The two or three giant beasts he had eaten earlier hadn't been a real meal.
"I'm really hungry. Fighting you, Hancock, took a lot out of me," Luffy said.
Hancock immediately turned and ordered Sandersonia and Marigold: "Prepare a banquet."
Luffy's eyes lit up. "Oh? There's going to be a banquet?"
Marguerite, beside him, smiled and explained, "It's a regular banquet to celebrate the Kuja Pirates' safe return after a successful voyage."
She paused, glanced at Luffy, and added a little shyly, "But a man has never attended our country's banquet before."
Luffy thought that was reasonable.
It made perfect sense since men were forbidden in this country.
Hancock herself didn't seem to plan on attending. She said she needed time to prepare for tomorrow's voyage and excused herself.
Soon, the banquet hall was decorated. Bright lanterns lit up the healthy, energetic faces of the women warriors and reflected off the golden, gleaming walls and decorations.
Luffy, Marguerite, and Perona sat at one table, enjoying the food.
Luffy held a large meat leg in his left hand, reportedly Sea King meat brought back by the Kuja Pirates. With one bite, he stripped it to the bone.
Eating quickly and in large quantities was an important part of becoming a warrior. That was also understood in Kuja. That's why there were many women with strong builds, like Sandersonia and Marigold.
Only a few, like Hancock, who had a devilish figure and was also strong, also fit mainstream beauty standards.
Both Luffy and Perona attracted a lot of attention.
Perona was floating – clearly an ability that defied common sense.
And Luffy, as the first man ever to attend a banquet here, could also stretch his body. Like a magnet, he quickly drew curious looks from all around.
"The food is great," Luffy said, after cleaning his plate. He noticed that most people around him hadn't even started. "No appetite?"
It wasn't appetite. It was you.
Perona silently chided him. Fortunately, these people had been unconscious and hadn't seen Luffy go all out against Hancock.
If they had seen their Empress, Hancock, being repeatedly pummeled by Luffy without any chivalry, the banquet atmosphere would definitely not be as peaceful as it was.
At first, these women, who were unfamiliar with and even vaguely hostile to men, watched Luffy from afar.
But as the banquet atmosphere grew more lively, fueled by alcohol and food, some of the bold ones—like the Kuja Pirates, who were used to being out on the sea—started to come over.
At first, they just asked questions. Then, some couldn't resist reaching out to pinch Luffy's reportedly stretchable rubber cheeks.
"It really stretches! It's so bouncy!"
"Let me try!"
"It looks fun!"
Robin and Nami had already confirmed this.
Luffy's cheeks were very smooth. Everyone who touched them said so.
Luffy didn't really mind. A banquet should have a banquet feel.
Since the Pirate King Training Plan had started, he had rarely had time like this.
But now, it wasn't just one or two people. A crowd of overly enthusiastic women had surrounded him!
One pinching, another pulling.
It didn't hurt. But the third-stage punishment timer was still running. The many hands magnified the pain, feeling like ants crawling and biting all over him. He couldn't focus on enjoying his food.
"Perona! Help!"
Luffy called out, trying to protect his plate of roast meat.
Perona watched him getting mobbed. She pursed her lips, but floated over and waved her hand.
"Negative Negative!"
A few white Negative Hollows flew happily through the women surrounding him.
Instantly, the women who had been so enthusiastically touching and pulling seemed to have their spines removed. They all fell to their knees, their demeanor instantly transformed.
"A scum like me, daring to touch the future Pirate King. I'm so arrogant."
"Being born a woman and so rough, I am a disgrace to Amazon Lily."
"These hands of mine are only fit for scooping up mud."
...
The world quieted down.
Luffy breathed a sigh of relief. He understood Perona's ability. Those ghosts were a troublesome power. His Kenbunshoku Haki had warned him correctly.
Even a strong person, once trapped in a negative state, would have drastically reduced combat effectiveness.
Unless they were already extremely negative.
Then they'd be completely unaffected.
Watching the group around him suddenly became negative, Luffy scratched his head, feeling a bit bad.
A banquet should be lively, shouldn't it?
As the women recovered from their negativity, looking at each other, their faces flushed, Luffy cleared his throat.
"Hey, everyone!"
Luffy announced to the women warriors. "To have a banquet, you need to sing! I'll start!"
He didn't know many pirate songs. But the most famous and popular was undoubtedly "Binks' Sake."
Who was Luffy's teacher?
None other than the famous Gordon, the man who had taught the phenomenal musician, Uta.
The moment he began, he drew everyone's attention.
The awkward atmosphere instantly
melted away with the familiar tune.
The women warriors were first surprised, then began clapping along. Some even hummed.
Marguerite, sitting nearby, lightly clapped her hands, her eyes smiling as she watched Luffy.
