Chapter 56: Sending Hina Flying
On the empty streets of the Royal Capital, Alubarna, tall cylindrical buildings with yellow domed roofs stood sentinel, the ground paved with greyish-white marble, emanating an exotic atmosphere.
"Over there!"
"Spotted the Straw Hat crew! After them!"
Reiner's group ran through the streets, sporadically encountering scattered Marines.
After Smoker arrived at the Royal Palace with his subordinates, the guards refused entry to his troops. Aside from Smoker himself sneaking in alone, the other Marines remained outside the palace walls.
Now that Reiner and the others had emerged from the palace, pursuing Marines popped up wherever they went.
"There are way too many! Fire Star!" Usopp shot a flaming pellet from his slingshot, frowning as he complained:
"Isn't that Smoke Guy a Captain? How does he have so many subordinates?"
"Probably called for reinforcements," Reiner guessed, running behind the others. Chopper, having enlarged his body, was punching away the charging Marines one by one.
Just then, a woman with pink hair blocked their path ahead. She wore a form-fitting red suit, her sexy figure complementing her exquisite face. Pink lips gently held a cigarette.
Quite the youthful mature beauty. Reiner recognized her instantly – Headquarters Captain Hina, user of the Ori Ori no Mi (Bind-Bind Fruit).
"Honestly... that bastard Smoker. It's always like this," Hina sighed, looking impatiently at the Straw Hat crew.
She happened to be on a mission in nearby waters when a call came from Aokiji summoning her over. Upon inquiry, she learned it was, yet again, to clean up that idiot Smoker's mess.
"Hina is very angry right now." Hina raised her hands, pulling off her red gloves, her cold eyes fixed on the charging Straw Hat crew, standing her ground unflinchingly.
This elicited a round of cheers from the Marines behind her.
"I've fallen in love with you, Captain Hina!"
"Let me be your captive!"
"Captain Hina, I want to be your dog!"
"Me too! Me too!" An exaggerated voice chimed in, sounding somewhat familiar.
Reiner couldn't help but look, spotting Sanji in his black suit running towards them from the other end of the street.
However, his target wasn't the crew, but Hina. With hearts in his eyes and a love-struck expression, he ran straight for her.
Reiner: "..."
Seriously? You can't even tell friend from foe? You'll fall for anyone who approaches?
"Idiot! She's the enemy!" Nami's furious roar finally caught Sanji's attention.
He paused, stunned for a moment, turned his head, and his gaze, previously under the spell of his curly brow, seemed to reacquire its target. His legs stopped, then immediately changed direction towards the crew.
Feet moving as if powered by wind and fire wheels, eyes still heart-shaped, he yelled as he charged over, "Woohoo~ Miss Nami, I'm coming~"
"Trying to run? Not so easy!"
Hina snapped, lunging towards the now-exposed back of Sanji. She extended her right arm horizontally, preparing to wrap around and capture him.
"Here it comes! Captain Hina's Bind-Bind Fruit ability!"
"I want Captain Hina to capture me just once too!"
The Marines behind her turned into utter fanboys, excitedly watching Hina prepare to use her power.
However, just at that moment, a figure suddenly appeared beside Hina – slender, four to five meters tall, holding a round shield nearly as tall as Hina herself.
"So fast!"
The instantaneous appearance of the Red Ogre utterly shocked Hina. She hadn't even reacted before it was right upon her.
Seeing the masked figure in fighter's attire, Hina instinctively twisted her body, her arm bizarrely transforming into black cage bars.
She swung it directly at the Red Ogre. The Ogre's greatsword chopped towards the cage bars, resulting in the clang of metal striking metal.
CLANG—!
The next moment, Hina's arm passed through the ghastly white greatsword, leaving behind a black cage shackle binding it.
Yet Hina showed no hint of triumph, her face instead filled with terror.
Because at that moment, the Red Ogre's other hand, holding the round shield, was smashing violently down towards her.
BOOM!!
The incredibly powerful blow sent Hina flying directly, crashing heavily into a nearby building along the street.
