Grand Line entrance.
Twin Cape.
"Charge! Kill that woman! That island ship will be ours!"
A large group of pirates, bounty hunters, and mafia members charged toward the Guroseadi, the ship White Ghost had left here for Crocus to watch over.
"Tch."
Bellemere held a cigarette in her mouth and extended a hand toward the incoming crowd.
"Repulsion Palm Wave."
Boom!
A powerful shockwave blasted the charging crowd away.
Tap, tap, tap.
Bellemere stepped through the air with Geppo, using her repulsion ability to fly.
"Shoot! Bring that damn woman down!"
The pirates below roared.
Click, click, click!
Those with guns raised them toward Bellemere in the sky. Those with rocket launchers raised their rocket launchers.
"Tch."
Bellemere curled her lips in disdain and pointed her palm downward.
"Fire!"
Bang, bang, bang!
Boom, boom, boom!
Gunshots and cannon fire rang out nonstop.
Bellemere lightly exerted force with her palm.
Buzz.
The incoming bullets and shells all stopped in midair.
"Damn it, this move again! Damn Devil Fruit user!"
The crowd below cursed loudly.
Bellemere smiled.
"Back to you."
Whoosh.
The bullets and shells that had stopped in the air flew back the way they came at high speed.
Boom, boom, boom!
Those who did not have time to run were blown apart or badly injured.
Bellemere flew back onto the Guroseadi.
"Damn it. Do people on the Grand Line not care about their lives?"
"Hahahaha!"
Crocus laughed from the side.
"Young lady, your Devil Fruit ability isn't bad at all. You've developed it quite well."
Bellemere accepted the towel Nojiko handed her and wiped away her sweat.
"That guy gave it to me. He said it was a god-tier fruit and that if I developed it properly, it would bring unexpected results. Looks like he was right."
After saying that, Bellemere's face filled with anger.
"And because of that, I ended up losing two daughters to him. Now even I had to board his pirate ship."
Beside her, Nojiko's little face turned red.
Actually, it was not only Nami.
When White Ghost saved them that day, that man had already carved himself deeply into her heart.
"Hahahaha!"
Crocus remembered White Ghost's reputation on the sea, then looked at the pretty young girl beside him and could not help laughing.
Bellemere looked toward the distance, where pirate ships were gathering again, and could not help complaining.
"By the way, old man, you're pretty strong too. You actually managed to guard this place for two years under these circumstances. I really couldn't tell you were this capable at your age."
Crocus shook his head.
"There weren't this many during the first two years. They were just small-time pirates.
"After that incident some time ago, things got out of control. If you hadn't appeared, these old bones of mine wouldn't have lasted much longer."
"Tch."
Bellemere curled her lips.
Although her Armament Haki had not awakened, her Observation Haki had. Did he really think she could not sense this old man's strength?
"Hm?"
Bellemere's expression grew serious as she looked toward the sea.
Crocus waved a hand.
"Don't be nervous. Laboon is back. He went out to hunt a few days ago. You haven't seen him before."
Bellemere's mouth twitched.
Laboon?
What was that?
The image from her Observation Haki told her there was something huge under the sea.
"Charge! They only have one old man and one damn woman. We have more people. Wear them down!"
In the distance, the pirates and bounty hunters encouraged themselves, preparing to charge again.
Rumble, rumble.
The surface of the sea began to tremble.
"What's going on?"
Those people grabbed the masts and looked at the shaking water.
Bellemere looked at the people on the distant ships with pity.
"There's something in the sea. Right below us."
Someone discovered the enormous shadow under the water and screamed in terror.
The others all rushed to the sides of the ships and looked down.
Under the ships, a massive black shadow was rushing toward them through the sea.
"What is that thing? Quick, turn! Turn the ships!"
Their faces turned pale, and they began shouting.
After all, the thing under the sea was already enormous just from its shadow. If it slammed into them directly, what would happen?
Before they could turn and escape, the shadow suddenly accelerated and rammed upward.
Those people watched in despair as the shadow in the sea crashed into them.
Boom!
Laboon's huge head slammed hard into the bottoms of the three ships.
Under the terrifying impact, the three ships instantly shattered. The people onboard screamed as they were thrown into the air.
Now they finally saw it clearly.
It was a massive West Blue island whale, the largest species of whale in the world.
"Damn it! Why is there a West Blue island whale here?"
Someone flying through the air cursed loudly.
Laboon floated on the sea and swung his tail.
Boom!
Whether they were in the air or floating on the sea, everyone was wiped away by Laboon's tail.
Bellemere looked at the giant whale ahead.
Every time it moved, the huge impact sent massive waves splashing into the air.
"Hahahaha!"
Crocus laughed and waved.
Laboon slowly swam over.
Nojiko looked at the enormous whale curiously. Since Bellemere was beside her, she was not afraid of anything.
"Chuu!"
Laboon came to the shore and let Crocus touch his head.
Seeing Laboon squint in enjoyment, Nojiko could not help reaching out her small hand and touching him too.
Smooth.
Probably because he had just come out of the sea, Nojiko thought.
"Chumi."
Laboon also noticed the little girl and happily called out twice.
But he did not dare respond too much. He was afraid that with one careless move, the little girl would be gone.
After a while, once they were familiar with each other, Laboon placed Nojiko on his forehead and let her play there happily.
"Hah… I can finally rest a bit."
Bellemere looked exhausted as she lay down on Crocus's sun chair.
Crocus's mouth twitched. He did not want to argue with this woman who had no respect for the elderly. He returned to the room, took out another chair, sat by the shore, and began fishing.
After Nojiko got tired from playing, she climbed down from Laboon's head and ran to Bellemere's side, muttering to herself,
"When will Nami and the others arrive?"
Bellemere opened her eyes and glanced at her eldest daughter.
"You're thinking about that man, aren't you? That big brother. Not Nami."
Nojiko's little face instantly turned bright red.
"No, no! I really miss Nami. I haven't seen her in such a long time. How could I be thinking about Big Brother?
"Besides… he already has so many women around him. There's no way for me."
Nojiko's voice grew smaller and smaller until her face filled with disappointment.
Bellemere sighed and cursed White Ghost inwardly.
That bastard.
She could not protect either of her daughters from him.
"Ahhh!"
Suddenly, screams came from the current leading down Reverse Mountain.
Bellemere thought more pirates had arrived and got up, ready to fight.
Crocus, whose Observation Haki was stronger than hers, put away his fishing rod and looked in that direction.
"Looks like this old man's hard days are finally over."
Beside them, Laboon sensed something and kept crying happily.
"Chumi! Chumi!"
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