"Mm..."
Naruto, who was preparing supplies, suddenly covered his heart area as if sensing something, freezing in place.
This made Hancock's expression change drastically beside him.
"What's wrong?! Naruto?"
Don't mistake her earlier venting of dissatisfaction at Naruto… that could only be categorized as couples' banter. If it came to genuine concern and care for Naruto, Hancock likely wouldn't be inferior to anyone in this world.
Including Karin and Stussy.
Now, the anxiety on Hancock's face wasn't feigned. She had never seen such an expression on Naruto before.
This immediately led her to some unpleasant conjectures.
'Did someone attack Naruto? An unknown Devil Fruit user? Or that 'Imu' Naruto mentioned earlier who escaped?'
Hancock almost instinctively let anger surge, ready to enter combat mode, completely disregarding her pregnancy.
But the next moment, Naruto gently embraced her, then lifted her in a princess carry.
"Hehe... tricked you~"
Turning her head, Hancock saw Naruto's carefree smile.
"Really!"
Thump!
Watching Naruto with one bump on top of another, smoke still rising from them, Konohamaru sighed helplessly on the side.
"Naruto Aniki, acting like this makes Aneki worry. You totally deserve this beating."
"Tch, what does a brat like you know? This is a little tacit understanding between lovers. You'll understand when you grow up."
Sending a disdainful glance, Naruto didn't care about the bumps Hancock gave him, smiling as he continued forward.
But at a moment no one could see, that serious expression returned to his face.
The feeling just now wasn't faked.
Just moments ago, he sensed an inexplicable connection.
It was an indescribable, mysterious feeling.
The moment the connection was established, Naruto felt something being 'drawn' from his body, while simultaneously, another kind of power was 'fed back'.
This was a sensation he had never experienced before.
'Kurama, did you feel anything just now?'
Naruto silently asked Kurama in his heart.
Regarding the sensations of this body, aside from the completely vanquished Kaguya, only Kurama, the 'long-term resident', was most qualified to speak.
"Huh? What?"
"Weren't you just tricking that woman?"
Clearly, Kurama hadn't sensed anything unusual either.
Meaning, only he himself could feel it?
Naruto's heart gradually sank. Like Hancock, his first suspicion also fell on the escaped Imu.
'Could it be that this guy left some kind of failsafe on me?'
Checking inside and out several times, Naruto couldn't find any clues.
The earlier connection had already vanished, and he couldn't perceive what was drawn away or fed back.
It was as if nothing had really happened.
Frowning slightly, after a few seconds of silence, Naruto returned to his usual expression.
'Forget it… don't dwell on this for now. The priority is preparing for the voyage.'
Egghead Island and Amazon Lily were in different halves of the Grand Line, not exactly close.
Since he guessed Stussy went to Egghead Island, he had to go check no matter what.
Regardless of her purpose, at the very least, Naruto had to ensure Stussy's safety. After all, strictly speaking, Stussy should be considered an enemy to all at the moment.
With the World Government's collapse, information about many agents had been exposed.
Among them, Stussy was prominently listed.
Naruto had considered asking the Marines to rescind Stussy's arrest warrant.
But firstly, his relationship with Stussy wasn't as publicly known as with Hancock.
Secondly, even he himself was still wanted.
After all, no matter what, Naruto's previous attacks on the Marines were facts, along with helping Ace escape and such.
You could say the Marines only kept the bounty posters and didn't make a big move against him because of Naruto exposing the World Government.
Thus, Stussy was also logically added to the wanted list.
The previously tolerated underground Pleasure Island also suffered some degree of impact.
Fortunately, most of Stussy's enterprises were concentrated in the New World.
Plus, with the friendly assistance of a certain unnamed Golden Emperor, she could still live quite openly under the Marines' wanted list.
—Provided she didn't actively run into them.
…
"Zephyr-san, what brings you here?"
Strictly speaking, Zephyr had retired from his previous position, so his Admiral rank naturally became invalid.
However, he had continued working within the Marines, and the students he trained became high-ranking Marines one after another.
So his influence within the Marines was still quite high.
Therefore, when the World Government collapsed and the Marines established a temporary new government, this veteran, Zephyr, was reappointed.
Though due to his own wishes, Zephyr didn't join as a commanding officer this time but as an 'advisor'.
To be precise, the full title should be 'Senior Advisor to the Marine Temporary Government'.
Others holding the same position included Vice Admiral Tsuru, former Commander-in-Chief Kong, and Garp.
—Reportedly, the old guy wasn't too willing at first, but Sengoku somehow convinced him.
"Dr. Vegapunk."
Zephyr took off his sunglasses, clipped them to his suit's chest, then nodded at Vegapunk.
Because of several prosthetic limb replacements, Zephyr and Vegapunk had interacted quite a bit. Zephyr respected this doctor who was both wise and had helped him.
Currently, Zephyr's right arm looked the same size as the other. Aside from the gloved hand, its flexibility didn't seem like a mechanical prosthesis at all.
This was the upgraded 3.0 version prosthesis after the previous Whole Cake Island battle, combining strength with added functionalities.
With the assistance of this prosthesis, Zephyr's current combat power was even comparable to his prime.
Sentomaru, carrying a large axe and wearing what resembled a bellyband, also approached, asking directly,
"Uncle Vegapunk?! What happened on the island just now?"
His tone was much more familiar than Zephyr's.
Although his 'uncle' Kizaru had been transferred, Sentomaru, as captain of the Marine Science Unit, still had the duty to protect Egghead Island.
"Oh! I was just about to tell you about this."
Vegapunk patted his forehead as if just remembering, speaking to those behind him.
"The power outage earlier was actually an accident caused by our testing of them."
"Come out."
The three Seraphim obediently walked out from the research institute, appearing before Zephyr and Sentomaru.
"This is..."
Zephyr wasn't very familiar with the Seraphim Project, but he could recognize familiar aspects from the three Seraphim's appearances.
'The Pirate Empress, Hawk-Eye, and the Knight of the Sea?'
'They looked incredibly similar.'
"These are the Seraphim?"
Sentomaru knew about this experiment… he was even originally the second authority holder for the Authority Chips.
Looking at the three little ones not even reaching his calf height, Sentomaru, as the 'world's most tight-lipped man', couldn't help but comment,
"They don't look like much."
Saying so, Sentomaru reached out toward S-Snake, trying to compare their heights.
"How rude!"
But S-Snake, who also inherited Hancock's arrogant, disdainful personality, got angry immediately upon seeing this man dare to touch her casually.
The next moment, a small leg in DOM boots kicked toward Sentomaru.
"Perfume Femur!"