"Captain Hina!"
"She was sent flying!" The crowd of Marines stared wide-eyed, rushing towards the spot where Hina had crashed.
"Damn Four Eyes! What did you do!?" Sanji, witnessing this, was furious, yelling directly at Reiner.
Saving you, obviously, what else? Reiner thought speechlessly.
Bang!
Before he could reply, Nami slammed a fist the size of a clay pot onto Sanji's head, shouting irritably,
"Watch the timing, idiot!"
"Yes~ Even angry Miss Nami is so cute~" Sanji, however, seemed to be enjoying it, running behind Nami with a large bump on his head.
"Isn't Zoro with you?" Reiner asked Sanji behind him.
"Yeah! Wasn't he right behind me just now?"
Sanji replied casually, then suddenly paused, as if remembering something important. "Oh crap! We're screwed!!"
The group looked back. Aside from a crowd of Marines, Zoro was nowhere in sight. Everyone's face darkened.
"That idiot Moss Head!"
"How did he disappear in the blink of an eye!?"
"Forget it. Let's just run first," Reiner sighed helplessly. This is typical Zoro.
"He'll show up when he needs to anyway."
After a while, the group finally shook off the Marines and rested in an alley.
"So hungry... Can't run anymore..."
Luffy immediately collapsed onto the ground, tongue lolling out, his voice weak. "Meat~ Need meat, Sanji~"
"The city is crawling with Marines right now, and the civilians have all been evacuated to shelters. No restaurants are open," Sanji said, looking troubled.
They had rushed all the way from Katorea to the Royal Capital, then experienced fighting; everyone was completely exhausted.
"So, back to the Merry now?"
"Eh? So soon?"
"We haven't even said goodbye to Vivi."
"It's all that persistent pest Smoker's fault," Reiner grumbled, sitting down directly and leaning his head back against the wall.
The group sighed collectively.
The blazing sun beat down mercilessly on Alabasta. The scorching weather turned the country into something akin to a baking oven.
They had also used up all their water during the fighting, leaving the parched group feeling even more irritable.
"Everyone," just then, a figure descended from the sky, its giant wings flapping as it landed gently.
Pell's massive bird body gradually shrank until he reverted to human form. Wearing his white robe, he walked forward, looking slightly embarrassed.
"My sincere apologies, esteemed benefactors. I've come to invite you all to the Royal Palace as guests. The kitchen is already preparing food to host you."
After ensuring the bomb was dealt with, Pell had immediately taken flight, spotting them from the air after searching for quite a while.
"Alright!" Hearing the word 'food', Luffy excitedly performed a kip-up.
"Meat! I want meat! Let's go quickly, everyone!"
"Is Vivi there too?" Nami asked excitedly.
Since entering the Grand Line, she had finally gained another girl on the ship, and she and Vivi had been inseparable.
The two were like sisters. Now they might have to part ways, and Nami couldn't help feeling a little sad.
After all, Vivi was a princess of a nation. Encouraging her to become a pirate with them... probably best not to.
"Yes. The King and Princess will personally host you," Pell nodded in reply.
Very quickly, Reiner collected Pell's template and created another hawk summon.
Pell had eaten his Devil Fruit long ago and was extremely proficient in his flying skills.
Strange and unusual species, or Zoan users with special abilities, were Reiner's favorite types to collect.
"This gives me two aerial mounts now. More spacious seating," Reiner thought, patting the hawk summon before jumping onto its back. "Let's go."
Meanwhile, at the port city of Nanohana, several Marine warships were docked by the shore.
On the deck of one, Smoker lay on a folding deck chair, hands behind his head, looking lazy.
"Reporting, Captain!" A Marine stood ramrod straight beside him, saluted, hands clasped behind his back, and reported respectfully:
"Orders from Headquarters have arrived! They request that this matter be kept quiet for now. Additionally, they request that you personally write a report for HQ to facilitate updating the bounty posters."
(End of this chapter)
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 15 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you