Now that he was back at sea, Ritter figured it was time to start assembling a proper crew. If he wanted to reach the summit of the world, he couldn't rely on happy accidents like recruiting Moriah he had to take matters into his own hands.
During yesterday's call with the Transponder Snail, Moriah had mentioned that his Observation Haki was approaching a critical threshold and he needed time to let it settle.
Which meant Ritter didn't need to rush back. Not like he could leave this place anytime soon, anyway.
When it came to recruiting, his second thought immediately turned to the man known for wearing nine rings on ten fingers except the left ring finger: Gild Tesoro, the Golden Emperor.
Money could solve most problems so long as you had the power to protect it.
(Note: The timeline for when Gild Tesoro's lover, Stella, was taken by the Celestial Dragons is never clearly stated in the canon. The author has exercised creative freedom here.)
Ritter had arrived at Sabaody Archipelago a true haven for criminals. Neon lights and the sweeping beams of slave auction floodlights blended into a kaleidoscope of moral decay.
He stood atop the clocktower across from the auction house, his blood-red cloak snapping in the night wind.
His gaze pierced through the noise and crowd, locking onto the back entrance of the auction hall where Tesoro was staggering along under the weight of crates, soaked in sweat and wearing a threadbare shirt. But even then, his eyes never left the second-story window.
Inside, Stella was performing for the crowd.
She wore a thin dance dress, bare feet pressing against the cold marble floor, shackled at the ankles yet her movements remained as light as a butterfly's wings.
That was the freedom Tesoro had scraped and suffered for, every coin meant to buy her back.
Ritter had no intention of stepping in yet. He could wait. He'd wait until the Celestial Dragons bought Stella, until Tesoro's spirit shattered and then, in the depths of his despair, he would appear as the one remaining light.
Heh heh heh.
This wasn't taking advantage of the vulnerable.
Ritter's methods were their own kind of honey trap. Just like the ancient kings not luring with beauty, but extending a hand when all hope was lost.
Now, some people might ask:
"Oh come on, Ritter, you're a Warlord of the Sea. How can you stoop so low?"
To which he would reply with a snarl in his voice:
"You think the Five Elders wouldn't love to see me dead?"
Look in my eyes.
Yeah, I can. I absolutely can.
The Celestial Dragons? If they die, so be it. I'm a pirate, damn it. If I say I'm done with the Warlords, then I'm done.
And so the days passed.
Eventually, Tesoro scraped together the full amount.
He clutched a cloth bag packed with thirty million Berries to his chest, trembling as he rushed into the auction house's backroom only to be kicked over by a guard.
"Out of the way, scum!"
"Please! I—I'm here to buy back Stella!" he cried, kneeling, forehead pressed to the filthy floor, arms raised high with the money bag. "This is thirty million Berries! It's the price on the contract!"
The guard sneered and kicked the bag aside. Coins spilled across the floor in a metallic clatter.
"You're too late."
Tesoro's head shot up.
The guard grinned, golden teeth gleaming. "A Celestial Dragon just bought her as part of his son's birthday present. Ain't she lucky? Chosen to serve a noble."
Tesoro's pupils shrank.
From beyond the hall, Stella screamed.
Tesoro snapped. He charged into the main auction room.
The guards behind him dropped soundlessly. But the scene before him froze his blood.
Stella was chained to the display platform. A snot-nosed child under a bubble hood was branding her arm with a hot iron, giggling.
"Slaves need markings!"
The nobles in the audience knelt, but their eyes gleamed with unholy excitement.
The auctioneer groveled on the floor. "Honored Saint Roswald Astrey, shall we prepare your prize for departure?"
The Celestial Dragon sipped wine leisurely. "No. Let the Beast Tamer teach her proper manners first… I heard this one sings?"
Stella's trembling lips suddenly parted. She looked toward the door and locked eyes with Tesoro.
Her gaze said: Run.
But Tesoro's mind had already shattered.
"Let her go!!!"
He stormed the stage bare-handed only to be slammed face-first into the floor by a CP0 agent.
His face sank into a pool of blood, nostrils full of metallic sludge.
"A filthy commoner dares raise his hand at a Celestial Dragon?" the agent sneered.
Stella lunged forward. "No! Please, he didn't mean—!"
Bang!
The Celestial Dragon shot her in the knee.
"Disobedient slaves should keep their mouths shut."
Tesoro's face was crushed into the blood. His spine groaned beneath the pressure of a CP0 boot.
The agent cocked his pistol and aimed at Tesoro's temple.
"Just another slave of the Celestials," he sneered. "Next time, learn your place—"
Tesoro stared up at him, eyes blazing with hate and hopelessness.
He screamed into the void:
"If there's a real god out there please, help me!!"
The hall fell silent.
Only the sound of the CP0 gun cocking remained.
Bang!
The shot rang out but the pain never came.
Instead, something warm splattered across Tesoro's face.
He opened his eyes in shock to find the CP0 agent still standing, but his head had been blown clean off.
Thud. The body dropped.
A voice echoed through the auction hall:
"Were you praying just now?"
A figure stepped through the moonlight.
Shoulder-length hair, a smirk playing at his lips, cloak swirling.
With every step he took, crimson mist spread across the floor like spiderwebs. Around him, guards dropped one by one, clutching their throats the blood-red fog eating through their flesh.
In Tesoro's tear-filled eyes, the man loomed above him like a god.
Ritter crushed the agent's skull under his heel.
"Too bad," he said coldly. "The god you prayed to… isn't working today."
He grabbed Tesoro by the hair, forcing him to look toward the ship where Stella was being dragged by chains toward a gilded CP0 vessel.
"But I am."
Suddenly, the entire Sabaody Archipelago darkened.
Gasps rose from the crowd as they looked up the moon had turned blood red. And at its center, silhouetted against the glow, stood Ritter.
In his hand, the Black Tide Greatsword. Crimson mist poured from the blade, swallowing every ship the Celestial Dragons had docked.
"Enemy attack! Protect Lord Astrey!"
Marines barely drew their swords before their throats split open, blood blooming like flowers they never even saw the strike.
Ritter had already passed through them.
From the shadows, Doflamingo's sunglasses flashed with amusement.
He had come to Sabaody by coincidence, intending to recruit for his own faction only to witness this glorious chaos.
"Fufufufu… how interesting. Roger's brat just keeps getting better."
Ritter held Tesoro by the back of the neck like a dead dog and threw him to the floor.
"Watch closely—"
He hoisted the Black Tide Greatsword onto his shoulder.
"Mist God Style: Heaven-Splitter."
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