Early the next morning, people bought the usual newspaper—same as always—used to checking what chaos had erupted across the seas overnight.
Ever since Morgans' paper exploded in popularity, fewer and fewer folks bothered with the World Government's official publication. The Government's paper was all empty slogans and "official truth."
Morgans, on the other hand, would print anything. Sure, half of it was hard to tell apart—truth mixed with rumor—but the man had the guts to write it.
When people unfolded the front page, the first thing they saw was an illustration:
A golden dragon-man trading blows with a three-headed, six-armed monster.
At first, nobody thought much of it.
Fights happened every day. Marines fought pirates. Pirates fought pirates. The sea never calmed down.
But then—
"Hmm?"
Brows started to knit.
Because beneath the illustration, there was an actual photo.
A photo of the sky split open.
Headline:
(Pi'ekkro gathers elite killers and issues a kill order on the Strongest Creature—Dragon Emperor!)
A certain "Underworld King" sets his sights on the beauties aboard the Dragon Emperor's ship and an elixir of longevity. After threats fail, he resorts to force!
A mysterious top-tier expert—suspected Mythical Zoan: Asura—battles the Strongest Creature for a full day and night, neither side able to take the other down!
"…What is this?"
Those with experience stared at the photo.
That sky-splitting scene—
Wasn't that the same phenomenon you saw when top monsters in the New World clashed?
"Conqueror's Haki… collision—yeah, that's it!"
"Where did this level of expert come from?! And this dragon-man… I remember him. Isn't he that Marine guy?"
"And what's this 'Underworld Emperor' nonsense? Aren't there only the Four Emperors in the New World? Where did an 'underworld' emperor pop out from?"
Some people scoffed, convinced Morgans was exaggerating again.
But most common folk didn't care about the details. They just marveled:
"Damn… the sea really has monsters everywhere."
"Look—another one shows up out of nowhere, and nobody even heard his name before."
The Moby Dick — Whitebeard's Ship
Whitebeard read the paper too.
"Mythical Zoan…?"
Was there really such a person on the sea?
Why hadn't he heard of him before?
He took a long drink.
Since his hidden injuries had improved, Marco had stopped nagging him to quit alcohol every second—now he only grumbled occasionally.
Whitebeard studied the photo again.
The clash looked even more outrageous than the time that kid collided with Kaido.
No question—that brat has stepped into the true peak.
Which only led Whitebeard to one thought:
Wouldn't it be nice if he became my son…?
Let him inherit my crew. Not a bad choice.
As for "Underworld Assassin King Pi'ekkro"… Whitebeard mentally tossed that straight into the trash.
If he ever ran into that organ-trafficking filth, he'd end it with one punch. Whitebeard might be a pirate, but he had zero tolerance for that kind of scum.
Still… something about this smelled familiar.
Whitebeard remembered the old days.
Back when Big Mom, Shiki, Kaido, John, Ochoku, Silver Axe… they were all on that man's ship.
And he'd overheard words here and there:
"The flame…"
"Joy Boy…"
"The Empty Throne…"
If it wasn't the World Government moving in the shadows—
then it had to be that other group.
The ones the Government called "sewer rats."
So the kid had provoked them.
Did he ruin some plan?
Heh.
Now the sea was going to get lively.
So many factions were going to crawl out.
Brat—let's see if you can survive it.
Because that elixir was real.
After Whitebeard used it, his hair didn't magically grow back—
but his skin improved, and half his old injuries eased up.
If he'd had more, Marco would've flown over long ago to grab it.
But the brat had been clear:
Ingredients were rare. He could only sell limited batches.
Whitebeard agreed. A potion that absurd shouldn't be mass-produced.
If it could be mass-produced, the kid would be the richest man in history.
He snorted.
"Hang in there, brat."
"If you can't even survive this… you're not worthy of being my son."
(If White Ghost heard that, he'd probably fly straight into the New World and pick a fight with Whitebeard on the spot.)
Whole Cake Island — Big Mom
On Totto Land, Charlotte Linlin wasn't raging as usual.
For once, she was… quiet.
She sat there, calmly reading the paper.
Her children stared like they'd seen a ghost.
In their memories, their mother was moody and explosive—always one "hunger pang" away from disaster.
But today?
Even her favorite cake sat untouched.
Katakuri and Perospero waited in silence.
No one dared interrupt while she read.
When Big Mom finally finished, she picked up her cake and took a bite.
"Mamamama…"
"So those filthy rats finally dare crawl out of their hole?"
She laughed, eyes narrowing.
"How ironic…"
"If that's the case, does it mean that thing is showing itself again?"
"D…"
"Mamamama… 'the natural enemy of the gods'?"
"Only D can topple the World Government?"
"What a joke."
"Like hell the sea belongs to only two sides!"
Perospero and Katakuri exchanged a glance.
Rats? World Government? D?
Toppling the Government?
Who's bold enough to talk like that? The Revolutionaries?
Big Mom chewed, then spoke lazily:
"Perospero."
"Mama." Perospero stepped forward and bowed.
Big Mom kept eating.
"If that brat doesn't die this time…"
"Tell him I won't pursue the previous matter."
"But he has to marry a woman from the Charlotte Family."
She waved her hand, dismissing them.
Katakuri walked out with a dark expression.
Because that meant another sister would be forced into marriage.
And he couldn't stop it.
Perospero was also baffled.
He'd reported White Ghost's original reply to his mother word-for-word.
He still remembered the pressure from her Conqueror's Haki that day—he'd genuinely thought he might die.
Yet now she was saying "past grievances forgiven," and even offering marriage?
Something on that front page had shifted her thinking.
Perospero narrowed his eyes.
I need to reread the paper carefully.
Wano — Onigashima
Kaido drank and read the paper.
For once, he wasn't in a drunken frenzy.
Queen didn't understand.
King did.
"Burp—!"
Kaido let out a massive belch, coated his kanabo in Conqueror's Haki—
"Thunder Bagua!"
BOOM!
A crater exploded into the ground.
Queen staggered back in panic.
"Kaido-sama—calm down!"
King asked quietly,
"Is it them?"
Kaido nodded, grinning.
"A bunch of rats."
"And now they dare hop around in the open."
He laughed—low and brutal.
"Toppling the World Government?"
"What's the fun in that?"
"Making the entire world burn in war—now that's exciting!"
"Wororororo!"
Kaido shot into the sky, transforming into an azure dragon, flying toward the Flower Capital.
Today he was going to force that "Shutenmaru" to submit.
If the guy still refused?
Then Kaido would beat him until he behaved.
"Worororororo…"
"Joy Boy my ass…"
"All races living together in peace?"
"Don't make me laugh."
"Wherever there are people, there's war."
"Peaceful coexistence?"
"That's a fairy tale."
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