“Damn it, you young people are getting more and more annoying. Is Onigashima some kind of problem-child detention center?!”
On the cart pulled by two wild boars, Queen complained indignantly.
“You brats are each more unlovable than the last. You were better when you were little. At least back then, Young Miss couldn’t hurt me when she hit me.”
“Sir Queen, don’t you think you should reflect on that? The issue isn’t whether her punches hurt you, but why she was hitting you in the first place.”
“Let me think. It was probably because I planned to have Young Miss take Boss Kaido’s beating in my place. They’re father and daughter, after all. She was more suitable than an outsider like me.”
At those words, Robin felt that sometimes there was a perfectly good reason Queen got beaten.
Other people broke rules because they did not know where the problem lay. Queen knew exactly where the problem was, yet insisted on testing it anyway. Then, after misfortune struck, he would find some way to salvage the situation, wait a while, and do it again, constantly dancing along the edge of courting death.
“Let me think. Of the people who grew up with Young Miss… I suppose Jack was the only relatively normal one. All he ever thinks about is charging in and fighting. Maria is gentle enough, but she has eyes for Boss Kaido only.
As for you… there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with you either. If Young Miss had fewer violent tendencies and was a little more like you, that would be great.”
Among the children of roughly the same age, there had only been the four of them. Page One and Ulti had come later.
“If that day ever comes, Sir Queen, you’ll probably regret it.”
Queen had yet to realize what kind of terrifying thing he was imagining. If Yamato retained her current combat power while gaining Robin’s intelligence and deviousness, the odds of Queen having a complete breakdown would rise dramatically.
“Tch. I’d actually like to see that. Haven’t we reached those people’s location yet?”
“We’re close. Turn left up ahead and we’ll be there soon. Though it seems someone wants a ride, Sir Queen.”
“Huh?”
Queen did not immediately understand what Robin meant, but the wild boars pulling the cart had already stopped. In front of them, Delia was waving her arms, a black card held in one hand.
Because she had discovered a plate during the martial arts tournament and brought it back, Delia had received several privileges, including a nationally accepted black card that ensured she would never starve. The card’s privileges also included unlimited free rides.
Within Wano Country, aside from vehicles carrying out emergency duties, virtually every other form of transportation stopped when called. Even the animals serving as transport understood this simple principle.
Delia merely had to insert the card into Rotom’s body and enter her destination, and Rotom would locate and route the nearest available transport.
“Yo, isn’t that Boss Queen? You’re actually driving personally today? That’s rare.”
“What are you doing here? Did you get lost after a hangover?”
“How could that happen? I’d never get hungover during wartime. It’s the day I have to repay Babanuki. The system showed that you were heading to Udon, so I just came to hitch a ride.”
Delia shook the wallet in her hand to explain her purpose, adding one more passenger to the cart.
“Wait! Why am I the one driving? You two are just relaxing back there? Does that seem reasonable to you?!”
In the rear carriage, Robin was reading while Delia ate barbecue. According to Delia’s logic, whenever drinking was inconvenient, eating more worked just as well.
“Because you never said you needed help, Sir Queen. I can assist you at any time.”
Several arms sprouted in front of Queen and took hold of the reins in his place.
“Why didn’t you say so sooner…”
“Because you didn’t ask.”
Robin’s expression was utterly innocent, as though there were nothing wrong whatsoever. However, the book she was currently reading was an e-book, and a small floating window in the upper-left corner showed Yamato giving her a thumbs-up.
Without realizing it, Queen had achieved something miraculous. Despite periodically offending his high-ranking comrades, and despite even engaging in schemes and counter-schemes with the crew’s successor, he remained alive and in one piece while continuing to hold a high position.
That, too, could be considered Queen’s unique talent and luck. In any other pirate crew, or with anyone else involved, Queen would most likely have been buried long ago without even a chance to try again.
It might have been different if Queen’s Observation Haki possessed the special ability to read minds, but unfortunately, it did not. One could at least reach the threshold of Future Sight through acquired training, but mind-reading, without relying on any other power, depended entirely on innate talent.
The wild boars ran forward on their short little legs. If there was anything today that suited Queen’s wishes, it was that these potential threats were hiding very close to Udon, so delivering them there would not take much time.
Barring any accidents, he could still make it back in time for freshly made dessert.
