The next moment!
Nico Robin took the initiative and made her choice!
The woman's palm suddenly flipped; petals appeared out of thin air on the chair, and two hands grew from it, swiftly grabbing Akihara Kagura's head!
"Nice one, Miss Robin!"
Sanji's eyes flashed with surprise for an instant. He hadn't expected their opponent to be caught so easily by Nico Robin's Flower-Flower Fruit ability!
Though…
It wasn't really that surprising…
Because Nico Robin's Flower-Flower Fruit ability was indeed very powerful!
"Do we kill him?"
Nico Robin directly asked her companions on the ship.
"Make them hand over the money first!"
Nami stepped forward, puffing herself up with borrowed authority, a look of long-awaited payback flashing across her face. "Back then he robbed me of a ton of money…"
"…"
Akihara Kagura was still leisurely drinking his tea. His head didn't seem affected by the two hands pinning it, and he even shook it with some interest.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Nami glared furiously at Akihara Kagura and was about to march over and grab him by the collar. "Hurry up and return the money you stole from me back then!"
"!!!"
Karin's hand pressed down on her Ninja Sword!
"Don't move."
Akihara Kagura stopped Karin, then turned his head to look at the approaching Nami. "This woman is the Straw Hat Pirates' Navigator. If we want to get to Sky Island, we'll have to rely on her…"
"Pay me back!"
Nami was hopping mad as she stated her demand, but under Karin's intimidating stare she didn't dare lay hands on him, only snapped impatiently for Akihara Kagura to pay her back!
"I don't have the money…"
Akihara Kagura set down his teacup and looked up at Nami. "But I can give you two options. First option, a brand-new small ship. Second option, I return you gold worth 200 million Belly…"
"Of course the gold!"
Nami's eyes instantly turned into little stars.
"And you?"
Akihara Kagura's gaze fell on the members of the Straw Hat Pirates.
"Is this guy really that generous?"
"He's gonna give us gold? A Navy giving us that much gold?"
"Does he even have that kind of money?"
Everyone's eyes started to dart around. They felt Akihara Kagura didn't look like the type who would repay a debt. Would this evil Navy really kindly hand them 200 million Belly?
"Looks like you're all choosing the gold, huh…"
Akihara Kagura chuckled lightly, speaking with high spirits. "Relax. When you leave Sky Island, you'll definitely get gold worth 200 million Belly. I'm a man of my word; I never go back on what I say. You saw it back in Alabasta—I didn't lie to you then, did I?"
"…"
They all looked at each other.
The guy wasn't exactly lying…
At least, when Admiral Aokiji froze Luffy, this Navy officer not only didn't arrest them, he even told them the correct way to thaw Luffy…
Even though everyone in the Straw Hat Pirates felt a bit weird about it, they had no choice but to accept that Akihara Kagura and Karin would be boarding the Golden Merry with them to head for Sky Island…
Likewise…
They also had to accept that the Blackbeard Pirates and Donflamingo's bunch of vicious-looking guys would be following behind them up to Sky Island as well…
And so.
A small ship and a big wooden raft sailed toward the rising sea current.
Karin stood on the railing, warily watching the Blackbeard Pirates and Donflamingo behind them, while the Straw Hat Pirates all stood at the bow of the deck, admiring the spectacular sight of the rising current in the distance.
Only Akihara Kagura was left sitting at the table.
Akihara Kagura lowered his head, his eyes a bit dim, as if he were talking to someone, and also as if he were just talking to himself.
"Looks like your companions still like gold more…"
"Merry…"
"These little brats overlooked a good ship…"
"When your time with them runs out, just come with me… I could use a suitable warship too…"