Could They Have Been Beaten to Their Knees by Two Little Girls?

Before Fuxi and Angie could figure out what had happened, a seductive female voice drifted over from the other end of the corridor.

"Why are you kneeling on the ground, Pest?"

"Hehehe~ Could you have been beaten to your knees by two little girls?"

Fuxi's expression changed again.

"Oh no, it's that sinister, vicious woman, Belladonna!"

According to the information she had gathered, that woman did not seem to possess much combat ability.

However, there seemed to be other gangs backing her, and it was said that she was someone the Thrips Gang leader had specifically assigned to keep Pest under control!

They had no idea why Pest was kneeling, but Belladonna's arrival would surely reignite his fighting spirit!

As soon as she finished speaking, a curvaceous figure in scant clothing crossed the short corridor and stepped out from behind the door. When she saw the two... no, three people inside the cabin, the seductive smile on her lips froze.

Thud!

She dropped to her knees as well...

Fuxi and Angie stared at the sight in disbelief.

"Why did you kneel too?!"

Had some curse been cast on the doorframe, forcing anyone who came through it to kneel?

"No, no..."

Fuxi quickly came to her senses.

"There are only three people in the room. Pest and Belladonna definitely aren't kneeling to Angie and me, so that only leaves..."

An unbelievable explanation surfaced in Fuxi's mind. Her mouth fell slightly open, and before she could turn around, she heard a somewhat surprised voice from behind her.

"So it's you two."

Jogo recognized the pair standing at the door with faces like death.

A few days ago, when Daz Bones had ambushed him on Iris Island, these two had been going at it in the alley!

"You two actually didn't die?"

He smiled and said something that nearly made Fuxi's mind shut down.

Pest and Belladonna shuddered and nearly flattened themselves against the ground.

"D-Did we deserve to die?"

The scene of this man fighting another terrifying existence a few days ago still lingered in their minds. The dreadful aftershocks had given them nightmares for days.

They had not expected this guy to return today!

Was he here to silence them?

Jogo gathered up the things on the table.

"Perfect. I have something I need your help with."

At the docks, inside a café beyond the Thrips Gang's blockade.

On the third floor, tables and chairs had been overturned, and all the customers had been driven away.

A man whose features bore a slight resemblance to Fuxi's sat by the window, looking through the glass at the deck of the blockaded merchant ship in the distance.

Underlings in gray hoodies stood around him in a circle, their expressions respectful.

The second-in-command beside him leaned closer and asked,

"Boss, are we just going to watch? Isn't your niece on that ship?"

Lanben glanced at him.

"You want to fight Pest?"

The second-in-command fell silent.

Lanben snorted.

"Our gang was already no match for the Thrips Gang. With Pest and that poisonous bitch there too, what else can we do?"

As he spoke, his gaze swept across the faces of the surrounding underlings.

When he saw someone frown, he silently remembered that person's name before abruptly changing his tone.

"Of course, those two are still my nieces. Even if their father was the one who provoked the Thrips Gang first, I certainly can't just stand by and watch."

"...But that depends on the situation."

The second-in-command was puzzled. "What situation?"

"What situation could there be when they've run into Pest and Belladonna?"

Lanben replied calmly,

"Either they die in there, and I can only pretend nothing happened."

"Or the two of them manage to escape by sheer luck. Then I might give them a chance to work under me."

"Are you kidding? Escape from Pest?"

That was what the second-in-command wanted to ask.

Just then, the Thrips Gang members at the docks suddenly stirred.

Lanben impatiently cut off the second-in-command, who was about to speak.

"Shut up!"

He stared intently at the cabin door near the stern.

If he remembered correctly, Pest and Belladonna had entered through there earlier.

So his two unlucky nieces were inside?

Soon, he saw one-armed Pest push open the door and walk out first.

Lanben frowned.

—No blood, and his clothes weren't even rumpled...

"Has his strength not declined?"

He had not come here today merely for those two insignificant nieces.

His real purpose was to observe Pest!

A few days ago, news that Pest, the strongest gang enforcer on Iris Island, had inexplicably lost an arm had caused a tremendous uproar among several gangs.

No one knew who had cut off the strongest man's arm.

While everyone was horrified, they also began to speculate about Pest's strength.

—Was he still the strongest gang enforcer on Iris Island that he had once been?

It could be said that today's affair was a show the Thrips Gang had deliberately arranged for all the gangs.

Its purpose was to prove that Pest remained as powerful as before.

Everyone understood that, yet they had all come anyway.

After all... what if?

