Sea Otters and Vultures

The afternoon sun shone brightly.

Rody lounged leisurely in a deck chair, sipping black tea. Beside him, Nami peeled oranges and occasionally fed him a segment. The snowman Windfire Wheel and the others had built was already beginning to melt, and they were now shoveling snow off the deck.

Watching the ice and snow in her hands gradually melt into water, Nami gained a clearer understanding of the Grand Line's unpredictable weather. Just a few hours ago, snowflakes had still been falling from the sky, yet now the sun was bright and a warm breeze swept over them.

"Rody, I finally understand why people call this route the Grand Line."

"I've studied navigation since I was little, and I've spent plenty of years sailing around the East Blue. But on the Grand Line, all the knowledge and experience I learned has become useless. I'm going to the library to properly read the Grand Line navigation manuals and logs that Butler Mike organized, and memorize all the useful information in them."

Nami stood up, tossed the last orange in her hand to Rody, clapped her hands, and said with a smile, "All right, Rody, you've finished today's share of oranges. I'm going to read now, so don't you dare sneak any oranges from my orange trees."

"Oh? Now you're trying to keep tabs on me?" Rody patted Nami on the butt.

Nami headed for the library, while Rody lay back in his deck chair and continued basking in the sun.

"Captain, look! There's a strange bird in the sky!" Windfire Wheel pointed toward the sky ahead.

"Oh?"

Following the direction Windfire Wheel pointed, Rody used his exceptional eyesight to see that it was not some strange bird flying overhead, but a vulture. On its back sat a sea otter, tapping on a shell.

Rody was instantly intrigued. His Observation Haki locked onto the sea otter and vulture in the sky, and he released a thread of killing intent mixed with cursed energy. Cursed energy was itself formed from humanity's negative emotions, making it highly effective at carrying and amplifying negative intent such as killing intent and malice.

The sea otter and vulture flying through the sky suddenly felt a savage killing intent descend upon them. Their bodies trembled and their limbs stiffened, as though a powerful beast had fixed its gaze upon them, studying which part of their bodies would make the best first bite. Once it found a satisfactory spot, it would tear them apart.

The sea otter stopped tapping the shell in its hand, while the vulture's wingbeats became slow and heavy, as if a mountain rested atop its wings and every flap required all its strength.

Looking at the two animals in the sky, cowed by his killing intent, Rody smiled. "Come here."

When they sensed the killing intent around them fade and their bodies stop trembling and stiffening, the sea otter and vulture sighed in relief like humans and flew toward the source of the voice, landing on the deck.

"Captain, there's actually a sea otter riding on that vulture!" Windfire Wheel said in astonishment.

"Wow, they're even wearing sunglasses! So cool! Captain, when we reach the next town, let's buy some sunglasses too. If each of us wears a pair while walking down the street, we'll definitely look handsome and cool!" Leo said excitedly.

Rody looked at the vulture that had landed on the deck, wearing sunglasses and a flight cap, with a machine gun mounted on its body. The sea otter likewise wore sunglasses, spotted clothing, and held a shell in its hand. Both animals looked as serious and solemn as people. Rody laughed happily. "Good, very good. You two are truly excellent. You suit my style perfectly. Judging by the weapons you're equipped with, you must belong to some organization, but that doesn't matter."

"No matter whose organization you joined, from this day onward, you can only submit to me and become subordinates of Rody."

"Do you have any objections?"

"Hey, hurry up and agree! Our captain rarely invites anyone to join him."

"That's right! Our captain is incredibly strong. You're really lucky to be able to join him. And my master Carmen is an outstanding chef. If you join Captain Rody, you'll get to eat delicious food every day from now on," Leo said proudly.

Ignoring Windfire Wheel and Leo's tempting persuasion, the sea otter and vulture heard Rody's words. Though their faces remained serious and calm behind their sunglasses, both animals were inwardly tense and flustered. Just as Rody had said, they belonged to the same organization, Baroque Works, and were partners.

The sea otter's codename in the organization was "Mr. 13."

The sea otter's vulture partner had the codename "Miss Friday."

They were both intelligence agents of Baroque Works, specifically responsible for gathering and reporting intelligence, as well as monitoring the work of other Baroque Works members. If they discovered anyone neglecting their duties, the sea otter Mr. 13 would ride his partner, the vulture Miss Friday, and drop explosives from the sky to deal with the negligent agent.

As Baroque Works intelligence agents, they recognized Rody at a glance. After all, Rody's characteristics were highly distinctive. (In the world of pirates, every notable powerful figure had very obvious traits.)

As the currently highest-bountied criminal in the East Blue, Rody's information had naturally been collected by Baroque Works. Mr. 13 had carefully reviewed the intelligence gathered by the organization.

The sea otter Mr. 13 could not help recalling the report's description: "Slayer Rody. Place of birth and age unknown. It is only known that his first appearance was in Watermelon Town, where he slaughtered every member of the Great Axe Pirates who had been pillaging Watermelon Town. Later, after taking Little Thief Cat Nami, an officer of the Evil Dragon Pirates, to be his navigator, he headed to the territory occupied by the Evil Dragon Pirates and killed every fish-man pirate in that group from the Grand Line. During his voyage, he encountered three Marine warships led by Captain Nezumi of East Blue Branch 16, destroying the warships and killing all the Marines. Finally, he encountered the Krieg Pirates, the largest pirate crew in the East Blue. Their captain, Commodore Krieg, had his head cut off by him, and Rody took Krieg's head away as a trophy. The fifty pirate ships and massive fleet of nearly five thousand men under Krieg's command were completely destroyed, with fewer than a thousand survivors."

"This individual is extremely cruel. Not a single corpse of those killed by him remained intact. Should lower-ranking members encounter this person, they may abandon any mission that conflicts with him."

"It seems that for now, we can only pretend to submit to Slayer Rody. Afterward, we'll find a way to inform Boss about Slayer."

Naturally, Rody had no idea what the two animals were thinking. Seeing that they showed no reaction, he smiled and said, "Good. It seems neither of you has any objections."

At that, the sea otter Mr. 13 nodded. When the vulture Miss Friday saw its partner nod, it hurriedly nodded as well.

"Since neither of you objects, I don't care what you were called before. From now on, you'll be called Shuke." Rody pointed at the sea otter.

"And you'll be Beta." Rody then pointed at the vulture.