Chapter 50 / Chapter 51

The Dove Faction remained silent, just as before.

Their leading figures were all asleep. How were they supposed to oppose the Hawk Faction's proposal?

"So these are the Navy's officers, bickering through a meeting."

As Momousagi watched the officers, her disgust only grew.

Especially toward Sakazuki.

The man constantly preached justice, but how did anything he did resemble the conduct of a naval officer?

He was practically a bandit!!

Really, Baccarat's Lucky-Lucky Fruit was incredibly effective.

It kept influencing Momousagi, making her side with Chris completely.

She now stood in opposition to the Navy.

On the deck of the Chris.

Caw, caw, caw~~

A News Coo flew overhead, letting out clear cries as though asking whether anyone below wanted to buy a newspaper.

"One copy, please."

Lafitte looked up, twirled his cane, and spoke with a slight smile.

With a whoosh, a white bird landed on the railing.

It had snow-white feathers, wore a black hat, and carried a reddish-brown pouch around its neck.

The pouch was specifically for collecting money.

"Still one hundred Beli?" Lafitte asked the News Coo politely.

The News Coo nodded without a sound.

Lafitte took a newspaper and placed one hundred Beli in the pouch, every bit the gentleman. "Goodbye. Have a safe journey."

"Caw, caw~~"

The News Coo nodded again, gave a cheerful cry, and spread its wings, flying off to continue delivering newspapers.

"The first mate is as polite as ever. He's such a good man."

The crew members below watched Lafitte, all of them holding him in very high regard.

Burgess was practicing his Armament Haki. He grinned and asked, "Lafitte, any big news?"

Hawkins said nothing. He was practicing Haki too.

A few days earlier, Chris had set aside some time specifically to explain Haki training to him.

For a moment, Hawkins had been utterly awestruck!!

He had never known that such miraculous abilities existed in this world.

His respect for Chris had reached its peak.

He was now completely loyal and truly considered himself a member of the Chris Pirates.

"Hm?"

The moment Lafitte opened the newspaper and saw the photograph, he froze.

The world's most beautiful woman, Boa Hancock, had made the news.

Chris had already told them that the Seven Warlords Alliance had gained another member.

She was the queen of Amazon Lily—the very woman in the newspaper.

"Just as the captain said. The world's most beautiful woman really did make the news."

Lafitte nodded to himself, deeply impressed.

Everything had happened exactly as Chris had said it would, making Lafitte admire him even more.

"The Shichibukai Boa Hancock. She's in the newspaper."

Law walked over, saw the woman pictured in the newspaper, and made the observation coolly.

"She's the partner the captain mentioned," Hawkins said in a low voice. "Looks like we need to pick up the pace too."

Doc Q, who was researching poisons, began coughing. "There's no rushing this... The captain said we have to travel the Four Seas and recruit enough men before entering the Grand Line..."

"Ugh, everyone else is stealing the spotlight. It's so damn annoying!"

Burgess shrugged helplessly. "Since we set sail, we've passed through the South Blue and the West Blue, and now we're in the North Blue."

"But we haven't seen a single Navy ship the whole way. What a fucking joke."

(Everyone, the picture above is a News Coo. These birds are pretty interesting, so I specifically found this picture to give you a clearer idea of what they look like (*￣︶￣).)

"With Baccarat around, it's understandable that we haven't encountered the Navy."

Lafitte headed toward the Training Room with a slight smile. "The captain should hear about something this important as soon as possible."

Law cradled Kikoku in his arms, as aloof as ever. "Why would we want to run into the Navy? Sailing along like this is clearly the best option."

"No Navy chasing us, no worries. It saves us so much trouble."

Hawkins nodded and said calmly, "We're going to be Shichibukai eventually, after all. Avoiding conflict with the Navy as much as possible is better for us."

Outside the Training Room.

Knock, knock, knock~~

Lafitte knocked instead of entering.

"Captain, I have some good news to report."

Although he knew what Chris was like and knew he would not be fooling around inside, knocking was still the best way to avoid an awkward situation.

"Come in."

Chris's voice came from behind the door.

With a creak, Lafitte pushed open the wooden door and slowly stepped inside.

