disappear into the sky. After sighing softly, he turned to look at Galio, who was still frozen stiff in place.
"Your Majesty… what should we do now?" Hawkins asked cautiously. "Should we secretly follow him, or turn back—"
"Turn back! Go home!"
Galio snapped back to reality with a jolt. His face was full of lingering fear. He slammed the table and gritted his teeth:
"We have to return immediately! Until the New World becomes safe, I absolutely will not sneak out of the country again! Making Shia cry and worry about me… That kind of thing— that kind of thing—"
"No matter what, it must NEVER happen!!!"
Huh?
Hawkins blinked blankly. He exchanged looks with the other royal guards around him and found them all equally confused.
—His Majesty always treated everyone's advice like wind blowing past his ears. He did whatever he pleased. How come… he changed personalities so suddenly this time?
.........
Two days later.
Wano Country — the Flower Capital.
In a small, rundown town, inside a teahouse by the roadside…
"Sir, please! We beg you! Spare us this time!!"
"We swear—we won't dare do this again! We'll never come back to loot here!!!"
Nao sat under the awning, calmly drinking his tea, while a short distance away on the mountain path, more than a dozen bandits were kneeling, crying, and kowtowing desperately for mercy.
He ignored them, and they didn't dare stop. Before long, their foreheads were swollen and bloody.
"Samurai-sama…"
The teahouse's proprietress, who was refilling his teacup, couldn't bear the sight any longer and pleaded softly:
"They don't deserve to die. Could you… maybe give them a chance and let them go?"
Hearing her voice, the bandits immediately raised their heads in delight, staring expectantly at Nao.
"Miss Otsuru, are you sure about that?"
Nao sighed and looked back at her.
"Don't forget—just moments ago, they smashed several of your tables and threatened to take all your money."
"If I hadn't coincidentally been here drinking tea, you would've lost an entire year of hard work."
The proprietress was named Otsuru. Dressed in traditional kimono, although she was nearly forty and her face carried traces of hardship, one could easily tell that in her youth she must have been a graceful Yamato Nadeshiko-style beauty.
"I know…"
Otsuru sighed softly.
"But these children were never truly bandits. They're all unfortunate people from the nearby villages. Times are hard, and they were driven to desperation by the Kurozumi clan. They had no choice but to flee to the mountains."
"They do rob occasionally, yes… but most of the time, they survive by hunting. And when they do demand money, they know restraint. I've never heard of them killing anyone."
She gave a bitter smile.
"If there were any other way, they would never choose to live like this. So… please, I beg you—give them a chance to survive."
As she spoke, she took out two small pouches of money. One she placed in front of Nao, the other she carried over to the young bandit leader and pressed into his hands.
The young man—barely eighteen or nineteen—stared blankly at the pouch, then looked up at Otsuru's gentle gaze. His face turned beet red as shame washed over him.
Nao took in the entire scene. His eyes swept over the thin, malnourished bandits, then drifted toward the distant, bustling Flower Capital. He let out a quiet sigh.
What a mess, Oden.
Before he crossed into this world, the manga hadn't yet reached the Wano arc, so he didn't know much about this closed-off land of samurai. Most of what he learned came later from confidential Marine documents after he became a high-ranking officer.
He couldn't understand Oden's way of thinking, nor could he appreciate his choices.
For Wano to fall to such a miserable state, as the country's leader—the man entrusted with its future—Kozuki Oden was absolutely not without blame.