In a room at a high-end hotel in Gran Tesoro-
The sound of running water came from the bathroom.
After a good half hour, Nami finally emerged.
Another night had passed, and Nami felt like her bones were falling apart, utterly exhausted.
"By the way, that songstress with purple hair we saw on the projection screen today… you know her?" Seeing Nami in low spirits, Jin changed the subject.
Nami still didn't speak.
"We're already in this kind of relationship. Opening up and talking a bit shouldn't be a problem, right?" Jin put his arm around her fragrant shoulder.
"It was you who forced me!" Nami roared.
But after the angry shout, her mood felt a slight release.
Pursing her lips, she told Jin about her past with Carina.
Back in the East Blue, the two had been a famous thief duo.
But during one theft attempt, they were caught by a figure with an extremely high bounty.
Carina suggested leaving Nami behind while she went back to their secret hideout to retrieve all their accumulated treasures to ransom Nami-
And then... she never returned.
It could be said this was the closest brush with death in Nami's thieving career.
For a long time afterwards, Nami's distrust of others was largely influenced by this experience.
She had even betrayed the Straw Hat Pirates once for the same reason.
"Since we're going to cause a big scene here anyway, how about it? Want me to help you take her out?" Jin couldn't resist asking while lowering his head to take another couple of bites.
Nami, gradually getting used to this, remained silent.
If an ordinary person acted like this, it would be tacit consent.
But Nami was the opposite. Usually, when she stayed silent, it was equivalent to refusal.
Jin stretched, picked Nami up, and had her lie on top of him.
"Hey, Nami, do you know why I kidnapped you and Hancock, but did this kind of thing with you first?"
Hearing this question, Nami simply wanted to slap Jin, 'How thick-skinned do you have to be to ask that? A damn rapist! How should I know? And I'm not interested in knowing!'
Jin provided the answer himself: "Because your heart is too soft."
At this, Jin hooked Nami's snow-white chin and explained:
"If it were Hancock, or your crew's Nico Robin, if I made a move before they completely transferred their affections, nine times out of ten they would use Mero Mero Mellow to turn me to stone while I was... occupied, or use the Hana Hana no Mi's ability to grow a hand on my stomach to cheat, to sneak attack my 15-year-old little brother."
"No matter how strong one is, this is the moment when a man is most relaxed. Any male can't escape this rule."
Jin's hand moved from Nami's chin to her lips, smirking mischievously:
"You're different. Even after ten years of struggling at the bottom of society, you're still so naive. You can even forgive Hatchan, one of your mother's killers. It's the same with that songstress named Carina. If it were me, I'd have chopped them into pieces long ago."
"So you would absolutely never attack me while we're... exercising. So, girl, don't be too kind. The kind get ridden~"
As he spoke, Jin did a big flip, and true to his word, starting to ride.
"B-bastard! Have you had enough!?" Nami, startled by the sudden attack, shrank back repeatedly.
Unable to resist, Nami could only resign herself to fate.
But halfway through, she suddenly remembered something.
"Wait... y-you just mentioned Robin... You... bastard's appetite is huge... R-Robin wouldn't be as easily fooled as me..."
"Then how about you help me? Pull her down into this, then you'll have a sister?"
"Go... go to hell!"
…
A night passed.
The auction venue at Gran Tesoro.
The resplendent hall was surrounded by semicircular tiered seating, like a supreme enhanced version of the Sabaody Archipelago's slave auction house of the past.
It was rather laughable. Gild Tesoro, who had once been a Celestial Dragon's slave and should hate them the most, had now become a 'Celestial Dragon' himself.
Click~
The main door of the hall opened again.
The astonishing presence attracted the attention of those already seated, who turned to look.
"So luxurious... even the toilets here are made of gold..."
"Shirahoshi-nee, this door is a bit small, be careful."
"Thank you, Rin."
"Are all these people here for that fruit?"
Rin, age 6. Kurenai, age 6.
Konan, age 11.
Shirahoshi, age 15.
Nami, age 20.
Hancock, age 30.
Beauties covering almost every age group.
Not to mention the Pirate Empress and the Mermaid Princess, two women standing at the pinnacle of beauty in this world.
But even so, they couldn't overshadow the man walking at the very front… Jin.
In a world where you aren't fit to be an Admiral if you're not over 2.5 meters tall, and not fit to be an Emperor if you're not over 5 meters, the not-yet-15 Jin seemed rather 'delicate'.
However, no one present dared to harbor the slightest bit of contempt for him.
"That guy is... the one who was exceptionally promoted to Admiral during the Great Marine Recruitment... [Ryokugyu] Aramaki!" Hancock's gaze fixed on a burly man with a sloppy demeanor wearing sunglasses sitting in a corner.
Jin didn't care and directly took a seat nearby.
'Sure enough, the Marines also had their eyes on this top-tier Paramecia Devil Fruit.'
'Well, that's not strange. Decades ago, Shiki had run circles around the Marines with his flying ability.'
"Ladies and gentlemen! The long-awaited grand auction is finally about to begin!"
Suddenly, the lights in the entire venue went out.
The spotlight from the ceiling beam completely enveloped Tesoro, who had suddenly appeared standing center stage.
"Stop the nonsense! You know perfectly well why we're here. Hurry up and bring out the goods!" The Captain of the Fourth Ship of the Blackbeard Pirates, Avalo Pizarro, shouted disrespectfully, giving no face.
Currently, neither he nor Shiryu were Devil Fruit Users. Both had their eyes on the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi that once belonged to Golden Lion.
Tesoro's face darkened. Not many people dared to disrespect the [Golden Emperor]. But today, a whole room was filled with such people.