Robin was only giving Queen a minor headache under Yamato’s instructions. If they wanted to dig a truly massive pit for him, Yamato would have to do it personally. Thus, after Queen noticed a few small issues, Robin’s sprouted arms took over the driving.
“These guys really know how to hide. They actually holed up this close to Udon.”
“They’re probably trying to rescue their captain. Didn’t that Heracross say so? This crew places a great deal of importance on their bonds with their companions. They’re the type of pirates who value unity and cooperation. Or perhaps they thought the most dangerous place would be the safest.”
“Whatever they were thinking, either way, it was unbelievably naive.”
Queen casually reached out and pulled a rocket launcher from the cart’s frame, then aimed it at an utterly ordinary-looking rock.
Even without surveillance or the location provided by the Gastly, the Observation Haki Queen had honed through countless misfortunes was telling him that they were hiding right there.
Expecting him, in his foul mood, to politely ask them to come out was unrealistic. He only wanted to use the simplest possible method.
“You’re pirates who made it all the way to the New World. If you can’t even handle this much, you’d be better off dying sooner!”
Boom!
A burst of flame erupted from the ground, accompanied by the smell of burning plants and several figures fleeing from the blast.
“Camouflage cloth? You’re underestimating me a little, brats. If you don’t want to suffer too much, raise your hands and surrender quietly. Your captain is still waiting for you in prison!”
Ever since Kaido had declared the bet over and flown off to join the war, Queen had stopped paying much attention to the broadcast. Even the same performance grew tiresome after watching it too many times.
At the spot he had bombarded, all the remaining members of the Straw Hat crew had now been exposed.
“How? We were discovered? When did it happen?”
Sanji felt they had already been careful enough. Logically, there should have been no reason for them to be found.
There were few forests around Udon, so they had used one of Usopp’s special plants to conceal themselves. It was a gigantic leaf that looked no different from a rock, and it was more than sufficient to serve as a tent.
“Regardless of when we were discovered, we’re in serious trouble now…”
Zoro put Chopper down beside him and silently tied on his bandana. He had already sensed danger.
Sanji also put Usopp and Nami down, then stared nervously toward the source of the bombardment.
Sanji and Zoro had just carried the weaker members out of the centre of the explosion. Aside from giving them a fright, the attack had caused no direct injuries.
“One, two… eight. Good, everyone’s here. Straw Hats, who trespassed into our territory, do you have anything else to say?”
Queen’s mechanical hand opened and closed as he regarded the people before him as little rats trapped inside a cage. The surrounding terrain appeared open, but in Queen’s eyes, they already had nowhere to run.
“Are you going to walk into prison yourselves, have me beat you up before sending you in, or… die right here?”
It sounded as though he had given them a choice, but in truth, Queen had no intention of waiting for an answer. The moment he finished speaking, he had already appeared in front of Franky.
“I’ll start with you.”
It was a purely random choice. Queen attacked Franky simply because he looked the biggest.
“Strong Rig—”
Boom!
Seeing Queen appear in front of him, Franky instinctively tried to throw a punch, but Queen was faster. Before Franky could even finish shouting the name of his move, Queen’s heavy fist had already slammed into his abdomen.
Bang!
With a loud explosion, Franky was sent flying backwards. He skidded dozens of metres across the ground before barely coming to a stop. The clothes on his upper body had been torn to shreds by the friction, and a massive fist imprint had appeared on his abdomen.
Franky was a cyborg, and the front of his body had long since been modified with metal. Injuries that would have been nearly fatal to an ordinary person were barely tolerable for him.
However, black liquid was now continuously leaking from his abdomen. Queen’s punch had shattered the cola bottles inside his body. Deprived of his energy supply, Franky became like a robot whose battery had run dry, paralysed on the spot.
“Franky!!”
“Don’t worry. You’ll all get your turn next. Be proud. That was a punch even Garp couldn’t withstand. It’s an honour for you to take one of my punches.”
After Queen’s own artistic embellishment, the version where he had fractured his bones during a clash of fists and then launched a sneak attack while Kuzan was leading the assault had somehow turned into Queen being the main force against Garp. Anyone who did not know the details might have thought Queen had captured Garp himself.
Of course, not everyone was ignorant of what had actually happened. Delia had already begun to question it.
[*TN: “Family Bucket” (borrowed from KFC). In internet slang, it refers to a whole bundle, combo pack, or set of characters gathered in one place.]
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