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So, it turned out Bepo had been telling the truth that Zou was on the back of a massive elephant. Which, Cora had known that Bepo wasn't a liar and his dad had confirmed it, but still. There was a difference between knowing and actually believing it. The Straw Hats were all wide-eyed and pointing. Cora didn't care though, already eyeing the elephant and wondering how they were supposed to get up there. Climbing maybe? Joy. The perfect activity for a man that couldn't walk a straight line without tripping over his own two feet.
Kanjuro had an idea and so Cora found himself on the back of a painted bird. Kanjuro had been nothing but helpful but he still didn't trust the man. Call it a gut instinct but Cora had learned long ago to trust them. To be fair though, he didn't trust any of their visitors from Wano. He'd heard the stories of Kaido and his rise to power, what he'd done to the Kozuki clan. He didn't think it was a coincidence, samurai from Wano coming, but what did he know?
Zou was beautiful. There was some damage done to the gate and a few of the buildings, but the Minks were busy rebuilding it and Cora could see a few familiar boiler suits helping.
"Cora-San! Captain!" he and Law were suddenly jumped by Clione and Uni. Both of them looked thrilled and eagerly offered hugs.
"Where's everyone else?" Law asked, trying to sound nonchalant. It might've worked on someone who wasn't part of their Nakama.
"Back at our hideout," Clione answered. "We were just helping fix some of the damage after Kaido's men attacked."
"Is everyone-"
"We're all fine," Uni assured them. "The Minks are kinda embarrassed after Sengoku read them the riot act but I'll let him handle explaining that. He kicked Jack the Drought's ass though! That was fun."
Cora sweated a little. "Have the Minks been treating everyone well?" he asked, choosing to gloss over Kaido's attack. They could deal with that later. He had more pressing matters to worry about.
Both men hesitated before Clione finally said, "Well, not exactly but that's been handled as well so no need to worry. It was mostly Penguin and Shachi they didn't like. Apparently they smell wrong. They've been a lot nicer since Sengoku defeated Jack though. Apparently their leaders weren't thrilled either so everyone's been much nicer now, except for Zepo. He's still an ass."
Law straightened, a feral grin crossing his face. "Really? Well, that's certainly…interesting."
He got three wary looks. Clione and Uni had both been part of their Nakama long enough to know that they should fear that particular expression of his. Cora wasn't at all surprised, Law and Penguin had been planning to beat up Zepo for years if he turned out to still be alive. Eh. Oh well. Zepo should've known better.
"Lead the way to the rest of our Nakama," Cora interjected. He was eager to see everyone again, especially his sons and his dad. The Straw Hats had been nice, and appeared to be making friends already, but he'd missed his family.
"Of course," Uni smiled at him. "This way. We're staying with Nekomamushi, since we're pirates and all. He runs the Night Kingdom or something. Some sort of feud with Inurashi, the leader of the Day Kingdom. We didn't really care that much."
Cora completely understood. The Hearts weren't an overly curious group of pirates, preferring to keep to themselves, unlike other crews namely the Straw Hats. If it didn't concern them then they weren't very likely to get involved. Law was the sole exception. He was a bit of a bleeding heart, even if he did a good job at hiding it, and was usually the one dragging them into battles or on forays into jungles.
Cora and Law followed Clione and Uni through the Mink Kingdom and to a forest. Cora barely had time to brace himself before he was suddenly swarmed by several other people in white boiler suits, Penguin and Shachi leading the charge.
"Boys!" Cora cried out in delight, easily hoisting his two oldest onto his shoulders. "Where's Bepo?"
"Mom!" Bepo waved from where he was nuzzling Law, the boy pretending to look annoyed but not shoving Bepo off. Clearly he'd missed his brothers just as much as they had him.
Cora made sure Penguin and Shachi were situated before walking over to join his other two sons. Once there, he wrapped Law and Bepo both in a hug, tension he hadn't been aware of bleeding from his shoulders. Suddenly another body joined as Sengoku added himself to the pile.
"Dad!" Cora cried happily.
"Rosi," Sengoku returned. "Your children are a menace. Shachi here tried to get himself killed by Jack the Drought."
"But Grandpa killed him instead," Shachi threw in. "Apparently they were looking for a ninja from Wano."
Cora shook his head. First Samurai's and now Ninjas. What was next? Well, he knew what was next: Kaido himself. Cora wasn't exactly looking forward to that. Oh well. At least they weren't going alone. They had the Straw Hats, and they could call on Whitebeard and maybe even Kid-
Cora hissed and pulled back from the hug. Ignoring his boys he dug through his coat and produced two vivre cards. Kid and Killer's. They were both on fire, only a little scrap remaining on both. He didn't have to check their direction to know where they were pointing. "Looks like we have other unfinished business to deal with," he said grimly.
"Oh boy."