After following the Kuja gathering team around the forest for a while, all the cats ca back with bountiful harvests.
Haibara ow collected quite a few dicinal herbs with special effects, Sanji ow obtained so foods unique to Kuja Island, Link ow picked up various oddly shaped fruits, shells, and other small trinkets, and even Klee ow sohow dug out several explosive materials that couldn’t be found outside.
Huai, on the other hand, ended up empty-handed, but she had only wanted to explore this unfamiliar island in the first place...
And, incidentally, keep an eye on Klee ow, that little troublemaking cat, to make sure she didn’t cause any disasters.
Feeling thoroughly satisfied, Huai ow and the others followed the gathering team back to Amazon Lily.
Before long, they reunited inside Kuja City with Jinx and her group, who had gone off to fight in the arena.
Only Robin remained in Hancock palace, paging through the few docunts preserved on Kuja Island.
"Klee! I won just now!"
After they regrouped, Shirahoshi imdiately excitedly shared her battle experience with her companions, while Kaido ow and Huai ow exchanged the information each of them had gathered...
"The Gorgon Curse? Klee heard a big sister talk about it, ow!"
Hearing Shirahoshi ntion that the Kuja people referred to Devil Fruit abilities as the Gorgon Curse, the little kitten imdiately chid in.
"That curse was put on that bad woman called Hancock and her two younger sisters after they defeated a monster called Gorgon. The monster attached it to them right before it died... anyway, that what she told Klee, ow."
"But the curse Klee heard about doesn’t seem to be turning into snakes. Instead, it that eyes grow on their backs, and anyone who sees them will be turned to stone, ow."
At this point, the little kitten tilted her head in confusion. "It seems that bad woman Fruit ability is exactly the power to turn people into stone, ow."
"The situation is already very clear—they lied to everyone else, ow."
(=`へ=)
Haibara ow folded her arms and nodded her small head as she analyzed, "Hiding their Devil Fruit ability isn’t the key point.
The real issue is their backs. That so-called Gorgon Curse is just an excuse fabricated to prevent others from seeing their backs. Even if soone did happen to see them, she could simply use her Fruit ability to petrify the other party, thus confirming the so-called ’curse,’ ow!"
"But then, why don’t they want anyone to see their backs?"
Shirahoshi asked in confusion. "Aren’t there only won on this island? Even if soone saw it, it wouldn’t be a big deal, right?"
"How would I know, ow."
Haibara ow spread her little paws and shrugged. "Maybe she got moss growing on her back or sothing, ow? With that woman narcissistic personality, it not impossible at all... as for her two younger sisters, maybe they’re just helping her keep the secret, so they all conveniently got ’cursed’ together, ow?"
"She really is a bad woman, ow! Klee doesn’t like her!"
(=`н=)
The little kitten puffed up her cheeks and declared angrily.
"How about we give her a lesson, ow?"
(==)
Ever eager to stir up trouble, Jinx first cautiously glanced toward Huai not far away. After confirming she wasn’t paying attention to them, Jinx covered her mouth and whispered,
"That bad woman is so confident about her looks, ow? If we take pictures of the ugly thing on her back and have Uncle Morgans publish them in the newspaper, she won’t be able to act so high and mighty anymore, ow!"
"Great idea, ow!"
Haibara ow was the first to respond.
Right after that, Klee ow nodded vigorously. "Bad guys who bully cats deserve a lesson, ow!"
"T-this isn’t very good, is it..."
Soft-hearted Shirahoshi was still a little hesitant, but her opinion couldn’t affect the little troublemaking cats at all. The three kittens put their heads together and began chattering away, planning how to secretly photograph Hancock back without anyone noticing.
Based on the palico Investigation Team long-standing experience, whenever Klee ow was involved, things would beco exceptionally smooth—and this ti was no exception.
Just as the little troublemakers were plotting their mischief, an opportunity delivered itself right to their doorstep...
"Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!"
From within the Amazon Lily royal palace built atop towering stone walls, a long, resonant bell sound suddenly rang out.
If Sherwin were here, he would discover that the sound was extrely similar to that of chi bells... more precisely, it was exactly the sound of chi bells.
As the lingering bell tones echoed, the entire interior of Kuja City suddenly sprang into activity.
"Snake Princess-sama! It ti for your bath!"
The news spread rapidly through word of mouth among the Kuja warriors, quickly reaching the entire city. Everyone put down what they were doing and, as if it were routine, began withdrawing toward the outskirts.
"Huh? What going on, ow?!"
The cats, experiencing sothing like this for the first ti, were completely dumbfounded.
Fortunately, Kuja warriors they had just t soon ca over to explain the situation and led them as they moved toward the city gates together.
It was still the sa old, oft-ntioned Gorgon curse. The few little cats exchanged glances—everything was understood without a word.
"Wait! Then what about Sister Robin?"
Sanji ow quickly asked, and Shirahoshi and the other cats all stopped as well.
Not long after entering the city, Robin had separated from the cats and gone straight to the royal palace. Even though none of them took the so-called Gorgon curse seriously, worry was still worry.
"Well... Lady Snake Princess should have made arrangents, I suppose..."
The Kuja warrior answered uncertainly.
After all, she was just a mber of a gathering squad, not even a national guard, and had never set foot in the palace. Naturally, she had no idea what was going on inside.
Such an uncertain answer obviously couldn’t convince the cats.
But just as they were about to turn around and force their way into the Amazon Lily palace, Robin had already co out together with the others.
"Tch..."
Jinx, who had originally wanted to take the chance to stir up so trouble, clicked her tongue in regret, then sensibly followed the main group to the outskirts of the city.
After everyone had left the city, the Kuja warriors used long curtains of cloth to surround the entire place and stationed national guards to patrol the periter. As they patrolled, they also issued warnings to everyone else...
"From now on, for two hours! No one is allowed to enter the city!"
"If it just ringworm on the back, there really no need to make such a big fuss, ow..."
Seeing the Kuja won making such a grand show of things, Haibara ow suddenly felt a bit less confident.
"Could it be that that ’Gorgon curse’ is actually real, ow?"
"Who cares whether it ringworm or a curse—let just go take a look and we’ll know, ow."
Jinx waved her hand indifferently. "Anyway, I don’t believe in that so-called curse at all."
Haibara ow didn’t really believe it either. After her mont of doubt passed, she instead grew even more curious about the truth.
So...
The little kitten turned around and took the initiative to look for Huai.
Originally, the little kittens had planned to sneak in by themselves. But who would’ve thought that even Hancock taking a bath could cause such a huge commotion? Under these circumstances, trying to move secretly without alerting Lady Huai was obviously unrealistic.
So Haibara ow decisively changed the plan and chose to tell the truth.
"...We’re just curious about what she hiding, and want to sneak in to take a look. We won’t alarm anyone else, ow."
(=ω=)Haibara ow put on an obedient, well-behaved look in front of Lady Huai.
The little ragdoll also rubbed her head against Huai while acting cute. "Klee ow promises she definitely won’t cause any trouble. Huai big sister, just let us go, okay, ow~"
"...If you do anything unnecessary, you’ll receive very severe punishnt, ow."
Harassed endlessly by the little kittens, Huai finally relented.
Of course, the most crucial reason was that, given the personalities of these little troublemakers, if their curiosity wasn’t satisfied, who knew what kind of chaos they’d stir up later. It was better to just agree.
After all, it was only a look at her back. It should... not be a big deal, right?
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