"Everyone, don't panic!"
Seated calmly on the deck of his pirate ship, Hawkins looked at the waves rising around them from the Marine bombardment and spoke with complete composure.
"Today's fortune indicates that we will not become prisoners of the Marines."
"Quickly! Catch up to Mr. Arashi's Traveler!"
"We must inform Mr. Arashi about the current situation in the Kingdom of Hauting!"
At Hawkins's command, the pirate ship immediately accelerated to its maximum speed, rapidly closing the distance with the Traveler.
Before long, the Hawkins Pirates drew alongside the Traveler.
"Mr. Arashi!"
The moment the two ships sailed side by side, Hawkins stood up and called out,
"Are you heading to the Kingdom of Hauting?"
"The kingdom is currently in the middle of a major uprising. If you go there now, you're likely to encounter quite a bit of trouble."
"Oh?"
Arashi blinked.
"Did you divine that for me?"
"No, this information came from my crew's intelligence reports—"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before Hawkins could finish speaking, several more cannonballs screamed through the air and exploded in the surrounding sea.
Seeing this, Hawkins frowned slightly.
"Mr. Arashi, I'll have to take my leave first!"
Before his words had fully landed, the pirate ship accelerated once more and shot ahead of the Traveler.
A moment later, several more cannonballs descended directly toward Hawkins's vessel.
Before they could explode on deck, Hawkins immediately used his Straw-Straw Fruit powers to redirect them.
Then he shouted toward Arashi,
"Mr. Arashi, see you in the Grand Line!"
"Huh."
Watching the fleeing pirate ship, Arashi blinked before suppressing a laugh and turning his gaze toward the approaching warship.
The Marine vessel quickly caught up to the Traveler.
Immediately afterward, Drake, dressed in his Marine Headquarters Brigadier General uniform, leapt onto the edge of the deck and waved.
"Mr. Arashi! What a coincidence!"
"Long time no see, Drake."
Arashi waved back and pointed toward Hawkins's retreating ship.
"Don't waste time. Hurry up and catch him."
"Understood, Mr. Arashi!"
Drake responded without hesitation.
"I'll treat you to a drink next time!"
With a quick farewell, he immediately ordered the warship to accelerate and resumed pursuit of the Hawkins Pirates.
Standing nearby, Robin and Perona found themselves completely unable to keep up with Arashi's train of thought.
Wasn't Hawkins Arashi's disciple?
Then why was he encouraging Drake to hurry up and chase him?
Before either of them could sort out their confusion, Arashi's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Let's join the chase too."
"This should be fun."
The moment the idea occurred to him, he acted on it.
Arashi personally took the helm, while the bored Perona enthusiastically helped him operate the Traveler.
The two immediately began preparing to compete with both the warship and the pirate ship.
Robin didn't join them.
Instead, she quietly walked over to a chair on deck and sat down.
Resting her chin on one hand, she watched Arashi and Perona bustling about with unrestrained enthusiasm.
From time to time, a sweet, happy smile appeared on her face.
She looked absolutely beautiful.
Naturally, Hawkins wasn't foolish enough to continue fleeing along the same route forever.
He knew perfectly well that Drake's actual mission was to travel to the Kingdom of Hauting.
The only reason Drake was pursuing him now was because of the conflict they'd had back in Joy Town.
Therefore, just before entering Hauting's waters, Hawkins suddenly changed course and fled in a completely different direction.
Seeing Hawkins alter course, Drake made his own decision immediately.
Without hesitation, he abandoned the pursuit and headed directly for the Kingdom of Hauting.
When the warship finally entered the royal harbor of Hauting's capital, Drake was utterly baffled.
Because the Traveler—which his warship had previously overtaken—had somehow arrived first and was already docked at the harbor.
"Hey, Drake!"
Having just secured the Traveler, Arashi looked up and grinned.
"What are you standing there for?"
"Get down here and buy me that drink."
"You flew here, didn't you?!"
Drake leapt directly onto the Traveler's deck.
Looking at Arashi in disbelief, he asked,
"How... how did you do that?"
Then he shook his head.
"Never mind. That's not important."
"Come on, let's go get that drink."
Before Drake could finish speaking—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of thunderous explosions suddenly erupted from within the capital city.
Immediately afterward, columns of smoke began rising all across the city.
Then came the sounds of battle.
The distant cries of charging soldiers echoed clearly through the air and reached both Drake and Arashi.
"Not good."
"The war has already begun."
Hearing the explosions and battle cries, Drake's expression immediately tightened.
Turning toward Arashi apologetically, he said,
"Looks like I'll have to buy that drink another time, Mr. Arashi."
With that, he jumped off the Traveler and shouted toward his Marines,
"Move! Move! Form up and head out immediately!"
Watching Drake rush off with his soldiers, Arashi remained silent.
Instead, he raised his head and looked toward the capital.
The expression on his face gradually became serious.
A large-scale war was clearly raging within the city.
As explosion after explosion echoed outward, thick smoke slowly engulfed the entire capital.
Wave after wave of battle cries continued reverberating through the sky above the city without end.
At that exact moment, the system's voice sounded in Arashi's mind.
"Notification: Congratulations to the host for arriving at a new travel destination—the Kingdom of Hauting. Reward: 3,000 Travel Points."
"Notification: 3,000 Travel Points have been deposited into the host's account. Current Travel Point balance: 3,000."
"Notification: New mission activated."
"Mission: Find a man named Issho within the capital of Hauting and bring him out of the city."
"Mission Reward: 2,000 Travel Points."
"Issho?"
Hearing the mission, Arashi raised his head in surprise.
"Fujitora Issho?"
"That guy is from the North Blue?"
Arashi was extremely familiar with Fujitora—the man who had entered Marine Headquarters through the World Military Draft and had been directly promoted to Admiral.
However, he had never imagined that Issho would be in the North Blue at this point in time.
And not only that—
He was apparently right here in the capital of the Kingdom of Hauting.
That was a genuine surprise.
Before today, Arashi had always assumed that Fujitora was simply some commoner living somewhere in the Grand Line.
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