On the third day of Rock's vacation, the sun was already high over Bilca, but he was still lounging in bed.
If this had been Marineford, Sengoku would probably have barged in and started questioning his life choices.
But no one was rushing him here.
No military reports slammed onto his desk, no emergency meetings back to back, and no one pounding on his door at midnight to shout that some stretch of sea had erupted into chaos again.
Yesterday, he had spent half the day fishing for Cloud Fish with Kai. The day before, the Old Craftsman had dragged him off to repair six completely busted Thunder Dials.
Today, Rock had made up his mind to do something of the utmost importance: get a good night's sleep.
Bang, bang, bang!
Someone hammered on the door loud enough to shake it.
Rock rolled over, pulled the covers over his head, and pretended not to hear.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
"Rock! Wake up! A ship just docked down below!"
"Then welcome them," Rock mumbled through the covers. The person outside clearly choked for a moment, then added in a louder voice, "It's a ship full of beautiful women!"
The covers stopped moving.
Two seconds later, Rock slowly sat up. "...Who?"
"The Kuja! Apparently it's that... Empress Hancock!!"
"..."
Half an hour later, at the outer edge of Sky Island.
A Kuja ship had just come to a stop, and Hancock floated gracefully down from its deck.
Her long hair flowed down her back, and she still wore that unapproachable empress air. Only when she saw Rock did the corners of her eyes brighten almost imperceptibly.
"I merely happened to be passing by."
Rock glanced at the vast white Cloud Sea, then back at her.
"You happened to pass by Sky Island