What could possibly make a narcissist like Cavendish behave?
Words? No. Threats? Probably not. He was too stubborn, too obsessed with his own image.
Naturally, Ray understood this so he didn't waste his breath arguing with him.
While Cavendish was still hopping around, cursing about his dignity and his aesthetic, Ray calmly placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
A blinding golden light erupted from Ray's hand.
Cavendish had to shield his eyes, blinded by the intensity.
When the radiance faded a second later, Cavendish blinked the spots from his vision.
His jaw dropped.
The majestic snow-capped mountains that had stood as the backdrop of the island were gone.
In their place was a flat, bubbling sea of fiery red magma.
The entire mountain range had been vaporized in an instant!
Cavendish: (≥﹏≤)
The Pirate Prince stood there, frozen.
He looked at Ray, then at the magma lake, then back at Ray.
For the first time in his life, Cavendish was genuinely terrified. He sealed his lips tight, only daring to scream internally.
'Is this guy even human?!'
'A bounty of only 400 million for someone like this? Are the Marines fucking out of their minds?! Or are they just trying to get bounty hunters killed?!'
His internal monologue went into overdrive.
'Who's stronger? Ray or the Yonko? If the Yonko are all at this level… how the hell did I dare to think about challenging them?!'
But then, the vanity kicked in.
'But if I back down now, wouldn't I lose respect? What would the townspeople think of me? My fans are watching!'
'Yet if I refuse his demand, I'm dead. Hakuba is fast, but compared to vaporizing a mountain? It's practically a parlor trick.'
Cavendish had been confident earlier because he believed his alter ego, Hakuba, could bail him out of any jam.
Even against Smoothie, he figured he had a 50/50 shot if he let the demon out.
But this? This was a different league.
Still, some people's mouths are truly harder than diamonds. Even when scared to death, they cling to their pride like a lifeline.
"I admit you're stronger than me!" Cavendish shouted, his voice shaking but loud. "But my bones are too stiff to bow to tyranny! There's no way I'll ever work for you..."
The moment the words left his mouth, Cavendish wanted to punch himself.
'Damn it! Stupid mouth! Why are you still provoking him?! Are you trying to get me killed?! Shut up, Cavendish!'
Ray seemed to also lost patience.
His red eyes narrowed. If not for the need to use a smooth talker to trick Smoothie, he would have swatted this insolent chatterbox into the magma lake five minutes ago.
Ray decided to give him one last out.
An offer he literally couldn't refuse.
"Convince Smoothie," Ray said, his voice cold and final. "And you live."
He pointed a clawed finger at the town behind them.
"Refuse again, and this town will share the fate of those mountains."
Cavendish froze.
He looked at the terrified faces of his "fans" peeking out from the rubble.
That was it.
The excuse he needed!
"You… Fine!" Cavendish declared dramatically, flipping his hair. "For the sake of these townsfolk who adore me, I, Cavendish of the White Horse, will reluctantly help you this once!"
'Thank god,' he thought.
With that, Cavendish turned and began walking toward Smoothie in the distance.
His legs felt like jelly.
'Shit, stupid legs, stop shaking! It's so embarrassing! Just walk cool!'
Trying to salvage his dignity, he struggled to steady his breathing.
As he walked past the captives, he drew his sword and cut their ropes with a flourish, pretending to be the dashing savior to mask his internal panic.
'Look at me being heroic,' he told himself. 'All these girls are my fans. I can't let them see my weakness. Even if Ray is a monster, my charm is unbeatable!'
But the universe wasn't done humiliating him.
The moment he cut the ropes, the women didn't rush to thank him.
They didn't swoon over his bravery.
They rushed right past him instead.
"Is that really Ray-sama?!" one girl shrieked, sprinting toward Ray.
"Oh my god, he's so handsome!" another wailed. "Way more handsome than Cavendish-sama!"
"And he's so strong!"
"Unfollowed! Unsubscribed! From now on, I stan Ray-sama!"
Cavendish stopped dead in his tracks.
He watched as his "fans" threw themselves at the feet of the man who had just threatened to destroy their town.
CRACK.
