This IQ Was Really Something Else!

This IQ Was Really Something Else!

"Who are these three?"

Bogard looked at Hancock and her sisters. Seeing that they were not in cages, he was somewhat curious. "People you know?"

"Yeah, people I know." Mercer nodded. "Cellmates—prison comrades. They're a little dumb, but otherwise they're fine."

Bogard was speechless. "You're something else. In the blink of an eye, you've already hooked up with three pretty girls."

Mercer shot him a look. "If you know how to talk, then talk some more."

Bogard was thoroughly choked by Mercer's reply. "So then, what are you planning to do with your comrades?"

"Ask them." Mercer looked at the slightly nervous Hancock. "So, what do you say? Do you want to stay here and wait for them to arrange things, or come up with me and have some fun?"

Hancock cautiously glanced at Bogard before asking softly, "Are you Marines?"

Mercer said, "He is. I'm not. I just freeload for a living, and I came out to make some extra money on the side."

Hancock thought for a moment. She looked somewhat embarrassed, but eventually gritted her teeth and spoke. "He won't arrest me, will he?"

"Hey!" Mercer stepped forward and crooked a finger, signaling Hancock to lower her head. She hesitated, but gritted her teeth and did as he asked. Mercer leaned close to her ear and whispered:

"Is there a bounty on you?"

"No." Hancock's eyes lit up. She pulled back slightly, her beautiful eyes fixed on Mercer. "I'm not even a pirate yet, so there's no problem."

Looking at Hancock's clear, adorably foolish expression, Mercer twitched the corner of his mouth and turned to the baffled Bogard. "Her dream is to become a pirate, but since there's no bounty on her, she was worried you'd arrest her."

Bogard's mouth twitched violently. He was nearly driven mad, but he still explained:

"In principle, this little girl counts as a potentially dangerous individual. But right now, she's nothing. She's still an ordinary civilian, so I won't interfere."

"See?" Mercer spread his hands toward Hancock. "To them, you're nothing. You were being full of yourself just now. A little narcissistic."

"Hehehe! Sorry for being narcissistic, then." Hancock's little face darkened as she let out a dry laugh. As she laughed, her eyes gradually reddened, and a voice as faint as a mosquito's sounded:

"Thank you!"

Mercer smacked his lips as he looked at the young Empress before him. She must have been under a lot of pressure before. Rising onto his tiptoes, he reached out and patted her shoulder.

"What the hell are you being shy for? If you're saying thank you, say it louder. Who are you saying it so quietly for? Idiot."

Her flat chest rose and fell. Looking at this sharp-tongued little brother who was a head shorter than her, Hancock clenched her fists, her face darkening, and threw a punch at him.

Noticing her movement, Mercer leaped backward to dodge, and Hancock chased after him with another punch.

"You brat, I'm going to beat you to death! Get back here!"

"You can't hit me, can't hit me, you just can't hit me, stupid Hancock."

"Ahhh!!! You called me stupid again! I'm not stupid! Toritoma said I'm smart! Get back here!!"

The two chased each other around the cramped space. In the end, Mercer found an opening and, before she could react, jumped up and kicked her in the butt. Hancock immediately tumbled forward onto her younger sisters.

Bogard watched happily, unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face. "Being young is wonderful!"

As Mercer ran up the stairs, Hancock and her sisters followed after him one by one.

A trace of surprise flickered in Bogard's eyes. Toritoma? The current queen of the Kuja? But she had not appeared on the seas for quite some time.

So these three little girls were Kuja?

"Well, they don't have bounties. Why should I worry about it so much?"

Bogard could not be bothered to think further. He glanced back at the cells behind him and left them with, "Get some rest first. We'll come make arrangements for you tomorrow," before immediately chasing after them.

The corridor in the ship's cabin had already become a complete wreck. Human traffickers lay scattered across the floor, with blood flowing everywhere.

Mercer walked down the corridor, stepping only on floorboards unstained by blood. Hancock and her sisters behind him slowed their steps in unspoken agreement.

At a corner, A burly man lay in a pool of blood. A sword wound across his chest had nearly split him in two. He had long since stopped breathing. Bogard caught up and said calmly:

"This is Razor Hand Jacks. We were in a hurry just now, so I used too much force. I didn't expect him to be so frail that he couldn't even take one slash. I hadn't intended to kill him."

Mercer looked at Bogard strangely. "If he weren't dead yet, hearing that might have pissed him to death. I didn't realize your tongue was so sharp."

