"First of all, you must be hungry." Zaydas tossed a golden fruit toward them, pretending not to notice their frightened expressions.
Clumsily catching the golden fruits, the sisters looked at each other.
However, deep down, they knew that if the man before them wanted to do something to them, he wouldn't need to resort to cheap tricks like poisoning them.
Closing her eyes, Hancock was the first to taste the golden fruit.
When she took a bite, her beautiful eyes sparkled.
"This..." She had no words to describe what she had just tasted.
Seeing their older sister's reaction, her sisters didn't hesitate and also took a bite of the golden fruits.
Soon, they looked like starving people who hadn't eaten in days, devouring the golden fruits, even shedding tears from their eyes.
The truth was that, during the time they lived as slaves, let alone eating bread, they barely had decent food all those years.
Now, they had tasted the most delicious thing of their entire lives. How could they not be moved?
When they finished, it was possible to see a touch of regret and longing in their eyes.
Even Hancock, who was the most reserved among the three, had a similar reaction.
'In the end, she's still just a 17-year-old girl...' he thought.
She was different from the woman portrayed in the anime, who was freed from slavery and lived for years as Captain of the Kuja Pirates — the only woman known as a Warlord of the Sea, as well as the empress who rules the Kuja tribe on Amazon Lily.
"Here, take another one. This time, eat slowly. No one here will steal it from you." Zaydas said, joking at the end, tossing another golden fruit to each of them.
Receiving them, even without him saying anything, they wouldn't eat as quickly as before.
"Thank you." After thanking him, Boa Hancock took a small bite of the golden fruit.
The sisters also thanked him, then nibbled on their golden fruits.
In Zaydas' hand, a bottle of golden wine appeared.
He looked at the sisters eating with a small smile before starting to drink his wine.
The warm sensation of the wine going down his throat, along with the divine taste... Made him sigh.
Seeing him act like that, it was possible to see a touch of desire in the sisters' eyes.
It would be a lie to say they didn't long to eat and drink good things.
Living as slaves and having a life worse than an animal's made them appreciate these things even more.
Making three wine glasses appear, he had them float in the air, and after filling each glass, under the gaze full of anticipation from the three, he made them float toward them.
"This has a high alcohol content, don't drink too fast." Zaydas warned.
Nodding, they didn't deny it. The truth was that they weren't in a position to deny anything and longed for it, even if it was alcohol.
Without them noticing, Zaydas used healing on them to prevent them from getting drunk.
He didn't want them to do something they would later regret because of the alcohol.
After eating and drinking, even though it still wasn't enough to fully satisfy them, they were visibly happier and healthier.
And it was no wonder — each golden fruit was rich in protein. Not only was it good for them, but it also made them stronger. Not to mention the golden wine.
"Now, tell me." Zaydas asked: "What made you three stay?"
Although they already expected him to ask that, when the question was finally asked, they didn't seem to know how to answer.
"Let me try to guess." Seeing their hesitation, Zaydas guessed: "You were kidnapped very young and don't know how to get back home and want my help to return, since you don't trust anyone else?"
"!!!"
The three of them stood up.
From their reaction, Zaydas knew he had guessed correctly.
Well, you didn't need to be a genius to understand what was going through their minds. Especially with their 'fellow' ex-slaves wanting to kidnap the mermaids, possibly reviving old memories.
With their past, how could they trust someone so easily?
However, he was different.
He had strength and saved them.
Those were reasons enough to trust him, at least a little.
Before Zaydas could give an answer, a seagull flew over to them.
There was a pouch carrying newspapers around its neck.
Signaling for them to wait, Zaydas waited until the seagull reached them, then he paid for two newspapers. He took one to read, and threw the other toward Boa Hancock.
Grabbing the newspaper, he began to read.
'As expected, those seagulls were watching everything that happened...'
Of course, he knew about their presence in Mary Geoise, but he didn't do anything to stop them.
And, he saw on the front page something about himself. Portraying him as a great villain that others should beware of.
His actions were distorted to the point of saying that he killed all the World Nobles' slaves, set fire and looted all their treasures, even branded innocent World Nobles with the slave mark on their foreheads.
The truth was that Zaydas understood how malicious they had been with that report. Saying he killed all the slaves was meant to make those who were slaves try to defend him and then, capture them and try to extract as much information from them as possible.
"What nonsense!" Boa Hancock almost tore the newspaper in half.
She, better than anyone, knew how distorted all that written there was.
"Sister, there's something between the pages." Marigold warned.
Hancock heard that and took it. When she saw the poster, she was petrified on the spot.
When the sisters peeked at it, they were equally shocked.
"This, this...!"
Seeing their reaction, Zaydas, who had also noticed the poster, took it.
[Only Dead: The Traveler – ฿6,000,000,000!] – [Note: Any valid information on the whereabouts of The Traveler will be rewarded with ฿100,000,000!]
Seeing that poster with his picture printed on it, he chuckled softly.
"Y-You're not upset?" Boa Sandersonia asked timidly.
"Why would I be?" Zaydas asked with a smile.
"I mean, they distorted the whole truth, treated you like a great villain, even put such a high bounty on you, and only want you dead." She said word for word, almost not believing what she herself was saying.
"I already expected that." Zaydas said casually: "How could I expect honesty from a corrupt government that covers up for those..." Making air quotes with his hands as he said "World Nobles," he continued: "I'd be a complete idiot to expect them to tell the whole truth. And not everything is a lie. I did, in fact, put a slave mark on the foreheads of those snobbish nobles~"
"You really did that!?"
The sisters felt like they were on a roller coaster of emotions.
It seemed like every time they overcame something, the man before them would bring something new to surprise them.
"Not only that, but there's also a little trick that will forever prevent them from removing that mark from their foreheads~" Zaydas hummed playfully.
Now, they finally began to understand just how insane the man before them was.
It was common knowledge that one should never mess with the World Nobles.
Now, they wouldn't be surprised if all the admirals and marines were hunting him down in every corner of the world.
"You're not afraid?" Boa Hancock asked.
"Afraid? Of them?" Zaydas laughed as if he had just heard a joke.
───────────
"Find him, dead or alive!!!" shouted Topman Warcury at the fleet admiral.
Just as Boa Hancock and her sisters had guessed, the Elders were furious and had put the entire navy in pursuit of Zaydas.
Even the current admirals were sent out to try to find his whereabouts.
That wasn't all — even the Holy Knights were sent on this search.
This shows how furious the Supreme Ruler, Imu, was for having the hat stolen.
Topman Warcury knew they had to act fast. They had no time to waste. Imu had given them a checkmate — if he isn't found and the hat returned to her within a month, one of them will die!
Topman Warcury's eyes trembled with fear. He knew Imu didn't speak empty words, and the fear that he might be the one to die made him panic and deeply hate that damn "The Traveler" who caused all of this.