Chapter 480: Rayleigh's Guess, and Kizaru's Arrival
The girl couldn't begin to imagine what had just happened. As a former executive of the Thriller Bark pirates and a subordinate to the Shichibukai Gecko Moria, she understood the sheer power wielded by the Warlords of the Sea.
In her eyes, every single one of them was a monstrous existence. Whether it was Bartholomew Kuma, who had sent her flying to this gloomy island in the first place; her former captain, Gecko Moria; or even the man who now gave her shelter, the world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye Mihawk, who didn't even possess a Devil Fruit. Each was a titan of the seas.
For Hawkeye to abandon his post and depart so suddenly… whatever was happening, it was no small matter. The girl's thoughts drifted, lost in speculation, until a sharp, frustrated gasp from her own lips pulled her back to the present.
"Hmph! That bastard Hawkeye, actually making me save that swordsman! It's so infuriating! Ordering me around again!"
But for all her blustering, she had already decided to help the man named Zoro. Hawkeye had taken her in, after all; this dreary castle was her only refuge in the world now. And so, despite her annoyance at being ordered around, she would carry out his request.
Meanwhile, at a bar on the Sabaody Archipelago, a familiar figure reappeared. Silvers Rayleigh, having departed after the chaotic battle to handle some affairs, stepped back into the smoky establishment.
Shakky, calmly wiping a glass until it shone, spoke without looking up. "So, what were you up to just now?"
"I went to check on the situation in the surrounding area…"
Shakky paused her work, a knowing smile gracing her lips. "That's not like you, Ray. You came back here to see me, which means you have something you need to say."
Rayleigh returned her smile. "Bartholomew Kuma sent them all flying to different places. He did it to save them."
"I know that much," Shakky said, her voice low. "If things proceed as expected, something big is about to happen on the seas."
"I'm not entirely sure about that, but there's something else I need to tell you. Just before Kuma sent them away—specifically, right before he sent the swordsman flying—Zoro said something."
Shakky set her glass down, her full attention now on Rayleigh. This was a detail she couldn't possibly have known.
Rayleigh polished his spectacles, his expression thoughtful. "Zoro shouted, telling the girl Nami to go to the shop."
"My place? Are you serious?"
He shook his head. "If that were the case, Zoro wouldn't have singled out Nami. His words imply that only Nami knows the location of this particular shop."
Shakky's brow furrowed in thought. "But they were all sent flying by Kuma. How could he possibly know where Nami would end up?"
"That's the heart of the problem," Rayleigh said, his voice dropping. "This proves the shop is an absolutely safe location. And it's a place only the two of them seem to know about. Shakky… do you remember a certain shop from many years ago?"
At his words, Shakky's mouth fell slightly open, a rare expression of genuine shock on her face. "You don't mean… Mr. Ren's shop?!"
Rayleigh nodded grimly. "If they can arrange to meet in one place without knowing where the other has been sent, and only one of them needed to be told… I can only think of one possibility. It has to be that shop. After all, it exists in another world entirely."
Shakky nodded slowly, taking a long drag from her cigarette and exhaling a plume of smoke. "I never thought that after all these years, people from our world would find their way to that shop again. No… wait!"
Rayleigh blinked, taken aback by her sudden intensity. It was rare to see Shakky so agitated. "What is it? What's with that expression?"
"Rayleigh! Think about it!" she said, leaning forward. "You'd see it if you just thought it through! Zoro told Nami to go to that shop! That means they already know a way to get back inside! They can take refuge there whenever they need to!"
Rayleigh's eyes widened behind his glasses as the full implication hit him. A slow smile spread across his face. "It seems I'll have to ask them about it when I see them again. It's been so many years… it's about time I paid that place another visit."
"Hmph. If we could go there often, we'd be in for quite a treat," Shakky mused.
"You're a shopkeeper yourself, Shakky."
"Oh? If I had his skills, I'd have been a legend long ago."
"That's true," Rayleigh conceded. "So, any idea where they were all sent?"
"I don't know. But with Mr. Ren's shop now in the picture, I have a feeling the entire sea is about to undergo some subtle, yet deep, changes. Rayleigh, all you can do is search in the directions Kuma sent them. If nothing unexpected happens…"
"I understand."
With a final nod, Rayleigh stood and left the bar.
Left alone, Shakky sighed, her gaze distant. "Those three sisters we saved all those years ago… now one of them is the Empress of Amazon Lily, a Shichibukai… I wonder what kind of existence will emerge this time, after so many years have passed…"
A single, slight change could propel the development of the entire world. The so-called butterfly effect was never a simple concept; its mysterious laws could produce truly terrifying results.
Elsewhere, aboard a Marine warship sailing back from the archipelago, Admiral Kizaru was resting when a lazy, amused smile touched his lips. "Ooh, my… Is someone playing with light right in front of me?"
Kizaru slowly opened his eyes, his gaze drifting toward a cabin door beside him. After a brief glance, his expression turned a fraction more serious. He couldn't sense any life, or to be more precise, he felt no life signature whatsoever from behind that door.
"Hmm? So it's not a prank, then? In that case, is there some interesting fellow about? How veeery scary…"
Despite his words, Kizaru rose to his feet and ambled over, his signature smile fixed on his face, though a flicker of genuine caution now resided in his eyes. Whatever this was, it wasn't simple.
The moment his hand touched the doorknob, he paused. The metal was strangely warm. Without further hesitation, Kizaru pulled the door open. In the same instant, his entire body dissolved into shimmering particles of light—his elemental form, a precaution born of years of battle.
But what he saw next stopped him cold.
Light. It was the most familiar thing in the world to him, yet the light pouring from the doorway made his own power seem like a mere flickering candle. This light was warm, dazzling, and impossibly soft. Kizaru paused, reaching out a hand made of pure energy to touch it, then clenching his fist.
A look of genuine surprise crossed his face. "Well now… this is really interesting… I suppose I'll go take a look…"
With that, he stepped through the threshold, a vigilant gleam still sharp in his eyes.
On the other side, Nami was blissfully sipping a tall glass of orange juice. She had been flying for so long that she was dying of thirst, and the oranges in the shop were unbelievably delicious—even better than the ones she grew herself in her beloved grove.
"Haaah! As expected of Shopkeeper Ren! Everything in this shop is amazing!"
Boa Hancock, seated nearby, regarded this newcomer from her world with a newfound respect. "Isn't that just orange juice?" she asked, a hint of confusion in her voice.
"Can orange juice have any other flavor?" one of the other patrons countered.
"It's just the taste of oranges," Nami clarified happily, "but you can tell the oranges themselves are perfect. Shopkeeper Ren's cooking is never anything less than divine!"
"Agreed!" came a chorus of six other voices.
Hancock was taken aback. "Eh?! It's that amazing?! As expected of my Ren!"
Lucifer sighed, a look of exasperation on his face. "You were just about to…"
"That's because I didn't know!" Hancock retorted, her cheeks flushing. "If I had known this was Ren's establishment, I naturally wouldn't have acted so… Hmm?!" Her head snapped toward the entrance. "The door is glowing again. Is someone else coming?"
Lucifer nodded.
Hancock's expression immediately tensed. "It won't be someone from our world again, will it! It won't be another woman, will it!"
Lucifer stared at the suddenly anxious Empress, completely bewildered. "Why are you so nervous about whether it's a woman or not?"
Just then, a slow, drawling voice drifted from the glowing doorway.
"Ooh, my, my… I think I hear someone's voice~"
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