Dressrosa Kingdom, Royal Capital, Top Floor of "Red Rose" Hotel.
"Huh!? Sephiroth, you're back! Great!"
Perona, with a joyful expression on her face, floated quickly toward Sephiroth and spun around him. Iska gently held his right hand. "You're not hurt, are you?" she asked, full of worry.
"No," Sephiroth answered with a smile and a shake of his head. He didn't choose to tell the truth. During the fight against Kaido, he had indeed suffered many injuries, but they had all quickly healed, thanks to the power of the Batto Batto no Mi, the Mythical Zoan type he possessed.
"Sephiroth is so strong, he must have defeated that man named Kaido!" Kuina asked with a smile.
"No… we were just evenly matched," Sephiroth shook his head again.
"It's amazing to be evenly matched with Kaido…" Uta said in admiration.
Violet had initially just been observing the girls crowding around Sephiroth. Not long after, she turned to Scarlett, who was standing beside her, smiling, but not coming closer. Violet thought for a moment, then stepped forward a few paces, unfolding a newspaper in front of the young man.
She pouted, slightly dissatisfied. "Sephiroth, I suddenly saw you as the main headline in the World Economy News Paper. My sister and I were so worried! Please, don't do something this dangerous again next time."
Sephiroth saw the photo of himself in the newspaper, with blood oozing from his forehead after being beaten by Kaido. The corner of his mouth twitched. Damn it! What bastard took a picture of me in such a humiliating state? Why didn't they choose a better photo?!
He read the report: "Last night, the Yonko Kaido attacked the G-5 Marine base, causing many casualties. Commodore Sephiroth fought Kaido alone. Pollock Island, part of the Prodens Kingdom, suffered severe destruction, leaving thousands of Hallsta city residents homeless."
The more he read, the more uncomfortable he felt. Morgans, the newspaper owner, seemed to be reporting impartially, when in reality he was working hard to provoke. He wants to fully stir up the hostility between the Marines and Kaido so he can get a big scoop? That fun-loving man is really annoying! Sephiroth grumbled to himself.
"Since you're okay, get some good rest! I have other government affairs to handle, so I'll be leaving now."
Before Sephiroth could say anything, Scarlett just gave a small nod, smiled, and turned to leave. Her attitude was firm, without the slightest hesitation.
Through his sharp Kenbunshoku Haki, Sephiroth felt Scarlett's hidden anger beneath her calm expression. She didn't make a scene right away, but instead chose to act coldly. Oh no! It looks like there's a problem! Sephiroth thought. He knew Scarlett was a woman with a strong character, brave enough to love and to hate. The fact that the woman didn't stab him on the spot gave him a lot of leeway!
Remembering that Scarlett was clearly angry, Sephiroth decided it was better not to provoke her for now. He would let Scarlett calm down, then he would go and coax her. If it didn't work once, then twice. I'm sure as long as I'm persistent enough, I can completely win that woman over.
After reading the newspaper, Sephiroth was sure Hancock must have known about such a big battle. He had to call to make sure Hancock wasn't worried.
He quickly finished his meal, went into the bedroom, locked the door, and took out his personal Transponder Snail and the military Transponder Snail from his dimensional space. Fortunately, he had only kept them for one night, so neither had run out of oxygen.
Sephiroth immediately dialed Hancock's number. After a moment, the call connected.
"It's me, Hancock!"
"Sephiroth! You're okay, right?! I saw today's newspaper, how could you fight Kaido?! Your Transponder Snail was jammed, and I'm on my way to the New World now!"
"Huh!? I'm fine, sorry for making you worry."
Faced with Hancock's barrage of questions, Sephiroth had no choice but to be patient and give a brief overview of what had happened from beginning to end.
"So… you can now be evenly matched with Kaido? Then when will you launch a full-scale war with the Beast Pirates?" Hancock asked.
"Wait! It's not time yet. The Donquixote Family has joined the Beast Pirates, which greatly increases Kaido's strength. Their power is so great that it might even be stronger than Whitebeard and Big Mom… Launching a rash war is not a rational choice."
After telling Hancock about the Beast Pirates' situation, Sephiroth continued, "I want to invite you on a long journey. You won't be able to come back for a long time, so you should first arrange your affairs on Amazon Lily Island."
"Okay! I understand."
After the call with Hancock, Sephiroth called Black Maria and Charli. Both were in a special place and the news was relatively blocked, so the news from the World Economy News Paper hadn't reached them yet. He reported that he was safe to prevent them from overthinking things.
Finally, he called Gion using the military Transponder Snail.
"It's me!"
"Are you okay?" Gion's slightly worried voice came from the Transponder Snail.
"I'm fine."
"Where are you now?"
"Uh… in a very safe place."
Hearing the hesitation in Sephiroth's tone, Gion immediately asked angrily.
"Are you lying in another woman's arms?"
"Cough! You're slandering me, I'm alone…"
Knock-knock-knock!
Suddenly the bedroom door was knocked on. Perona's high-pitched voice came from outside.
"Sephiroth, I've prepared bath water. You can come and bathe, I'll scrub your back!"
"…"
"Hmph! You damn bastard! There's never a shred of truth in your mouth!" Gion hung up on him without giving him a chance to explain.
After a while, Sephiroth thought for a moment and decided to call Sengoku, reporting what happened last night. After all, he had caused a huge problem for the Marines, and Sengoku must have a headache because of it.
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