Delivered to Me

"Hand over Donquixote Rosinante, and you can leave alive."

"Screw you."

Out at sea, two figures stood suspended in midair.

Kane stepped through the air with Geppo. The man facing him had transformed both arms into enormous wings, and he looked down at Kane with cold arrogance.

"You will pay for your arrogance."

The man flapped his wings and rose higher, looking down arrogantly at Kane.

Kane was speechless. This birdman actually had the nerve to call him arrogant.

Seeing that Kane did not respond, the birdman's expression immediately darkened. His head transformed into a massive eagle's head, and with a shriek, he swooped toward Kane.

Kane shook his head and sighed. If not for the fact that the other man could fly, and Kane was worried he might escape, he could not have been bothered to come up here and waste words with him.

As the man charged at him like lightning, his sharp beak and vicious eagle talons aimed for Kane's face and chest. Kane nimbly dodged aside, and the sword at his waist suddenly left its sheath.

The next instant, a cold flash of steel swept across the birdman's wing. The birdman let out a miserable scream, instantly reverted to human form, and plunged into the sea clutching his severed arm.

Kane could not even be bothered to look at him as he dropped straight down in free fall.

With a thunderous boom, Kane landed on the birdman's pirate ship like a cannonball, smashing a huge hole through the deck and throwing the pirates aboard into chaos.

A moment later, Kane swam back to the warship carrying treasure on his back and the birdman's severed arm in hand. As if no one else were there, he took off his soaked clothes.

Baby-5 thoughtfully handed him dry clothes. After getting dressed, Kane seated her on his shoulders before looking at the birdman's pirate ship slowly sinking beneath the waves.

"Which one was that today?"

"The third one! Kane is the best!"

"Hahaha, of course I am!"

Only after seeing Kane get dressed did Hina, who had been standing some distance away, approach somewhat awkwardly.

"We are expected to enter the Calm Belt tonight. We should be able to rendezvous with Vice Admiral Gion tomorrow."

"You seem rather excited."

"...Hina does not feel that way."

Hina answered seriously, but under Kane's gaze, she quickly gave in. The lollipop in her mouth moved cheerfully as she admitted in a low voice,

"Hina really is looking forward to it."

Two days ago, the last Black Gun aboard ship had sunk into the sea. Soon afterward, the shells on all three warships had also been exhausted. Whenever pirates appeared after that, she could only stand on deck and glare helplessly.

And to ensure that the secret of Doflamingo's group being captured would not leak, they had not stopped at any Marine base for supplies along the way.

But Hina did not want to keep glaring helplessly, so she was even more eager than Kane to enter the Calm Belt as soon as possible. Once they met up with Gion and received supplies, she could finally go on a rampage.

However, while the two were talking, the lookout raised the alarm again, reporting that two groups of pirates had appeared ahead.

"Did we poke a pirate nest or something?"

Kane complained as he began rolling his shoulders. Baby-5 thoughtfully massaged his temples.

Kane gratefully patted Baby-5's little hand and gently set her down on the deck.

"Help me fry a steak. I'm a little hungry."

"Mm! Leave it to me!"

Kane needs me~~ I'm so happy!

Baby-5 skipped toward the kitchen, only for her vision to suddenly blur as a snowflake drifted down onto the tip of her nose, bringing a trace of chill.

Huh?

Snow?

Baby-5 stopped and looked up at the sky. The blazing sun hung overhead, the blue sky was cloudless, and there was not a single snowflake in sight.

Was it an illusion?

Baby-5 felt puzzled, but quickly tossed the thought aside because she needed to prepare Kane's steak.

Unaware of any of this, Kane quickly sank one pirate ship and headed straight for the other.

However, when he habitually spread out his Observation Haki to inspect the entire pirate ship, he suddenly discovered a woman imprisoned in its cells.

Kane's expression instantly darkened. Without another word, he began slaughtering everyone in his path, killing every pirate who stood before him before charging into the prison.

There, he saw a woman with long green hair tied up with ropes, huddled timidly in the corner.

She looked about eighteen or nineteen. Her skin was snowy white, her figure graceful, and her slender waist seemed small enough to fit in one hand, making her already shapely breasts and hips appear even fuller.

Startled by the sound of Kane breaking down the door, she tremblingly raised her head, revealing delicate, beautiful features and a rare pair of pale golden eyes.

[Monet, Favorability: -18]

Huh?

Negative favorability again?

Kane was immediately speechless. He was clearly a Marine, and a rather handsome one at that. He truly did not understand why these women imprisoned by pirates always had such a terrible first impression of him.

Still, Kane could not be bothered to care. Low favorability would not make him give up on saving her. He would just rescue her and hand her over to Gion afterward.

