Stussy's End

"Do you make every pretty woman you see your secretary?"

Lin Nuo's eyes widened.

"What?! Don't make me sound so casual, okay?!"

Brook tilted his head.

"——So it wasn't?" There was a hint of disappointment in his voice. "I thought it was."

"If it were, I wanted to discuss with Mr. Lin Nuo what color of panties looked best——"

"Shut up!"

Gunko stood to one side, the corners of her lips lifting slightly as she watched the two bicker.

Brook...

Sure enough, he was still the same as before.

No, he was different now.

He had become stronger, and also more... strange.

But that strangeness was reassuring.

She silently made up her mind.

From now on, she would definitely protect this team. "All right, all right," Lin Nuo said, waving a hand. "Since that's settled, let's go find Ginny and the others first."

He rubbed his stomach.

"While we were waiting for the Fish-Men's answer, I got pretty hungry too."

"Whitebeard invited us out for drinks just now, so we can go to the tavern and get something to eat."

He looked at the two of them.

"What do you think?"

Brook gave an elegant bow.

"Yohohoho, I'd be delighted."

Gunko nodded.

The three turned around and soon left the observation deck.

Meanwhile, somewhere on Fish-Man Island.

The Whitebeard Pirates, who had just split up from Lin Nuo, were making their way down Coral Avenue.

Whitebeard walked at the front with Murakumogiri over his shoulder, while Grom, Rakuyo, Marco, and his other sons followed behind him in a grand procession toward the tavern.

As they walked, Rakuyo quietly moved closer to Whitebeard and lowered his voice.

"Old man, that person is still following us."

Whitebeard did not stop walking.

"Hm?"

"Oh, I've been wondering about that too, old man." Grom