The sudden turn of events left everyone momentarily stunned. Rayleigh, however, looked completely unfazed—as if this sort of thing was nothing new to him.
He stepped forward, pushed the door open, and walked inside. Seeing this, the others quickly followed in his footsteps.
"Welcome, what can I get... Oh? Back so soon?"
Inside the bar, Shakky greeted them out of habit when she heard the door, but the moment she looked up and saw Rayleigh, she was clearly surprised.
She hadn't expected the old man to finish things so efficiently this time—barely any time spent at all.
Then her gaze shifted past him. One familiar face after another appeared, causing her eyes to light up immediately.
"Well, well~ if it isn't the Thunder kid—and all these lovely ladies too. Long time no see!"
"Long time no see, Sister Shakky~"
"Go ahead and take a seat first. Give me a moment—I'll finish teaching these troublemaking brats a lesson~"
As she spoke, Shakky continued beating the men on the floor with ruthless punches and kicks. Miserable screams rang out, blood splattering everywhere.
The brutal sight made Vivi, Miss Valentine, and the others—who were already nervous—turn pale.
They exchanged looks, then unanimously scooted over to Leno's side, squeezing in close beside him on the booth sofa.
Just as they suspected—this bar's owner was no gentle soul.
Not long after Shakky finished dealing with the troublemakers, she finally came over and sat across from them.
She casually sized Brook up a few times, then turned to Rayleigh and asked,
"So this is the person you were looking for this time? That's really unexpected."
"Yohohoho… Hello, I'm Brook. A pleasure to meet you!"
After a polite bow, he added,
"Ms. Shakky, may I ask what color your panties are?"
"Hey! You perverted skeleton—what kind of question is that?!" Nami roared, itching to punch him on the spot.
"Eh? I think today I'm wearing—"
"Ahhh!!! Sister Shakky, please don't answer that bastard!"
Seeing how little Shakky seemed to care, Nami panicked and hurriedly cut her off.
Now it all made sense why Leno had struck this bastard with lightning earlier. Turns out this skeleton was a full-on pervert!
She'd even felt sorry for him before—what a mistake! He'd revealed his true nature far too quickly!
From now on, she absolutely couldn't let her guard down!
After the brief commotion, Shakky got up to prepare drinks for everyone.
Carmen perceptively went over to help, earning herself a round of praise from Shakky.
"So, kid, you've been pretty quiet lately. How'd you end up coming back with old Ray this time?"
From behind the counter, Shakky looked at Leno with clear curiosity in her eyes.
Recently, even with her information network, she hadn't been able to track down any trace of Leno and his group—it was astonishing.
"Ah~ I was on Skypiea for a while," Leno said, taking a sip of his coffee. "This time, it was just a coincidence that I ran into Uncle Rayleigh and the others."
After thinking for a moment, he added,
"Oh right—the Kuja Island is also up on Skypiea now. They're all doing well."
Guessing that this was what Shakky most wanted to know, Leno simply laid it all out at once.
Even if she was no longer the ruler, she was still deeply attached to Kuja Island.
Sure enough, after hearing his words, Shakky visibly relaxed. She then looked at the quietly seated Hancock and sighed,
"To think that the fate of Kuja Island would change because of you. You're luckier than all of us, Hancock."
"Yes! It's all thanks to Lord Leno!"
Recalling everything Leno had done for her, Hancock's graceful body couldn't help but sway.
If there had been space beside him, the Empress would've already been clinging to his arms, murmuring sweetly.
"Hancock, calm down!"
Seeing her sink into her own fantasies again, Nojiko, Kuina, and the others quickly spoke up to snap her out of it.
They were far too familiar with this state—if left unchecked, who knew what she might start imagining.
At that moment, Shakky's voice rang out again, tinged with emotion.
"Kuja Island relocating was a good thing. I've heard that the World Government recently developed a way to cross the Calm Belt. Something like that would've been unthinkable before!"
"Vegapunk really is an unbelievable person."
"Well… about that," someone hesitated. "Lord Leno actually warned us about this a long time ago."
"?!"
Shakky narrowed her eyes and fixed her gaze on Leno, as if countless unspoken questions lay within them.
Under her stare, Leno felt a little guilty. His eyes darted left and right—anywhere but at her.
Robin, Vivi, and the others covered their mouths, stifling their laughter. They 'knew' Leno had the ability to 'foresee the future.'
But that was something they couldn't reveal to outsiders—so they could only muddle through with excuses.
Fortunately, Shakky didn't press the matter further, though her curiosity only deepened.
Just what kind of channel did this kid have, to know such classified information years in advance?
"So next, you're heading through Fish-Man Island to the New World?"
"That's right. We were planning to ask Uncle Rayleigh for help anyway—didn't expect to run into him along the way."
Seeing Shakky change the topic, Leno quickly followed her lead and recounted their recent experiences.
After a while, he turned to Rayleigh, who had already resumed drinking.
"Old man, since you're helping coat our ship this time, you're not going to charge us again… right?"
"Hahahaha…"
"Of course not. But it'd be even better if you left a bit more of that fine liquor behind!"
Rayleigh was practically drooling over Leno's collection. The kid had an absurd variety of rare wines.
After sailing around all four seas, who knew how many he'd collected? This was the perfect chance to squeeze a little more out of him.
"Oh, right. Ship coating will take three days. During that time, you can explore the island."
"Yay~~~!"
Hearing they had three whole days to play, Nami, Yamato, and the others immediately cheered.
Nami even asked Shakky for a map of Sabaody Archipelago, and with her explanations, quickly got a general grasp of the area.
After a brief discussion, everyone decided to head straight out for some shopping.
Though they'd only glimpsed it briefly before, the scenery around the amusement park had left a strong impression. This time, they absolutely weren't going to miss it.
"Same rule as always—no going off alone!"
Seeing how eager they were, Leno couldn't help but remind them.
Even though they were all strong, better safe than sorry.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere, the Rosward family in the Holy Land was preparing to 'descend' to the lower world.
Many of their slaves had been executed recently, and now they'd received news that a new batch of high-quality goods had arrived.
Because of this, the entire family mobilized—planning to snatch up every slave that caught their eye!
"Father, I want to pick a few more wives this time. I'm sick of the old ones!"
Wearing his bubble helmet, Saint Charlos sniffed snot back up his nose and stared at his father with dull, lifeless eyes.
Honestly, his previous wives weren't fun anymore—they'd all broken.
This time, he had to carefully choose a few high-quality ones!
"Enough already. Don't waste money recklessly this time…"
…
…