That was the sound of Cavendish's ego breaking. And what happened next shattered the pieces into dust.
Seeing the mob of women charging toward him, Ray frowned.
He hated crowds!
Hmph.
He released a burst of Conqueror's Haki.
WHAM.
The wave of pressure knocked the women out instantly. Their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed into the snow, foaming at the mouth.
But even as they lost consciousness, they kept whispering.
"Ray-sama... I love you..."
"Marry me... Ray..."
Cavendish, who prided himself on being the ultimate heartthrob, had never witnessed such insanity.
"THEY'RE STILL CONFESSING WHILE PASSING OUT?!" Cavendish roared, pulling at his hair.
"Is there no justice in this world?!"
"RAY! YOU MONSTER! HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY FANS!"
The only response he received was Ray's bored voice.
"Delay any longer, and I'll kill everyone. Including you."
Cavendish snapped back to reality.
"Ahem. Right. No need to rush. I'll go be the negotiator right away."
'Well,' he thought, sitting down in the snow in front of the armless Smoothie.
'Since there's no one conscious around to see me beg, swallowing my pride won't be that embarrassing.'
He crossed his legs and put on his best diplomatic smile.
"So, Smoothie-san. Let's have a chat shall we?"
...
Half an hour later.
Cavendish returned, dragging a sled.
On it sat Smoothie. Her severed arms had been bandaged, stopping the bleeding, but she looked pale as a ghost.
"Onii-sama!" Cavendish announced, bowing theatrically. "Mission accomplished."
Cavendish had learned a lot in that half-hour.
He realized that Ray wasn't just brute but also a calculated risk-taker.
Storming a Yonko's territory alone to save his pet? That was insane.
It was... surprisingly admirable.
'Maybe following him isn't the worst idea,' Cavendish mused.
He had used every trick in the book to persuade Smoothie. He played on her fear, her logic, and her ambition.
And in the end, she cracked.
Ray looked at them. He knew exactly what Cavendish was—a weasel who would do anything to survive when no one was watching, but would die for his image when an audience was present.
Useful, if managed correctly.
Ray hated talking. It was tiring, and honestly, he wasn't good at it.
His "cool silence" was 50% personality and 50% social awkwardness.
He was just like Sesshomaru in that regard—too proud to explain himself.
So, outsourcing the negotiation to a loudmouth like Cavendish was efficient.
...
Two hours later.
The Big Mom Pirates' ship set sail from the winter island.
The crew was gone.
Ray had intended to kill them himself to silence any leaks, but Cavendish took the initiative.
He eliminated every single subordinate under Smoothie's command while Ray watched.
Smoothie didn't even lift a finger to stop him.... cause she got none.
She sat on the deck, staring at the receding island.
Why did she betray her mother? It wasn't because she liked Ray.
Ray's "demonstration" of vaporizing the mountain range had served a dual purpose.
It wasn't just to scare Cavendish.
'He killed my spies,' Smoothie realized, shivering.
She had hidden a surveillance team in those mountains, ready to relay everything back to Whole Cake Island.
Ray's strike had vaporized them instantly.
He knew.
With no way to contact home, Smoothie was in a corner.
'If I go back now,' she thought, looking at her missing arms, 'Mama will kill me.'
Big Mom didn't tolerate failure.
A crippled Sweet Commander was useless. She would be executed, her soul extracted to feed the Homies.
Her only chance of survival—and the only way to protect her siblings from Mama's wrath—was to remove the threat entirely.
'I have to kill her.'
"Please die, Mother," Smoothie whispered to the ocean.
Ray had promised to help her restore her arms after the deed was done.
It was a deal with the devil, but it was the only deal on the table.
As for her crew being slaughtered? Smoothie felt nothing.
To recover from her injuries enough to stand, she had even drained three of her own subordinates dry herself before getting on the boat.
Thus, the strangest alliance in the New World was formed.
Cavendish: The narcissist tagging along to watch the fireworks, hoping to boost his bounty and maybe steal some glory.
Smoothie: The daughter plotting to kill her mother to survive.
Ray: His goal was simple: Kill Big Mom and rescue Chouchou.
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