Chapter 92: Chandelier City
"So this is Chandelier City?" Asked Trenza softly as she and everyone else stood at the ship's bow while Sebad was docking into the island.
"I guess it's got its name for a reason; this place is freaking bright; they trying to be seen from outer space, or what?" Remarked Diddy with a slight frown as he looked at the city, which was illuminated by various lights despite it being the middle of the day.
"So, Captain, will we be causing a ruckus like usual or not?" Asked Grand curiously with a slight smile, though, despite his large statue, no one on the docks was paying him any heed, as they were too busy looking at Freyja.
"If you're going to destroy this place, do it once we've acquired everything. I'd like to enjoy myself a little after what happened on Centaurea; I still need to recharge my reserves; I was forced to use all of my saved vitality while fighting Mini." Stated Freyja calmly while leaning against the railing, eyeing the various workers on the dock with hungry eyes.
"No one cares what you have to say, you porta-potty." Said Diddy, and although Freyha didn't completely understand what he was referring to, she still jeered back.
"Don't need to rub it in; of course, people will listen to a talking monkey; you don't come across them every day." Remarked Freyja, her words eliciting a grunt from Diddy, but other than that, he hardly reacted.
"Anyways, I don't care what you guys do; just don't die; that would be annoying for me to deal with." Said Diddy with a shake of his head as he hopped from the ship to the deck with a rope in hand before tying it to one of the docks many pillars.
With Sebas having aligned the ship and dock perfectly. I pulled the boat into the spot before tightening the rope, ensuring the ship didn't drift off. Once that was finished, everyone else followed me and disembarked from the ship, while our presence seemingly became the center of attention from all the stares I could feel.
'Tsk, who am I kidding? They're all looking at Freyja; fools, they'll all end up turning to skeletons, though whatever, I don't care.' Thought Diddy as he looked at the numerous people on the docks, which consisted of many different people, such as pirates, marines, workers, merchants, and civilians.
"So many tasty treats; I'll definitely be enjoying myself! Come on, let's go, Scar; I can't leave you out of the fun." Remarked Freyja with a naughty expression as she licked her lips, grabbed Scar's hand, and walked forward, leading him away from the docks and into the city.
"Tch, sometimes I regret giving her that Devil Fruit, turned her into such a sex fiend." Muttered Diddy with a frown as he glanced at Freyja, her hips swaying rhythmically with each step, causing nearby men to lose all reason and lunge toward her.
"Make sure to return within 2 hours; I'm sure neither of you wants me to search for you." Added Diddy as he bared his fangs toward Freyja and Scar, though only one of them bothered to turn around.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Captain." Replied Freyja dismissively as she snapped her fingers, causing the numerous staring men, who had already been turned into her slaves, to stop whatever they were doing and follow behind her, forming what looked like a small militia.
Growling in annoyance, I Ignored Freyja and shifted my focus to Sebas, Grand, and Trenza.
"So, seeing as Freyja and Scar will be no help, Sebas, Grand, can one of you acquire a log pose? Besides you two and Scar, when he isn't with Freyja, you three are the only ones competent enough to get anything done." Remarked Diddy, his words causing Sebas to lightly chuckle while Grand displayed a large smile, though Trenza looked quite annoyed.
"Ugh, I respect Freyja's strength, but could you please not lump me together with her!? I may not be the most helpful, but at least I don't spend all day inside a brothel!" Exclaimed Trenza as she folded her arms and groaned in annoyance.
"Yeah, that's because, unlike you, Freyja is actually gorgeous; besides your eyes, which are quite beautiful, you don't have anything going for you." Said Diddy blandly as he insulted and complemented Trenza simultaneously, causing her face to twitch while Grand released a boisterous laugh.
"Tch, what are you laughing for, Grand!? It's not like you're exceptionally handsome or anything, and neither are you, Captain, so you really shouldn't have the audacity to call someone else ugly!" Yelled Trenza angrily as she glared at Grand, though he ignored her and continued laughing before pointing at Diddy, who just raised his eyebrow.
