"Madame Shyarly, are you alright?"
Seeing their boss hugging herself, her delicate body trembling nonstop, the café staff hurried over to check on her.
At the same time, they cast shocked looks toward Leno, who stood opposite them with a calm expression.
Just what had Madame Shyarly seen in the crystal ball to be frightened into this state?
Her reaction only made Leno's group even more curious.
Yamato couldn't help leaning forward, eyes locked onto Shyarly, urgency seeping into her voice.
"Hey, what exactly was the result of your divination?"
"I…" Shyarly snapped back to her senses and instinctively started to answer. But after noticing the people around her, she hesitated, then waved her hand.
"You should all go. The café is closed for the day!"
The fishfolk employees exchanged glances, but in the end, they obediently filed out one after another.
Seeing this, Nami, Robin, and the others grew even more surprised. This was clearly no small matter!
Once only the group across from her remained, Shyarly steadied herself and spoke again, her voice still trembling.
"I—I saw mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Islands shattered. The Red Line collapsing…"
She paused, took a deep breath, and her voice dropped to a near growl.
"A colossal seven-colored dragon blotted out the sky, stretching across the heavens. It—It was destroying the world…"
"..."
After forcing out the final words, Shyarly seemed to lose all her strength. She braced both hands on the table, gasping for air.
When her words fell, the entire café plunged into silence, broken only by heavy breathing echoing through the room.
After a long while, noisy chatter suddenly rose from the opposite side.
"Skyee!!!"
"What's that supposed to mean? Is she talking about that idiot? The dragon he turns into is purple, isn't it~"
"If the Red Line collapses, then the four seas would probably merge into one."
"Huh? World-ending? That's scary…"
"..."
Staring at the relaxed, laughing faces across from her, Shyarly froze on the spot, fear still written all over her face.
Wait—did they even hear what she just said?
The end of the world, and they weren't worried at all?
And she really wasn't wrong. Nami, Nojiko, and the others truly weren't worried in the slightest.
Mountains of corpses, seas of blood, shattered islands—this wasn't exactly new territory for them.
And sticking close to Leno, they'd seen terrifying, world-ending scenes more than once already!
Whenever Leno clashed with top-tier powerhouses, which time hadn't looked like the sky and earth were being torn apart?
So to them, Shyarly's "end of the world" was just another earth-shaking battle.
As long as Leno's life wasn't in danger, everything else was nothing to stress over.
As for Shyarly's fear and anxiety? Anyone would be scared seeing something like that for the first time.
The only thing they really cared about was the seven-colored dragon Shyarly mentioned. Could it be that Leno was still hiding something from them?
Without anyone noticing, the tense atmosphere Shyarly had created melted away amid the group's casual chatter and laughter.
Only when Shyarly mentioned the collapse of the Red Line did Leno instinctively narrow his eyes.
At his current level of strength, he knew all too well what kind of power it would take to punch through the Red Line.
If Shyarly's divination was accurate, then the reason behind him doing something that extreme was worth questioning.
What exactly happened in the future to drive him to such a shocking act?
But seeing his companions chatting away happily, Leno quietly pushed those thoughts aside, unwilling to stir up anxiety over something uncertain.
"All right, who else wants a prediction?"
"Me, me!"
The moment Leno finished speaking, Nami eagerly rushed forward.
She glanced at the crystal ball on the table, then looked excitedly at Shyarly.
"Madame Shyarly, um… can this thing predict where treasure is?"
"…Nope~"
Shyarly's face darkened as she shot Nami an annoyed glare.
What was wrong with this girl? If she could predict where treasure was, would she still be running a café here?
Hearing that, the light instantly vanished from Nami's eyes. She wilted on the spot, completely losing interest.
"What? Isn't your divination supposed to be 100% accurate? You can't even predict treasure!"
"…You little brat, that's way too rude! Who in their right mind uses divination to look for treasure?!"
She tried to hold it in, really tried—but in the end, Shyarly snapped.
She unleashed a furious verbal barrage at Nami, spit flying everywhere.
The once elegant and dignified café owner now looked like she had bared her fangs, her aura downright terrifying.
Nami had really pushed her buttons.
"So divination can only predict a specific event that's going to happen in the future?"
Watching Nami retreat in defeat, Robin spoke thoughtfully.
True enough—she'd been overthinking things before. Some matters still needed to be experienced firsthand.
"..."
Robin's voice wasn't loud, but everyone present heard her clearly.
Shyarly, having finally caught her breath, took a drag from her cigarette and gently nodded in acknowledgment.
After Nami's little fiasco, everyone else lost interest in trying divination.
Before long, the topic shifted entirely to shopping and sightseeing.
Forgotten in the corner, Pappag was promptly dragged back by Nami, who started scheming about how to haggle goods out of him.
At the same time, elsewhere—
Fish-Man District, aboard the Noah.
Inside a vast circular hall, the members of the New Fish-Man Pirates were all gathered together.
By the innermost sofa, Captain Hody Jones and his officers clustered around, some sitting, some standing, listening to a report from a subordinate.
Moments later, Hody Jones, slumped on the sofa, straightened slightly, his gaze turning cold as he stared at the underling before him.
"So Hammond and Hyouzou still haven't sent back any news at all?"
"…Y-Yes!"
The fish-man lowered his head, replying in a trembling voice.
They'd searched everywhere they could. No matter what, they couldn't find them—alive or dead.
It was as if they'd vanished into thin air.
"Useless! If you can't find them, keep looking!"
"…Yes, Captain!"
Having received the order, the fish-man secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly withdrew.
Hody Jones sat on the main seat, his expression dark as water, fingers tapping endlessly against the armrest.
Who would've thought a routine patrol would cost him several key members? It was damn uncanny.
Those people played vital roles in his future plans. They absolutely couldn't just disappear without a trace.
Could it be that the ones above had already noticed them? Impossible—if they'd made a move, it wouldn't be so covert.
So where exactly had things gone wrong?
As Hody Jones sank into deep thought, the other members lowered their heads in silence.
For a time, the entire hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
But that silence didn't last long before it was shattered by a series of hurried footsteps from outside.
Soon, a fish-man came running in, drenched in sweat, his face pale with panic.
Barely able to suppress the fear in his voice, he shouted,
"Captain, this is bad!"
"We just received word—Lord Vander Decken has been… been killed!"
!!!
…
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