When Peter found Stussy, she had already finished negotiating with the managers of several auction houses.
She had bought, in one go, all the slaves they currently had in stock, as well as those that would arrive in the next few days.
For the slave auction house managers, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, like a fortune falling from the sky. How could they possibly let it slip away?
So each of them quickly contacted the slave-hunting crews they knew, demanding more "goods."
Even if they didn't have enough stock on hand, they would go out and capture more. The priority was to secure at least a hundred slaves for this big client, Stussy.
After confirming that there was nothing left for him to do, Peter quickly lost interest.
Even when several auction house owners teamed up and held a special auction in his honor, bringing out their most valuable items, he only bought a few pieces he found somewhat interesting before completely losing interest again.
Stussy noticed his impatience. Although she felt it was a pity their time alone was so short, she still took the initiative to suggest going to find the other sisters.
Peter agreed without hesitation and quickly contacted Kalifa and Alpha.
"You're done with your business? Good, come straight to Island No. 35, Alpha, and I are getting our hair done."
"Getting our hair done? Sounds annoying… I suddenly don't feel like going."
Peter, who had many stereotypes about women shopping and beauty care, instinctively felt resistance at the idea.
Stussy smiled while running her fingers through her short golden hair.
"Come on, let's go take a look. Besides, my hair also needs some care."
After her persistent persuasion, Peter had no choice but to go along.
Inside a high-end hair salon on Island 35…
Alpha saw her sister's reflection in the mirror as she hung up the Den Den Mushi and asked eagerly:
"So? Are they coming?"
Kalifa put away the phone and looked at Alpha, who was currently having her hair styled, and said with a smile:
"They should be coming. When Peter sees your new look, he'll definitely be shocked."
Alpha chuckled mischievously and closed her eyes.
"Hehe… this is a surprise I prepared just for him."
She looked at her long, water-blue hair in the mirror, already anticipating Peter's expression when he saw her newly dyed hair.
Less than half a minute later, the two arrived, flying directly using Geppo.
As soon as they entered, a staff member greeted them enthusiastically:
"Welcome! What kind of hairstyle would you like, sir? We have the best stylists in the entire Sabaody Archipelago, some of them have even designed hairstyles for the Celestial Dragons."
Peter immediately remembered the bizarre hairstyles he had seen on Charlos and the other woman earlier. Before even meeting the stylist, he had already formed an opinion.
"In this day and age, even idiots can call themselves stylists. Whatever I can think of with my feet would look better than his work."
Then he grabbed Stussy's hand, ignoring the frozen smile of the receptionist, and walked straight into the inner room where the sisters were.
"Kalifa, Alpha, are you done? I want to go. I… what the hell?! Who are you?! What is that look?!"
Peter froze at the door exactly as they had expected.
Alpha was sitting there with thick, curly water-blue hair, completely different from before.
She smiled mischievously, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.
"Huh? What do you think? Isn't my new hairstyle beautiful?"
Peter scratched his head.
"Beautiful… it really is, but why did you dye your hair too?"
From a purely aesthetic standpoint, he had to admit the stylist was quite skilled.
But…
He actually liked it when the two sisters looked similar, especially having the same hair color.
Alpha, however, knew nothing about those small thoughts in his mind.
She glanced at Kalifa, then at Stussy standing behind Peter, and puffed her cheeks slightly.
"Don't you think there are too many blondes around you?"
"My sister, Stussy, Mikita, Kaya… even Conis, who just joined, is blonde too."
Peter stroked his chin.
"Now that you mention it… You might be right."
"See? They're all blond; it feels like the characters are overlapping. So I wanted to try a different color. I think blue suits me pretty well."
She looked at herself in the mirror again, clearly satisfied.
Peter smiled wryly.
"By that logic, Vivi is going to have a complaint."
Alpha snorted disdainfully.
"That's different. She's the cute type, and I'm the sexy type. Our styles don't clash at all."
Peter laughed.
"Alright… if you're happy with it."
He then sat beside Kalifa, while Stussy sat on his other side, leaving him with one woman on each arm.
The stylist had remained silent for a while, but her eyes kept shifting between the four of them.
First, Peter looked oddly familiar.
Second, their conversation contained far too much shocking information.
She couldn't help but wonder… just how charming this man was to openly sit with two women at once, while apparently having even more at home.
"Excuse me, could you also take care of my hair later?"
Stussy suddenly spoke to the stylist.
The stylist snapped out of her thoughts and quickly nodded.
"Of course, miss."
She then focused entirely on finishing Alpha's final styling.
"Alright, miss. Are you satisfied with the result?"
"Yes, it's very good," Alpha said happily, posing in front of the mirror before giving her approval.
Kalifa had already finished earlier, so she motioned for Stussy to take her turn.
Stussy sat down, while Alpha naturally moved back beside Peter, reclaiming her previous position.