"Who do you think I was rushing for? If I weren't worried about you, brat, would I have needed to hurry that much?" Bogard said with an irritated laugh.

"Normally, dangerous ability users like him would be locked up in Impel Down. They wouldn't be allowed to die so easily."

Mercer, who was walking ahead, rounded the corner and looked toward a newly revealed room. It was finely furnished, so it was most likely the captain's quarters.

"Hancock, help search the human traffickers outside for valuables. Thanks."

Hancock frowned. Being under someone else's roof, there was nothing wrong with lowering her head. Of course, that was not the only reason.

".Fine."

She then glared at Mercer and took her two sisters to clean up the battlefield. She had done this sort of menial work before on the Kuja ship.

Mercer entered the room with Bogard and began a thorough search, rummaging through every chest and cabinet. Before long, they found three boxes—large, medium, and small.

They opened the smallest one first. Inside was a whole box of gold bars, glittering brightly.

"Damn, these guys really were loaded. This box alone had at least eighty million Beli."

"Happy now?" Mercer curled his lip. "There are still two more. Save your excitement until they've all been opened."

The medium-sized box was packed with account books and transaction records—useless junk to Mercer.

The large box contained a full crate of weapons: all kinds of firearms, wrapped in oil paper and brand-new. They were still useless to Mercer, though Bogard was rather pleased.

These were hard currency.

Mercer did not care much either. When the time came, he could simply settle the difference in price with gold.

They had made a fortune from this little side job, and both of them took it with a clear conscience.

Mercer said nothing about how to deal with the Slave Ship.

The two searched the ship again, but found no more unexpected loot.

On the deck.

The traffickers the two had dealt with were piled together, waiting to be dumped into a more distant Sea Area after they set sail tomorrow.

Even feeding this trash to the fish was too good for them.

As for the Beli that the trafficker named Sili had taken from Mercer, it had returned to Mercer's hands as well.

Mercer counted his Beli.

Bogard smoked a cigarette and looked at Mercer. "So, are you going back to the warship to sleep, or staying here with me?"

Mercer glanced at him. "I have no intention of sleeping with corpses. Sleep here by yourself. I'll send some people over for you tomorrow."

Ignoring Bogard, Mercer went to the side of the ship, dropped the rope ladder, and climbed down in a few quick moves.

The three little tails followed behind him, leaving Bogard both annoyed, amused, and helpless.

As they walked through the harbor, Mercer asked, "What are you planning to do? Do you have a way to contact your Kuja?"

Hancock walked beside Mercer and nodded. "I remember the Den Den Mushi number on the ship. Can I borrow your Den Den Mushi?"

Mercer agreed. "Sure. Then come with me to the warship."

"Mercer, can I call you Mercer?" After walking for a while, Hancock spoke nervously. "Thank you for saving us."

"So now you know to thank me properly. What were you doing before?" Mercer said with a chuckle. "Sure. I've always called you Hancock, haven't I? Names are meant to be called."

They chatted along the way, and before long, the four arrived at the warship's berth. After greeting the Marine soldier on watch, Mercer brought them to Garp's room, which was also Mercer's temporary room.

Garp had not returned yet.

It seemed he would not be coming back tonight either.

Mercer brought Hancock to the table and handed her the pink-and-white Den Den Mushi. He watched as she dialed the number and excitedly got in touch with someone she knew on the other end.

About ten minutes later.

The call ended.

Hancock finally sighed in relief. A bright smile appeared on her little face, and her whole demeanor immediately became more lively.

"I've contacted them. They're currently near the Sea Area around Water Seven. I told them we'll meet up at Water Seven tomorrow."

At that point, Hancock looked somewhat embarrassed, her face flushing slightly. "Mercer, could you help me one more time? Will you be passing through Water Seven tomorrow?"

"What if we aren't?"

"Then we'll take a merchant ship there tomorrow." Hancock sounded helpless.

"Fine. You look so pitiful, so I'll give you girls a ride." Mercer did not mention that they would be passing through there tomorrow anyway. Although he had not told Garp, he figured Garp would not refuse. Hancock looked confused when she heard that. "Won't that delay you?"

Mercer said, "It's on the way."

Hancock said, "You bastard."

Seeing Hancock at a loss for words, her two younger sisters snickered beside her.

Grrr.

A round of stomach growls sounded, and all three girls flushed red. As the eldest sister, Hancock had no choice but to speak up. "We haven't had a proper meal in days. Now that we've relaxed, we're hungry. Do you have anything to eat?"

Mercer was helpless. "The cooks all went out to have fun. Come on, I'll take you out to eat. I could use another meal myself."

