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"Safe?" Kureha scoffed. "That's the nesting ground of large-scale sea kings..."
Liam smiled. "Or maybe the nesting grounds of Large-Scale 'buses'... if someone could control those Sea Kings." Is there any tool better suited for quickly transporting people on the Calm Belts? By using the two Calm Belts, you can quickly reach any point along the Grand Line or the Four Seas."
"Dictate large-scale sea kings?" Kureha took a sip of wine. "I've lived over a hundred years, and I've never seen that."
Liam patted her shoulder solemnly. "Live a little longer, old grandma. Maybe one day you will."
Kureha punched him, knocking him down. "Still so rude."
...
In Stand City Fortress, books were piled high on the table in front of Robin and Kureha.
Liam pointed at a fully anthropomorphic Chopper and shook his head repeatedly.
Embarrassed, Chopper rubbed his head and listened obediently, nodding as if he suddenly understood.
…
Robin and Kureha, tired from reading, brewed two cups of tea.
Meanwhile, in the bath, Liam and Chopper soaked together with towels draped around their necks. Each held a cup of hot milk and sipped in unison, sporting contented expressions.
...
Meanwhile, in the background, Liam and Kureha sparred in the snow while Robin studied the snowball markings — the "Calm Belts" on either side of the "Grand Line," which Liam called "highways" — recalling the Poneglyph from Kujai Island.
The person called "Poseidon" commanded the Sea Kings to swim along the Calm Belt's current, neutralizing all ocean currents and relocating abundant special coral throughout its seabed. The coral's mineralized particles formed unique magnetic fields, creating the Calm Belt's famously windless climate.
Whiz, smack!
A snowball landed on Liam's face as he lay on the ground. Chopper chuckled nearby.
...
The World's Number One Swordsman Contest?
In the snowfield, a large tree had a circular hole cut into it. Ross, a girl, sat inside it, staring at the old newspaper in her hands.
Defeated the daughter of a Sea Emperor?!
The more she read, the more shocked she became by the accounts of male and female pirates in the old papers.
"Shichibukai?"
Ross's pupils constricted as she carefully scanned the news about Chopper, N.A., and Giorno chasing the Shichibukai, Sand Crocodile, through the skies. Her breathing quickened.
"That's impossible. There's a Shichibukai under the king, and yet that person can actually go toe-to-toe with such powerful pirates?"
She spread out the two bounty posters and stared fixedly at the numbers under the photos of Chopper, N.A., Giorno, and Jolyne Kujo. Her eyes were dizzy from the long strings of zeros.
400 million Belly...
300 million... 30 million Belly...
Those two pirates didn't seem particularly fierce. In fact, you couldn't even tell they were pirates. And yet, they're that terrifying?
...
The snowball fight continued in front of the treehouse.
Kureha shook her head and went back inside to continue reading.
Not far away, behind the snowy slope, a girl peeked out; her head was barely visible.
"..."
Ross held her hands up to her eyes like binoculars and watched the people throwing snowballs in front of the treehouse from a distance.
She murmured, "It's those two pirates. They never leave here."
They were throwing snowballs at each other, laughing and playing. In the middle of the chaos, Giorno grabbed the little reindeer by the antlers and swung him toward Jolyne, the female pirate.
Too far away, the wind and snow howled, and Ross couldn't tell if the woman screamed in pain or laughter.
But the little reindeer seemed furious. Suddenly, he grew immense, towering over Giorno, and grappled with him in the snow.
"What is that? A snow monster?"
the girl murmured. Giorno, who was wrestling with the snow monster, suddenly turned his head and looked straight at her.
Ross's heart skipped a beat!
Giorno tossed the shrunken snow monster aside and pointed toward her.
"Crap, I've been seen," she thought, panic rising. She tried to flee.
But when she turned around, she exclaimed, "Ouch!" and fell on her backside.
"There's no wall," she muttered, rubbing her forehead and staring at the empty, snowy slope in front of her.
B.I.B. casually grabbed the back of her neck and lifted her into the air.
"...?! Ross screamed in terror as her pupils dilated.
Something unseen held her neck, her limbs dangling as she was carried across the snow. Dumbfounded, she looked back, but there wasn't a single footprint in the snow marking her path.
The icy wind bit into her, and she shivered. "A ghost I can't see?!"
…
"Since you've seen me, there's no choice now."
Suddenly, Ross snapped back to awareness amid boundless fear and heard the voice of the pirate.
Startled, she looked up and saw Giorno's face.
The place where she was now seemed to be the treehouse where the doctor Kureha lived, which she had been observing from afar.
"What are you going to do?" Ross couldn't dwell on the invisible ghost; the pirate in front of her was far more terrifying.
Liam looked down at her. "You saw what you shouldn't have. What do you think I'm going to do?"
"...?! Ross swallowed hard and glanced at the woman beside Giorno. The female pirate's face was grim and almost menacing.
In a gloomy tone, Robin said, "Looks like we can't let you see anyone else anymore..."
"Ah!!!" Ross's eyes rolled back, and she fainted on the spot.
"Really that easy to scare?" Liam muttered in exasperation. Robin was slightly stunned.
Kureha approached, with Chopper timidly trailing behind. "Chopper, go check her."
Chopper cautiously checked the unconscious girl's vital signs and said with little confidence, "She just fainted."
Following Kureha's instructions, he gently probed all over the girl's body and listened carefully. Then, the little reindeer lifted his head and said, "She seems malnourished. She has slight palpitations, and her mental state seems unstable."
Liam was surprised. "Just from looking at her, you can tell all this?"
Robin stroked his chin, pondering. "If she's so terrified of pirates, why did she follow us?"
…
The unconscious girl was brought to Kureha's treehouse, where novice doctor Chopper would care for her.
Suddenly, Liam paused and a smile spread across his face. "Hehe, finally found our way home?"
"Hm?" Kureha looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"
Robin smiled. "It seems Wapol has returned."
Kureha was taken aback. How could Giorno have known that Wapol and the others had come back when he had been here in the snowy mountains the whole time?
Was this the ability of a pirate with a 400-million-Belly bounty?
Liam said to Robin, "Brew me a cup of flower milk tea. I'll drink it when I get back."
With that, he leapt into the air and stepped off into the void. In an instant, he vanished into the blizzard.
(End of chapter.)