A Well-Paced Cliffhanger (Bonus Chapter for 2,000 Recommendations)

A Well-Paced Cliffhanger

This happened just a few kilometers away from the Kuja Pirates. Leo was drenched to the bone, his entire body frozen stiff as he stood there, unable to move.

This world was even more terrifying than he had imagined.

"Hey, wipe yourself off." An Amazon warrior woman walked over slowly beneath an oiled-paper umbrella, a cigarette hanging from her lips. She handed him a towel as she spoke.

"Thanks, Rindou." He didn't stand on ceremony, only accepting the towel with a bitter smile before wiping his hair and face clean.

He turned to look at the woman, her hair tied in a bun, an exaggerated cannon slung at her waist, and a large expanse of pale skin exposed at her chest. He asked curiously, "Is this what daily life in the Calm Belt is like?"

"No, this is actually quite a rare sight. But you're pretty lucky—you saw this spectacle the moment you set sail." The cigarette between Rindou's lips glowed faintly, then dimmed again. As she spoke, she exhaled puff after puff of smoke that drifted lazily through the air, giving her the air of a female boss.

Aside from Sandersonia and Marigold, she and Ran were probably the only two people on the ship who handled affairs.

In fact, the two of them might have been even more important.

Blood alone was hard to wash off, but blood mixed with seawater came away with a single wipe. He easily dried himself off, draped the towel over his shoulder, then turned to ask, "Is there something you want to say to me?"

"Phew..." In that short time, Rindou's cigarette had already burned down to the tiny bit held between her lips. She shielded both herself and Leo with the umbrella before asking calmly, "You really are smart, Leo."

"Although the Empress likes you very much right now, I won't let you drag us into the abyss." Her killing intent pricked at Leo's skin like needles, raising goosebumps all over his body.

"Be careful, Leo." She gave him a calm glance, placed the oiled-paper umbrella in his hand, then turned coldly and walked away.

"Hey, Rindou." Rindou, one foot on the stairs, looked back at the handsome man leaning against the railing. "I want to see this world."

"I want to show you all this world."

"No matter how impressive I might sound, I know no more about this world than you do. I've never gone beyond a hundred miles from where I've traveled. Come with me and see this real world."

A brilliant smile appeared on his face. He tucked the towel beneath his arm and grinned at her.

"After all, I'm so weak."

"It had better be that way." She flicked the cigarette from her mouth into the sea and walked away without looking back.

"This world..." Leo slowly shifted his gaze from her retreating back to the raindrops falling from the sky. When he turned around, the enormous Sea King that had leaped into the air, along with all of its blood, had vanished cleanly from these waters.

The sea glittered beneath the light, clear as the sky, much like Palau, the diving paradise from his previous life.

But he had just watched a giant Sea King hundreds of meters long die a violent death. How could he not understand the terror lurking beneath this calm surface?

Though the two swimming snakes were only around a hundred meters long, their venom was so deadly that no Sea Kings dared prey on them, allowing them to travel these waters unimpeded.

After living on Amazon Lily for a month, he had begun to understand why the Amazons could so easily command swimming snakes. Every Amazon warrior woman's Snake Bow had grown up alongside her. Every Amazon could use a Snake Bow and speak with snakes. It was an inborn talent, and because of it, learning Observation Haki was far easier for them than for other people.

As for the giant snake Sameru that followed the Empress everywhere—it had never once made a move. The Empress probably still had room to grow stronger...

Thinking this, he took off his shirt and began preparing for the day's training on the deck.

He did not dare slack off for even a moment in his daily basic training. Gloriosa had already told him the trick. He was already luckier than ninety percent of the people in the One Piece World. If he still refused to work hard, then he truly had no right to pursue gemin or attempt any reforms. He might as well eat, drink, and wait for death until Luffy set foot on the Grand Line a few years later.

Even if he worked as hard as he could, he might not necessarily be able to defeat Luffy. But was he supposed to give up just like that? Modern people had it easy in no way except gaining weight. He had endured so much pressure before—how could he possibly be beaten by a little discouragement?

"Big Sister, he's at it again." Since this was a tower ship, the Empress naturally lived at the highest point. From her window, she could take in all the nearby scenery and clearly see everything happening on the deck.

Sandersonia leaned against the window and spoke to her sister, who was cooking behind her.

"He really doesn't slack off at all... That boy will accomplish great things one day." Marigold also came to the window and looked at the "frail" figure performing the most basic Amazon warrior women's training routine.

"I always feel like he's hiding something." Sandersonia frowned. Her forked tongue darted swiftly from her mouth before slipping back inside. Mm, the scent of lies.

"What does that matter?" Marigold was quite open-minded about it. "As long as he doesn't mean us harm, isn't it normal for him to have a few little secrets of his own? Like our past..."

Her words left Sandersonia silent. The room suddenly fell quiet, with only Hancock's humming remaining.

She had not heard what her two younger sisters were saying at all. She was wholeheartedly making Chinese food for Leo. She had once been a pampered young lady who had never lifted a finger, but after finding someone she loved, she had begun learning to cook as well.

What a lucky boy... Sandersonia's gaze returned to that figure.

"Still, he does seem a little dense," she murmured softly.

"What did you say, Big Sister?" Marigold had not heard clearly and turned to ask.

"Nothing... It's just..." She shook her head. "I hope I'm overthinking it."

"I wonder what story Leo will tell today." Marigold gave it no further thought. Resting her chin in both hands, she began eagerly anticipating the evening's storytelling session.

That was right. Leo's One Thousand and One Nights still had not ended, even after more than thirty days of telling it.

A well-paced cliffhanger was the key to serializing One Thousand and One Nights.

PS: Can you believe Marigold was actually quite pretty when she was young? She was no worse than the Empress! All I can say is that getting fat ruins everything...

PS1: The big boss removed the author image-posting feature, then made readers pay to post images. Seriously... Too bad I can't afford a premium reading card, or I'd post pictures for you all to see.

PS2: Bonus chapter for 2,000 recommendations. I finally get a recommendation slot tomorrow. The base update schedule will become two chapters a day, and if we surpass one thousand votes, there'll be three chapters a day.