Even Perona was shocked. Her mouth fell open slightly.
Was her captain this multi-talented?
He sang so well?!
She had heard Moria sing. It was pure torture – you never wanted to hear it again!
The banquet reached its climax.
After singing a song, Luffy turned back to eating. He didn't know when his next banquet would be.
"Have you already eaten that much?" A cheerful Kuja executive watched the pile of meat in front of Luffy disappear at a visible rate. She couldn't help but marvel, "What is your stomach made of?"
"Haha! Can you have the kitchen make double? Don't worry! For me, eating is training!"
Luffy's mouth was stuffed full. He raised his glass and toasted a woman next to him who was cheering him on, letting out a hearty laugh. "I haven't had a good meal like this in a long time!"
The atmosphere was lively again.
Perona still looked worried.
She leaned close to Luffy and whispered, "We're leaving here tomorrow. We're going through the Calm Belt, right?"
She bit her lip, a scared look on her face. "Isn't that dangerous? The Calm Belt is full of Sea Kings!"
Sea Kings. She'd heard many were even bigger than Thriller Bark's Oars!
Suddenly, she felt that while being with Luffy was exciting, the danger level was also ridiculously high.
If he could maintain the same overwhelming reliability he had shown when fighting Hancock today, she wouldn't worry too much.
"Don't worry!"
A Kuja executive overheard. Thumping her chest, she confidently said, "Our Kuja Pirates have sailed the Calm Belt for generations! We have a unique way of driving away Sea Kings! We've never been attacked!"
"Really? Is there also a way to attract them?"
Luffy was excited.
For most people, Sea Kings were terrifying, deadly deep-sea monsters. For Luffy, they were moving mountains of super-delicious meat?
Speaking of going back to the Sabaody Archipelago, he really should thank Rayleigh and the others. Maybe he should bring a couple of Sea Kings as a gift?
Though, that might attract too much attention.
Luffy wasn't afraid of the Navy causing more trouble. But if they ganged up on him again, like they did on the Sabaody Archipelago, he could only retreat for now.
He really needed to keep training!
For example, even now, while eating, Luffy was still using the split-focus technique he had developed with the Pirate King Training Plan.
His mind was also thinking about how to further develop his Devil Fruit ability.
Relatively speaking, his Gomu... Nika fruit, was almost fully developed. The next step was probably to combine it with his Haki.
Like his Gear Second Plus form.
He just didn't have any good ideas for now.
The banquet ended with a lot of noise.
Luffy patted his full, round belly contentedly. The women of Amazon Lily were clearly not ready to stop. They enthusiastically wanted to keep drinking and chatting with him.
Luffy and Perona exchanged a look. Wordlessly, they made their choice.
Run!
The two of them weaved through the moonlit streets of Kuja Castle, dodging wave after wave of women warriors looking for them.
Perona, floating in the air, couldn't help but complain. "Why is it that since I'm with you, I'm always either running or on my way to run?!"
"Perona, I can speak with authority on this matter,"
Luffy answered seriously. "From a medical perspective, life is movement! Running more is good for your health!"
"You're a pirate! Since when did you become a scholar?!"
Perona's eyes widened in shock. She nearly fell out of the air.
"The archaeologist on our ship, Robin, is a top scholar!"
Luffy grinned, quite proud. "Don't let my appearance fool you. I've learned a few things from her. I know a bit about a lot of things."
Perona looked at his triumphant expression and couldn't help asking, "What else do you know? Tell me everything. I need to be mentally prepared."
"Pretty much anything our crew knows, I know a little."
This was all part of the necessary curriculum.
He had to learn a bit of everything.
Which also implicitly meant his crew needed to know a bit of everything too.
"Perona, I just remembered something important,"
Luffy stopped and turned, placing his hand seriously on Perona's shoulder. "What do you know how to do?"
This question stumped her.
What did she know?
Scare people?
Make ghosts?
Negative Hollows, mini ghosts...
She thought for a long time, then her gaze drifted away, avoiding Luffy's. She stared at the vines on the wall, her voice growing smaller. "Does scaring people count?"
Immediately, she regretted asking. What kind of skill was that?!
"It counts. I guess."
Luffy tried to hold back a laugh. The corner of his mouth twitched. "It's actually a pretty good skill."
Her face flushed—this time from anger!
"Scaring people is an art! Do you think it's easy?! You need timing! Atmosphere! Psychological weaknesses!"
Seeing her flustered, Luffy quickly nodded. "Yes, yes. Very impressive! Must learn!"
To Perona, his tone couldn't have been more perfunctory.
She was so mad she wanted to use a Negative Hollow on him!
Finally, they escaped to a relatively secluded corner, next to a small garden pavilion.
