A month earlier.
The New World.
An adventure ship flying the Kuja emblem sailed slowly across the sea.
On deck, dozens of slave traders were bound tightly and sprawled all over the place.
Kuja warriors were counting them nearby.
By the railing, S-Snake crossed her arms and spoke first.
"Forty-seven."
Hancock sat in a chair not far away without even lifting her eyelids.
"Forty-nine."
S-Snake immediately turned her head.
"Two of them were caught by Kuja warriors!"
Only then did Hancock glance at her.
"They are my people, so of course they count as mine."
S-Snake's eyes widened at once.
"You cheated!"
"I never cheat."
"You did cheat!"
Hancock raised her chin slightly.
"Only the weak make excuses."
"You—!"
S-Snake's cheeks puffed up with anger.
Nearby.
Marigold silently turned her head toward the sea, while Sandersonia lowered her head to inspect the ropes on the ground, as if they had heard nothing.
After half a month, they had grown used to scenes like this.
At the very beginning, two out of every three sentences between Hancock and S-Snake had somehow revolved around Rock.
Who was valued more, who was protected more, and who was the "special" one.
After going on several missions together, however, the things they argued over became increasingly strange.
Who had captured more people, who had dealt with the enemy first, who had saved more people.
Once, the two of them had even argued the entire way over who had found the slave traders' treasure vault first.
The most ridiculous incident had happened just a few days ago.
While wiping out a group of human traffickers, someone had hidden in the shadows and fired a Seastone bullet at Hancock's back.
S-Snake moved faster than anyone else, spreading her black wings and directly shielding Hancock.
The next second.