Roxing had turned Thriller Bark into a proper war base—his third, after Dressrosa and Punk Hazard.
(As for the East Blue's Cocoyasi Village where Nami stayed, that was hardly a base: only the minor underling Arlette remained there.)
Thriller Bark sat in the first half of the Grand Line, close to the Sabaody Archipelago. From here Roxing could strike Sabaody first, use it as a springboard to assault Marine Headquarters at Marineford, and from there make a direct push for the Holy Land of Mary Geoise on Red Line itself.
His choice of war bases wasn't random; it was a plan with the whole route in mind.
Night had fallen. Roxing intended to rest tonight and leave for Wano the next day.
A red shadow drifted in, light as a whisper.
Roxing sat upright, a faint, unreadable smile on his face as he watched that red shadow.
The shadow thought she had crept in unseen—proud at her stealth—only to have her wide eyes suddenly meet Roxing's.
"Yaa!!"
The red shadow screamed at the top of her lungs and bolted—then, after a few steps, sheepishly returned.
"Ro…Roxing-sama, could you… give me back my body?" she asked.
Who else could that mischievous red shadow be but the Ghost Princess Perona?
She had snuck in simply to reclaim her body. Perona was furious and sulky.
"Moria has already agreed to serve you. I'm a harmless, adorable little girl—why are you keeping my body as a specimen under your command?"
She'd been thinking about this nonstop on the way to see Oars, pulling half a dozen faces behind Roxing's back. When night fell and Roxing still hadn't returned her body, she finally bit the bullet and crept in—only to be caught red-handed.
Perona looked aggrieved. Her tiny mouth protruded into a pout; her round eyes stared at Roxing, silently pleading for an explanation.
"ahem."
Roxing cleared his throat, suddenly feeling like some awkward uncle bullying a cute girl. Quickly recovering, he reminded himself he was rescuing Perona—if left to canon events, she'd sooner or later be swatted away by Bartholomew Kuma.
"You know who I am?" he asked.
Perona blinked and answered readily: "You are the Beasts Pirates' prince consort, the Fifth Sea Emperor, and a greater scientist than Vegapunk."
She recited the titles the world had pinned on Roxing. He shook his head.
"And what else?"
Perona scowled—how should she know? Most of the world had only just met him.
Then, her eyes brightened as she remembered one more thing. "You're a collector by hobby! You love to collect different kinds of flowers!"
Roxing had told her that on first meeting; she'd remembered. He gave her an approving look—teachable, indeed.
If she knew he was a collector, didn't that make hoarding her body perfectly natural?
Roxing coughed again, more seriously this time.
"But you missed one," he said. "Besides everything you said—I am also a doctor."
"A doctor?" Perona's face registered confusion.
Roxing looked toward her body—his captive, sleeping beside him—and spoke earnestly.
"As a doctor with professional ethics, I examined your body. I found that your physique doesn't match your stated age."
"You're far too small—when you bow your head you can see your toes. That won't do."
In that regard, Perona might very well be the smallest woman on these seas. Being the considerate man he was, Roxing decided to help.
He produced a small device and explained: "This is something I invented long ago—it has a growth effect. Wear it at all times. When I come to check you next, your condition will have improved."
Perona was utterly bewildered. By the time Roxing left Thriller Bark the next morning, she was still in a daze. Roxing glanced back once at her slack expression and smiled with satisfaction.
This mission had been a complete success. Not only had he recruited Moria and bolstered his zombie army—adding strength for the coming war against the World Government—he'd also retrieved Wano's treasured black blade Shusui and added another "ghost flower" to his collection.
Roxing's thoughts drifted to another noble flower: the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock.
Since parting in Dressrosa, he hadn't seen her again—and he regretted it. He'd wanted to visit Amazon Lily under the pretext of giving the women there a medical checkup, but lacked a good excuse. Yamato would surely suspect foul play, and that jealousy was dangerous to rouse. So, for now, he kept the thought buried.
Unbeknownst to Roxing, Hancock had been thinking of him too. Since returning to Amazon Lily from Dressrosa, Roxing's figure had kept appearing in her mind, stubbornly refusing to be erased.
She was troubled by it.
She even humbly consulted the island's elder, Granny Nyu.
Nyu's eyes were odd as she declared gravely, "Snake Princess—perhaps you've fallen in love with that man."
"Love?" Even an Empress, mistress of Conqueror's Haki, was startled. But Hancock hid it behind a cold, proud expression.
"I am the most beautiful woman in the world—how could I fall for a mere man?"
"You old crone—you dare insult my beauty? Unforgivable!"
Hancock kicked Granny Nyu across the room. From midair Nyu called after her, "Snake Princess, take this seriously—this is lovesickness! Several generations of Amazon Empresses have died from it!"
"Shut up, you old hag!" Hancock thundered, sending her two sisters to silence Nyu forever.
Mary Geoise and Sandersonia obeyed—but only to scold and then quietly ask Nyu in private, "Has our Empress truly fallen for Fifth Emperor Roxing?"
Nyu was grave. "I would not be mistaken. But from what I see, she's not yet doomed. You two must not let the Snake Princess learn anything more about Roxing. He is married, after all—there can be no future between them. If her love deepens, it will ruin her."
The sisters hurried back to the palace, convinced that the situation was manageable. They had not seen Roxing's true face at Dressrosa—he had always worn the demon mask Yamato had given him. (A side note: because of that mask, Roxing's wanted poster image replaced his earlier Quacky image.)
What they did not know was that in Hancock's private chamber two wanted posters hung on the wall: one of Roxing's original Duck poster, and one of the masked version. Hancock stared at them, biting her lower lip, her eyes filled with tangled, complicated emotions.
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