Meeting at Marine Headquarters
"Ug, why do I have to come to these annoying things?" Kara said as she followed Tsuru, complaining the whole way.
"Well, after all, most of these guys know you. It's better to have someone who can keep them in check," Tsuru said calmly as she led the way.
"They're just a bunch of idiots," Kara said as they arrived in front of large doors.
"Don't break anything," Tsuru said, stopping Kara, who was about to walk through the wall as usual, and pulled her back to stand behind her.
"Fine," Kara said innocently.
Tsuru then nodded at the two soldiers standing by the doors, and they opened them.
Tsuru walked in while Kara followed her with an annoyed expression, seeing the people who were already waiting inside.
"Kara!" a female voice called out before jumping toward Kara and hugging her joyfully.
Tsuru, seeing this, simply smiled and shook her head.
"Well, maybe this won't be so bad," Kara said as she realized the beautiful pirate empress was hugging her.
Kara had met Boa Hancock years ago, on the very first day Boa set out with the Kuja Pirates.
Back then, Kara was still a rookie marine who actually followed rules and orders, so she was accompanying Garp on a mission to catch some pirates stealing in the commercial district. As usual, Garp left all the work to her and disappeared.
Kara spent days watching over the area until she discovered the culprits: none other than the Kuja Pirates.
At the time, the former empress had passed away, leaving the throne to the next generation—Boa Hancock. Because of this, the Kuja Pirates were probably at their weakest since their captain was still a rookie.
Luckily for them, they ran into Kara, who had a weakness for beautiful women. So, after defeating them, Kara simply spanked them and then ran away.
Boa Hancock, furious, chased Kara for weeks, seeking revenge. She found her several times, only to end up getting spanked again. Eventually, Kara started enjoying it and would purposely show up just to mess with her.
After all, Kara found Boa's arrogant personality quite irritating, so teasing her was fun.
Meanwhile, Kara continued hunting pirates to rise quickly in the ranks, becoming more and more well-known across the Grand Line.
Of course, pirates didn't want a marine like her getting stronger, so the underworld started placing bounties on her head. But as unpredictable as she was, it was difficult to track her down.
One day, a foolish noble fell in love with Boa Hancock's picture and sent spies everywhere to find her. When he finally discovered the island she was on, he also found out that Kara was there. Wanting to kill two birds with one stone, he leaked the information to everyone.
Before Kara could even tease Boa again, the island was surrounded by all kinds of underworld forces looking for them.
So, they put aside their differences and fought together for days as more enemies kept arriving, trying to capture them.
Kara was furious, realizing that the noble had considerable power since even the navy was facing obstacles in trying to assist her.
But on the third day, Garp appeared, scaring off the remaining enemies.
After that, Kara and Boa made peace. Not long after, Kara founded the bounty hunter guild to fight against the underworld, and Hancock became one of its founders—though this fact remains a secret.
"Don't you think those two have something going on?" Ace whispered, nudging the person beside him as he gossiped.
"I wouldn't be surprised. It's Kara, after all. The king still fears she might come back and steal his daughter," Jinbe replied calmly, glancing at Kara and nodding in greeting.
Meanwhile, a large man sat nearby, holding a bible and speaking to no one.
"Apologies for the delay. Please take your seats," Sengoku said as he entered, sighing as he saw Kara still being hugged by Hancock.
After all, marines and pirates were supposed to be enemies, yet here was Kara, embracing a pirate.
"Let's begin. I doubt anyone else will show up to the meeting," he said as he sat down calmly.
"Still, four out of six… that's a new record. It's a lot more than I expected," Sengoku commented, glancing at everyone present.
"Well, I was nearby. I went to watch Kara's fight, though it was pretty disappointing for Whitebeard's son," Ace said casually. As Garp's grandson, he had met Sengoku a few times, especially after becoming a Shichibukai. The old man would often come to pester him.
"Whitebeard's son?" Jinbe asked with interest, looking at Ace since he hadn't heard about it.
"Right, you're still trying to free your island from that guy, aren't you?" Kara said, joining the conversation and looking in Jinbe's direction.
"Yes. Thanks to the bounty hunter guild, kidnappings are nonexistent now, but that man still insists on making our island part of his territory at all costs. Meanwhile, his so-called 'sons' keep abducting our people… like we're cattle," Jinbe said angrily, slamming his fist on the marble table, cracking part of it.
After Gold Roger's death, Whitebeard arrived at Fish-Man Island, which was being raided due to its location at the entrance of the New World, and declared it his territory. Thanks to that, pirate activity was significantly reduced.
The problem was that many pirates who joined Whitebeard's crew felt entitled to do whatever they pleased within the old man's territories. And even if Jinbe went to speak with Whitebeard, he turned a deaf ear, claiming they were under his protection.
Because of that, while the number of kidnappings had decreased, Jinbe lost all respect for him. However, freeing his island from the control of a Yonko was no easy task.
Fortunately, Kara had secretly invited him to join the bounty hunter guild. That way, Jinbe could use the guild's protection and even issue rescue missions for his people, while the guild established one of its bases on Fish-Man Island, securing an entry point into the New World.
"Don't worry, the opportunity will come sooner than you think," Kara said with a confident smirk.
Before Jinbe or the others could ask, they heard footsteps approaching.
"The Marine Headquarters and the Shichibukai… Seeing both powers sitting at the same table, conversing so peacefully, is ridiculous. You're supposed to be enemies," the newcomer said, looking at everyone in the room.
"Hello, Drac," Kara greeted Mihawk casually, waving a hand and completely ignoring his remark.
"Hmm, strange. I thought you wouldn't come," Sengoku said calmly, also ignoring Kara.
"I'm simply interested in the pirates being discussed in this meeting… and in knowing how the marine you're training to defeat me is doing," Mihawk said as he took a seat.
"Oh, he's fine. He still challenges Hawkeye 2.0 every day," Kara said nonchalantly.
"Hawkeye 2.0?" Boa Hancock asked, confused.
"A monkey Kara kidnapped and dressed like Hawkeye," Ace said, holding back laughter.
"Hey, I didn't kidnap him! He betrayed his nation for a banana!" Kara quickly defended herself.
"Hmph… Let's get this over with. I don't want to be near this idiot," Mihawk muttered as he sat far from Kara.
His words angered Hancock, but before she could say anything, everyone turned toward the balcony. At that moment, Kara had disappeared from her seat.
"Would it be alright if I also participated in this meeting?" Lafitte asked, appearing in front of everyone.
"You want to participate? I almost killed you—oh, sorry," Kara said, her fist just inches from Lafitte's head, making his eyes widen in a mix of surprise and fear.
Then, Kara casually walked past him and sat back down as if nothing had happened, while the others looked at Lafitte like he was an idiot. After all, sneaking into a Marine base and thinking no one would notice was beyond foolish.
Several Marines were probably aiming their rifles at his head at that very moment.
"You're Lafitte?" one of the soldiers asked in surprise.
"Lafitte?" Sengoku repeated, having never heard the name before.
"Yes. He was expelled from his country for being incredibly violent," the soldier quickly reported.
"My past is irrelevant. I'm only here to nominate a man for the vacant Shichibukai position," Lafitte said, cautiously glancing at Kara… only to see her being fed cake by Boa Hancock.
—
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