Chapter 282
Garp's gaze settled on the elegant Kuja vessel like a heavy anchor.
Zaraki followed it.
Interesting.
Whitebeard had left. Red-Hair had begun pulling away.
Most of the pirates, underworld figures, and assorted opportunists who had come to watch the duel had already scattered in every direction.
The Kuja ship had started withdrawing as well, but Kuzan's frozen channels forced it to pick its way slowly around the edge of the battlefield.
With Jinbe helping the Kuja helmswomen find a safe route through the broken ice, the vessel was still close enough that it looked almost as though one particularly stubborn member of the audience had refused to leave even though the show was over.
On the deck stood a woman whose beauty could turn heads across the entire world.
Boa Hancock had her back to them, chin tilted slightly upward as she stared at the sky with the unmistakable posture of someone who believed the entire world had personally wronged her.
The pose was so deliberately haughty that Zaraki could practically imagine the mixture of pride and impatience currently raging inside her.
Eventually, as though she had exhausted the last scrap of her patience, Hancock gave a cold snort.
Her voice was not loud, yet it carried cleanly across several hundred meters of open sea.
"Set sail! I have had enough of this miserable cold!"
She sharply tossed her long black hair behind her, turned, and began walking toward the cabin.
Her stride was graceful and confident, every movement elegant enough to make the hearts of half the men watching skip a beat.
There was only one problem.
She was walking far too slowly.
At that pace, calling it "returning to the cabin" was generous.
It looked more like an extremely elegant, extremely deliberate stroll.
Zaraki's abdomen still throbbed painfully, but the corner of his mouth nevertheless curled upward.
'This woman...'
Her acting was somehow even less convincing than Luffy trying to lie.
Hancock reached the last few steps before the cabin door.
Then her pace visibly faltered.
The proud line of her shoulders sagged by the tiniest amount.
For one fleeting instant, disappointment flashed through her eyes before she could hide it.
She really was leaving.
Then a calm voice carrying the faintest hint of amusement rang clearly across the frozen sea.
"Your Majesty. Hold on."
Hancock froze.
Completely.
As though someone had cast a spell on her.
Every Marine nearby turned toward the source.
Zaraki.
He ignored Garp's suddenly delighted expression—the unmistakable look of an old man thinking, 'The brat finally figured it out.'
He also ignored the Marine officers around them, whose eyes had immediately lit up with the unmistakable hunger for gossip.
Zaraki simply looked across the distance at Hancock's rigid back.
"Thanks for coming today."
His voice remained casual.
"I'll remember the favor."
By then the Kuja vessel had drawn close enough to the Oni Slayer for Jinbe to coordinate the route through the ice.
Zaraki stepped onto the boarding ramp instead of wasting strength on an unnecessary burst of speed, crossed the narrowing gap, and landed steadily on the Kuja ship's deck.
Even that made several Marines glance uneasily at the blood still staining his clothes. After injuries like those, he really should not have been walking around as casually as he was.
Hancock slowly turned around.
By the time she faced Zaraki, every trace of disappointment and anxiety had disappeared.
The Pirate Empress had returned.
Her expression was once again one of supreme, almost insulting contempt.
"Hmph. Whatever I choose to do is hardly something you have the right to—"
She stopped.
A warm, powerful hand had gently closed around her wrist.
Hancock's entire body went rigid.
Her heart seemed to stop for several beats.
"Not here."
Zaraki's tone left no room for argument.
He turned, still holding her wrist, and started walking toward the Marine warship.
"Come with me. There's something important I need your help with."
The entire motion was smooth, natural...
and absurdly domineering.
For three full seconds, everyone watching from both ships suffered a complete system failure.
Then the sea erupted.
"D-Did I see that right?! Zaraki just grabbed the Pirate Empress' hand?!"
"Grabbed it? He's literally taking her back to his ship!"
"Holy hell! Is the prize for becoming the world's greatest swordsman the world's most beautiful woman?!"
Whistles, shouts, and disbelieving laughter erupted everywhere.
At the Kuja ship's railing, Marigold and Sandersonia stared in complete shock.
They could only watch as their impossibly proud elder sister—the woman who normally looked down on practically every living thing—allowed herself to be led away like a docile cat.
