"I'm just teasing you."
Seeing Vice Admiral Momousagi so flustered that she clamped her legs together, Clover couldn't help but laugh. "You've been sitting too long, Vice Admiral Momousagi-san, so of course your legs feel numb. And after a warm meal, you feel a bit flushed. Don't you even know such simple common sense?"
"You insufferable…!" Momousagi couldn't bear it anymore and shouted at Clover. Ignoring the pain, she struggled against the fishing line binding her, but her efforts only tore her clothes slightly, and a faint trace of blood appeared where the line bit into her skin.
"Hey, calm down. I'd hate to see you get hurt over this. Besides, then I'd have to put medicine on you, which means I'd get to touch you more." Clover grinned, pulling a bottle of antiseptic out of nowhere and starting to treat her wound.
"Such a transparent suit of honor, Momousagi-san. Very interesting," Clover teased as he applied the antiseptic.
Momousagi remained silent, glaring at him. The man in front of her was infuriating, and she couldn't think of a single thing to say back.
After finishing the treatment, Clover noticed that Momousagi had calmed down. She'd stopped moving, stopped talking, and just continued to glare at him.
"I'd like to let you go and let you move freely," Clover mused, "but I know you Marines are skilled in Rokushiki techniques. If you attacked me with Shigan or cut the ropes with Rankyaku, it'd be a hassle. So, for now, I'm afraid I have to restrain you."
Clover gently patted her on the head. Momousagi kept her silence.
He ignored her and walked over to the ship's bow, activating his old-fashioned log pose to check the distance to the next island. It showed they still had a week's journey ahead. Fortunately, there was plenty of food.
The island's name was Kohanlei Island.
Kohanlei Island: Deserted island, further details unknown.
"Deserted, huh? One week… let's see if I can tame you by then," Clover remarked, looking back at Momousagi with a smirk.
The reason he was sailing so far was to prevent the Marines from widening their search area and catching up with him.
Meanwhile, after an entire day of searching, the Marines on Matea Island still had no trace of the culprit. Finally, as night fell, they noticed that Vice Admiral Momousagi was missing.
"Buru buru buru…"
"Buru buru buru…"
Late that night, Momousagi's Den Den Mushi began ringing in Clover's pocket. At the time, he was helping her into the cabin to sleep. Of course, not in the way you'd think.
"Looks like your fellow Marines finally noticed you're missing." Clover smirked, pulling the Den Den Mushi out of his pocket to show Momousagi.
Momousagi opened her mouth to speak, but Clover crushed the Den Den Mushi without a second thought, leaving blood smeared across the deck.
(Den Den Mushi: "You************")
"Hey! You jerk, why did you wait for them to call first?" Momousagi snapped.
"Because I wanted to see how long it took them to notice your absence. Now I know they've likely searched the whole island and started considering escape routes."
"So, they're probably going to think it's you, huh?"
"Smart. They may even start spreading their search to nearby islands," Clover replied.
"You are clever, so what do you plan to do?"
"Simple. I'm prepared to shake them off if they catch up. And if they insist on following…" Clover grinned, "I won't be so polite."
He bound her wrists to the bedframe, left the room, and headed to the adjacent cabin for the night.
Since there was no one else to keep watch on the ship, Clover had no choice but to stop the ship whenever he wanted to sleep.
That night, after he had fallen asleep, Momousagi began her escape plan. She pulled a hidden needle from her hair and carefully used it to fray the fishing line binding her wrists. After a few minutes of continuous scraping, the fishing line finally broke.
With one hand free, the rest became much easier. She used Shigan to sever the remaining ropes, removed her shoes, and tiptoed to Clover's cabin, intent on binding him in return.
She crept inside, rope in hand, and found Clover sleeping on his side, facing away from the door. Holding her breath, she approached and wrapped the rope around him, tying him and the blanket together.
"Going smoothly?" a voice said from behind her.
"Yes, all going smoothly!" she responded reflexively, only to freeze as she realized what she'd just heard. Whirling around, she was met with a solid blow to her temple. Darkness followed.
The next morning, Momousagi woke to find herself bound once more, her hands and feet wrapped tightly in fishing wire—this time, reinforced with Haki.
She lay on the floor, bruised from where she'd fallen during the night, as Clover prepared breakfast in the kitchen.
"What… what did I tie up last night?" Momousagi grumbled, realizing that she'd been tricked. Clover had swapped places, leaving her to tie up a jade Buddha statue he'd picked up at an auction. She'd been so focused on securing it tightly that she hadn't realized it wasn't him at all.
Boom! Boom!
The sound of cannon fire echoed nearby. Clover, who was busy in the kitchen, bolted out to the deck. Three cannonballs were incoming, and they were heading directly for his ship.
"Are you kidding me?" he cursed, drawing his sword Ryū no Ha and leaping to intercept them. He sliced through each cannonball midair, causing them to explode safely away from the ship, though the shockwave rocked the boat.
"What's happening?" Momousagi was thrown from the bed to the floor by the impact, wincing at the bruises she'd acquired. "Could it be Vice Admiral Onigumo and the others?" she thought, inching towards the door to peer outside.
Meanwhile, Clover scanned the sea, spotting a ship without a Marine flag or Jolly Roger, likely a vessel from some merchant guild.
A few more cannonballs came his way. Clover finally lost his patience, sprang from his boat with a powerful leap, and landed like a storm upon the opposing deck.
"Who's the brat? You think you can just steal our ship?" a scruffy crew member sneered, drawing his sword as the others armed themselves with rifles and cutlasses. Despite the ship's merchant exterior, its crew looked every bit like pirates.
"Yes, I stole that one. And now, I'll be taking yours," Clover said calmly, his fingers brushing the edge of his blade Ryū no Ha.