Shakky had just finished speaking when she realized something. "Oh, right. The news birds can't reach Amazon Lily, so it makes sense that you wouldn't know. Takumi's bounty was just posted yesterday."
Hancock stayed silent for a moment, her shock obvious, but she quickly composed herself and asked, "Why did he kill a Celestial Dragon?"
With a sly smile, Shakky replied, "Apparently, the Celestial Dragon threatened him and demanded his crew as slaves, so he struck first. Not bad, right?"
"Hmph! What's so impressive about that? Just because he killed a Celestial Dragon doesn't give him the right to stay on this island! Amazon Lily is off-limits to men!" Hancock, despite her slightly improved opinion of Takumi, still wasn't ready to allow him to remain on the island.
"Oh? From the sound of it, he's already on the island. If you had taken care of him, you wouldn't be calling me to confirm his identity now, would you?" Shakky remarked casually.
Hancock's expression darkened once more. "What I do is none of your business, old hag. That's it. Goodbye!"
With that, Hancock abruptly hung up the Den Den Mushi.
She remained in her luxurious, spacious room for a while, lost in thought. Suddenly, a knock came from the door.
"Enter," Hancock commanded in her usual icy tone.
The door opened, and two tall women with snake-like features entered.
"Big sis, we heard you dealt with three intruders," said Sandersonia, a woman with long, dark green hair and a large head.
"Hmph, just three filthy monkeys," Hancock responded, her face full of displeasure.
Another woman, with orange hair and a large, hefty build named Marigold, asked, "You sound like this batch of intruders was tougher than usual, sis."
These two women were none other than Hancock's sisters.
After a brief pause, Hancock added, "They escaped."
"What?" her sisters said in unison, disbelief evident in their voices.
They exchanged shocked glances.
Sandersonia, her expression serious, asked, "If they managed to escape from you, they must be no ordinary intruders. Are they still on the island?"
"Forget that for now," Hancock replied, turning to Sandersonia. "Get your hands on the latest newspaper."
"Huh? A newspaper?" Sandersonia was puzzled. It wasn't like Hancock to care about the news, but since her sister had asked, it was an easy enough request. "Alright, I'll get it!"
In the East Blue, Windmill Village, at Makino's bar.
A young boy with a straw hat dashed into the bar, leaping onto a barstool with the ease of familiarity. He slammed his hands on the counter and grinned widely. "Makino, orange juice! I want orange juice!"
Makino, who had been reading a newspaper, set it down with a smile. "Luffy, it's been a while since you've been here. What have you been up to?"
The boy, Luffy, flashed a toothy grin. "Hehe, I'm not telling you. Ace and I have been secretly training in the valley every day so I can become a pirate one day!"
Makino chuckled softly, covering her mouth. "You're not very good at keeping secrets, are you?"
"It's not really a secret," Luffy said casually. "I'm gonna be the Pirate King someday."
"I imagine Garp would be quite upset to hear that," Makino smiled as she placed a glass of orange juice in front of him. "He wants you to become a marine, you know."
Luffy downed most of the juice in one gulp, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and said, "What's so great about being a marine? Pirates have way more freedom! Hey, when I become a pirate, Makino, you should be my first crewmate!"
Laughing, Makino shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, but I have to run the bar. I'll leave the adventuring to you."
"Aw, really?" Luffy pouted. "If you were my crewmate, I could drink your awesome juice every day!"
Makino ruffled his hair with a laugh. "You're twelve now, right?"
"Yup," Luffy replied, his usual wide grin returning. "Just five more years until I set sail! I can't wait to see Shanks again!"
As he spoke, Luffy removed his straw hat and stared at it with an excited gleam in his eyes. "This is my promise with Shanks. I'm going to become a pirate that he'll be proud of!"
Makino smiled warmly, watching Luffy as he spoke with such enthusiasm. Suddenly, she remembered something, and quickly shuffled through the newspaper she'd been reading earlier. Pulling out a wanted poster, she placed it in front of Luffy. "When you finally set sail, if you meet this guy, say hello for me."
Luffy stared at the poster. The person pictured wore a perpetual scowl, as if everyone owed him money. "Who's this guy? One, two, three... ten... uh, what's the next number again? Wow! This guy's bounty is huge! Who is he?"
"His name is Takumi," Makino said with a smile. "He's someone who refused Shanks' invitation to join his crew. That was five years ago, when he was just ten years old."
"What? He was only ten?" Luffy counted on his fingers, thinking hard. "So he's fifteen now? Fifteen and already has a bounty? That's amazing! I want him to be my crewmate!"
Makino laughed. "I wouldn't count on that. Takumi said he wants to be a traveler, not a pirate."
Just then, a voice called from the bar's entrance. "Hey, Luffy, you done yet?"
At the door stood a black-haired boy with freckles on his cheeks, named Ace. He looked impatient.
Luffy quickly gulped down the rest of his juice, grabbed the wanted poster, and grinned. "I'm leaving! I'm taking this bounty poster with me!"
Before Makino could protest, Luffy had already dashed over to Ace.
As they headed toward the valley, Ace glanced at the poster in Luffy's hand. "You know that guy?"
"Nope," Luffy replied cheerfully.
"So why are you carrying around his wanted poster?"
"Hehe," Luffy grinned. "I've decided that he's going to be my crewmate one day! Hey, Ace, why don't you wait a few more years to set sail and be on my crew too?"
Ace laughed mockingly. "You've never even beaten me in a fight. If anything, you should be on my crew."
"Hmph! Just because I can't beat you now doesn't mean I never will, stupid Ace!"
"Oh yeah?" Ace smirked before grabbing Luffy's face and pulling his cheeks apart. "Who are you calling stupid?"
************
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