"You can't tell anything from this."

Lanben frowned.

He had not spared a thought for his two nieces. In his eyes, they were already dead.

After all, Pest would definitely go all out today.

Even if Fuxi and Angie surrendered, it would be useless.

But something was wrong.

How could there be no trace of a fight at all? Had Pest killed them too quickly and forgotten to smear blood on himself?

...Hm?

Suddenly, his eyes widened as though he had seen something unbelievable.

In his line of sight, several more people filed out of the cabin behind him.

Belladonna, an unfamiliar young man, and... Fuxi and Angie?!

They had actually survived?

No... they had not merely survived...

Lanben abruptly stood up, staring dumbfoundedly at the deck not far away.

On the deck, Pest, who had kept every gang on Iris Island under crushing pressure, and that poisonous bitch now wore obsequious smiles like restaurant servers as they walked ahead of the young man and Lanben's two nieces, leading the way for them!

Smack!

He slapped himself across the face.

He was not dreaming...

Damn it, he would rather have been dreaming!

The second-in-command's faint voice sounded beside him.

"Boss, does this count as that kind of situation?"

Lanben turned and slapped the second-in-command.

"Idiot! Hurry up and welcome my two beloved nieces!"

Seeing that the second-in-command still looked confused, he grabbed him and pulled him close, whispering into his ear,

"The important one is that man!"

"Those two girls must have latched onto someone formidable."

The second-in-command suddenly understood. "Then we...?"

Lanben hurried downstairs. "We'll latch on too!"

Led by Pest and Belladonna, Jogo, Fuxi, and Angie disembarked from the ship.

"...I'll leave these things to you."

Jogo handed Fuxi a box of antiques and the paper he had written, his smile as easygoing as before.

"After delivering them to Ohara, tell that old man Clow to help me publish it quickly. And Robin—she's a little girl. If you say my name, you'll find her. Tell her there's a gift from Jogo inside..."

Fuxi was dazed.

Even now, she could not accept that Pest and Belladonna had become her assistants.

"Is this really the Thrips Gang that casually wiped out my family's gang?"

She stared blankly at Jogo.

The evaluation she had made of Jogo in her heart earlier suddenly surfaced in her mind, and her face flushed bright red.

"Lord Jogo, I'll clear the way for you!"

She heard Pest's fawning voice from beside her.

She felt as though she were still dreaming.

Just then, she saw her uncle walking toward her from the café in the distance, his face full of excitement.

Her expression immediately darkened.

Showing up only now, she already knew exactly why this uncle had come.

"Scum... He hid far away before, and now he wants to worm his way into our good graces?"

She frowned tightly.

Just as she was about to say something to Jogo,

she saw Jogo impatiently wave Pest away.

"Clear the way?"

"No need to make things so troublesome."

Trait switch!

[...

Conqueror's Haki (Awakened)

Equipped Traits: "Otherworldly Soul (Silver)" "Leaving the Nest (White)"

...]

Jogo raised a hand. "I'm not here sightseeing!"

Snap!

Before Fuxi's eyes, everyone... including her uncle, whose face had been full of delight, rolled their eyes back and collapsed to the ground.

The docks, which had been noisy just a moment ago, instantly fell silent.

Only the monotonous sound of waves crashing against the docks remained.

Fuxi stood with her mouth open, unable to say a word.

Jogo's farewell reached her ears.

She forgot what she had said. She could only stare blankly as Jogo and the other two walked away.

"Miss Fuxi, Brother Pest told us to follow your arrangements," said a flattering Thrips Gang member beside her, snapping her out of it.

The girl's heart drifted chaotically in the sea breeze.

What kind of person did I just meet?

Elsewhere, led by Pest and Belladonna, Jogo activated Leaving the Nest and harvested his way through the twisting alleys, quickly arriving at the place where he had fought Daz Bones before.

"This is the place, Lord Jogo," Pest said with a fawning smile.

More than a week had passed, yet the alley had not been repaired.

Neatly cut wall bricks lay scattered across the ground, revealing the unattended courtyard behind them.

Jogo looked at the faded bloodstains on the ground, then walked to the mouth of the alley and looked toward where Daz Bones had attacked from in his memory.

Trait switch!

[...

Observation Haki (Awakened)

Trait loaded: "Otherworldly Soul (Silver)" "Archaeologist (Blue)"

"Did you think you hid well enough that I wouldn't find you, Capone Bege?"

Jogo laughed.

"Let's see what traces the assassin you hired left behind in this world!"

Observation Haki activated!

Frequency: 5 times/second!