After the bonfire celebration ended, everyone returned to their rooms to rest.
The next morning, under the reluctant guidance of Perona, the group finally located the rudder of Thriller Bark.
What they found left them speechless.
Next to the towering structure surrounding the main mast stood a massive structure that looked like a giant drawbridge. This was the tiller system of the enormous three masted ship.
At the end of the bridge hung a gigantic wheel shaped like a Ferris wheel.
That, unbelievably, was the ship's rudder.
"Is that seriously the rudder? Can any human actually turn something that big?"
Youki stared at the enormous mechanism that rose dozens of meters into the air. His face twisted in disbelief.
"Moria can't even reach half that height. Was he planning to make Oars steer the ship for him?"
"You did not notice the chains hanging from it?" Perona said quietly. "You control the rudder by pulling those chains."
She spoke hesitantly.
"And Lord Moria said he wanted to stay here for a while to rebuild his forces, so there was no rush to move the ship."
Youki's eyes widened.
"What kind of ridiculous logic is that? Rebuilding forces? That lazy bum clearly just wanted to retire here."
"Ahhhh, I am sorry!" Perona immediately panicked.
"Not Lord Moria, just Moria. I have nothing to do with him anymore. I did not say those things. Please do not glare at me!"
Terrified, she quickly hid behind Sali.
"Ouch. What are you doing?"
Youki looked at her helplessly.
"I am not angry at you. Why are you crying? Now you make me look like some kind of maniac."
He waved his hands defensively.
"I never even hit you. Kirk grabbed you first, then Sali knocked you out. I did not touch a single hair on your head."
Perona paused and thought about it.
Technically, he was right.
Youki had not attacked her.
However, the image of him brutally beating Gecko Moria to death was permanently burned into her mind. Her reaction earlier had simply been pure instinctive fear.
As for how she knew what happened to Moria, the explanation was simple.
Although Sali had knocked her unconscious earlier, the blow had not been very heavy. Perona woke up shortly afterward.
Once awake, she quickly realized she had no chance of escaping. Sali was far stronger than her.
So she attempted a desperate plan.
Using her Horo Horo no Mi ability, she left her body and flew to the battlefield as a ghost. Her idea was to possess Moria, help him defeat the enemy, and then have him rescue her body afterward.
In theory, it was a perfect plan.
Reality was far less kind.
When her spirit reached the castle courtyard battlefield, the scene shocked her.
Kirk and Brook were casually watching the fight like spectators.
Meanwhile, Youki was mercilessly beating Moria into the ground.
Even worse, Moria's skull had already been smashed open.
When Sali and Tsuki later dragged Perona's unconscious body back to the cemetery, she truly lost consciousness.
But it was not because of Sali's attack.
She fainted from terror after witnessing Youki crush Moria's head.
"Alright then," Perona said weakly after thinking for a moment. "I will stop crying. Just... do not glare at me, okay? We will keep our distance when talking."
She raised a finger nervously.
"Agreement reached. No going back."
Youki rolled his eyes.
Who even made an agreement with you?
Who do you think you are, pink haired big eyed girl?
Too tired to argue with her strange logic, Youki turned his attention back to the massive rudder and began figuring out how to move the giant ship.
Nearby, Ash watched the entire situation with great interest.
The Perona standing before them was very different from the tsundere ghost princess that would appear seven years later in the original story.
She had only recently joined Moria and set sail.
Her Horo Horo no Mi ability still caused her to prefer dark and damp environments, which was strange enough already. But after being repeatedly intimidated and easily defeated by Sali, most of her arrogance had disappeared.
Occasional nervous outbursts remained, but the stubborn tsundere personality was gone.
Instead, she had quickly accepted Sali as a powerful older sister and sought protection under her.
Ash briefly wondered about a philosophical question.
If someone's personality changed so drastically, were they still the same person?
The thought lasted only a moment.
Reality was not an anime.
A person's personality naturally changes with time and environment.
If someone never changed at all, that would actually be more unbelievable.
Meanwhile, after a long period of study and experimentation, Youki finally managed to get the massive ship moving.
Or rather, what used to be Thriller Bark.
From this day forward, the ship had a new name.
The Dawn Ship.
---
Four days later.
Midnight.
Inside the castle courtyard of the Dawn Ship.
Ash lay flat on the grass, staring at the night sky while letting out a deep sigh.
