Chapter 399: Fujitora, You're So Adorable
"Damn it! Reiju really did fall into their hands!"
Unbeknownst to Ian, at the moment he untied the sewing threads and let Reiju stand up, Gaji, far out at sea not far from Dressrosa, caught sight of this scene through a telescope. He couldn't help but slam his fist angrily against the ship's railing.
Although he had modified his children to revive the glory of the Germa Kingdom, Gaji himself was still an ordinary person, retaining human emotions. Even if he didn't usually show them, the appropriate reactions were still there. And since Reiju looked the most like Gaji's deceased wife, she was the one he cared about most among all his children.
So, he immediately felt the urge to return to Dressrosa again.
However, the ship they were on now belonged to Perospero. The one calling the shots wasn't him but Perospero. If he wanted to go back, Perospero would be the first to forbid it.
"Don't worry, Lord Gaji!" Perospero comforted him. "No matter what, your daughter is still the princess of the Germa Kingdom. The Marines can't arrest her, and Ian probably won't do anything to her either. She's safe for now. Once we return to Whole Cake Island, you can ask Big Mom to step in. In this New World, no one dares to defy Big Mom's orders. Then Ian will obediently send your daughter back!"
"Yes, Father!" Ichiji also said expressionlessly. "We can't go back now!"
Reiju was Ichiji's sister, but neither Ichiji, Niji, nor Yonji showed much reaction to her being trapped on Dressrosa Island. They didn't look worried at all.
Gaji looked at Ichiji's expression and sighed inwardly. He could only hold back and wait to go to Whole Cake Island to ask Big Mom for help.
In a bad mood, Gaji led Ichiji and the others back into the cabin. Perospero, meanwhile, continued to observe Ian and his group through his telescope. Now that they had separated from Doflamingo and Jack the Drought, the ship was gradually sailing away from Dressrosa Island. He was making the most of the last moments to gather information on the Dragon Hunter Pirates.
He didn't see much else, but he noticed the towering figure of Sardine.
"The Dragon Hunter Pirates actually have a giant?" Perospero said, his expression turning serious. He kept his telescope fixed on Sardine, observing Sardine's attitude toward Ian.
"I wonder if this giant is from Elbaf..." After observing for a while, Perospero lowered his telescope, licked his candy cane with his long tongue, and hesitated. "Should I tell Mama about this? I'd better report it. If I hide it, Mama might get angry."
Although Big Mom was one of the Four Emperors in the New World, capable of making children stop crying with fear, Perospero, as her eldest son, knew well that Mama had a greatest dream: to build a "Nation of All Races" where all species could live together equally.
So on Whole Cake Island, many different races existed. Although Big Mom's methods of controlling these people were questionable, it could be said that Whole Cake Island now had the beginnings of such a nation.
However, in this "Nation of All Races," there was one race missing: the Giants!
Though Perospero didn't know his mother's background, it was no secret among many of her children that Big Mom was despised by giants all over the world.
Given Big Mom's reputation, getting a giant to the island would be very easy. But for some reason, Big Mom forbade her children from laying hands on giants, refusing to use force, and instead told them to treat giants with courtesy.
The giants of this world didn't come from a single source, but the most famous were from Elbaf. And what Big Mom cared about most were the giant warriors from Elbaf.
If the giant in the Dragon Hunter Pirates was also from Elbaf, then things would get troublesome...
Because not long ago, an important figure had unexpectedly arrived at Whole Cake Island: Loki, the prince of the giant kingdom of Elbaf. This giant prince had received an extremely grand reception on the island. And even more unexpectedly, this giant prince Loki had fallen in love at first sight with Big Mom's daughter, Charlotte Lola, and even proposed to her!
When Big Mom learned of this, she was so happy she cried. Perospero had seen it with his own eyes. At that time, Big Mom told her children that if Lola could become the princess of Elbaf, it would resolve the long-standing discord with the giants.
For this reason, Big Mom even planned to prepare the most magnificent wedding for Lola.
However, unexpectedly, although Lola looked a certain way, she was an independent woman. Because she didn't like the giant prince Loki, she chose to run away from the marriage!
The moment Big Mom learned of Lola's escape, her rage made the entire Nation of All Races tremble. She ordered Lola to be captured and brought back.
At the same time, Big Mom had Lola's twin sister take her place, hoping to complete the wedding with Loki. But who would have thought she'd be discovered? The giant prince saw at a glance that the bride wasn't Lola herself, so he turned and angrily left Whole Cake Island. From then on, the relationship between Big Mom and the giants became even worse.
Perospero had been by Big Mom's side for years and had seen these things. He naturally had his guesses. He felt that the relationship between Big Mom and the giants was unusual. Big Mom seemed to always want to please the giants, which also meant that all her children had to be careful when dealing with real giants.
And now, Ian's Dragon Hunter Pirates actually had a giant, Sardine, who seemed to respect Ian as their captain very much. This made Perospero feel that his plan to get revenge on the Dragon Hunter Pirates might fall through...
As for Gaji's daughter Reiju, Perospero didn't care much about her...
…………………………
On Dressrosa Island, Reiju and Ian had reached an agreement, so Ian returned her combat suit capsule to her.
The Germa combat suits were highly advanced technology. So many clothes and equipment could be compressed into such a small capsule. When Reiju took out the combat suit from the capsule and put it on, she once again became the Poison Pink that Ian was familiar with.
Admittedly, Reiju was very beautiful. Although she was only temporarily staying with Ian's pirate crew, for Ian, having such an eye-catching big sister in the crew was quite enjoyable.
Hmm, come to think of it, there were quite a few big sisters in the crew now. Margaret counted as one, Konenai as one, Nico Robin as one, and with Reiju included, Ian's Dragon Hunter Pirates were full of beauties. If this were back when he was playing games, a guild with so many beauties would definitely attract a horde of guys scrambling to join...
With mature women covered, all that was missing was a loli. Although Walnut looked like a little girl on the outside, she wasn't really a true loli...
Just as Ian was thinking about the loli issue, Uncle Fujitora brought him a "loli"!
When Ian saw Fujitora returning, with Sugar floating unsteadily in the air beside him due to weightlessness, he immediately burst out laughing.
Uncle, what are you doing!? You went out and came back leading a loli!?
When Sugar saw so many people, she struggled even more in the air, shouting, "Put me down! Do you hear me!"
"So cute!" Robin thought to herself as she looked at Sugar's appearance. She had thought the same when she saw the Tontatta people earlier. But she only thought it; her face remained calm, showing nothing.
When Fujitora brought Sugar before everyone, Ian quickly pulled him aside and whispered, "Uncle Fujitora, why did you bring her back!? She's one of Doflamingo's people!"
"Yes, that's true," Fujitora nodded, eyes closed, and said, "The toys in Dressrosa are all caused by her ability. I think this ability is too dangerous and should be restricted, so I brought her back!"
Ian said with a headache, "You plan to keep her in our crew? But have you thought about it? Since her ability is so dangerous, what do we do on a daily basis?"
"There's always a way," Fujitora suddenly took something out of his pocket and said to Ian, "Let her wear this first. It should help!"
Ian looked down at what Fujitora was holding and couldn't help but burst out laughing again.
Because in Fujitora's hand was a pair of furry cat-paw gloves with leopard spots!
Looking at these gloves, Ian's mind immediately rang with a "Meow" sound...
Uncle Fujitora, I've discovered today that you're so adorable...