124 Granny Jen on ship

A quick glint flashed through the air before the freshly killed sea king's head cleanly separated from it's neck and fell. Not even half a second later, it's gut was cut open, allowing Kench to begin the procedure of taking out organs and waste before they drained the corpse of the blood.

Kuina and Jackson, as driven by hunger as they were, neither noticed how they have become perfectly synchronized assistant chefs for Kench nor that Sabo returned to the ship. He, who should have looked as famished as everyone else, actually gave of the impression of a strong and well-fed young man.

Next to him, an old and small granny jumped off his back. She wore a plain, grey rug for a dress up to her knees, old looking black shoes and a red cloth with randomly spread white circles on her head. Streaks of thin, greyish white hair peaked out and fell down her wrinkled forehead, stopping just right above a pair of bright looking green eyes.

A hunched back made her look even smaller and more fragile than she actually was, which got underlined by a simple cane made out of bright wood.

Both of them stood in front of a big, round leather bag. Big may be and underestimation since it was roughly as high as Jackson and as round as Kench. Since his captain was busy, Augur took it upon himself to greet Sabo back and hear an explanation about who that woman was, so as to prevent Jackson from being interrupted.

"Welcome back, Vice-Captain. Were you successful on your… 'mission'?"

He paused on purpose before mentioning the word mission while taking a sideways glance at the old woman, who was carried back by Sabo. He, of course, understood what Augur meant and explained how things happened while he was out, searching for ships to 'borrow' supplies from.

"It actually went better than expected!"

He exclaimed excitedly, before pulling the huge back a bit, allowing a few things to fall out. With his devil fruit powers he made them float around Augur, who had his eyes opened wide, as realization struck him.

"This… is this all-"

"Yes!"

Vegetables, fruits, spices and more, in no small quantity to boot! Augur who was no less starved and hungry than any other member of the Jackson-Pirates, could no longer hold back. With a swift motion he caught a ripe tomato and bit into it.

Even though he hates tomatoes, this one tasted better than anything else he ever tasted before. Sadly, it's soft texture and refreshing juices, which he just started enjoying, vanished before Augur realized it.

"Oh, oh my, you poor kids must really have been hungry! Just how could you set out without packing enough food and water?"

Suddenly the old woman, who came together with Sabo spoke to Augur. Her voice was high but not soft. There was a rough undertone to it, and it somehow sounded befitting of her age. Yet her gentle admonishing surprised the sharpshooter whose head was worth 700 million B quite a bit.

"And you are?"

He asked her directly, after noticing how she didn't appear intimidated one bit.

"This old woman is called granny Jen by most people. Me and my small ship were about to be wrecked by a mighty dangerous wave, the likes I've never seen before I tell ya' but thank god this dashing young man swooped in and saved me. In exchange for supplies, he even offered to take me to where I needed to sail on your all's ship."

"Did I hear that correctly?"

"A passenger on a legendary pirate's ship?"

Shachi and Penguin, finally dared to step out from behind the huge bag, and instantly spoke their minds. They were seriously scared a moment ago, but now that there was food, Jackson and Kuina won't beat them up… too much.

"Nothing to worry dear. I know very well whose ship this is but I consider myself quite good at judging a person's character. And so far I don't see anyone of you planning to harm me."

Granny Jen answered confidently but Augur, with his sharp eyesight noticed her green eyes turning golden for a instant, before she gave her reply.

'A devil fruit user? At her age alone on the sea in the new world? Things definitely don't match up with the impression she gives off, but Sabo should have already noticed it as well. Here of all places on top of it. Was she targeting us?'

He quickly analyzed everything he noticed so far but ultimately came to the conclusion to just report it all to his captain and let him decide. To hell with responsibility if it wasn't his to begin with.

*Splash*Splash*Splash*Splash*

'Thinking about the devil…'

As if he heard him, Jackson jumped out of the water together with Kuina, Kench and Bepo. Their clothes red from blood, which added to their satisfied smiles a creepy vibe. Finally having food and Big Mom's Poneglyphs made him almost forget about beating Shachi and Penguin, who stood next to more food and an unknown old woman.

"Hmm? Sabo you're back already?"

Was his first reaction after seeing everyone on deck.

"Who the hell is that old granny over there?"

Was his second reaction.

"Wait! Forget about that, is all of that food?!!!"

Was his third reaction before ordering everyone to help prepare tonight's dinner.

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Later that night, after eating nothing but carefully prepared soup and porridge dishes for the day, they finally decided to enjoy a hearty dinner, against all warnings from Kench, Robin and Law. Ultimately those three ended up joining everyone despite knowing better.

Granny Jen, whose ingredients have been used to prepare their soups and porridges and lastly to properly compliment sea king meat, was seated on the seat of honor.

Jackson heard from Augur and Sabo everything there was to hear and gave his brother a big thumps up and a heartfelt hug. Of course he allowed Jen to sail with them, despite obvious inconsistencies in told chains of events that led her to being with them.

"Misses Jen, where did you live and why did you set out all on your own?"

Bepo asked more out of genuine curiosity than anything else but didn't get an answer before agreeing to not address her as misses Jen. For some reason she insisted on being called 'granny' Jen, before replying to his question.

"I was on my way to the place where I was born. A poor and old woman like me has no way to freely travel on ships with a navy escort since they are so expensive, and any other ships gets hijacked before making it halfway out of a port, here in the new world. So I thought about saving some money for supplies and sail there by myself. You see, in my youth I was once a capable navigator."

Robin noticed how that there was no way for Jen to have enough money for so many supplies and a ship but not enough to buy a ticket for an escorted ship. So did Sabo, Enel and Augur, of that she was sure but since no one pointed it out, neither did she.

"That sounds so sad! Don't worry granny Jen, I am a great navigator as well and I will take us to your home island! What is it called?"

Bepo confidently replied. The old woman hesitated for a second before revealing where she was originally headed to.

"The great country of heroes, Heldenland."

!!!

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Meanwhile, on Amazon Lilly

Elder Gloriosa Nyon was nervously pacing up and down in front of Hancock's throne. Their empress was still not back but bad things were already happening after her involvement with Jackson became known.

An official 'envoy' was sent from Navy headquarters, trying to investigate whether a shichibukai betrayed them or not. At least that's how they titled this 'visit' when in fact it was a blatant threat. Just 10 kilometers from Amazon Lilly's shore, anchored a huge navy war ship under the command of none other than the navy's hero, Vice-Admiral Monkey D. Garp.

So far, they complied with their rule of no man entering this island, but the former empress couldn't stop herself from worrying.

'What if a fight breaks out?'

It was her greatest worry and she didn't know whether she wanted Hancock here or not. On one hand, only the current empress could somehow resolve this situation but on the other, it was Hancock and her pride coupled with her temper could involve everyone in a war, they just couldn't win.

At least that's what Gloriosa thought when in fact, Garp was just enjoying a short vacation, free from paperwork and full of rice crackers and games. He was so carefree that as long as Hancock didn't tell him to his face that she wants to quit being a shichibukai and join his stupid grandson, he would not even think about moving out of his laying chair. Garp believed there to be no way she would say something like that to his face, right?