She leaned toward him and picked up a strand of her hair.
"Sniff~"
"Smell my hair. Does it smell nice?"
Peter had already smelled it earlier, but still leaned in as she wished.
"Mm… very nice… like fruit."
"Bingo! It's green lemon fragrance!"
Delighted that he guessed correctly, Alpha immediately clung to him like a child showing off a new toy, swaying happily.
Kalifa sighed at her sister's childish behavior, but still moved slightly closer to Peter herself, as if unwilling to lose.
Peter enjoyed their silent competition, then asked:
"By the way… didn't you go after Nami and the others?"
"How did it go? You didn't let her kill Perona, right?"
Kalifa laughed.
"You mean that annoying pink-haired girl with the ability?"
"Of course not. Vivi and Nojiko stopped Nami, so she couldn't kill her."
She recalled how Perona had been running away in panic the entire time, almost crying, and chuckled again.
Alpha added:
"She kept her life, but Nami won't let her off easily. Before we left, she tied her up again. I think she'll teach her a lesson."
Peter smiled faintly.
"So Perona is going to suffer quite a bit."
He knew Nami was kind-hearted and wouldn't easily kill anyone.
That's why he let her chase Perona.
But at the same time, Nami was not someone who could tolerate humiliation.
If she didn't properly vent her anger, she wouldn't be Nami.
Suddenly, Peter remembered a prisoner in his cell who had some connection with Alpha.
He looked at her and said:
"Alpha… you failed your mission before because you couldn't properly guard Jewelry Bonney, and almost got punished, right?"
Alpha nodded in annoyance.
"Yes… that brat slipped away when I wasn't paying attention. When I chased her, she used some weird technique and defeated me."
Every time she thought about it, she still felt a faint pain on her left cheek where she had been struck.
Peter noticed her gesture and smiled.
"I met her before… Jewelry Bonney is now our guest. She's on the ship. In the lower deck."
"What?! That girl came to Sabaody too?! And you locked her in the lower dungeon?!"
Alpha jumped up in shock, causing the stylist to glance over nervously.
"Wait, wait, don't say it like that. I invited her… not captured her."
But Alpha was no longer paying attention.
She rushed toward the door, then suddenly stopped, turned back, and smiled wickedly.
Peter asked curiously:
"You're not going to take revenge?"
She crossed her arms and said with a dark grin:
"Of course, I won't let her off that easily. But just beating her won't be enough. I'll let her starve for a few days first. When she's desperate with hunger, I'll appear with food… that will be much more fun."
She began laughing as she imagined all the ways she would torment Bonney.
Peter nodded approvingly.
"Good. As expected of my woman… your methods are as dirty as mine."
"Then the task of subduing her is yours."
"No problem."
The stylist trembled silently.
She had already confirmed it in her mind… these people were definitely not good people.
Meanwhile…
Bonney still had no idea that someone outside was already planning revenge against her.
Because of the Seastone cuffs restricting her Devil Fruit ability, she couldn't use it to weaken the cell bars, so she could only kick them repeatedly while shouting Peter's name, trying to get someone's attention.
But the only ones on the ship were other prisoners and maids working on the upper deck.
And Peter had already ordered that no maid was allowed to enter the lower deck without his permission.
Bang! Bang!
After a few more kicks, she finally ran out of strength and sat on the narrow bed, panting.
"Damn it… if it weren't for this thing on my hand, I would've escaped long ago."
She glared at the Seastone cuff and punched the bed in frustration.
It seemed the noise she made was too loud, or perhaps it was time…
Because Charlos and Doloriss, imprisoned in the opposite cell, slowly woke up.
"Where… am I?" Charlos muttered, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling.
After a few seconds, she suddenly remembered everything and jumped up.
"Ow… it hurts…"
Doloriss, meanwhile, rubbed the back of her head where Peter had stepped on her, looking around in confusion.
"Sister Charlos… where are we? This looks like the slave cells in our house…"
No, it was the same.
Charlos looked at the cramped cell, identical to the slave quarters beneath her own home.
She nearly broke down mentally.
She… a Celestial Dragon… locked in a slave cell?!
What an unforgivable humiliation!
She screamed furiously:
"Blasphemy! Absolute blasphemy! You filthy commoners, get out of here at once! Do you know we are descendants of the creators, gods of this world?! I will report you to the Gorosei and have an Admiral kill you, insects!"
At that moment, Doloriss screamed behind her, holding her head.
"My bubble! My bubble is gone!"
"CP0! Where are you?! Gods cannot breathe this filthy air of the lower world! If this continues… I will die!!!"
Charlos' face twisted in rage.
She, too, had lost her bubble and was breathing the same air as the commoners.
But unlike Doloriss, she was not stupid enough to think she would die.
Instead, her hatred toward the foolish girl beside her deepened…
The one who had angered the pirates and caused both of them to suffer this humiliation.