Seeing that a number of beast pirates and guards were scrambling to chase after Sanji as he pranced over the buildings, Cherry and Yasuie both knew it was time to part ways.
"I'll see you again soon, Toko, but for now it's goodbye," Yasuie resisted the urge to hug her goodbye. The civilians on the street might not have questioned a beggar and a small armored samurai hugging in public, but the enemies' forces may even stop to question them.
"Bye bye..." Toko gave him the saddest little wave, clearly used to not being able to stay with her father for very long. Yasuie thanked any gods who would listen that he could not see her face at that moment, for if he saw anything less her usual smile it would have shattered his resolve.
Yasuie turned away and disappeared into an alley whilst the attention of the crowds were gathered on the flying people. Toko never once spared a glance for Sanji and the women in his arms, merely watching her father leave in silence.
Cherry placed a gentle hand on Toko's helmeted head. "Don't worry. In just a couple weeks, you'll be able to live with him again."
Toko, ever the optimist, perked up immediately.
"Come on then, grandpa," Cherry took her hand and started walking away.
"The woman and the short samurai, stop there!" called a voice.
Cherry sighed. Why were people always making trouble for her? Has she been too nice? Does she need to chop them up into little bits and send them back to Kaido one piece at a time for them to get a hint?
Nevermind that she was in disguise. That didn't have anything to do with anything.
She turned to see who it was that was foolish enough to stop her and paused.
'That's a familiar face,' Cherry thought, recognizing that he was one of the so-called "Worst Generation", a former marine by the name of X Drake. 'How many of these guys got scooped up by Kaido? That's kind of pathetic, really; and they dare group themselves together with members of my crew? At least Bege had the balls to join Big Mom with the intent of betraying her.'
Already her opinion of the man was at rock bottom and they had never even spoken to each other before now.
"Show me your ankles!" Drake demanded of them, his eyes mainly on Toko.
"Pervert," Cherry shot back.
Drake physically cringed at the accusation. "I-It's not like that! I need to check you for tattoos!"
"I have tattoos all over me, pervert!" Cherry tugged on her collar to reveal a bit of her tattooed skin on her chest. "Surely you're not telling me to disrobe in public, are you?"
Some people lingering around were starting to whisper among themselves, shooting disapproving looks in Drake's direction.
The man was growing visibly distressed, so much so that Cherry had to wonder what made him leave the marines if he was such a boy scout.
'Oh, is he a spy or something?' Cherry had a thought. It was certainly a possibility, though she wouldn't bet on it since it was just as or more probable that he got into trouble and had to flee to the seas. 'Should I test him somehow?'
She considered it, but it would likely be too tricky to get him to break his cover here.
Drake recovered from the attack on his sense of shame and shouted, "I only asked to see your ankles! Stop stalling or I'll put you down!"
"Alright, calm your balls, man," Cherry said. She lifted the bottom of her kimono to show her ankles. Naturally the tattoo that Drake was looking for wasn't present.
"You like what you see, big boy?" Cherry winked.
"Stop that!" Drake demanded, blushing furiously. He pointed at Toko, "Now you!"
Toko was wearing socks and sandals, so she fortunately didn't have to remove any armor to show her ankles free of tattoos.
"See? That wasn't so hard, was it? Some people..." Drake started walking away.
"So you're going to walk away after getting what you were after? Typical man..." Cherry snorted in derision.
"This is not a thing! We're not doing this!" Drake turned and shouted at her again before redoubling the pace of his retreat, like the coward that he was.
"Looks like I'll never catch a good man, grandpa," Cherry said to Toko, who nodded in agreement. Drake apparently overheard and judging by the sound of his incoherent screaming he agreed too.
North of the Flower Capital, near the coast of the region of Kibi.
"I've got eyes on Big Mom!" hissed a beast pirate with a snake in place of his tongue.
He was hidden in the foliage of a particularly tall tree that gave him a decent vantage point. The snake tails where his lower legs ought to be were wrapped around a large branch for stability.
There was a brief pause before an answer from his den den mushi came. "Report, Snake- Eyes."
If not for his Gifter enhancements firmly locking him to the branch, he would have slipped and fell out of the tree in shock. He scrambled to catch the den den mushi he had dropped and returned with haste, "Y-Yes, King-sama! Looks like they've mostly disembarked from the Queen Mama Chanter and moved inland from the north coast. Big Mom and her party are moving towards Kita village..."
"..." Snake-Eyes patiently waited for a response or further orders, which came in less than half a minute. "Follow them, report on any changes immediately."
"Yes sir!" Snake-Eyes saluted towards no one.
Snake-Eyes got right to it, clambering down the tree with practised ease. Scouting and sneaking around had always been his area of expertise, and his Gifter powers only made him better at it than before. So he was quite confident he could trail the Big Mom pirates without getting spotted; otherwise, he wouldn't have the guts to act against one of the emperors of the sea, even from a distance.
The large band of pirates were easy to track. Big Mom herself made no attempts at stealth, uprooting trees and leaving oversized foot prints in her wake. Naturally her crew didn't bother either, with the big bitch drawing so much attention to herself.
Snake-Eyes got close enough to see them again when they had reached Kita village.
"Reporting," Snake-Eyes whispered into his den den mushi. "They've arrived at Kita village. Looks like they're surrounding the place for some reason..."
"Stall them," King's voice came through instantly. "Sacrifice your life if you must, just get in
"Huh?" Snake-Eyes squeaked. That wasn't part of the deal! He isn't even that strong compared to other Gifters, let alone against Big Mom and the executives that she brought
"Do it. I won't tell you again." King gave him no room to weasel out of this, and his tone suggested a fate far worse than death should he disobey.
Snake-Eyes didn't know what to do! He's a pirate, damn it! He didn't join up with Kaido to be used as fodder, and him becoming a valuable Gifter was supposed to be the end of any risk of
that happening at all!
Snake-Eyes didn't get the chance to make up his mind, though. A lollipop slammed down on his noggin with enough force to fracture his skull, taking away his burden of choice.
"Oh good, more fuel for Mama's new army, perorin~ Kukukuku!" Perospero chuckled, then grimaced when a stab of pain flared up in his stump leg. "Pedro, you'd best hope I don't find you because I'll take twice that which you've taken from me!"
Perospero grabbed Snake-Eyes by the snake tongue with his candy arm and started dragging him toward Kita village whose population wouldn't have to worry about the upcoming