The crew headed toward the city of Shahar, hiking over the Talahatee Hills.
"Hey, Lulupo, can you carry me?" Puerco whined.
"Darling, I just used my hair for an entire night. Devil Fruit use takes its toll," he responded. "I need time to recover."
"But I'm sooooo itchy…" Puerco said, scratching at his bug bites. As a doctor, he knew full well scratching at them made them worse, but Machchar mosquitoes are a particularly nasty type of mosquito, so he really couldn't help it.
"Quit yer belly achin', doc! We still got quaht a ways t'go!" Ren said.
Puerco moaned.
—-
The assassins of Balthasar von Esens' revolutionary force, Minus World, landed in Shahar at the rukh airport. They all wore hooded cloaks, making it hard to tell who they actually were.
"Excuse me, who are you people, exactly?" asked the attendant at the airport. "You're not longlegs. You don't seem to be from around here."
He noticed the weapons they were carrying. "And you're armed, too. How did you even make it through security at Nagar?"
Meanwhile, the attendant's counterpart in Nagar was counting the huge stack of cash the assassins gave him to look the other way.
"We are mercenaries, hired to assist the prince in his upcoming battle," said Corcoran, lying.
"Hmm…" the attendant got lost in thought. "Got anything to prove that you're mercenaries? Ta'gup XIV is a prime assassination target right now, what with his uncle fomenting revolution.
"I'm not sure I can let you guys pass. May even need to call the police…"
"Surely this is enough identification," said Ubitsa, producing a wad of cash totaling ten million berries.
"Yup, I'm definitely calling the police now," the attendant replied. "I don't do bribes."
In response, Gabo held up his hand and snapped his fingers. A wooden stage extended from beneath his feet in a twenty foot circle. The attendant had a confused look on his face, but promptly pulled out a baby transponder snail.
Gabo snapped again. Suddenly, even though it was a bright, sunny day, the area around the stage became completely shrouded in darkness. "Lights out."
The attendant tried dialing the number on his snail, but he couldn't see. "W-what's going on?"
Under the shroud of darkness, the assassins escaped the airport and into the city. After about twenty seconds, the lights rose on the stage again. The attendant was dumbfounded at what just happened, and soon the stage disappeared too.
The attendant immediately phoned the police. "Police? This is Chidiya at the airport! Be on the lookout for five potential assassins!"
He went on to describe their appearances and weapons. "…and at least one of them has Devil Fruit powers!"
The assassins met in a dark alley.
"We should have killed that guy," said Princip.
"And make an even bigger scene?" Gabo asked.
"We should make haste for the palace. I wouldn't be surprised if they're moving the prince to a hidden location now," said Ubitsa.
"Dude… I barely even know what's going on…" said Kandar with a dopey smile.
Corcoran plucked a few notes on his bass. "That's because you spend all your time and money with Dr. Feelgood and his Happy Happy Grass. That stuff's destroying your mind."
"I can quit whenever I want!" Kandar said, blowing smoke. "I just don't want to, kanahahahaaaa…"
"Ugh, at least keep it away from us," said Ubitsa.
The group departed the alley and headed toward the palace, which was easy to spot due to being situated on a large hill near the center of the city.
—-
At the western gate of Shahar, the guards saw Zeiko. She was still walking with her hands in her pockets, occasionally taking one out to take a drag of her cigarette.
"Who goes there?!" one of the guards shouted at her.
Zeiko didn't flinch, and kept walking up to the guards, who crossed their spears to show that they wouldn't let her in. She stopped right in front of them, puffed on her cigarette, and produced her badge.
"The name's Zeiko. I'm a World Government representative. I'm here to speak to the crown prince."
"What? You expect us to believe that?" said the other guard.
Zeiko blew smoke. "I do, yes."
"We're already on high alert after a group of potential assassins escaped into the city! Go away, fish freak!" ordered the first guard.
"I won't," Zeiko calmly replied. "Your kingdom and by extension the prince owe the government a lot of money. I'm here to collect."
She pulled her hands out of her pockets and adjusted her tie. "Let's not make this ugly."
"Why should we believe you? A government agent should have come in on a rukh bird!" said the second guard.
"The name's Zeiko. I come representing the World Government's Cipher Pol W2 collections agency," she said to the Nagar attendant, flashing her badge.
"Go away, fish freak!" the attendant said. "The government ain't got no business here right now!"
Zeiko said nothing, and just jumped in the river and started swimming to Shahar.
"This is your final warning," Zeiko said. "I want to have a peaceful chat with your prince."
"We said go away!" the guards shouted in unison, thrusting their spears at her.
Zeiko didn't flinch, and simply said "Iron Body."
Her body became incredibly stiff, and when the spears made contact with her, their points snapped off. The guards were shocked.
"You wanna keep going, guys?" Zeiko asked, relaxing.
