The scene unfolded a few kilometers away from the Kuja Pirates' ship. Alistair was drenched in the mixture of seawater and blood, his body stiff and immobile.
This world was even scarier than he imagined.
"Hey, dry yourself off," an Amazonian warrior approached, holding a paper umbrella over her head and casually smoking a cigarette. She handed him a towel, saying, "Here you go."
"Thanks, Rindo," he accepted the towel without hesitation, a wry smile on his face, and wiped his hair and face first.
He turned to the woman, who had a bun on her head, a large cannon strapped to her waist, and a generous expanse of white skin exposed on her chest, and asked curiously, "Is this what it's like in the Calm Belt all the time?"
"No, this is actually quite rare. But you're lucky, you get to see such a spectacle right after setting sail," Rindo replied, her cigarette glowing and dimming as she spoke, puffing out smoke rings that drifted away lazily, giving her an air of a powerful woman.
She and Ran were the only two in charge on the ship, besides Sandersonia and Marigold.
You could even say that they were the more important ones.
Blood alone could be easily wiped away, but the seawater mixed with blood was harder to remove. He easily dried himself off, draped the towel over his shoulder, and turned to her, asking, "You have something you want to tell me, don't you?"
"Hmph," Rindo's cigarette was down to just a tiny stub in the time it took her to answer. She used her umbrella to shield both of them, then asked calmly, "You're really smart, Alistair. "
"Even though the Empress is smitten with you now, I won't let you lead us into the abyss," she said, her killing intent pricking Alistair's skin like needles, making goosebumps erupt all over him.
"Be careful, Alistair," she gave him a cool look and handed him the paper umbrella, turning around and walking away.
"Hey, Rindo," she turned back, looking at the handsome man leaning on the railing. "I want to see this world."
"I want to show you this world," he said, a radiant smile spreading across his face. He placed the towel under his arm and chuckled at her. "After all, I'm so weak."
"That's how it should be," she said, spitting out her cigarette into the sea and walking away without looking back.
"This world... huh," Alistair slowly shifted his gaze from her back to the raindrops falling from the sky. When he turned back, the giant sea king that had leaped into the air had vanished, along with its blood, from this sea.
The sea shimmered, clear as the sky, like the diving paradise of Palau in his past life.
But he had just witnessed a giant sea king, hundreds of meters long, meet its demise. How could he not know the terrifying nature that lurked beneath this calm surface?
These two serpents, though only about 100 meters long, were venomous, so no sea king would try to prey on them, allowing them to move freely.
After living in Amazon Lily for a month, he began to understand why the Amazons could easily control serpents. Every Amazonian woman grew up with their snake bow, every Amazonian woman knew how to use the snake bow, and they could communicate with snakes. This was their innate ability. Because of this, they found it much easier to learn Observation Haki than others.
And the large serpent, Salome, that followed the Empress had never attacked. The Empress must have some hidden strength...
Thinking this, he took off his shirt and began preparing for his daily training on the deck.
He didn't dare to stop his basic training for a moment. Gloriosa had already taught him the tricks. He was luckier than 90% of the people in the world of One Piece. If he didn't work hard, he really wouldn't be qualified to do any gemin or make any reforms. He'd just have to eat, drink, and wait for Luffy to set foot on the Grand Line in a few years.
Even if he worked hard, he might not be able to beat Luffy. So, would he just give up? The only easy thing for modern people was getting fat. He had overcome such great pressure, how could he be defeated by this mere discouragement?
"Sister, he's at it again," Sandersonia said, leaning against the window, to her sister who was cooking behind her. Since they were on a tower ship, the Empress naturally lived on the highest level. From her window, she could see the surrounding scenery clearly, and she could see everything on the deck.
"He really doesn't slack off at all... This kid is going to do great things," Marigold said, joining her sister at the window, watching the "thin" figure performing the most basic Amazonian warrior training standards.
"I have a feeling he's hiding something," Sandersonia frowned, her forked tongue quickly darting out of her mouth and back in. "Hmm, it's the smell of lies."
"What does it matter?" Marigold didn't seem to mind. "As long as he doesn't have bad intentions towards us, it's normal to have little secrets, like our past..."
Her words made Sandersonia fall silent. The room suddenly became quiet, only Hancock's humming could be heard.
She wasn't listening to what her sisters were saying at all. She was wholeheartedly making food for Alistair. She was a lady who never touched a drop of water in the kitchen, but with her sweetheart, she started learning to cook.
What a lucky guy... Sandersonia looked back at the figure.
"It's just, he seems a little slow," she murmured.
"Sister, what did you say?" Marigold didn't hear clearly and turned to ask.
"No, nothing... It's just..." She shook her head. "I hope I'm just being paranoid."
"I wonder what story Alistair will tell us tonight," Marigold said, not thinking much of it, propping her chin on her hands, looking forward to the evening's story time with joy.
That's right, Alistair's One Thousand and One Nights, even after telling it for more than thirty days, still wasn't finished.
The gradual cliffhangers were the key to serializing One Thousand and One Nights.
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