There sat Nyon in a chair. By lantern light, she was leisurely reading a newspaper.
"Yo, Bean Granny!"
Luffy greeted her with a lot of energy as he walked over.
"Show some respect!"
Perona couldn't help floating over and lightly tapping Luffy's head, warning him quietly.
This seemingly old woman who bickered with Hancock was probably important. And they were still on someone else's territory!
Perona suddenly felt very tired.
Was it because she had switched to Amazon Lily's lighter clothing and undid the binding of her Gothic dress? All the extra weight on her chest?
No.
Perona firmly decided it was absolutely because of Luffy!
"Eh, no matter."
Nyon waved her hand, completely unconcerned. Her eyes didn't leave the newspaper. "Someone like you can call me whatever you like."
"Granny, do you really like reading the newspaper? I saw you've read that same page several times."
Luffy leaned in, curious about the newspaper she seemed to have been reading for a long time.
Nyon looked up, adjusted her glasses, and sighed. "News Coo don't come to the Calm Belt. The newspapers Snake Princess brings back from outside are precious. They need careful study. Also, this original report I got about the Sabaody Archipelago incident, through special channels, includes a lot of details not filtered by the World Government. I have to read it again and again to see the bigger picture."
"Besides us causing a mess at Sabaody, has anything else important happened recently?"
Luffy sat on a nearby stone bench, casually asking.
Nyon put down the newspaper. Her expression turned grave. She looked at Luffy. "This is something I wanted to ask you earlier.
The Ace you mentioned – is that Portgas D. Ace, the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Commander, 'Fire Fist'?"
"Yeah, that's him."
Luffy nodded. "I was trying to trade those Celestial Dragon pieces of trash for him. At first, that Admiral monkey, Kizaru, said he'd ask his superiors. Then, he just came back and attacked."
Everyone said the Celestial Dragons were important.
Why couldn't three of them be traded for Ace?
It had been bothering him.
"Now it all makes sense."
Nyon nodded. A knowing look flashed in her cloudy eyes. "Marine Headquarters refused your trade without hesitation, even at the cost of the Celestial Dragons, for a more important reason.
They are preparing for a war of unprecedented scale – against Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, one of the Four Emperors.
Warlords like Snake Princess have already received compulsory summons. The Navy ship sent to pick up Snake Princess is right now in the outer sea..."
Wait. A huge war?
Luffy's eyes widened.
"Why is the Navy starting a war with one of the Emperors?"
Luffy suddenly stood up from the stone bench.
After his recent systematic studies, Luffy wasn't just a rookie whose head was only filled with meat.
He now understands the pattern of the world fairly well.
He knew the delicate balance between the Navy, the Warlords, and the Four Emperors.
That's why his being called the "Fifth Emperor" had so shocked that balance.
"You haven't seen the more detailed reports, have you?"
Nyon slid the newspaper towards Luffy, pointing at a prominent headline. "The Navy's strategy is to publicly execute the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Commander, Fire Fist Ace. They will force the Whitebeard Pirates to rescue him, thus triggering an all-out war."
A major war that would change the pattern of the world was coming.
Just like when Roger, before he died, started the Great Pirate Era, this time, the Navy held the initiative.
Luffy's face fell. He grabbed the newspaper.
Earlier, he had only read about his crew's actions on the Sabaody Archipelago. He'd gotten hungry before finishing the paper.
He hadn't expected there was more big news.
This meant that, even in Morgans's eyes, the Straw Hat crew killing a Celestial Dragon had a bigger impact than a war between the Navy and the Whitebeard Pirates.
Because, what the Straw Hats had done shook the very foundation of this world's rule!
The absolute supremacy of the Celestial Dragons had been broken.
But for Luffy, the news of Ace's public execution was a huge shock.
He knew how Impel Down worked. Since it was built, only one person had been publicly executed – the Pirate King, Roger.
He had thought, at least for now, Ace was safe.
Now, he was going to be publicly executed.
Luffy's fists clenched. Anger and anxiety, hard to suppress, welled up inside him. Conqueror's Haki involuntarily leaked out in strands, making the surrounding air seem to freeze. Even Nyon was secretly alarmed.
Were all young people today monsters?
She had, in her youth,
been part of the legendary Rocks Pirates. There had been no shortage of geniuses and powerhouses. But the current aura Luffy involuntarily radiated reminded her of those titans who could shake the world!
If Nyon had to find a comparison, she felt the current Luffy was on par with the captain of the Rocks Pirates!
"Will the war definitely happen?" Luffy's voice was low.
"Not yet. There's no confirmed news of large-scale Whitebeard Pirate movements."
Nyon shook her head.
"But the execution will happen on schedule."
She looked grave. "And from what I know of that man, Newgate, he is not a man to abandon his family. He will definitely come."
***
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