The first guard put on a set of brass knuckles and started punching at her. Zeiko still didn't flinch, and simply said "Paper Arts."
Her body became limp like a piece of paper, and she easily weaved past his attacks. She continued weaving past the other guard's attacks when he started kicking with his long legs.
"Why can't we hit you?!" shouted the first guard.
"Because you're weak," Zeiko replied bluntly, effortlessly dodging their attacks.
"Shave!" she called. She instantly appeared behind the guards, then raised her index fingers on each hand.
"Finger Pistol."
Zeiko poked the guards in their backs. However, these pokes had enough force to be compared to a gunshot. As they had basically gotten shot in their spines, the guards collapsed, unable to move from the waist down.
Zeiko adjusted her tie again and took another drag from her cigarette.
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
Zeiko looked up at the wall and sighed. "Moon Walk," she said, jumping and bouncing off the air until she reached the top. She surveyed the city, and saw the palace in the distance.
"Let's roll," she said, teleporting down into the city with a Shave.
After the shock of being paralyzed passed, the second guard pulled out a baby transponder snail and alerted his superiors.
"There… there's another potential assassin in the city! Claims to be an agent of the government. She's a fish freak too!"
—-
Worldwide Smoke made it to the southern gates of Shahar at around noon. Two hours remained until Ta'Gup XIV's coronation ceremony. Samudra led the way as the guards stood still.
"Good morrow! It is I, Prince Samudra, brother of Ta'Gup XIV! I have returned for his coronation!"
The guards sighed. "We know who you are, your highness," said the first guard. "And it pains me to say this, but we have been instructed to not let you in."
Samudra winced.
"You and your new friends are responsible for the deaths of an entire city," said the second guard. "Your brother must not have told you this, but you are being formally stripped of your royal title as a result of your crimes."
"You utter fool!" Ta'gup shouted over the transponder snail. "Your years of partying and womanizing have done nothing but bring disgrace to the royal family!"
"Brother, I-"
"Don't 'brother' me! I refuse to be associated with a mass murderer! It's always something with you! Never return to Shahar!"
Samudra hung his head.
"Honestly, my lord, I'm not sure what you expected," said the first guard. "You murdered an entire city after abandoning your wife and your royal duties to go party around the world."
"W-wife…?" Shaska asked, dumbfounded.
Something triggered in her. She wasn't particularly interested in the prince after their fight earlier… but something inside her made her feel like she had been lied to.
"You… you never mentioned having a wife, prince…"
"Oh, well, I…" the prince stammered.
"You left your family to go womanize around the world…?" Shaska asked, blood beginning to boil.
"…yes?" Samudra replied, confused.
Shaska blew smoke and readjusted herself. She then stepped forward, grabbed the guards' heads, and smashed them together with her monstrous strength, knocking them out cold. She grabbed the bars of the gate and pried them open manually.
"Let's go, prince. We're gonna go see your brother about this class system of yours. Then I never wanna see you again," she said coldly.
Shaska stormed off into the city while the rest of Worldwide Smoke just stood there.
"What was that about?" Andy asked.
"The prince was cheatin' on his wahf…?" Ren asked, confused.
"Prince, darling, you should have told us that…" said Lulupo.
"Let us… let us follow her," Samudra replied.
—
Unlike the rest of the Panipuri Kingdom, which was under the spectre of a civil war, Shahar showed what the country was normally like. It was as if the war didn't exist. The longlegs were singing and dancing, each to their own song as they went about their days. Even the Unclean of the city were singing as they shoveled cattle droppings out of the streets.
"Oh my! What a delightful city!" Lulupo cheered as he attempted to join in the singing. It was then that he stepped in cow dung.
"Oh gods! I'm so sorry!" said a young Unclean girl, rushing over to clean up the pile of manure, as well as Lulupo's high heel shoe.
"Darling, please, it's my fault for not noticing. You don't need to trouble yourself!"
"Sir Lulupo! You should let her clean your shoe! She is Unclean, that's what she was born f-" Samudra attempted to explain, but Lulupo cut him off.
"Prince, I was already reluctant to take your orders after I found out about this class system of yours, but I'm definitely not going to listen to you after hearing about what you put your poor wife through."
Samudra winced.
"Now, darling, you're not Unclean to me," Lulupo said, turning back to the girl. "What's your name?"
"My name…?" The girl blushed. "My name is Rima… sir? Or… ma'am?"
"Sir, ma'am, it doesn't matter to me," said Lulupo. "A beautiful young girl like you shouldn't be shoveling animal droppings! Why, with some sprucing up, you could be the wife of a nobleman!"
Rima couldn't help but blush even harder. "I… no one's ever…"
"Sir Lulupo!" Samudra shouted.
"Prince." Lulupo replied, voice dripping with venom. "I'm with Miss Shaska. You're still trying to preserve this cruel system where this girl has to shovel crap for the rest of her life. It's not right."
