"You can buy whatever you want, I'm going out for a while."
Hearing that, Uta said, "Luffy~?"
Are you going to see that woman?
Suddenly, Uta jumped onto Luffy's back, clinging to him and whining, "I want to go too!"
Robin couldn't help but laugh.
Nami and Vivi exchanged glances and nodded with a smile.
"Zoro, protect everyone," Luffy said helplessly, Uta still hanging onto his back. "I'll take you there, just get down."
"Nope! You're carrying me~"
Uta giggled and hugged him even tighter from behind.
Her breasts pressed firmly against Luffy's back, making him notice she had grown again—probably because of him.
But mentally, she seemed to have regressed.
"If you don't get down, I'll pinch your butt."
"I doubt it!"
Uta's expression clearly showed she didn't believe him.
Luffy gave up and had no choice but to carry her to their destination.
Watching them leave, Robin said in amusement, "I really can't tell who's older…"
Kaya smiled softly. "I can't blame her. She spent ten years isolated on that island."
"That's right. Luffy must have something important to do, let him go."
Nami clapped her hands. "Without Luffy around, there's no reason to keep exploring. Let's go shopping."
She was going to buy new clothes for Luffy.
Since he had grown more than ten centimeters, his old outfits no longer fit.
---xXx---
Southwest of Dressrosa lies a smaller, outer island.
A long steel bridge connects the two outer islands.
In the sea beneath that bridge lives a ferocious creature known as the "Betta."
They jump out of the water and attack anyone who tries to cross the bridge.
Over time, the place was abandoned.
The safety railings on both sides of the bridge were also bent from constant battles with the fish.
When Luffy arrived with Uta on his back, he saw more than a dozen Betta fish floating belly-up in the water.
"Uta, we're here. Get down."
Luffy squeezed Uta's butt firmly.
"Ow~!"
Uta angrily bit Luffy's ear, but unfortunately, it was made of rubber—her revenge failed.
"You'll pay for that!"
Jumping off his back, she couldn't resist rubbing her sore backside.
Luffy laughed and stopped teasing his little diva.
He shouted toward the long, deserted bridge:
"Come out. I'm already here—what else are you hiding for?"
As soon as he said that, a figure jumped out of the nearby forest…
"This is my first time meeting you, Monkey D. Luffy."
It was the woman who had bumped into him earlier.
She wore a wine-red hat and protective goggles.
Her hair was red, and she was a beautiful woman wearing a short dress, dark black stockings, and a pair of tall brown boots.
"What do you want with my Luffy?"
Ignoring the pain in her backside, Uta stepped forward with her hands on her hips.
"Hahaha, is this one also my sister-in-law? Luffy."
A voice chuckled from behind.
Luffy and Uta stepped back together.
It was a young man wearing a hat.
He had wavy blond hair, a scar over his left eye, and a gentle smile.
Sabo?
Luffy froze in surprise.
"You're… Sabo?"
"Eh?! Glad you recognized me right away." Sabo laughed. "It's been ten years!"
"Ha! I won, Sabo!"
The woman in front of them said cheerfully, "See? I told you Luffy would recognize you instantly."
Uta blinked, looking confused as she glanced at Luffy.
"Sorry for being rude earlier. My name is Koala." Koala waved at Uta with a smile.
Sabo removed his hat and also addressed Uta:
"My name is Sabo. I'm Luffy's sworn brother, and I've heard your name from him before—Uta."
Not that he recognized her. He had never seen Uta before.
He had only learned about her recently.
Uta looked stunned.
"This is our first time meeting. I'm Uta~" She smiled brightly and admitted without hesitation, "The sister-in-law you mentioned!"
Luffy had to keep pretending. "Sabo, weren't you dead?"
"That's a long story. I'll explain everything little by little."
Sabo put his hat back on, smiling. "I'm with the Revolutionary Army now, Luffy. I came here specifically to meet you."
"?"
"After hearing you entered the New World, I waited here. I was sure you'd pass through this island sooner or later."
Luffy was confused by that.
"How did you know? Even though the New World doesn't have seven fixed magnetic routes like Paradise, how did you know I'd pass through Dressrosa?"
The magnetic fields of the New World were chaotic and had no fixed routes.
Everyone chose a safe path onward based on the three starting points of the upgraded Log Pose.
Maybe at first, the three needles pointed to three different islands, but eventually, the routes would converge on the same island later on.
That was normal.
But Dressrosa wasn't one of those convergence points.
Sabo smiled in response.
"I met a fortune-telling pirate earlier and asked him a few things. He's a fellow Supernova from your generation… what's his name again…?"
Koala added, "The captain of the Hawkins Pirates, Basil Hawkins. His bounty is 249 million berries."
"I see."
Luffy understood.
Though something about it felt strange.
Shyarly from Fish-Man Island couldn't predict her own future.
But Hawkins could.
At least enough to foresee that Luffy would pass through this island sooner or later.
That wasn't Devil Fruit power.
There were many types of divination in this world.
Shyarly used a crystal ball, Hawkins used tarot.
And the results of divination differed greatly.
Overall, it was all incredibly mysterious.
Luffy felt he should find a chance to meet Hawkins and take a closer look.
Thinking about that, Luffy reached out his hand to Sabo.
"Actually, I wanted to meet the Revolutionary Army too, but I didn't expect to find you here. Sabo, how have you been all these years?"
Sabo shook his hand.
"I actually lost my memory. It was only during the War of Marineford, when I saw you trying to save Ace, that everything came back. Luffy, you've become a world-famous pirate."
"Hahaha x2~"
The two looked at each other and laughed.
Koala watched the brothers reunite, smiling warmly.
When her gaze fell on Luffy, there was deep admiration in her eyes.
When she saw the news of Straw Hat Luffy invading the Holy Land and killing 39 Celestial Dragons, she was so shocked she nearly fainted.
Are there really idiots like that in the world?
As a former slave of the Celestial Dragons… she had always wanted to meet him.
"This isn't the right place to talk. If we want to chat, let's change locations."
(End of chapter)