With that thought, Kane untied the ropes binding Monet. Unexpectedly, she suddenly threw herself into his arms and began crying incoherently.

"Sniff... please, take me away from here... sniff..."

"It's all right now. You've been rescued. Someone will take you back to your family later."

Kane gently stroked her back as he comforted her, yet he inexplicably felt that something was off. He just could not remember exactly what it was.

Come to think of it, was this Monet sick...

Why was her body temperature a little low...

As the thought ran through his mind, Kane asked,

"Are you hurt? Can you walk normally?"

Monet seemed to calm down somewhat. She shook her head, bit her lip shyly, and lowered her head as if embarrassed. In a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, she said,

"I... haven't eaten in a long time. Could you please... find me something to eat first?"

The sense of wrongness in Kane's heart grew even stronger, but he still could not figure out why. Since he would be taking her back to the warship anyway, he simply refused.

"There isn't much decent food on a pirate ship. We'll talk when we get back to the warship."

With that, Kane directly slung Monet over his shoulder and walked out of the prison.

Back on deck, Kane skillfully took the treasure and a lifeboat, then sank the pirate ship and sent the pirates back into Mother Sea's embrace.

As he prepared to place Monet in the lifeboat, her soft, moist lips brushed against his earlobe as though by accident.

Kane froze for a moment and looked at Monet. She looked like a startled rabbit, her pretty face flushed red as she lowered her head and muttered softly,

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"It's fine."

Kane waved it off and checked her favorability again.

[Monet, Favorability: -20]

Huh?

That was not right, was it?

A huge question rose in Kane's heart. Monet seemed strange from head to toe. Just as he was about to find a way to test her, someone he had overlooked suddenly flashed through his mind.

And that person was also named Monet!

A member of the Donquixote Family...

Snow Woman Monet!

It was not that Kane had forgotten about Monet. On the contrary, she had left an extremely deep impression on him.

After all, she was the first female Logia Devil Fruit user to appear in the main storyline, and one of the few characters who exited through death.

But in Kane's memory, Monet first appeared when Doflamingo seized Dressrosa.

Therefore, he had never believed that Monet had joined Doflamingo in the North Blue, so he had not mentioned her in the intelligence he gave Tsuru.

Yet the reality before him told Kane that Monet might have joined Doflamingo far earlier than he had believed.

With that in mind, Kane openly began examining Monet, comparing her to the image in his memories.

Green hair, matched.

Pale golden eyes, matched.

Skin white as snow, matched.

Curves in all the right places, especially matched.

Bird wings and eagle claws, did not match.

Oh, Law, the one who performed her body modifications, was still just a little brat. It was normal for that not to match.

The only question was whether she had eaten a Devil Fruit yet. If she had...

Kane's eyes immediately lit up. He knew perfectly well how rare Logia Devil Fruits were!

And in the world of pirates, most Logia Devil Fruit users were men. He had no chance at all to get his hands on them.

If Monet had already eaten the Snow-Snow Fruit, then even if it was an inferior fruit to the Ice-Ice Fruit, Kane would find a way to obtain it!

With that thought, Kane silently rowed the lifeboat, wondering whether he should test her.

But he quickly dismissed the idea. Her favorability toward him was negative right now. Even if he exposed her, what then? Raising her favorability was the real path forward!

Having settled on a strategy, Kane immediately came up with an idea. As he rowed, he asked,

"What's your name?"

"...My name is Monet."

"Monet? Mm, that's a nice name. You share it with someone I know."

"...Is that so?"

Monet's body tensed for an instant. Pretending nothing had happened, she asked,

"Is she a girl too?"

"That's right. A very beautiful girl."

Standing behind Monet, Kane looked down at her snowy white neck and spoke casually.

"She is one of my good friend's subordinates. My friend once mentioned her to me."

Monet's breathing stopped for an instant. When she spoke again, there was an indescribable fluctuation in her voice.

"Your good friend... must be a very remarkable person."

"Of course." Kane sneered inwardly, but his voice became admiring. "No one is more remarkable than him."

A flicker of excitement suddenly rose in Monet's heart. She turned to look at Kane, trying hard to appear calm, though her voice was eager.

"You think so highly of him. I really want to know his name..."

Watching Monet take the bait, Kane looked down at her proudly.

"Monet, stop pretending to be stupid. Doffy told me about you. Haven't you heard my name before?"

Monet was instantly dumbfounded. Kane's bluntness caught her completely off guard, and his final question left her at a loss.

"You..."

"Looks like you don't know."

Kane shook his head in disappointment. His tall figure cast a shadow over the tense, reserved Monet.

"My current name is Kane. I am a Marine Headquarters lieutenant commander valued by Sengoku and Tsuru.

"But in the Donquixote Family, I was the first Corazon!

"And you, Monet, should call me...

"Mr. Vergo!"