It was his first time entering this Training Room.

The first thing he saw was Chris swinging his greatsword up ahead. To the left of the entrance sat a whole group of beautiful women.

"Lafitte, is there good news in the paper?"

Honey Queen's beautiful eyes lit up, and a sweet smile bloomed across her pretty face as she eagerly asked.

Carina nodded and said confidently in her lovely voice, "I bet Boa Hancock made the news."

Two days earlier, she had traveled to Jinkado Town and run into Chris and the others.

Needless to say, with Baccarat there, she had obediently come aboard.

Everyone had been delighted when they learned what she could do.

She was a singer, and her singing was absolutely wonderful.

From now on, they could have her sing at their parties to liven things up.

It was simply perfect!!

"That's what I think too."

Belo Betty took a drag on her cigarette and offered a casual remark.

Lafitte handed the newspaper to Baccarat and said courteously, "It is indeed news about Boa Hancock."

"Have a look. I'll be going."

This was Chris's private territory, after all. It would be inappropriate to linger, so leaving quickly was best.

The women gathered around and opened the newspaper to read it.

"Wow!!"

Perona floated in the air, her little face full of amazement. "This Hancock is so beautiful!"

In the photograph, the Empress's long hair flowed freely. Her face was flawlessly beautiful, and her figure was exquisite.

Even through the newspaper, they could sense her ethereal aura.

This woman was truly stunning!!

"The world's most beautiful woman certainly lives up to her reputation."

Reiju touched her delicate chin, blinked her beautiful eyes, and spoke with a radiant smile.

Carina smiled sweetly and chimed in, her voice as lovely as heavenly music. "She's powerful and breathtakingly beautiful. She's practically perfect!"

"No wonder so many men adore her. It makes complete sense."

Belo Betty exhaled a cloud of smoke. "She's making big moves. She's taken down several pirates with bounties in the tens of millions, one after another."

Honey Queen said with a smile, "Looks like Chris's words got under the skin of the world's most beautiful woman."

"She's so proud. She must want to prove her strength to Chris and make him see her in a new light."

Baccarat looked at the figure ahead of them, her manner poised and elegant. "Chris, Boa Hancock has entered the Grand Line and attracted attention from all sides."

"Judging by the newspaper, a lot of pirates are interested in her. They want to see the world's most beautiful woman for themselves."

"I'm afraid she'll be running into plenty of powerful figures next. She certainly won't be able to handle them all."

Chris kept training, swinging the Blood Red Greatsword as he said calmly, "Don't worry about her. Let her do as she pleases."

"If she really gets killed, that only proves she doesn't have what it takes and isn't worthy of working with us."

How much other men adored Hancock had nothing to do with Chris.

He had never placed much importance on women.

He had made that decision as soon as he arrived in this world.

He intended to pursue the path of the strong. He would not spend too much time on women.

Hearing Chris's cold-blooded words, all the women froze for a moment.

She's the world's most beautiful woman! Can't you show even a little concern?

How could you say something so heartless? That's just too cruel.

"If Boa Hancock heard that, she'd definitely be stunned."

Honey Queen shook her head and said with a wry smile, "She's the world's most beautiful woman, yet a man is treating her like this. She would certainly be shocked."

Belo Betty looked at Chris and nodded in agreement. "That's just how impressive our captain is."

"So what if she's the world's most beautiful woman? He still doesn't spare her a second glance."

Carina covered her mouth and giggled, her laughter like silver bells. "If Hancock were here, I'd love to see the look on her face."

"She'd probably be shocked and angry, wouldn't she? Heeheehee~~"

Perona flew through the air and laughed too. "I want to see it too! It would be so much fun! Horohorohoro..."

Reiju looked at Baccarat and said with a gentle smile, "Chris is as calm as ever. He's never changed for anyone."

Baccarat nodded with a faint smile. "He's strong-willed and has his own goals. No one can sway him."

"Not even the world's most beautiful woman can influence him."

(Everyone, the picture above is Carina. She's from the movie Film: Gold. If you're unfamiliar with her, you can go watch it. I won't go into detail here, so I don't pad the word count ︿(￣︶￣)︿.)