OP62: Strong Enough to Love II

Calm Belt, Rusukaina.

Veyron was a bit impressed with his prowess. A trip between islands would usually take him about three minutes max speed which was about Mach 10 (12.300 km/h) after a whole year of continuous training and sparring against the Boa Family he realised that a trip that would usually take him three minutes, now took one minute at max speed. Which meant his max flying speed increased by three folds.

He had yet to face a foe that would allow him to test his new 'destructive' techniques that he couldn't use against Primrose, Hancock, Sandersonia and Marigold. But he had the perfect candidates. One was Enel whose fruit he desired to steal, the other... his mother who was coming with raging vengeance and surely thirsty for a good battle.

Before partaking in any of them, there were some things to settle. Orders were given before he departed Rusukaina and it was time to check up that everything was done accordingly.

He stood up and covered his eyes from the blazing sun... the gigantic mansion in front of him seemed to reach the skies but not quite there yet. It was a replica of the mansion belonging to the extinct Kingdom in the foregone Kuraigana.

The prideful Kuja tribe ladies stood proudly behind him together with an exhausted Kong and Larry.

Veyron finally turned around and their expectations rose, he showed them a thumbs up.

"Yes!"

Clamour and happiness followed, and he gave his approval over the project they had been painstakingly working on for the last year without breaks.

"This is amazing, you have done perfectly, Alemina, Aphelandra… girls. You make me proud" He couldn't help but turn around and regard the mansion that was likely the greatest luxury in this world now that he had ingrained a lot of his inventions in it. The exterior was the same as the one in Kuraigana, but the inside was completely different.

'I'm sure mom will like it. Maybe she'll even spare me with just this'.

...

"It is nice to know that you're satisfied, ever since you, the hebihime and the princesses left, we have been wanting to give you this surprise" Alemina and Aphelandra stepped forward, they too were proud of this construction milestone that would henceforth become the standard for buildings in Amazon Lily.

'Now, I need to fill it to the brim with wine...' The young teenager sighed and whistled, attracting the attention of one of his pets or better said... Sandersonia's pet, since this was her birthday gift a year ago while Marigold got gifted Noir, the massive Panther that was now in Amazon Lily, serving as a guardian.

"Oí Croco!"

!!!

The gigantic crocodile approached together with a group of Humandrils, the boss had called and all the crocodile could feel was apprehension.

"You did what I ordered, right?"

The group led him to a vineyard that was tightly protected while another group of humandrills and other jungle animals worked on it. Compared to a normal vineyard the plants were massive and a single grape was the size of a human head.

"Alemina, I want you to find someone in Amazon Lily to produce the best wine that you can make with this, could you do it? We don't have much time".

"Leave it to us!"

"Hmn, then I'll fly back to Amazon Lily now. Since the project is finished you can all start focusing on your living conditions. Have you decided?"

"Yes, we want to live in Rusukaina. If that's okay, young lord" The tribe ladies bowed down, after having spent years on this island, they had already gotten used to it. It also wasn't difficult to sail back to Amazon Lily whenever they wished as the one serving as a transport was the Poisonous Mother no less.

"Just call me Veyron, please" He rubbed his nose awkwardly, never used to be treated as a 'novelty' and did not wish to go through the experience either, "Of course you can, just don't come too close to the mansion when mom is around".

He whispered the last words in Alemina's ear and she nodded, a little confused and thinking that his mom was just someone that got easily irritated.

Just like that Veyron departed his island once again, he hoped by the time he got back there, everything would be settled and his mom would receive a pleasant surprise.

'If I win, the surprise is going to make her happy. If I lose... then she may spare them due to this. All going as planned'.

**

**

Calm Belt, Amazon Lily.

"That bastard attacked again?" Primrose had it, she slammed the table after receiving the most terrible news she could receive upon arriving. Veyron had dropped her and her daughters in the place where they met with Gloriosa, but Shawty... she was nowhere to be seen.

"His reputation has gotten more prominent during the last year. Have a look" Gloriosa who seemed to have undergone a lot of stress during this year, passed her and Hancock the most recent newspapers.

"Peter Hornigold, the infamous rookie capable of slicing a Marine's arm and slaughtering his whole tribulation. The marginal loss of Admiral Zephyr?" She couldn't believe what she was reading, the man she once fought to a standstill now had a bounty of half a billion bellies for his head and his name was everywhere.

"Where is Shawty?" Her voice was stuttery, even Hancock and her sisters started to realise things were more serious than they hoped.

"He kidnapped her and murdered half of the crew... the ship came back with the other half, heavily injured and with a note from the man himself, I'm sorry, Hebihime" Gloriosa apologised, ashamed and at the border of tears.