It can't be helped. Since Tesoro wanted to sell this Devil Fruit for the highest price, he had to summon all these big shots.
Tesoro barely suppressed the anger in his heart and said with a dry laugh:
"Haha, it seems everyone can't wait. Then-"
Bang!!
Yet again, before Tesoro could finish, the already closed venue doors burst open again.
"Found it! I wanted it the moment I saw it! A giant mermaid!" A man with a comical pigeon-toed walk and an equally comical appearance, snot dripping from his nose, walked towards Shirahoshi with greed plastered on his face.
Seeing the iconic oxygen mask and bloated white formal wear, unprecedented anger surged in Hancock's eyes.
But her body trembled uncontrollably.
Very much like a keyboard warrior who talks tough online but could only be a loser in real-life confrontations.
Although the analogy might be a bit harsh, it fit Hancock's attitude towards the Celestial Dragons perfectly.
On one hand, her hatred for the Celestial Dragons and the World Government was stronger than anyone's-
But on the other hand, her fear of them was also more exaggerated than anyone's.
Just as Jin had said, the reason Hancock favored Luffy was also this… he did what she didn't dare to do.
Jin looked at this snot-nosed Celestial Dragon with a malicious smile.
'Wasn't this the idiot who got punched down by Luffy a year and a half ago?'
He remembered in the original work, when Shirahoshi attended the Levely with Neptune, she also encountered this pig.
To think they'd run into him here too.
But that's fine. The Celestial Dragons were his second main target after the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi anyway.
"Quick! Capture her and take her back to my castle! Then build a huge prison in my backyard to lock her up!" Under Charlos's command, an attendant with a stature comparable to Kaido or Big Mom reached out to grab Shirahoshi.
Swish-
A flash of white light appeared!
Blood splattered!
The expressions of everyone present changed dramatically.
They saw that the giant attendant who had reached for Shirahoshi had the front part of both wrists completely severed!
"Arrggghh… My hands, my hands!" The giant attendant rolled on the ground in pain!
"You! You dare oppose the great me!?" Charlos shouted angrily at Jin.
'First that trash with the straw hat, now this guy who popped up. How dare they oppose me, the noble Charlos!? Just die!'
"Gentlemen, this is a government-approved special administrative zone. Could you give me some respect and not make this difficult for me?" Tesoro, his face dark, came forward with a smile uglier than crying.
If this were normal circumstances, he would have already controlled the gold dust inside the target's body, turning them into a gold statue.
But earlier, Jin had pulled a sneaky move to block his gold dust.
And the Celestial Dragons were also people he couldn't afford to offend.
So Tesoro could only brace himself and play the peacemaker.
Jin stood up from his seat, shaking his head, "Difficult? Then don't bother."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a roaring, silvery demon god giant suddenly rose from Jin's body.
The Chakra Sword in its hand swung down fiercely, bisecting the giant attendant who had been rolling on the ground after having his hands severed ten seconds ago.
"Hancock, as your captain now, I give you your first order." Jin pointed towards Charlos, who was scared out of his wits.
"Go, kill him."
Hancock's small mouth opened slightly, unable to utter a word for a long moment.
Several seconds passed, she still hesitated, unable to step forward.
Finally, under immense pressure, she stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Too disappointing." Jin's disdainful gaze made Hancock unable to look directly at him.
Just as Jin had said, she was like a circus animal that had been collared since youth, constantly whipped by the trainer.
Even after growing up and possessing strength greater than the trainer's, she would still tremble in fear at the sight of the whip.
"Fine, I'll be merciful and give you a demonstration. Watch carefully." The still-active Susanoo raised its sword again and swung it down towards Charlos.
Seeing this, whether it was the Blackbeard Pirates' Shiryu, Pizarro, or the Big Mom Pirates' Katakuri, Oven, and others, their expressions all changed dramatically.
Given their statuses in their respective Emperor-level crews, while they weren't afraid of Celestial Dragons, they would absolutely not attack them unless absolutely necessary, let alone go for the kill.
But Jin didn't hesitate in the slightest!
At the critical moment, a giant vine erupted from the ground, shielding Charlos in front of it and transforming into a huge hand that grabbed the Susanoo's sword.
"Celestial Dragons are the gods of this world! What the 'gods' want, 'humans' should obediently offer up!" Aramaki, whose right arm was elementalized and connected to the vine giant fist blocking the Susanoo's sword, coldly shouted from dozens of meters away:
"This is—the law of this world!"
Upon hearing this, Hancock, kneeling on the ground, secretly clenched her fists.
'Law? What damn law!?'
'Because of this, I, I had to endure such humiliation!?'
"Did you hear that? This is a Marine Admiral's attitude towards Celestial Dragons. On the surface, they talk about upholding justice, but in reality, they're just lackeys for the Celestial Dragons and the World Government?"
"That punch Monkey D. Luffy threw for you a year and a half ago felt great, right?"
"But what did it change?"
"Celestial Dragons still run rampant as the rulers of this world. The World Government still acts as their protective umbrella, aiding and abetting their tyranny."
"I can do more than Monkey D. Luffy. I can make them taste pain a hundred, a thousand times worse than what you endured!"
"Stop placing your desire for revenge on others. You can do it yourself. Come with me~"
Jin pressed close to Hancock's ear, like a demon tricking a human into signing an unequal contract, squatting down and whispering beside her:
"Stand up, Hancock. Have you forgotten why you came here? It was to get revenge for yourself, who was once a slave, right?"
"To avenge the other slaves, to avenge Sandersonia, to avenge Marigold."
"You must keep moving forward. Even if you die, even after death, fight, fight, fight."
"This is the story you started, Hancock."