Night fell.
The daylight of the Mokomo Dukedom slowly retreated. Fires flickered to life deep in the forest.
Inuarashi did not continue the discussion. He led Ace's group to the plaza before the royal city and had the Musketeers pull back to the flanks.
"Wait."
He said.
"Night has come. He will come on his own."
Ace sat on a stone step, chin resting on one hand, relaxed.
Sabo stood beside him, chatting with the others.
Enel leaned against a nearby tree trunk, biting into an apple, bored.
"So this god has to wait around for a cat?"
Inuarashi glanced at him and said nothing.
Enel snorted.
"Tedious."
The words had barely landed when a disturbance rippled through the distant forest.
Not panic. A parting, like a tide drawing back.
Among the canopies, Mink figures swiftly cleared a path.
Then a massive shape emerged from the shadows.
A thick mane. A broad, powerful frame. A pipe clenched between his teeth. The Guardians followed at his back.
The Ruler of Night.
Nekomamushi.
The moment he appeared, the atmosphere in the plaza shifted.
Inuarashi's presence was a steady blade.
Nekomamushi was more like a beast ready to pounce.
He looked at Inuarashi first.
"Still not dead, stupid dog."
Inuarashi answered coldly.
"You're still this loud, monster cat."
Nekomamushi grinned and ignored him.
His gaze shifted to Ace.
First, the young face.
Then the Saijo O Wazamono at his hip.
Finally, the black warship anchored high in the distance behind Ace.
"Portgas D. Ace."
Nekomamushi exhaled a plume of smoke.
"Captain Roger's son. The Fifth Emperor of the Sea. The one who can hear Zunesha's voice."
His voice dropped hard.
"You're the one who wants Zou to fly your pirate flag?"
The eyes of the surrounding Guardians sharpened instantly.
Mink warriors tightened their grips on their weapons again.
Ace rose to his feet and smiled.
"So you're Nekomamushi?"
"Way worse temper than the dog."
Inuarashi's eye twitched.
Nekomamushi burst out laughing.
"Gahahaha! You've got guts!"
The next second, the grin vanished from his face.
"Captain Roger's son. Of course this old cat would take a look."
"But blood is blood. Qualification is qualification."
"What Lord Oden left behind isn't something you take with a few words."
Ace did not argue.
Nekomamushi stepped forward.
His massive frame cast a deep shadow.
"Wanda told me."
"A rubbing of the red Poneglyph, we can discuss."
"Fighting Kaido, we can discuss."
"But if you want Zou to fly your flag, you'll have to show me."
His claws slowly clenched.
Currents of electricity crackled through his fur.
"Whether this so-called Fifth Emperor actually has the qualifications for the Mink Tribe to follow."
Sabo's eyes lifted slightly.
Enel's mouth split into a grin.
But before either of them could speak, Ace's expression went cold.
"Fine."
Battle intent flared in Nekomamushi's eyes.
Ace took one step forward.
Boom,
An invisible will erupted from his body.
Black-red lightning exploded across the sky above the plaza.
The air was crushed down as if by some unseen giant hand.
Stone tiles split apart, cracks spreading outward from Ace's feet in every direction.
Several nearby stone pillars shattered on the spot.
The canopy shook violently under the shockwave, vast swaths of leaves pulverized midair.
The Mink residents at the outermost edge didn't even have time to make a sound before their eyes rolled back and they collapsed in waves.
Some younger warriors dropped to their knees, weapons clattering from their hands.
The elite Musketeers gritted their teeth and held on, but their faces went pale, cold sweat beading at their brows.
Wanda let out a muffled grunt and drove her longsword into the ground just to keep her body steady.
Pedro's single eye contracted sharply.
Inuarashi's cloak snapped and thrashed under the force of the Haki.
Nekomamushi's fur exploded outward, his pupils narrowing to slits.
Even from deep in the distant forest came the sound of birds and beasts scattering in terror.
And deeper still, the earth beneath Zunesha's feet seemed to answer with a low, resonant tremor.
Ace stood where he was.
Black-red lightning coursed around his body.
His voice was not loud, but it pressed down over the entire plaza with absolute clarity.
"I agreed to wait until nightfall because I'm kind."
"Not because Zou has anything that can threaten me."
He looked at Nekomamushi and spoke low.
"Don't mistake my courtesy for your leverage."
The plaza fell into a terrible silence.
Everyone still standing stared fixedly at Ace.
They finally understood. What that young man had said during the day, "I didn't aim my cannons at you," was not a threat.
