"I'll follow you!"
Hearing Bonney's words, Sora smiled, and the look in his eyes softened.
Then Bonney looked at him and said firmly, "I know when you said follow you, you didn't just mean getting on the ship."
"But until we find Vegapunk, you can't touch me!"
Sora chuckled and replied, "Miss Bonney, you're not really in a position to negotiate."
"You—!"
Bonney clenched her teeth in frustration. Sora was right—she didn't have any bargaining power. In her current situation, if Sora truly had ill intent, he wouldn't need to talk this much.
But then...
Seeing her conflicted expression, Sora smiled and dropped a bombshell.
"Miss Bonney, very soon, I'll be joining the war between the Navy and Whitebeard."
"Maybe you'll get to see your father—one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea—Bartholomew Kuma."
Bonney froze in place, stunned. She stared at him in disbelief.
She hadn't expected Sora to know not only her identity but also her connection to Kuma.
She gritted her teeth. "How do you know these things?!"
Her relationship with Kuma was top secret, known only to high-ranking Navy and World Government officials.
Sora gently lifted her chin and smiled. "You don't need to worry about how I know. If you agree, I'll take you into the war—so you can see your father with your own eyes."
Bonney narrowed her eyes and replied sarcastically, "Even though your bounty is 1.5 billion—on par with commanders of the Four Emperors…"
"As the Godslayer, going to Marineford is suicide."
Considering what Sora had done to the Celestial Dragons, the moment he appeared before the Navy, the Admirals would be all over him.
"You don't need to worry about that. I have my ways."
Sora squeezed her soft cheek and added with a grin, "But if you don't agree, your father will become one of my hunting targets."
"Hunting… targets?"
Bonney blinked, then laughed coldly. "You don't stand a chance against him."
She had absolute faith in her father's strength.
"If Kuma still had his personality, I'd agree."
"But from what I know, he's already been modified by Vegapunk—turned into a mindless Pacifista."
"So... whether I can defeat him or not is no longer certain."
Sora grinned as he said it.
Kuma's abilities were insanely overpowered—teleportation and repulsion made him nearly unbeatable. But as a soulless machine, that advantage wasn't so clear.
Bonney scowled furiously—because she knew Sora was telling the truth.
She bit her lip, eyes filled with hesitation.
After a long silence, she glared at Sora and said, "You better keep your word!"
"Really take me to see him. Or else—"
She didn't get to finish her threat.
Sora cupped her cheek and kissed her, cutting her off mid-sentence.
Bonney's eyes widened in shock. Her face flushed deep red as she bit down hard.
"Tss—!"
Sora winced and pulled away, his lips bleeding.
Wiping the blood from his mouth, he smiled. "You actually bit me, Bonney."
"You bastard!"
Bonney glared at him, cheeks burning with fury. She was completely caught off guard by his brazenness and shamelessness.
Sora only grinned, said nothing, and grabbed her face again—kissing her a second time.
Bonney froze.
Moments later, Sora let go, mouth full of blood, and laughed heartily.
Taming a wild girl like this? It was even more fun for him.
He didn't mind a few injuries.
"Ptooey!"
Bonney spat out a small piece of lip flesh—what she'd bitten off.
Even so, Sora remained as domineering as ever.
"I'll deal with you later."
He wiped the blood from his lips, healed the wound using his purification ability, and ruffled Bonney's pink hair with a smile.
"Hmph!"
Bonney turned her head away with a huff, refusing to look at him.
Sora released the Cage-Cage restraints and pulled her into his arms.
Then, from thin air, he pulled out several high-powered explosives—developed by Nojiko using Buggy's blueprints—and tossed them onto Bonney's ship.
Seeing Sora summon objects from thin air, Bonney's eyes narrowed. She was clearly surprised.
When she realized he was about to destroy the ship, Bonney finally spoke up.
"Can you spare them?"
She didn't care much for her crew, but still—they were her crew. Watching them die like this was a bit too much.
Sora patted her and replied with a grin, "If you call me 'husband,' I'll let them live."
"Screw off!"
Bonney didn't hesitate. Her response was loud and clear.
Sora chuckled. Surrounding himself with air currents, he flew up into the sky with Bonney in his arms.
Bonney was stunned to see he could actually fly.
But when she saw him preparing to destroy the ship for real, her eyelids twitched. She hesitated.
Sora didn't press her. He simply pointed at her ship, electricity gathering at his fingertips, forming a glowing lightning arrow.
Seeing his actions, Bonney grabbed his arm, looking conflicted.
Sora remained silent, calmly gazing at her.
To him, the pirates were expendable. If Bonney asked, he wouldn't mind sparing them.
And once she asked the first time, it would be much easier to manage her later.
"…Hu…sband…"
Bonney turned her face away, and in a voice as soft as a mosquito's hum, she whispered the word.
As a captain, there was no way she could watch her crew die without doing something.
Besides, she had already agreed to follow Sora. Calling him that now… she might as well start getting used to the role.
Sora chuckled.
The lightning arrow vanished. Instead, he destroyed only the sails of Bonney's ship.
Then, holding Bonney close, he flew her back to the nearby Divine Slave.
Not far off, in the shallow waters, Katakuri, who had just left Sabaody, lowered his telescope.
"So you really are on the Sabaody Archipelago…"
"Godslayer Sora!"