Lulupo grabbed Rima's hand. Despite only being around 15, she was only a foot shorter than him due to her being a longleg.
"I'm changing the system, starting with Rima here! Come on, darling. Let's get you some nicer clothes!"
"Oh my… but, but…" Rima said.
"But nothing, darling! I may not be from around here, but I know when something needs changing! Let's go!"
As he walked off with Rima to find a boutique, he turned back to Samudra and the rest of Worldwide Smoke. "Darlings! And prince… I'll meet you at the palace later! I want to show this girl she can be more than just a street sweeper!"
"But Sir Lulupo! The Unclean enjoy the manu-"
"Prince. One more outburst like that and I will fight you in front of your citizens," Lulupo retorted.
As soon as Lulupo was out of earshot, Samudra said, "Sir Lulupo, you are too idealistic…"
"Honestly, I am with Mr. Lulupo," said Zinnia. Ruth hissed in approval. "As a former slave myself, I do not think I can abide by this system after seeing it in action. Especially after seeing how dedicated the other citizens were to the cause of changing it."
"Lady Zinnia! They killed people!"
"I will go to the palace. I would like to see your brother. I would like to see a peaceful resolution to this."
Zinnia and Ruth walked off.
One by one, the crew separated from Samudra, disgusted not just by his adulterous ways, but also by the rigid class system. Samudra was left standing there, alone.
Andy and Roxanne went off looking for food, and Puerco tagged along with them, hoping to stop by a local doctor to get his bug bites treated.
"I wanna try some authentic Panipuri recipes!" said Andy, mouth watering.
"Remember, they don't eat beef, honey," Roxanne replied.
Andy's face fell and he became depressed. "Right…"
Ren walked around the city too, looking for good buildings to snipe from when the fighting eventually started.
Schwarz went off on his own, trying to find where Shaska went. Samudra attempted to follow him.
"Sir Schwarz!"
"Samudra," he replied, not even bothering with the honorifics.
"I humbly request your-"
"Samudra, surely you understand how shitty this whole situation makes you look, right?"
"I…"
"I'm gonna look for the boss. We're gonna stop this war any way we can. And we'll take your money when we're done. But you're basically dead to us," Schwarz stated bluntly. "I think I speak for all of us when I say we don't want any part of your class system. Even as a former noble myself… seeing that girl so eager to clean crap made my stomach turn."
Samudra hung his head.
"Let's go see your brother, Samudra."
—
The assassins from Minus World walked through the city, still in their hooded cloaks. A police officer saw them walk past and relayed the information to his fellow officers via baby transponder snail.
"This is Officer Kaanoon on Sadak Street, requesting immediate backup. I have sight of the fi-"
The assassins heard this. Kandar, being a bit out of it due to the Happy Happy Grass he was smoking, drew his rifle and shot the officer, killing him.
This made a scene. People started panicking as Officer Kaanoon's blood poured into the street.
"Kaanoon? Kaanoon! Come in!"
"Kandar, you idiot!" Princip scolded. "Dammit! We gotta get out of here!"
"Let's split up and meet at the palace," said Ubitsa, taking off. The rest of them followed suit, each running in a different direction.
"Kanahahahaaaaa… I made an oopsie…" said Kandar, running into the nearest building, a hotel. The staff inside saw the commotion and tried to reach the police with the transponder snail, but Kandar shot the receiver, destroying it
"Kanahaha… I'll take hostages if I have to," he said with a smile.
—-
News of a shooting spread across the city quickly. The citizens quickly became uneasy, as Shahar was a peaceful city. Everyone but the nobility, the military, and the people at Shahar's points of entry was unaware of Barabar's invasion force that would be approaching within mere hours. Ta'Gup XIV was confident the rebellion would be put down without a single Shahar civilian's life lost; only time would tell if he was right to make that bet.
Zeiko, unconcerned with the commotion, sat down at a local cafe and ordered herself a coffee. She pulled out a pocket watch to check the time.
"Hmm. It seems the coronation will be starting in an hour or so. Perfect. I have time to enjoy a local brew. I hope they don't move the soon to be king to a secret location just because the government came for its Heavenly Tribute."
The coffee shop happened to be on the street leading up to the palace. Shaska, still in a huff, came storming down. She was followed not too far behind by Samudra, Schwarz, and Zinnia.
Zeiko looked up from her coffee and saw Shaska.
"Hm… interesting…" she said.
Shaska just happened to look off to the side and saw Zeiko, sitting at the cafe, legs crossed, holding her coffee.
Their eyes met, and they both said nothing until Zeiko stood up. Samudra, Schwarz, and Zinnia caught up to them.
Zeiko looked Shaska dead in the eye, took a sip of her coffee, then set it down and pulled her gloves on tightly. She finally said something.
"Hello, mother."
TO BE CONTINUED