*RUMBLE!!*

Two Conqueror Hakis thundered the island simultaneously Hancock and Primrose were deadly outraged and even Marigold and Sandersonia inadvertently entered their awakened forms. This was utterly outrageous.

"Please settle down! The two of you have gotten a lot stronger, you can't brazenly release your Haki now!" Gloriosa, at the border of fainting, fell on her knees, supported by an apologising Hancock.

"I'm sorry, Gloriosa... mother! Isn't it time you tell us who this bastard is!? I'll turn him into stone and blast his corpse myself!".

"He dared…" Primrose ignored her, in her mind, she was trying to conceive how all this was even possible, that man shouldn't be this strong... he had either obtained powerful allies or received a powerful devil fruit.

"There is not much to say about him. He's a powerful Haki user, but not that strong, at least that's what I believed. He harassed us multiple times in our expeditions to the grand line and even stole some bounties from us... His main objective was to court me but I was never interested" When she thought about that man all she could do was feel disgust and now even more, disgust mixed with bloodthirst.

"He was after you but you weren't present. The letter stated: Come get Shawty in Jaya if you want her back. Hebihime, please think this through, that's a trap".

"So what if it is a trap? I'm not the same and also... I have my daughters" Primrose felt extremely confident, that person could have gotten stronger but it didn't matter, there was no way he was stronger than them after this year of training. Perhaps by herself, she wouldn't feel as confident... but if Hancock, Sandersonia and Marigold were with her, she wouldn't even fear an Admiral.

"All the remaining Kuja Pirates prepare. We're sailing immediately towards Jaya!" Hancock was the one to order even before her mother did. She couldn't accept members of their crew being stripped of their freedom, just like she had been... this had to be paid with blood.

"You heard her".

**

**

"Should we wait for Veyron?" Marigold questioned.

"That's right, little brother said he had some matters to resolve in that sky island" Sandersonia chipped in.

The remaining members of the Kuja Pirates together with Primrose, Hancock, Sandersonia and herself were the only ones sailing and that's all they needed. Their destination: The hub of piracy, Jaya.

On their way, they met Gorgon.

"Little girl we will be back soon, Please take care of the islands" Hancock caressed the snake's chin and ordered it. They could comfortably leave because they had Croco, Gorgon, Nemea, Noir and Gorgon taking care of the islands. Not to mention Larry and Kong.

The snake hissed in approval and sank back into the sea, followed by a crowd of Sea Kings... any ship that dared trespass the limits would be devoured faster than seedless grapes. In Amazon Lily, this was a state of emergency.

...

"No need to wait for him. Veyron will catch up soon" Primrose took out an eternal log pose pointing at Jaya, It was a common location that every pirate knew about if they even wished to become something in this life.

...

*BOOOOMM!*

The sonic boom resonated in the distance and they knew who it was.

"How cold of you to not wait for me" Veyron landed shortly after with Youbi floating on his back as if he had been hearing the conversation the whole time, but he just happened to arrive the moment they were sailing.

"Told you. There is something important that we have to talk about, sweetie, this is urgent".

They told him the situation about this man and it was safe to say that Veyron wasn't happy. He immediately proposed to reduce the man to dust but Primrose interjected.

"I want to deal with this myself… that bastard and I have a past. He has been courting me but I rejected him each time. It is time I put an end to this, you're also going to that sky island, aren't you? don't lose sight of your objective".

"Even then if he managed to do that to an admiral, I don't want you to risk it. Once we get there I'll head to the sky island with Marigold and Sandersonia. You, Hancock and the rest of the Kuja can hunt this fellow. If he ends up being too strong for you which I hardly believe… then wait for me. It won't take me long up there".

'It shouldn't be a difficult fight, but if Enel ends up being more troublesome than I expected, then Marigold and Sandersonia can deal with his crew, that will be faster'.

"Hehe~ how come you want to take us, little brother? Wouldn't big sis be more reliable?"

*SLAP!*

"Kya!~" Sandersonia sounded like she enjoyed it instead, making both her sisters roll their eyes.

He slapped Sandersonia's butt and the whole crew of girls blushed at their shameless display of intimacy.

"I want to take the two of you with me. What's the problem with that? Or do you not want to go? If you two want you can go with your mother and deal with that bastard. It is on you".

"I don't know about her but I want!" Marigold threw her sister into the gutter, without thinking twice.

"Then it is decided. Kuja Pirates... Let's make it swift! WE GO, WE KILL, WE LEAVE!"

"HA!".

But things weren't fated to go as this crew of powerhouses expected. They wouldn't be the only powerhouses in Jaya at this point in time.