Under Cobra's direction, the great nation of Alabasta began to function like a well-oiled machine. Everyone was incredibly busy. Vivi wanted to help with whatever she could, but Cobra refused, insisting she spend her time with Leo instead.
The entire afternoon, led by Vivi, Leo and the women toured the capital, experiencing the unique culture and customs of Alabasta. The women bought many新奇 trinkets and souvenirs unique to the desert kingdom. They were responsible for shopping; Leo was responsible for carrying the countless bags... and paying.
Amidst the women's laughter and chatter, evening soon arrived. Learning that Leo planned to leave the next day, Cobra, despite his hectic schedule, prepared a lavish farewell banquet. Throughout the meal, the two men toasted each other repeatedly. Cobra expressed his profound gratitude for everything Leo had done for Alabasta and, on the other hand, repeatedly Leo to take good care of Vivi. She was his treasured daughter, and he had always been endlessly protective of her.
Leo naturally agreed to everything. Even without Cobra's reminder, he would have done so. In the world of pirates, there were several beautiful women with the status of princess. But in Leo's heart, Vivi was the most outstanding of them all, without exception. At just fourteen, she had risked her life alone, infiltrating Baroque Works to uncover the truth for her kingdom. The hardships she endured couldn't be summed up in a few words. In Vivi, Leo saw bravery, resilience, selflessness, patience, and gentleness. Even in darkness, she had kept her. One could say Vivi truly embodied all the finest qualities of a princess. In his heart, her status was equal to Nami's.
After the banquet, Nami and the others returned to their rooms to rest. Leo took Vivi and Robin to the palace rooftop. A gentle breeze stirred Vivi and Robin's hair and carried Leo's thoughts away. He looked up at the starry night sky.
"Leaving tomorrow... are you feeling a little reluctant?" During the banquet, Leo had clearly sensed Vivi's low spirits. She hadn't even had time to share her joy with Cobra and the citizens before leaving.
Vivi shook her head, leaning against Leo's shoulder. "Leo, do you know? After I joined Baroque Works, I lived in constant fear, wary of everyone around me. In the end, I thought I'd really found the mastermind through my own efforts, but it turned out Sister Robin was the one who told me." A self-deprecating smile appeared on her face. "I'm a very incompetent princess. I wasn't any help at all."
Robin looked at Vivi with, gently stroking her head.
"That's not true," Leo said, turning Vivi to face him, his expression serious. "Vivi, you've already done more than enough for Alabasta. In my heart, you are the bravest princess."
His words were sincere. If Vivi hadn't done these things, she would never hold such a high place in his heart. Vivi was far superior to other princesses. As for beauty? There were plenty of beautiful people.
"Really?!" Under the moonlight, Vivi's cheeks flushed, her long eyelashes fluttering.
Leo noddedly.
"Thank you, Leo." A sudden wetness touched his cheek as the little princess offered a kiss. Vivi pecked Leo's cheek like a chick pecking rice, then quickly retreated.
"Leo, you and Sister Robin talk. I'm going to pack my things so I can leave with you tomorrow." Vivi waved her small hand without looking back and ran off.
"What a lovely girl," Robin said, shaking her head with a smile as she watched Vivi leave. Alabasta was fortunate to have a princess like her.
"Vivi is wonderful, and you're not bad either," Leo chimed in appropriately.
Robin rolled her eyes. Was he shifting the topic to her now?!
"Robin, if you have something to say, just say it. Hesitating doesn't suit your character," Leo said with a light laugh, looking at her. When had this mature,知性 big sister become so indecisive?
Robin's smile faded. She looked at Leo, her expression turning serious. "Leo, thank you for saving me."
A simple sentence, laden with multiple meanings. Leo understood that Robin's gratitude wasn't just for him defeating Crocodile, but more importantly, for him resolving the knots in her heart and giving her a place to belong.
Meeting her gaze, Leo suddenly grinned. "Is this how all you women are? So emotional at night?"
Robin took a step forward, closing the distance between them. Her slender finger traced a light path down Leo's neck as she breathed softly, "Yes, Captain. So, could you not be such a killjoy?!"
The tables had turned! Completely! He was usually the one teasing others, but today Robin was teasing him. How audacious!
Seeing the teasing smirk on Leo's lips, Robin suddenly felt nervous. But before she could speak, Leo used Instant Transmission, taking them straight to the Going Merry.
"Captain, I was just joking earlier!" Robin waved her hands frantically. She had really only planned to tease him a little and then run.
