"Boa Hancock! Do you even know what you're saying?!"
"Of course I do, but I'm not interested in your affairs. Whether it's Whitebeard or anyone else, I don't want to get involved."
"You'd better think carefully!"
"It's my nap time. I'll consider it when I'm in the mood."
Click! Hancock hung up the phone without a second thought, completely ignoring the people on the World Government's side.
"Hancock! You can't just—"
"Enough, Elder Nyon. I don't wish to discuss this topic. Given how beautiful I am, why don't you go and study such matters yourself, hmm?"
"O-Okay..."
Besides petrification, the power that the Love-Love Fruit exerts based on its characteristic of "beauty" is also very strong. Even Gloriosa couldn't avoid falling under its influence. By the time she realized what had happened, Hancock had already vanished without a trace.
"Sigh..." Gloriosa felt frustrated. Hancock was strong enough to ensure Kuja's safety—that wasn't a concern. The real problem was her personality; no one knew how to deal with her.
When she was in a good mood, she handled things like this. But if she were in a bad mood, she might just kick them without hesitation.
Complaints aside, Gloriosa had to seriously consider what to do next. The World Government wasn't ready yet, which was why they hadn't publicly announced any concrete information in the newspapers.
Even the summoning of the Shichibukai was just the first step. They knew full well that these self-serving individuals wouldn't all respond at once. This was merely a test to gauge their attitudes before deciding on the next course of action.
In fact, during the phone call just now, the World Government hadn't even clearly stated what they intended to do. They simply ordered Hancock to stand by for deployment in preparation for the upcoming operation.
Among the current Shichibukai, only Kuma knew the full details of the operation. Due to his unique circumstances, he held a level of trust that none of the other Shichibukai possessed.
Hancock, however, had no interest in whatever the World Government was planning. She had no fondness for them to begin with, and their so-called summons meant little to her. What she cared about more was the matter at hand.
"Sister Olga~ It's been so long! Come try some of Kuja's specialties. These are all sea beasts caught in the Calm Belt—no fruit at all!"
If the person who had just called her saw Hancock's current attitude, their jaw would have surely dropped in shock.
Hancock's tone carried no trace of coldness—only endless gentleness. The reason she hurried to hang up the phone was that Olga had come to Kuja for a vacation again.
The only reason she patiently exchanged a few words before hanging up was that she happened to be in a good mood.
"Ah, actually, having some fruit once in a while is fine. Lately, I've found grilled pineapple to be quite delicious."
The nausea she used to feel at the sight of fruit had mostly faded. However, rather than eating fruit directly, Olga still preferred to process it first. Grilled pineapple was a prime example.
Although grilling fruit might sound ridiculous, grilled pineapple actually had a nice flavor. The high heat broke down its structure, preventing it from having that "prickly sensation" on the tongue while also enhancing its sweetness.
"Did you not hear me?! Why are you still standing there?! Go prepare some grilled pineapple! Please wait a moment, Sister Olga~ It'll be ready very soon!"
Hancock demonstrated a flawless Sichuan opera face change, instantly shifting her demeanor as she ordered the cooks outside. She had originally wanted to cook it herself, but past experiments had already proven to her that she had no talent for it.
Her cooking wasn't exactly poisonous, but it was difficult to swallow. To avoid embarrassing herself, she decided to abandon the idea.
"I was just casually mentioning it... By the way, what was that call from the World Government about?"
"It seems they're planning a war and are summoning the Shichibukai to participate."
"A war? Oh no... Captain Kaido is going to get excited again."
Leaning back against the cushion behind her, Olga seemed to have foreseen how busy she would be in the near future.
"I haven't responded to the summons yet. Do you need me to reply and gather intel? They didn't mention whether the target is the Beasts Pirates."
"No need to rush—acting hastily would only seem suspicious. We'll see when the time comes. It's not like they'd wait until the fighting starts to tell you, anyway."
"It doesn't matter who they're targeting. Captain Kaido is a war fanatic. As long as the scope of the war is big enough, he'll definitely join in just for the thrill of it. The only question is how many people he'll bring this time. Either way, Uncle Queen is definitely going to suffer."
This wasn't the first time Kaido had done something like this. For instance, when he wandered around and stumbled upon a battle between pirates, ordinary people would steer clear to avoid trouble, while some might hide and wait for an opportunity to reap the benefits. But Kaido was different.
As long as their strength was not too bad, he would directly launch an indiscriminate attack, turning the battle into an all-out brawl for his own amusement.
There were only a handful of people in the world who could make the World Government go to war, and Kaido would never pass up such an event.
"Oh right, give me your Rotom—I almost forgot the main task. It's time to update the system."
"Update the system?"
Although she didn't quite understand, Hancock still handed over her Rotom Phone.
Hers was just a standard export version, lacking some of the Beasts Pirates' internal software.
The Rotom used by internal members was different from the ones available outside. Some special software could only be updated on Onigashima or transmitted through an upgraded Rotom. What Olga was updating for Hancock was the internal version of Chubby Express Courier.
"Alright, it's done. From now on, anything you order will be delivered within a day. Plus, this will help bring newspapers and intelligence reports straight to you, making it much easier for you to gather information from the outside world."
Since News Coo wouldn't enter the Calm Belt, news updates in Kuja were always somewhat delayed.
"Recently, Tesoro has been working with Morgans to create an electronic daily newspaper, so it'll be even more convenient in the future. Let me know if you need anything else—I'll handle it all for you."
Since she rarely visited, Olga wanted to take care of everything in one go. However, after waiting for a while, she received no response.
When she finally looked up again, she was met with a pair of eyes filled with heart-shaped pupils.
"Hey, I think you misunderstood what I meant! Stop thinking about weird things!"
With a swift chop to the head, Olga snapped Hancock back to her senses and steered the conversation back on track—like recording the Kuja tribe's geographical coordinates to prepare Kuja's Eternal Pose for the Dragonites.
...
Meanwhile, after a long flight, King returned back to Wano Country, though his feelings were somewhat complicated.
"A toast to Boss King!"
"Cheers!"
Although he hadn't managed to kill his opponent, King had made sure Blackbeard experienced the agony of being burned alive multiple times. That eye of his was practically ruined now. If Blackbeard somehow managed to recover even from this, King figured he'd have to sit down with Marco and seriously discuss who the real Phoenix was.
As for why his emotions were complicated—well, it was because Delia and the others were currently throwing a banquet over his new bounty poster, seemingly celebrating the massive increase in his reward.
There wasn't really anything wrong with that, but when he saw a drunk Delia toasting to his bounty poster, he just couldn't take it anymore.
****Please support on pat*eon for extra chapters; there is date to date subscription enabled on patreon. [There is a 7-day trial version availabe on patreon.]
https://www.pat*eon.com/dmtranslations
You can read ahead upto 75 chapters on my pa*reon.