The group of four got off the warship and enjoyed a hearty meal at the night market. After they had eaten their fill, the girls realized how dirty they were. In a rare act of kindness, Mercer took them to buy clothes after they promised to repay him tenfold.

A Hotel.

The place was literally called A Hotel. Mercer paid, and Hancock booked a luxurious double room.

It had two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a washroom.

The four took turns washing up. Mercer went first, then returned to his own room to sleep. The Hancock sisters bathed together, and the three of them shared one room. Fortunately, the bed was large enough.

The night passed without incident.

The next day.

Mercer got up early.

He went for a morning run around the harbor, stopping by the warship along the way. He took fifteen Marines to the Slave Ship, bought breakfast, and picked up a portion for Bogard as well.

He watched for a while as they opened the cages and released those unfortunate people, carefully recording their information before beginning the resettlement work.

Afterward, he took the breakfast to the inn. Once he and Hancock's sisters had finished eating, they headed to the Slave Ship together.

This had been Hancock's request. Staying on the warship would inevitably make them feel uncomfortable, and it would not be conducive to meeting up with the Kuja later.

They found Garp on the Slave Ship, having not returned all night.

Mercer did not think much of it, but Hancock was deeply shocked.

She had never expected that the warship she had boarded last night belonged to Garp.

The moment they met, Garp walked over with an indescribable look on his face.

"Mercer, you were really active last night. You truly made your Grandfather proud."

Garp's rough, massive hand landed on Mercer's head and gave it a rub. Then he grabbed Mercer by the waist with both hands and lifted him up. After a dizzying whirl, Mercer found himself sitting in the crook of Garp's arm.

His face full of embarrassment, Mercer said helplessly, "Grandfather, there are so many people here. Could you not hold me like this? I'm not a child."

As he spoke, Mercer saw Hancock and her sisters standing in a corner of the deck, all of them trying to stifle their laughter.

Garp froze for a moment, then glanced at the three sisters with a half-smile before looking at Mercer teasingly. "If you're not a child, then who is? Who's the youngest person on this ship?"

As he spoke, Garp shouted at the Marines aboard the ship, "All of you, stop for a moment! Tell me, who exactly is the youngest child on this ship?"

The scene fell silent.

The next moment, pair after pair of eyes turned toward him—not only the Marines, but also the unfortunate captives who had come onto the deck to register.

A few seconds later.

No one knew who laughed first, but the deafening laughter quickly spread like a virus, rising and falling one after another.

"Pfftahaha, who else could it be besides little Mercer?"

"That's right, that's right. There's no child on this ship younger than little Mercer."

"Hehe, Mercer is so funny. He looks so silly being carried like that."

Mercer's face flushed red, but he soon took a deep breath and entered a state of harmony between man and nature, suppressing the awkwardness in his heart.

Still held in Garp's arm, he looked down at everyone present as though they were idiots. His clear eyes swept over them as his childish voice rang out.

"Are you all idiots? What's so funny? Your standards for humor are so low. Are your brains filled with nothing but paramecia?"

The scene fell silent again.

But immediately afterward—

"Little Mercer's voice is actually pretty nice. It feels surprisingly good when he curses at people."

"Hey, Mercer, curse a few more times. Big brother here wants to hear it."

"That's right, especially that expression just now, like you were looking at bugs. It was absolutely perfect."

Not far away, Hancock blinked. For some reason, she felt that Mercer had looked especially cool while cursing just now. If she too stood somewhere high up and looked down while cursing at people like that—

"It would definitely feel amazing."

A curve lifted at the corner of her lips as she watched Mercer with narrowed, smiling eyes, as if she wanted to carve his current expression into her mind forever.

Mercer turned back to Garp with an indescribable expression. "Grandfather, who did they learn to be this stupid from? I heard people always admire the strong, right?"

Garp nodded, confusion in his eyes. "Is that so?"

But the more he thought about it, the more something felt wrong. He stared fixedly at Mercer, the corner of his mouth twitching violently. "Little Rascal, are you insulting this old man?"

Mercer sighed helplessly. "How could I bear to insult you? Don't you know? You're one of the two people I respect most."

Garp immediately beamed with joy.

Bogard, who was making preparations to set sail nearby, pressed a hand to his forehead, his face dark. "There really is no saving that intelligence."

Before long, Garp returned to the warship, while Mercer and Bogard remained here.

Once everything was ready, the warship led the way with the Slave Ship behind it, riding the currents toward their destination.

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