"Too late!!"
His response was action, not words.
That night, Leo experienced the unique, scorching heat of the desert kingdom of Alabasta.
[After a passage of time described as ten thousand words...]
Later, Leo sought out Zala (previously Miss Doublefinger; Zala sounded better). After being counseled by Miss Valentine and Miss Golden Week, Zala agreed to join the Leo Pirates almost without hesitation. With Crocodile dead, what was the point of her persistence? Should she follow Crocodile to her death?! She was just a killer, not a fanatic.
The previous night, Zala had spent in a state of anxiety and nervousness, for a simple reason: the tradition of the Leo Pirates! Miss Valentine and Golden Week had secretly told her all about it. She waited until late into the night... but no one came. And today, with Leo having drunk so much at the banquet, she was sure he wouldn't come for her.
Who would have thought~
She gained a precise understanding of the concept of time for the first time.
[Another passage of time described as ten thousand words...]
In the room, Leo was in a pleasant mood.
"Claim reward." It was that familiar moment again.
[Congratulations, Host, on successfully recruiting crew member Nico Robin. Reward obtained: Luxury Living-type Starship.]
[Congratulations, Host, on successfully recruiting crew member Zala. Reward obtained: Slave Brand x20.]
A Luxury Living-type Starship?! Leo's eyes lit up. This was exactly what he needed most at this stage. As the number of recruited beauties grew, the original Going Merry was no longer sufficient. With him included, there were now twelve people on board, making it slightly cramped. There weren't even enough rooms. And there would be more beauties joining in the future. If he hadn't received this reward, he would have had to go to Water 7 to commission a larger pirate ship. Now, he had saved a great deal of money.
He opened the detailed information about the starship.
Luxury Living-type Starship:
The starship has vast space, capable of accommodating 500 people, including 100 luxury suites, 20 themed suites, and five ultra-large suites (can easily accommodate Giant Warriors).
The starship contains several cafes, a winery, a library, kitchens, training rooms, a botanical garden, an aquarium, a tangerine orchard...
The first two points alone made Leo unable to look away. This was too luxurious! It even had themed suites? Was the system worried he'd get bored and wanted to add some novelty? And what was with the ultra-large suites?! Were there plot-relevant beauties among the Giants?! There seemed to be one. Wait... the one from the Fish-Man tribe was also quite large.
Temporarily setting aside his scattered thoughts, Leo continued reading.
3. The starship utilizes controlled nuclear fusion technology. The Host need not worry about energy.
4. The starship comes with 200 maid-service androids,responsible for daily cleaning and maintenance. The Host need not bother with these trivial matters.
5. The starship features intelligent assistance functions, capable of automatic flight. Its radar can scan everything within a 5,000-kilometer radius. If encountering unexpected situations, it will actively alert the Host. If it's a natural disaster, it can take evasive action in advance.
6. When encountering danger, the Host can activate an energy shield. Defense Level 1 can withstand the impact of a maximum-yield nuclear weapon.
7. The starship is equipped with 180 laser cannons, capable of long-range strikes on targets 300 kilometers away, easily destroying naval vessels of the highest specification.
"Really good," Leo nodded repeatedly. Every annotation pleased him deeply. In short, apart from its attack capability being somewhat lacking, everything else was practically invincible. It was, after all, a Luxury Living-type Starship. Maybe one day he'd draw a Combat-type Luxury Starship and blast Mary Geoise to smithereens with a single shot.
The Luxury Starship was automatically stored in the system warehouse. Leo then looked at the second reward.
Slave Brand x20.
The Host can conduce a slave brand, imprinting it on the target's spiritual will. Anyone branded with the slave mark will unconditionally obey the Host's commands. The Host holds power over their life and death, regardless of distance.
The target must be willingly submissive to the Host, or the Host's strength must far surpass the target's for the slave brand to be successfully applied.
If the target is female, once branded with the slave mark, it is considered an automatic recruitment.
This... also seemed quite good. Leo stroked his chin, his mind racing. The first people he thought of were the beauties in the Marines: Kujaku, Tsuru, Momousagi, and Tashigi (Note: Tashigi is already recruited, this might be an error in the original text or a different character). Their立场不同, so they wouldn't submit easily. Stubborn ones might prefer death to submission. With the slave brand, he could save a lot of trouble. He could just brand them, and they'd be automatically recruited. Wonderful.