Without resisting.
Not even a little.
Both sisters looked as though their minds had stopped working.
Wasn't this moving a little too fast?!
Their expressions shifted between alarm, disbelief, and outrage, yet neither seemed to know what they were actually supposed to do.
Zaraki reached the boarding ramp connecting the two vessels.
Then he suddenly looked back.
His gaze landed directly on the sisters.
"You two."
Both women stiffened.
"Come with us."
"Eh?"
"You'll be useful too."
Zaraki sounded completely serious.
Unfortunately, that was not how the nearby Marines heard it.
There was a sudden intake of breath from somewhere in the crowd.
"T-Three at once?!"
No one knew who said it.
Nobody cared.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Garp's unmistakable laughter exploded across the deck.
He slapped the Oni Slayer's senior captain on the shoulder so hard that the senior captain's cigar flew straight from his mouth.
"YOU SEE THAT?!"
Garp pointed proudly toward Zaraki.
"THAT'S MY BRAT!"
"COURAGE!"
"DECISIVENESS!"
"A MAN WHO TAKES RESPONSIBILITY!"
Everyone stared at Garp like he had gone insane.
Then they turned toward Zaraki with expressions normally reserved for mythological creatures.
Responsibility?
Was Garp perhaps using a different dictionary from the rest of humanity?
the Oni Slayer's senior captain bent down, retrieved his cigar, and glanced toward Gion with an amused smile.
"Looks like you've got some serious competition, Vice Admiral Momousagi."
"WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"
Gion's face immediately flushed.
She stamped one foot in irritation.
Then, despite herself, sneaked another glance toward Zaraki.
the Oni Slayer's senior captain wisely chose not to push his luck.
He turned toward the fleet instead.
"ALL HANDS!"
His command snapped across the ice.
"PREPARE TO DEPART!"
"WE'RE RETURNING TO HEADQUARTERS!"
The two great ships slowly began breaking their way through the frozen sea.
...
The door to Zaraki's private command cabin slammed shut.
The noise outside disappeared instantly.
Inside, the atmosphere changed.
Hancock suddenly became acutely aware of just how small the room was.
Her heart seemed ready to leap straight out of her throat.
Heat crept from her neck toward the tips of her ears.
Never in her life had she been alone with a man in such a confined space.
Especially not this man.
Zaraki still carried the faint metallic scent of blood, mixed with sea salt and the raw masculine presence of someone who had just fought until his body nearly broke.
To Hancock, it was somehow intoxicating.
Like being trapped beside a cup of liquor far stronger than anything she had ever tasted.
Her thoughts began spinning.
Zaraki finally released her wrist.
Then he casually walked over to the table.
Hancock lowered her head.
Her fingers nervously twisted the edge of her clothing.
'What is he going to do?'
'What is he going to say?'
'Could it be...?'
Zaraki poured two cups of water.
Hancock stared.
He handed one to her.
Then he turned around and opened the cabin door again.
"Come in."
Hancock's thoughts came to a complete stop.
Marigold and Sandersonia entered wearing expressions of extreme suspicion.
They looked like two mother hens protecting a chick, immediately moving to either side of Hancock and placing themselves between her and Zaraki.
The door closed again.
Whatever romantic tension had begun accumulating in the room died instantly.
Hancock's head snapped upward.
Humiliation and disbelief filled her beautiful eyes.
He dragged her into a private cabin... called her sisters in...and gave her water?
Was this some kind of insult?!
"You—!"
She was already preparing to explode.
Then she noticed Zaraki's expression.
There was no teasing smile.
No amusement.
Not even the slightest hint that he found the situation funny.
He had become completely serious.
Almost grim.
His gaze moved slowly over Hancock, Marigold, and Sandersonia.
It was not the gaze of a man admiring three beautiful women.
It was closer to someone assessing three pieces of equipment before deciding how best to use them.
Hancock's anger faltered.
Zaraki raised his cup and drained it in one swallow.
He set it down with a crisp click.
"All right."
His eyes sharpened.
"Enough messing around."
"We're short on time, so let's get straight to it."
He paused.
Then said the one sentence that instantly emptied all three sisters' minds.
"Take off your clothes."