After the Eclipse Pirates left the Whale Forest, the atmosphere in the Mokomo Dukedom had shifted entirely from days before.
Along the roads, Mink warriors parted and lowered their heads.
Some of the younger Minks still carried the shock of the previous night in their eyes when they looked at Ace.
Duke Inuarashi and Master Nekomamushi had publicly admitted defeat. The Mokomo Dukedom had formally come under the Eclipse banner.
The Minks no longer treated them as guests.
They treated them as the authority that would lead them into the greater seas.
Ace walked at the front.
Sabo held the sealed case containing the red stone rubbing, keeping pace at his side.
Buggy floated in the air, staring at the sealed case with a complicated expression.
"The final island, huh…"
He muttered under his breath.
"This lord almost made it there back in the day."
No one laughed at him this time.
Sabo glanced at Buggy, his tone carrying confidence.
"This time is different."
Buggy blinked.
Sabo pressed down his hat brim.
"This time you're not an apprentice on Roger's ship."
"You're a member of the Eclipse Pirates."
"We'll go together."
Buggy's head froze in midair.
A few seconds later, he puffed out his chest.
"Hmph! Naturally!"
"This lord has always said it! The great Captain Buggy will reach the end of the sea sooner or later!"
Berries stood on Carina's shoulder, beak opening to shout something, but Carina gently pressed it shut.
Some things didn't need to be called out today.
Pedro walked at the rear of the group.
His gaze rested on Ace.
When the crew neared the Eclipse, Pedro finally stopped.
"Captain Ace."
Ace turned back.
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi stopped as well.
Pedro stepped forward and dropped to one knee.
"I want to join your ship."
Silence fell for a moment.
Bepo's ears twitched faintly.
Nekomamushi bit down on his pipe, watching Pedro.
"You've thought this through?"
Pedro nodded.
"I have."
His voice was steady.
"I've already lost fifty years of my lifespan."
"The time I have left shouldn't be spent only waiting."
"The path Zepo couldn't finish walking. I want to walk another stretch of it for him."
Bepo lowered his head, his paws clenching.
Pedro looked up at Ace.
"You're going to fight Kaido."
"And sooner or later, you'll run into Charlotte Linlin too."
"If this ship is truly going to tear this era apart, I want to see it with my own eyes."
Ace looked at him and didn't answer right away.
Pedro had strength.
Experience.
Knowledge of the outside seas.
And a will firm enough to hold.
He wasn't a child still growing like Carrot, nor an ordinary Mink warrior who relied solely on the Sulong burst.
If his old injuries were healed and he continued to grow with the Eclipse, he might well become the Mink Tribe's next standard-bearer after Inuarashi and Nekomamushi.
As for the lifespan problem, Ace would solve it eventually.
Ace pulled his gaze back and nodded.
"Fine."
Pedro bowed his head.
"From this day forward, Pedro fights for the Eclipse."
Ace raised his hand.
Crimson-gold Vermilion Bird sacred fire kindled slowly in his palm.
Pedro froze.
Ace said flatly, "If you're joining my ship, don't come aboard carrying a body full of old wounds."
The next instant, the Vermilion Bird's sacred fire settled onto Pedro.
No burning pain.
Only a warmth of pure, absolute vitality spreading outward from the deepest layers of flesh and blood.
The old wound over Pedro's left eye was wrapped in the firelight.
The scar that had long since sealed over began to regenerate.
Necrotic tissue was replaced by new flesh.
Deep within the empty socket, a new eye gradually took shape.
At the same time, the hidden injuries accumulated in his body over the years were drawn out and erased by the sacred fire, strand by strand.
Bones that had fractured and healed wrong.
Internal damage left by old battles.
The deep-seated decay pressed into his body after his lifespan was torn away.
All of it was reordered and restored inside that crimson-gold flame.
Moments later, the fire dispersed.
Pedro slowly opened his left eye.
At first, only blurry light.
Then shapes.
Then he saw Bepo's reddened eyes clearly, and Ace standing before him.
Pedro raised a hand and touched his left eye.
His fingertips trembled faintly.
"…It's restored."
Chopper stood nearby, eyes already wide as saucers.
"Incredible!"
"Old wounds, the eyeball, nerves, and hidden injuries all restored at once!"
Nekomamushi leaned in to look at Pedro, his pipe nearly falling from his mouth.
"This fire is completely unreasonable."
Inuarashi said nothing.
They had experienced the Vermilion Bird's sacred fire firsthand the night before.
But watching Pedro's eye, lost a year ago, regrow before them still shook something deep inside.
Ace withdrew his hand.
"The eye was a wound of the body."
"I can return it."
Pedro looked at him.
Ace's voice dropped lower.
"Lifespan is a debt of the soul."
"Those fifty years, I can't return them now."
"When we go to Totto Land later, we'll collect from Charlotte Linlin."
Bepo's head snapped up.
Pedro was silent for a long moment, then lowered his head once more.
"Yes."
"Captain."
With that word, Pedro's identity was sealed.
From this day forward, he was no longer only a guardian of the Mokomo Dukedom.
He was also a member of the Eclipse Pirates.
Bepo ducked his head and wiped at the corner of his eye, murmuring quietly.
"Mr. Pedro…"
Pedro looked at him.
The white bear Mink who had left Zou years ago searching for his brother was no longer a child.
He had found his ship.
And found his place.
Pedro patted Bepo's shoulder lightly.
"Zepo would be happy."
Bepo nodded hard.
"Yeah."
He finished and instinctively started to lower his head again.
"I'm sorr-"
Shachi and Penguin both clamped hands on his head at the same time.
"No apologizing today."
"Yeah. No apologizing today."
Bepo blinked.
Then all of them laughed.
---
Evening.
The plaza of the Mokomo Dukedom was packed with Minks.
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi stood at the very front.
Wanda, Pedro, the Musketeers, the Guardians, and representatives from every settlement fell into formation.
Carina walked to the center of the plaza.
She was the Eclipse's central tower.
What she was about to do was connect the Mokomo Dukedom into the Eclipse's communication network.
Just like Skypiea and Mermaid Street.
Carina extended her hand.
"One at a time."
Inuarashi stepped forward first and took her hand.
A faint ripple spread through his palm.
It wasn't sound.
More like a quiet thread, gently linked into the depths of the mind.
Nekomamushi followed.
Then Wanda, Pedro, the Musketeer captain, the Guardian officers, and the patrol leaders and settlement representatives.
Every single one required direct physical contact.
Once the contract was established, they would be assigned to the Mink Tribe's dedicated channel.
Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, Wanda, and Pedro were the primary contacts for that channel.
Ordinary Minks could relay important messages through them.
The Minks could also communicate among themselves within permitted access levels.
If there was an enemy attack, a disaster, or a need to contact core Eclipse members, they could report directly upward.
It was as if this moving nation had been plugged into an invisible net.
Nekomamushi rubbed his head.
"There's a mark in my brain now. Feels weird."
Inuarashi closed his eyes and sensed it for a moment, then nodded.
"But it's convenient."
Wanda's expression was serious.
"This way, even if Zou keeps moving, it won't be completely cut off from the outside world anymore."
Carina smiled.
"That's one of the benefits of joining the Eclipse."
What she didn't say was this.
Over the past few days, she had already planted listening anchors at numerous landmarks and shadowed corners across Zou.
They lay silent and still under normal conditions.
But the moment anything abnormal occurred on Zou, Carina would know before anyone else.
That was Carina's value. And her terror.
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