Come to think of it, the knight of the God's Knights was also quite beautiful. But her strength was too high; she wouldn't be easy to deal with. He'd have to study that carefully later.
Besides these plot-relevant beauties, Leo thought of some other talented individuals. Like Enel from Skypiea. Aside from being arrogant, his strength and talent were undeniable. But his fate was pretty miserable—either being recruited as a subordinate or killed for his fruit. Leo's next stop was Skypiea, but for the Leo Pirates, who only recruited female members, unless something unexpected happened, Enel was going to die... again.
The next day, after breakfast at the palace, Leo and his crew said their goodbyes to Cobra and prepared to leave Alabasta. He had left a spatial coordinate here; Vivi could return anytime she wanted. Even so, Vivi and Cobra enacted a heartfelt father-daughter farewell that moved the more emotional women to tears.
"Vivi, you must come back to see your father," Cobra said, his aged face streaked with tears.
"Don't worry, Father," Vivi replied, nodding through her own tears.
"Hey?! Where's the Going Merry?!" Nami looked around, suddenly realizing their ship was gone.
"Where did the Merry go?!"
"Dammit, who dares to steal our ship?!" An angry Nami immediately rolled up her sleeves, ready for a fight.
"I put the Merry away. Can you calm down?" Leo said, exasperated by Nami's outburst. The other women hadn't even reacted before Nami had flown into a rage.
"You should have said so earlier," Nami shot back, giving him a look before deflating like a punctured balloon.
"Captain, why did you put the Merry away? Were you afraid someone would steal it?!" Makino covered her mouth, giggling. She didn't believe anyone would be that foolish.
The other women laughed too, their various laughs blending into a pleasant sound.
Leo raised an eyebrow得意ly. "Starting today, we're upgrading our equipment."
With a wave of his arm, a flash of light appeared, and a massive, incredibly luxurious starship materialized in the sky above the women.
They instinctively looked up. When they saw the luxurious starship, they all covered their mouths, struck dumb with awe.
"Leo, where did you get this?!" An excited Nami circled the ship on a patch of island cloud. "It's huge!"
"Captain, is this a ship too?!"
"How can there be a ship like this?!"
"Leo, what's the name of this ship?!"
After a brief moment of stunned silence, the women began firing off questions.
Leo sighed, using island clouds to lift all the women. "I'll tell you all about it once we're inside."
Amid the women's exclamations of surprise, the starship whooshed and disappeared into the sky, leaving only Cobra and his ministers standing bewildered in the wind.
Once inside the ship, Leo activated the radar detection and autopilot functions. Then he led the intensely curious women on a tour. And why use the word 'tour'? Because the ship was simply too large.
"So many rooms, and all in different styles?!"
"I want this pink one!!"
"This orange one is mine! Don't anyone take it!!"
"This blue room is mine!!"
The women darted among the上百 rooms, quickly finding suites that matched their personal styles. They bounced on the soft, spacious beds. They had truly upgraded from a musket to a cannon!
"Ah!!!"
Suddenly, Tashigi's surprised cry came from nearby. Nami, Vivi, and the others rushed over. "Tashigi, what's wrong?!"
They found Tashigi with a bright red face, pointing into one of the rooms. The puzzled women walked in, and their reactions mirrored Tashigi's. The room was filled with all sorts of toys of various shapes and sizes, some they recognized, some they didn't. It had everything.
"Captain, why is there a room like this?!"
"Leo, you have some wild tastes!!"
"Leo, did you set this up too?!"
The women protested in unison.
Leo cried out that he was wronged; it really had nothing to do with him! It was all the system's doing! But internally, he cheered: Well done! With so many variations, there would be plenty of fun to be had in the future.
In the following hours, Leo took the women to see the ship's recreational facilities.
Along the way:
Kaya and Robin stayed in the library. Kaya perused medical texts, while Robin read history books.
Nami and Nojiko stayed in the tangerine orchard, starting to water the trees. The size of the orchard was comparable to the one in Cocoyashi Village. Previously, limited by the Merry's size, they had only brought a few saplings.
Miss Valentine, Miss Golden Week, and Zala were very interested in grinding coffee and stayed in the cafe. In the original story, after the Alabasta incident, the three of them had opened a cafe called 'Spider'.
Makino was full of praise for the massive winery, saying they could store much more liquor now.
Vivi, Tashigi, and Carmen followed Leo through the botanical garden and, incidentally, played a round of mahjong.
Another pleasant day had begun
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T/N :
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