Perona's ghost floated into the cabin dragging the latest newspaper behind her.
"Lord Ritter~ The whole world's talking about us!"
Ritter stood atop the ship's dragon-head figurehead. No wonder Luffy liked sitting at the bow riding the waves felt incredible.
But more importantly this was a dragon head, you get it? A dragon head.
The headlines across the world came in all flavors:
"The New Emperor Sets Sail The World Order Shifts"
"World Government Issues Urgent Warning"
Along with the newspaper came updated bounty posters:
"Crimson Mist" Ritter, captain of the Blood Dawn, 3.5 billion berries, dead or alive.
Gecko Moria, combatant, bounty: 500 million berries. (For reference, before becoming a Warlord, Moria's bounty was 320 million.)
Perona, suspected shipboard adoptee, bounty: 500 berries.
That last one made Perona fume. She clutched Laboon in a chokehold and shook him violently.
As for Lobler his bounty hadn't changed at all.
"What the heck?! Why only five hundred?! This princess is gonna make the Marines regret that!"
Moria snickered.
"Fuhihihi... Little Perona, I've got 500 million, you know. Looks like you're falling behind~ fuhihihi..."
"You're wrong! Shut up!"
Perona unleashed a flurry of Negative Ghosts on him, but the power difference between them was too great. Moria was practically immune to her abilities at this point.
New World – Moby Dick
Whitebeard's thunderous laughter made the barrels on deck rattle.
"Gurararara! 'Dawn'? So Roger's old ship is now carrying that brat Ritter onward?"
Marco caught the drifting paper midair.
"Ritter pulling something like this... I'm not even surprised. Just look at that crew list Gecko Moria? Wasn't he the guy shouting about wanting to take on Kaido recently? For Ritter to pick him... he must still have some real strength."
In a certain tavern, Shanks sat with his newly recovered saber, Gryphon, flipping through the paper.
"Beckman, we can't afford to fall behind either."
Rayleigh tipped his bottle, letting amber liquid spill onto the newsprint.
"The Bloomer Jackson... the Blood Dawn Pirates..." he murmured, tracing the familiar silhouette of the ship with his finger.
Shakky exhaled a smoke ring while polishing a glass.
"Rumor has it they're using Jet Stream Dials and a brand-new propulsion system faster than a Navy battleship, threefold."
Rayleigh suddenly burst into laughter. Watching his captain executed… no one's grief could surpass that of the Pirate King's right hand.
He knew it had been Roger's decision, but reason alone couldn't dull human sorrow.
"Not bad. Not bad at all! Hahahahahaha!"
He raised his bottle to the air.
"To the fools of the new era!"
Some time later, Blood Dawn approached the port of Mock Town on the Grand Line.
Ritter stood at the helm.
"Perona, confirm heading."
"Aye~ Lord Ritter~" The pink-haired girl floated in the crow's nest with a telescope.
"Northwest! I can already see the island's outline!"
"Hey! That ship…"
A drunk pirate dropped his bottle with a clink, and his companions followed his gaze only to choke on silence.
The mithril hull gleamed coldly in the sun, and the dragon-head figurehead glared with glowing crimson eyes.
"The... the Blood Dawn Pirates!"
"That madman who killed a Celestial Dragon!"
"Run!!"
The dock emptied in seconds. Bar doors burst open as panicked pirates bolted. Even those with bounties over 100 million now trembled like startled rabbits, hiding in corners.
Ritter stepped off the ship through a swirl of blood mist. The Black Tide greatsword hummed on his back. He surveyed the deserted harbor and sneered.
"Lame."
Scaring villagers was one thing but making pirates flee? That's true power.
Ding-a-ling
The bell over the bar door jingled. Conversation died instantly.
Frozen mid-toast, pirates sweated bullets. The bartender's hands shook. He dropped a bottle of rum.
Crash!
The bottle was caught mid-air suspended by a blood mist and floated gently into Ritter's hand.
"I'm looking for a man named Montblanc Cricket. I'm buying information." He tossed a bag of Berries onto the bar. "Or, I kill you all."
From a corner, a man in a black bandana stood abruptly.
"I know! Montblanc Cricket he lives…"
"Oh? Then the money's yours. Lead the way."
Ritter left as casually as he entered. Perona, starry-eyed, trailed behind.
"Lord Ritter, so cool—!"
Meanwhile, deep in the Monkey Mountain Union's zoo headquarters…
"Boss! A super weird ship just docked!" A flustered lackey stumbled into the cabin. "The figurehead's a dragon head with glowing red eyes! Looks crazy awesome!"
Cricket didn't even look up from his sea charts.
"Another idiot here to mock the Sky Island story? What's the wager this time? My boxers or your dentures?"
"No, Boss, it's serious!" the lackey stammered, pale-faced. "That Jolly Roger it belongs to Ritter, captain of the Blood Dawn!"
Three minutes later, Cricket's hand trembled as he gripped his telescope. He muttered to himself, voice cracking.
"Haha... It's fine. They're probably not here for me... right?"
Just as he was deep in denial, another lackey burst in to report.
"Boss, he's looking for you. Paid money too. They're on their way here now!"
"Should… should we run?"
"Run my ass!" Cricket slapped him upside the head. "My surveying gear's still in the ocean!"
"He's here!"
"Who left my octopus boxers hanging on the chandelier?!"
"Banana! Banana, hide the bananas!"
When Ritter burst through the wooden hut, Black Tide cleaving the door in half, he was greeted with quite a sight:
Three muscle-bound men stacked like a totem pole in front of a bookshelf, striking a nervous greeting pose. Overhead, someone's octopus-patterned boxers swayed from the light fixture.
Ritter wished he had a pair of eyes that hadn't just witnessed that.
Perona tried to peek inside, but Ritter firmly pushed her back down.
"You've got three minutes to make this place presentable," he said coldly. "Or I kill you all."
After a few minutes of chaos—
Ritter noticed a book and raised a brow.
"'Noland Wept, Saying He Truly Saw the City of Gold'? Really?"
"That's academic research!" Cricket lunged for the book, face flushed. "Wait—how dare you snoop through—"
Perona's ghost popped up from beneath the floorboards.
"Lord Ritter~ They were hiding a bunch of picture books. Want me to read you a story?"
"N-O." Ritter enunciated slowly.
His crimson pupils locked onto Cricket.
"Now, tell me about the Knock-Up Stream."
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