Sky God Kingdom, Amazon Lily.
Several days after Amazon Lily had been relocated, Yake remembered that he still had a little pet he had taken in at Upper Yard. He hurried into the forest to find Jormungandr. It was only a little smaller than him after his transformation, so there was no way to airlift it. In the end, Yake could only ride on its head as it swam across the sea of clouds to Amazon Lily.
The residents of Amazon Lily collectively lost their minds. The Kuja Tribe already worshipped snakes and used them as their totem, so they immediately regarded Jormungandr as a snake god. They fed it delicious food and drink, and its life was even more comfortable than Yake's. Every day, scantily clad young women cleaned its scales. Tears of envy streamed from the corner of Yake's mouth. He was practically drooling himself to tears.
"Ding~ Standing at the Pinnacle of the Sea—Series Three mission complete. Reward: Paramecia—Slip-Slip Fruit, lottery chances *10."
"New mission issued: Standing at the Pinnacle of the Sea—Series Four, A New Emperor (defeat and abolish a Four Emperors pirate crew). Reward: mysterious item *1, lottery chances *10."
"???" Yake was utterly baffled. I haven't been causing much trouble lately, have I? Why has everyone been given a bounty?
Yake hastily bid Hancock farewell and headed to the Blue Sea to buy a newspaper. News Coos were rarely seen on Skypiea, and in any case, his abilities made it convenient for him to head down to the Blue Sea and check the situation.
After getting the newspaper, Yake immediately gathered the crew for a meeting.
"Everyone, take a look! This is today's newspaper. We've all been wanted." Yake laid the wanted posters out one by one on the table, then looked up to gauge everyone's reactions.
Everyone picked up their own wanted posters, their faces either filled with excitement or grief...
"Captain, waaah! Why am I only worth 500 Beli? This is unfair, meow!!!" Anna looked at the amount on her wanted poster in disbelief, then looked at everyone else's bounties. Her young heart suffered a devastating blow. Even Perona, who had the lowest bounty besides her, was worth sixty thousand times as much. The gap was simply too huge.
That was just being greedy. She had no combat achievements and wasn't even a Devil Fruit user. The only reason she got 500 Beli was because she was cute. Besides, Anna's first bounty was already equivalent to ten Choppers. Chopper would be jealous out of his mind, okay? Yake frantically complained inwardly. But as captain, he had to comfort Anna's fragile heart. That's right! Petting her cat ears was the answer.
"Captain, why do I have a bounty too?! I'm doomed now, waaah?" Perona said pitifully. When she had followed Shichibukai Moria, she had not even had a bounty. Now it had suddenly shot up to thirty million Beli. There must be plenty of people out at sea who wanted the head of a beautiful girl like her.
Yake's head immediately began to ache. One was crying because her bounty was too low, while the other was crying because hers was too high. He quickly signaled Robin and Reiju with his eyes to help.
"Perona, don't worry. If you get killed, the captain will definitely avenge you!" Robin said calmly.
To Perona, Robin was simply a devil.
Perona froze, blinking her big eyes at Robin, before tears flooded her face and she burst into wailing sobs. Anyone who heard her would have wept. She had not even cried this hard when Moria died.
Yake: Robin, you're here to make things worse, aren't you? You definitely are!
Fortunately, Reiju was more cooperative and considerate. She comforted little Perona and Anna until they finally stopped crying, fussing, and tearing the place apart.
"Alright, everyone. We've all entered the Marines' sights now. But we're on Skypiea, and the Marines can't get up here. So make sure you train hard. Once Skypiea is finished, we'll head out to sea and make our mark together!"
Yake spoke with heroic fervor. Although his bounty had already reached 2.4 billion, that was not important. The Marines only knew the tip of the iceberg about him. The sea was still too peaceful right now. Only after Luffy set sail would this sea finally become interesting!
"Captain, can you explain what this Pirate Empress is to you? Why does she want to join our pirate crew?" Robin pointed at the report on the Shichibukai. That woman definitely had something to do with Yake.
"Captain, I'm interested too! Is the island you moved up here a few days ago related to her?" Reiju looked at Yake with great interest, ruthlessly adding fuel to the fire.
Oh no, he'd messed up.
Cold sweat instantly broke out across Yake's forehead. He had nearly forgotten about that. His relationship with Robin and Reiju was indeed somewhat ambiguous, but Hancock was his official girlfriend.
"Ah, hahaha, she's my girlfriend." After an intense internal struggle, Yake chose to tell the truth. There was no point lying. Robin and Reiju were both smart women.
"I thought you'd lie, Captain." A faint smile appeared on Reiju's face.
"Captain, you're really greedy. You already have a lover, yet you still..." Robin glared viciously at Yake, as though she wanted to shoot lasers from her eyes and burn him to ashes.
It seemed she still had not forgotten about him kissing Reiju that day...
"Well, that was an accident. Yes, that's right, an accident. As for Hancock, I'll take you to meet her another day. You'll become good friends." Yake said stubbornly.
"Hmph~" Robin rolled her eyes, defeated by Yake's shamelessness.
Reiju watched Robin and Yake bicker with a smile. She was destined to be bound to Yake for the rest of her life, and she was willing to accept that. Robin, however, might not be...
Anna and Perona watched the drama beside them with great relish, utterly absorbed.
"By the way, I have a Devil Fruit. Does anyone want to eat it?" Yake placed the Slip-Slip Fruit he had randomly obtained from completing the mission on the table, trying to change the subject and turn the page first.
"What Devil Fruit is it?" Reiju asked curiously. Only she and Anna present had not eaten a Devil Fruit. If someone were to choose it, it would be either her or Anna.
"Paramecia—the Slip-Slip Fruit. After eating it, you become a Slippery Human. Your skin becomes smooth, and anything that touches it slips away. If nothing unexpected happens, this fruit should also come with beautifying effects." Yake briefly introduced the Slip-Slip Fruit's abilities.
In Yake's opinion, this fruit had plenty of potential too. If developed like Kuma's abilities, it would not be weak at all. On the surface, it merely made incoming attacks slip away, but if one truly mastered the core concept of "slipping away," it might even be possible to slip away fatigue and pain...
Still, it did not matter if Anna or Reiju failed to develop it well. The beautifying effect alone was enough to drive every woman crazy. Iron Mace Alvida had eaten this very fruit in the anime, transforming from a fat woman into a stunning beauty full of charm. Wasn't that better than plastic surgery?
"Captain, forget it. Give it to Anna. I don't want to become a landlubber." Reiju thought about it and decided against it. There were already enough landlubbers on the ship.
"Anna doesn't want it either, meow. I already hate water, and if I ate it, I'd probably..." As a cat-eared person, Anna was instinctively afraid of water. If she truly became a landlubber, she would be useless.
"Sigh, alright. Then I'll keep it for now!" Yake said helplessly. He had not expected that he would be unable to give away even a Devil Fruit.