On the surface, Otohime announced the news of their ability to move to the land, which was met with cheers from many of Fish-Man Island's residents. Many had secretly ventured to the surface, mostly to the Sabaody Archipelago, and had yearned to see the Sabaody Park and the Bubble-themed amusement park. Even those who had refused Otohime and her petition had done so only because they thought it was impossible. In reality, most of them longed to live on the surface.
In secret, the two ministers transferred the sleeping Princess Shirahoshi from the royal chambers to the Sea Forest.
Meanwhile, the Kuja Pirates were almost ready to depart.
After confirming the fact that Alucard had obtained the Ancient Weapon Poseidon, Elder Nyon had stopped saying much about Hancock's decision to move Amazon Lily to the New World.
While Hancock's initial motive was purely selfish, joining Alucard's crew was, in the grand scheme, not a bad thing. Not only was Alucard incredibly powerful, but with Poseidon, he possessed strength equal to or even greater than the Three Monsters.
More importantly, the Calm Belt was no longer safe. The Marines had developed a battleship that could cross the Calm Belt, and if Amazon Lily did not take action, it would face a cataclysmic disaster.
Because of this, Hancock, upon her sisters' advice, decided to temporarily abandon her plan to join Alucard on his New World expedition. Instead, she would return to Amazon Lily, prepare the entire island for a mass relocation, and then regroup with Alucard in the New World. As for the rendezvous point, aside from the Den Den Mushi Hancock had given Alucard, they decided to meet in Dressrosa.
As the Kuja Pirates were making their final preparations, King Neptune and the two ministers, along with a contingent of soldiers, arrived on the royal ship. They placed the sleeping Shirahoshi, still in her giant cradle bed, next to the Kuja Pirates' ship.
"Looking at her this close, she really is big…"
Sandersonia looked into the cradle at Shirahoshi. She had the face of a three- or four-year-old but was four or five meters tall. It was hard to imagine what her size would be when she reached adulthood.
Marigold and the others nodded in agreement. At her feet was the bedraggled girl, Koala. They had "rescued" her from Hachi's group. Sandersonia and Marigold felt pity for the girl, as they had similar experiences, and they wanted to take her with them.
As for Hachi and his crew, they couldn't dare say no, no matter how much they were attached to her.
"Master~ Are you going to take this child with you?" Hancock asked, walking over to Alucard. Even though she was prone to jealousy, a three- or four-year-old big baby was not a target.
Besides, what about Shirahoshi's size?
"What are you talking about? Of course, she's in your care now," Alucard said with a smile, his red, dot-eyed sunglasses hiding his gaze as he answered Hancock's question.
"What?!"
Everyone present was shocked. Elder Nyon quickly approached, her voice filled with disbelief. "Hold on, what are you joking about? That's Poseidon! Even if she's a child now, she's still Poseidon!"
The events were unfolding so quickly that Elder Nyon didn't know how to react. This was an Ancient Weapon, Poseidon. Was it really okay to just entrust her to someone else?
"Hancock, she is very important to me. I'm entrusting her to you now. Remember to take good care of her, okay?" Alucard said, glancing at Hancock.
"Important… entrusted to me…"
Hancock repeated Alucard's words, falling into a state of fantasy. A moment later, she began muttering to herself with an enraptured expression, picturing a scenario in her mind:
"Hancock, I am entrusting my most important thing to you, because you are my only one." "Ah, Master~"
"Shh… if you do a good job, I'll give you a reward…" "A r-reward?"
Hancock's imagination seemed to stray into something inappropriate for all ages. She twisted her perfect body in a mix of excitement and shame. "Gah! No, no! Not that! I'm such a shameless woman! But… but I'm so excited!"
After her reverie, Hancock assured Alucard, "Leave it to me! Please, leave it to me with no worries, Master!"
Alucard smiled and said, "Is that so? Then I'll leave it to you."
Sandersonia and the others watched the scene with blank expressions, thinking to themselves,
You're too easily fooled, aren't you?
Seeing his daughter, bed and all, being sent onto the Kuja Pirates' ship, Neptune hesitated before painfully stepping forward and saying to Alucard, "Alucard-san, please… take good care of my child."
"There's nothing to worry about," Alucard replied casually, but his tone was filled with immense confidence, both in himself and in Hancock.
Following this, Alucard headed to the New World on the "San Juan Wolf" while Hancock led the Kuja Pirates back to Amazon Lily to prepare for the entire island's relocation.
It's worth noting that Hancock had initially planned to paint one of the Kuja Pirates' ship sails with Alucard's Jolly Roger on Fish-Man Island, as large sailing ships often have two or more sails. Like the pirate crews under Whitebeard's flag who have their own Jolly Roger and Whitebeard's on separate sails, signifying they are both free pirates and part of his crew.
Hancock wanted to do the same, but Elder Nyon stopped her, saying there was no need to rush and they could do it once they returned to Amazon Lily or even after entering the New World.
Elder Nyon's advice angered Hancock, who tried to kick her. Thankfully, Marigold and Sandersonia managed to stop and persuade her.
Just as the Kuja Pirates' ship broke through the deep sea and reached the surface, the powerful vibrations woke Shirahoshi. Instantly, the entire ship was filled with the sound of her loud wailing.
"She's too loud!" Hancock scowled.
"You promised Alucard, so you handle it," Elder Nyon said, glaring at her. "Get lost!"
Hancock grabbed Elder Nyon by the hair and threw her overboard. She then arbitrarily pointed at several crew members and said, "You go take care of that little brat! If you don't take good care of her, I'll turn you all into stone!"
———————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over here ——— pa-tre-on.c-om/AlexandrusTL [remove the hyphen for normal access]