Nearby, the others were enjoying a lively feast around the bonfire, showing absolutely no sympathy. From time to time, they even laughed at his miserable expression.
Four days had passed since Youki set the Dawn Ship on course toward Fish-Man Island.
The fragile "agreement" between Youki and Perona had long disappeared.
What happened to keeping distance?
Now the two of them were constantly arguing and fighting over the delicious food prepared by the Kirk siblings beside the bonfire.
Speaking of the bonfire, thanks to Ash, it had been burning continuously for four straight days.
The group had far too much free time.
They had not even encountered a single pirate crew inside the Florian Triangle. The thick fog surrounding the area made the world feel isolated and silent.
If not for the Log Pose pointing toward Fish-Man Island, and the fact that the ship was clearly still moving, staying in such a closed environment would have driven anyone crazy.
Thinking about this, everyone unconsciously glanced toward Brook.
He had survived in this cursed sea for more than forty years.
Poor Brook.
The fog made everything incredibly dull.
During the past few days, everyone had filled their time with small activities.
Cleaning their rooms.
Training their Devil Fruit abilities.
Or gathering around the bonfire to eat and drink.
At one point during those days, Ash suddenly became extremely enthusiastic about building what he called a Cathay style courtyard.
He described pavilions, towers, elegant halls, and long covered walkways. His vivid explanation captured everyone's imagination.
Naturally, they became curious about what such a courtyard would look like.
Several days later, however, the result was somewhat underwhelming.
The courtyard now contained two simple four corner pavilions, one moderately long corridor, a small lake roughly thirty meters wide, and a waterside pavilion half built over the lake and half connected to the corridor.
There were not many structures.
But every location had been given an impressive name.
One pavilion near the water was called Guanchao Pavilion, meaning Tide Viewing Pavilion.
Unfortunately, the lake itself was only about thirty meters wide. There were clearly no tides to observe.
At best, when the Dawn Ship made a sharp turn, a few small waves might splash across the surface.
The pavilion connected to the corridor was named Yuzhu Pavilion, or Jade Bamboo Pavilion.
As for bamboo, there was none.
Ash explained that once they reached a spring island in the future, he would buy bamboo seeds and grow them here.
The corridor itself was named Xianyu Corridor, meaning Leisure Corridor.
It connected the Jade Bamboo Pavilion with the waterside structure.
The waterside pavilion carried the most poetic name.
Tingfeng Waterside Pavilion, meaning Maple Listening Pavilion.
Ash proudly explained that when they eventually visited a spring or summer island, he would purchase maple seeds and plant them around the lake. When the wind blew, red and golden leaves would rustle across the water.
The description sounded wonderful.
But the actual courtyard looked nothing like the magnificent image everyone had imagined.
Eventually, Ash completely gave up on continuing the project.
His talent for creativity clearly had limits.
He struggled when naming Devil Fruit abilities.
Designing courtyards was even more difficult.
"It is not that my sense of aesthetics is poor," Ash muttered while staring at the sky. "I simply lack creative talent."
Kirk laughed loudly.
"It seems we need to recruit not only a painter, but also a landscape designer."
Ash remained lying on the grass, speaking weakly.
"Go ahead and laugh. Decoration is a massive task. We still have a long way to go."
"Ash, come quickly and eat some lime pudding!" Sali called out with a smile.
Ash instantly jumped up.
"I am coming. Nobody touch it!"
"Hmm?"
Just as everyone continued playing around, a faint yellow light suddenly illuminated the courtyard.
They looked up in surprise.
"Wait... we sailed out of the Florian Triangle?"
Everyone stared at the horizon.
Then laughter erupted.
After days trapped inside endless fog, they had finally escaped that suffocating sea.
Ash slowly stood up while holding the lime pudding he had managed to grab.
Without them realizing it, midnight had already passed.
Dawn was approaching.
Ash smiled faintly.
"The Dawn Ship sailing out of the Florian Triangle together with the morning light. That feels like a good omen."
As he spoke, the sun slowly rose above the sea.
The first rays of dawn spread across the sky and ocean.
Dim yellow light gradually deepened into orange red before finally turning into brilliant white as the sun climbed higher.
Ash watched the sunrise quietly.
"This is dawn."
He spoke softly.
"One day, whenever people see the dawn over the sea, they will think of us."
"The Dawn Hunter Pirates."
---