"Temporarily… we managed to talk her into it." Nami sighed.
She wasn't someone who liked killing in the first place. If their ship hadn't been eaten by Thriller Bark, and if Moria's people hadn't come looking for trouble, then Moria wouldn't have ended up dead.
Perona's relationship with Moria seemed almost like father and daughter. Killing someone's foster dad and then inviting them to join you—no matter how you looked at it, it was pretty damn weird, but after a lot of coaxing and persuasion, Perona's emotions finally stabilized. For now, they'd at least successfully gotten her onto the ship.
For Tatsuki's not-so-subtle hint, Nami had basically gone all-in.
She was a woman dedicated to helping Tatsuki build a massive harem fleet!
It was just that Perona still looked depressed and lost.
Nami and the others didn't really have a good solution either. All they could do was take it step by step and see how things went.
If it really didn't work out, then they'd have no choice but to drop her off somewhere and let her leave on her own.
"Tatsu-kun… we killed a Warlord. We won't be in trouble for that, right?" Nami was a little worried she'd stirred up something big.
She'd be fine—she didn't fear anyone, but Nojiko, Robin, and the others were still far behind in strength.
The corner of Tatsuki's mouth lifted slightly. "Your worry already came true. Nami, you can never let your guard down. Come out. Don't make me do it myself."
"Huh?"
Nami's heart jolted. She immediately spread her Mind Net, locking onto a direction—those dead trees over there.
"There's an enemy!"
Robin, Nojiko, and the others gathered in, staring into the deep, shadowy forest with full vigilance.
After a stretch of silence…
Thud, thud!
Heavy footsteps sounded from within the woods.
A towering figure emerged from the darkness.
A burly, broad-shouldered man.
He wore a white hat shaped like a trapezoid, patterned with scattered brown spots, and the hat even had bear ears.
He had rimless glasses. On the left side of his neck was a tattoo: "PX-0." His black hair was thick and curly like wool, and his face gave off a stern, emotionless vibe. He wore a black jacket with a crosshair emblem on the front.
Below, white pants with brown spots, and brown boots. Brown gloves on his hands—and in those hands, a book with "BIBLE" printed on the cover.
That appearance could only belong to one person—Tyrant Kuma… or rather, Bartholomew Kuma.
Tatsuki didn't care about his identity or his past. "Kuma. How did you show up here?"
"A Warlord… already?!" Robin and the others felt their scalps go numb.
Moria had only been dead for a short while, and another Warlord was already here—how?
Forget how he got the news—how did he arrive this fast? Was he nearby? Wasn't that way too convenient?
Kuma's gaze swept across Tatsuki and the others, and he also saw Gecko Moria's corpse, but his instincts screamed at him not to act rashly—otherwise he would die.
After a brief silence—under an invisible pressure he couldn't understand, Kuma chose to explain.
"At the World Government, Moria's Vivre Card burned to ash. I was dispatched to investigate."
"Vivre Card? Warlords hand those over to the World Government too?"
Tatsuki was genuinely surprised.
A Vivre Card wasn't afraid of water or fire. It was made by mixing in the owner's nail clippings.
It was a sheet of paper that represented its owner's life force. Usually, people tore off a piece and gave it to family or friends before separating. And the torn pieces would always point toward the owner. If the owner died, the Vivre Card would turn into ash.
Handing your Vivre Card to someone else wasn't that basically helping them track you down?
Kuma replied calmly, "No. Only Moria's and mine are held by the World Government."
"Oh." Tatsuki didn't bother digging into that. He turned the question back on Kuma. "So are you going to fight? If you do, I can give you a quick death."
"..."
Kuma knew Tatsuki wasn't joking.
That terrifying, intangible pressure was radiating straight off Tatsuki. His very presence was completely locked onto. He couldn't win. He couldn't escape. That was Kuma's most basic instinctive assessment.
He raised both hands high.
For a moment, Nami and the others thought he was about to launch an attack. They tensed up—only to hear two words come out of his mouth:
"I surrender."
"S-surrender…?"
For the first time, Robin felt like the Seven Warlords of the Sea were… maybe not all that incredible?
"You're smart. Leave."
Tatsuki had no intention of killing this pitiful guy.
"..."
Kuma lowered his arms, nodded, and warned them. "Be careful of the Marines and the World Government."
Then he activated the power of the Paw-Paw Fruit and vanished from the spot in something close to teleportation—though in reality, he'd been repelled away.
"The Marines and the World Government…"
Tatsuki rubbed his chin. That line had meaning.
"Tatsu-kun, are we really okay letting him go?" Robin still didn't feel reassured.
Her impression of the Warlords was still stuck on someone like Crocodile—vicious, sinister, and rotten to the core.
She worried Kuma was only pretending—agreeing on the surface while plotting behind the scenes.
"Don't worry. He's smart. He knows what should be said and what shouldn't."
Tatsuki looked at Nami. "I think you can try observing the Marines or the World Government. You get what I mean."
Nami's eyes lit up. "You mean…"
An abnormal Apocalypse factor!
In an instant, that was the first thing Nami thought of.
"Mm." Tatsuki nodded.
If pirates could have abnormal Apocalypse factors, then the Marines and the World Government might have them too.
The only question was what form they took.
That was something Nami and Vivi would need to get close enough to confirm.
Given the current situation, an outsider like him couldn't trigger this world's Apocalypse companion events.
It felt a little unfair to Nami, but Apocalypse companion events had the best cost-performance—he needed those points.
"Anyway, looks like there isn't much here that needs me."
Moria was dead, Kuma ran off—there really wasn't anything left for him to do.
"Nope. Nojiko needs you a lot, though." Nami blinked her pretty eyes.
"Nojiko?" Tatsuki's gaze shifted to Nojiko.
She gave an awkward laugh while twirling a lock of hair, but her eyes were practically rippling with heat.
Got it.
Tatsuki scooped Nojiko up in one arm. "I'm going to have a thorough talk with Nojiko. You guys do your thing."
With that, the two of them vanished.
"What are they going to do?" Vivi asked Nami curiously.
Nami grinned. "Well… probably going to do it."
"…" Robin had no words.
Nami was being blunt, but Vivi didn't get it. "Do what?"
Nami just smiled without explaining and instead grabbed Vivi's hand. "Let's walk around a bit."
Even though Thriller Bark wasn't exactly a fun sightseeing spot—the only thing worth looking at was that old castle.
Robin said a few words to Perona, then had the still-dejected Perona lead them through the inside of the castle.
Whether they toured it or not didn't really matter.
The important part was giving Tatsuki and Nojiko a room—and some time.