Rhett stared at the skull-shaped steam rising from his teacup, suddenly reminded of the bonfire party on Laugh Tale where Buggy had secretly poured chili sauce into Shanks' drink.
This bizarre aesthetic was very Perona.
He accepted the teacup. "Seems like life's treating you well."
Moonlight spilled over Moria's shoulders, illuminating the little girl sleeping in his arms—Perona, about four or five years old, curled up in his cloak, clutching a tattered teddy bear.
Moria gently wiped crumbs from her face with his fingertips. "I found this girl in the ruins of an island..."
His gaze swept over the crew on the deck. "I'll take my crew and challenge Kaido, to prove our strength."
"Little worm, fighting that thing will get people killed."
These words unlocked a floodgate of memories.
He'd sought out Rayleigh for sparring matches before Roger disbanded the crew.
The vice-captain had said to him, "Brat, you think getting stronger will let you keep anything?"
Moonlight leaked through the porthole, illuminating Roger's trembling hands—the usually carefree captain was carefully repairing the bags each crew member would take with them the next day.
"Hey, Moria," Rhett suddenly stood up. "Want to join me?"
Conqueror's Haki unleashed, the shockwave sent Perona's teddy bear flying.
Moria scrambled to catch it,
Rhett intercepted the bear. "Join me. Disband your crew."
"Are you kidding me!" Moria roared, but Perona stirred in his arms, rubbing her eyes awake, so he immediately lowered his voice. "Why should I—"
"Because you're afraid." Rhett pointed at himself. "Because you don't have the power to protect your crew. If I wanted to, I could wipe out your entire crew."
"It's to protect my comrades... but true strength has never come from external forces. You know the gap between us."
Moria was utterly confused—what external forces? He had always believed in his own strength.
But he also knew Rhett was right. He had seen Rhett's power. He knew Rhett could instantly defeat Kaido—the newspapers had written about it. If Rhett could kill him instantly, how big was the gap between himself and Kaido? Could he really defeat Kaido?
"Hey Rhett, could I beat Kaido now?"
Rhett didn't hesitate. "You'd be the only one left alive."
Moria was visibly stunned by Rhett's words.
"I won't give up on challenging Kaido."
"No problem. My crew doesn't fear anything. You can even go now—I'll back you up. You can ride Kaido's face if you want."
When dawn pierced the clouds, Moria's fleet was holding a disbandment ceremony.
Moria valued his comrades, and Rhett had hit a nerve. These were crewmates he had only recently gathered, and aside from Perona, he didn't have deep bonds with them.
He distributed all the treasure among them. He didn't ask Rhett to keep them—he could see Rhett was building an elite crew, not something just any pirate could join.
Moria officially stepped onto the Oro Jackson, eyeing the motley crew of pirates on board.
"Hey, hey, hey, Captain—are these all our crew?"
"Oh, these are pirates who tried to rob me. I caught them and put them to work," Rhett waved dismissively.
"I see. Shadow Corner Kill."
The hardworking pirates, probably exhausted, all fell asleep. Rhett didn't stop them—he wanted to see what Moria was up to.
After a while, Moria returned,
A line of zombie sailors boarded the Oro Jackson, efficiently tossing the sleeping pirates into the embrace of the sea, their movements stiff but remarkably effective.
"Fufufu~" Moria wiped his sweat. "These are my prized navigator zombies. They were famous in the New World in their lifetimes..."
Rhett kicked him aside. "Enough chatter. Get to work."
Curious, Rhett approached one of the zombies. These were clearly more refined than the ones in the original story—evidently Moria's prized collection.
He touched one, suddenly struck by an idea—
"Wow, this zombie~ so chilly!"
Shaking his head, he dismissed the bizarre thought.
The zombie grinned horribly. "Captain... want to hear about my sailing adventures in life..."
Just then, a gray ghost floated by overhead.
"Wow~ is this the legendary Oro Jackson? So impressive!" Perona floated above the deck, her big eyes sparkling. "Rhett-sama is amazing! You found such a wonderful ship all by yourself!"
Rhett: ?????
"This is something my captain gave me. My captain's journey may have ended, but the Oro Jackson's hasn't."
Perona scratched her head, clearly too young to fully grasp what Rhett was saying.
Seeing the expectant look in her eyes, Rhett sighed.
Fine, let the little girl admire him.
His expression softened. "Ahem... it's alright."
Moria crouched in a corner, drawing circles. "It's my zombies doing all the work, and no one cares about me..."
Perona suddenly floated up to Rhett. "Rhett-sama, I heard you're the third-in-command under the Pirate King. So cool!"
Rhett: ???? That sounds awful. Does the World News Paper want to stay in business?? He was definitely Roger's right-hand man—without him, they'd need twice as much wood to patch the ship. Was he proud of that??
"What can Perona do for you?" She clasped her hands, her face glowing. "Rhett-sama~ Would you like Perona to carry your luggage? Or make you some black tea? Or..."
She suddenly pulled out a sewing kit. "Your clothes seem a bit torn. Perona can mend them for you~"
Rhett's face turned red. "N-no, that's not necessary..."
Being cared for by a child, Rhett couldn't swallow his pride.
"Fufu! Perona!" Moria jumped up. "I raised you! You never offer to mend my clothes!"
Perona stuck out her tongue. "Because Moria-sama is too messy~ Rhett-sama is so dashing!"
Moria collapsed, spitting blood. "Traitor... my little Perona..."
Rhett had saved up about 300 million Berries over the years and decided to head straight for Water 7 to see Tom about upgrading the ship.
Rhett planned a major overhaul—if he ran out of money, there was always Skypiea, the transmigrator's ATM. Rhett was determined to conquer Skypiea.
"Finally, the money I've saved up these years is coming in handy." Rhett grinned, glad he'd been such a scoundrel all this time.
Perona floated beside him, peering curiously. "Rhett-sama~ Are we going to build a ship?"
"Yeah, upgrading this old buddy." Rhett patted the ship's hull. "After all, we're about to take on the world. Can't let it fail because of hardware."