It was a fact.
If he wanted to punch through Zou, he truly did not need to explain much.
Nekomamushi was silent for a moment.
Then he suddenly roared with laughter.
"Gahahahahaha!"
The laughter shook the firelight across the plaza.
"Good!"
"Now that's more like it. A monster just like Captain Roger!"
He yanked the pipe from his mouth. The battle intent in his eyes did not dim. It burned brighter.
"I admit it. This Fifth Emperor title of yours isn't just newspaper hype."
Nekomamushi stepped forward, claws digging into the ground.
"But I want to see with my own eyes."
"Just how strong Captain Roger's son really is."
Inuarashi did not stop him.
He looked at Ace and spoke steadily.
"Nekomamushi is crude, but his meaning is correct."
"Zou can agree to your terms."
"You can have a rubbing of the red Poneglyph."
"When the time comes to strike Kaido, the Mink Tribe will join the war."
He paused.
"But before that, we want to confirm one thing."
"Whether this ship truly has the qualifications for the Mink Tribe to stake their future on it."
Sabo stepped forward.
The Flame Dragon staff gave a light tremor in his hand, the pink scale patterns along its shaft glowing like a slow breath.
"You want to challenge Ace?"
His tone was calm.
"You're not qualified."
Nekomamushi's grin froze.
"What did you say?"
Enel crushed his apple. Lightning danced at his fingertips.
"He said you're not worthy of making the captain do it himself."
He lifted his eyes to Nekomamushi and drawled.
"Didn't you hear him, stray cat?"
Nekomamushi's fur bristled instantly.
"You damn con-man..."
Ace raised a hand, cutting off the atmosphere before it could detonate.
"Fighting now is pointless."
Nekomamushi looked at him.
Ace glanced up at the night sky.
"I know the Mink Tribe has the Sulong form."
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi's expressions shifted at the same time.
Ace grinned.
"If we fight now, you'll lose and still won't accept it."
"You'll say you didn't get to use your strongest state."
"Then we wait for the full moon."
"You use your strongest state."
He looked at Sabo and Enel.
"These two will take you on."
Nekomamushi stared at Ace for a long time.
Finally, he bit down on his pipe again and grinned.
"Fine."
"The night of the full moon."
"I'll show you what the true Mink Tribe looks like."
Enel sneered.
"Try not to disappoint this god."
Nekomamushi whipped his head around.
"You'd better still have that sharp tongue when the time comes."
Sabo lowered the brim of his hat and smiled.
"We'll wait for the full moon."
Inuarashi withdrew his hand, his voice calm.
"Until the full moon, the Eclipse may remain at Zou."
"But do not trespass into the depths of the Whale Forest."
Ace nodded.
"Agreed."
Nekomamushi hefted his spear and turned to leave.
"Then it's settled."
He took a few steps, then stopped and looked back at Ace.
"Portgas D. Ace."
"You really are more interesting than the papers say."
Ace grinned.
"I told you."
"You Mink are pretty interesting yourselves."
Nekomamushi left with a booming laugh.
The Guardians withdrew into the night after him.
Inuarashi watched Nekomamushi disappear into the distance and gave a soft huff.
"Still this loud."
Then he looked at Ace.
"Since we are waiting for the full moon, Zou will arrange lodging for you."
Ace did not refuse.
Carina stood off to the side and said to Ace, "Looks like the first step is settled."
Ace pulled his Conqueror's Haki back in.
The crushing pressure across the plaza dispersed instantly.
Every Mink warrior who had been straining to hold on exhaled at once.
Some of them only then realized their backs were soaked in cold sweat.
Bepo stood at the rear of the crowd, staring blankly at Ace.
He knew Ace was strong.
But it was only in this moment that he truly understood.
The captain of the Eclipse and every pirate they had ever encountered before were not the same kind of existence.
Pedro stood beside him, the lingering shock still visible in his single eye.
"Bepo."
Bepo looked up.
Pedro said quietly.
"The ship you're following now is something extraordinary."
Bepo was silent for a moment.
Then he nodded, very seriously.
"Yes."
He finished and ducked his head on reflex.
"Sorry."
Pedro looked at him and actually let out a small laugh.
"You don't need to apologize for that."
The night wind swept across the plaza before the royal city.
The stone tiles shattered by Conqueror's Haki still lay on the ground.
Those spreading cracks were like the first mark the Eclipse left behind after setting foot on Zou.
The full moon was still days away.
And before then, the Mokomo Dukedom had finally welcomed outsiders for the first time in many years.
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