"Of course, I don't expect you to find me handsome. I'm a Mink, and you're, whatever you are; we're two completely different species. Just because I have far more prominent monkey-like features doesn't suddenly mean I find monkeys attractive or anything, and for your information, for a Mink, I'm quite handsome." Remarked Diddy calmly before proudly smirking while rubbing his chin.
"Hoho, whether you're ugly or handsome, as long as you're confident in your appearance, you'll still be attractive to women." Commented Sebas with a soft chuckle while Grand continued laughing, though he was actually taking heed to his advice.
"Also, I never called you ugly; you just don't have anything that stands out about you; you're like the average-looking girl at a frat party that I would hook up with then forget about." Said Diddy, his words confusing Trenza as she had no idea what a frat party was.
"Anyways, enough about whether Trenza is ugly or not; I'm leaving. I can't be wasting my time on stupid conversations like this." Added Diddy as he turned around and left the now-empty dock, heading deeper into the city.
"Hey! You can't just leave! Tell me what a frat party is! I need to know whether that was a compliment or not!" Yelled Trenza as she chased behind Diddy and started pestering him with questions that he promptly ignored.
"Hoho, youth; I quite miss my youth." Said Sebas with a soft smile as he watched Trenza and Diddy head deeper into the city.
"Speaking of youth, Father, were you a ladies man?" Asked Grand curiously as he finally stopped laughing.
"Heh, was I ladies' man? I can read people's minds; Grand, I was the greatest ladies' man in existence. Let me tell you a few stories from my youth. When I was 33, still in my prime, I met this beautiful young woman named Caroline, who I actually wasn't able to read the mind of…" Stated Sebas with a slight smirk as he recounted one of his precious stories from his younger days while he and Grand headed toward the city.
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Once Trenza finally stopped pestering me with her desire to know what a frat party was, the walk through the city was much more enjoyable when I didn't have an annoying high-pitched voice yelling directly in my ear.
"Eh, that's weird; this place is quite empty. I imagined Chandelier city would be much more lively, especially filled with pirates who intend to make a final pit stop before entering Paradise." Remarked Trenza as she observed the surrounding streets, which were rather desolate despite it being around noon, usually when one would expect a city to be at its liveliest.
"Heh, look closer, Trenza; maybe you'll finally notice it." Said Diddy with a slight smirk as he looked around, only spotting women bustling through the streets, though they kept a distance from Diddy since although he was a new pirate, with his large bounty, he was pretty infamous within big cities.
"Oh, I finally see it; there are no men, only women. It must be Freyja's doing." Commented Trenza blandly, her interest instantly waning as she discovered the reason why.
Chuckling to myself, for the next hour, Trenza and I walked around the city, entering a few weapon shops, only for Trenza to leave empty-handed since she didn't find anything up to her standards, though I'm just glad she didn't spend a long time, otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered waiting with her.
Currently, we were inside another weapon shop; I was just standing by the entrance, leaning against the wall with my eyes closed while Trenza searched for an appropriate weapon, though, of course, she didn't find anything to her liking.
"Haa, boss, is this everything you got?" Asked Trenza with a sigh as she looked at the slightly plump-looking man standing behind a register, seemingly the shop owner.
"That's everything I've got in stock, little lady; I've got some rifles in the back, but you don't seem interested in those." Replied the man with a nod, his words causing Trenza to sigh in defeat, though just as she turned around, she saw Diddy walk right past her.
"Hey, sir, where are you going? Customers aren't allowed back there- my door!" Asked the man as he looked at Diddy, who walked right past him towards the back door before suddenly ripping it off the hinges and embedding it into a wall.
Ignoring the yelling man, I entered what looked to be the storage room, considering the numerous unorganized weapons, before heading towards the corner of the room, digging through a pile of guns and boxes of ammunition, I finally found the ground, though with my senses, I could easily tell it was hollow underneath. Punching through the ground, I grabbed whatever was underneath before retracting my hand, only to find out what I'd been sensing this entire was a small black, goldish-white pistol.
'Reminds me of Lindbergh's Haki.' Mused Diddy as he intently observed the glossy black barrel of the pistol while Trenza and the man finally entered the room.