July, Year 1490 of the Sea Circle Calendar.
More than five months had already passed since the Roger Pirates reached the Final Island.
By now, the frenzy surrounding Roger's rise to Pirate King had gradually begun to cool across the seas.
The main reason was simple: the people at the center of it all had never once shown themselves. From beginning to end, the entire wave of publicity had been driven by the World Government and the Marines, while countless unrelated bystanders enthusiastically discussed the matter from afar.
Meanwhile, throughout those five months, the Roger Pirates had scarcely appeared anywhere on the seas at all. As time dragged on, life seemed to settle back into its usual rhythm, and the world itself showed no especially dramatic changes.
If there was one noticeable difference, however, it was that increasing numbers of pirates had begun searching for Laugh Tale. Even a great many civilian adventurers had started treating the pursuit of the Final Island as the ultimate goal of their lives.
...
New World, Hachinosu Island.
The president of the World Economy News Paper, Morgans, swaggered down from his ship and stepped onto the infamous pirate paradise of the New World.
"My, my… Wang Zhi has really managed this place quite well," Morgans remarked as he surveyed the bustling island before him. "As expected of the so-called Patriarch of Pirates. When it comes to manipulating people, he certainly knows what he's doing."
Hachinosu remained just as chaotic as ever, though it was a chaos unique to pirates alone. Fighting constantly broke out across the island, and the sounds of gunfire and cannon blasts rang out from time to time without cease.
Yet hidden within that disorder was a peculiar kind of "rule" that only pirates themselves could truly understand.
In short, the island lived up perfectly to its reputation — it was a paradise built for pirates.
Wang Zhi was an extremely greedy pirate. Back in the days of the Rocks crew, he had been exactly the same as Captain John: a man who valued money above all else.
Still, although John loved wealth, he was merely stingy, unwilling to share his treasure with others and always treating the crew's earnings as his own private property. In the end, that greed led to his death at the hands of mutinous subordinates.
Wang Zhi, on the other hand, was far more ruthless. Back then, he had even sold out Shakky purely for profit.
"President, why exactly did we come to Hachinosu?" Photo King asked nervously as he followed beside Morgans. "This place is dangerous, and we're not pirates ourselves…"
"One of my business partners told me to wait here," Morgans replied, his beak clacking away as he spoke. "Very soon, a grand spectacle is going to unfold on this island — and at the same time, a truly explosive piece of news will be born here as well!"
"A business partner? Who?" Photo King asked curiously.
Morgans shot him an annoyed look and snapped, "Why are you digging so deeply into this? Are you planning to inherit my network of contacts and steal my position as president afterward?"
"Hah, come on now," Photo King laughed carelessly. "I'm just a photographer. Running a newspaper company is way beyond me. That kind of talent belongs to you, President. I'm only curious, that's all."
Morgans truly was a masterful operator.
More than six years earlier, during the great incident at God Valley in the West Blue, the World Economy News Paper had risen alongside the chaos. But at that time, they had been nothing more than an obscure little publication, and Morgans himself had only just begun building his fortune.
Now, after more than six years had passed, the newspaper had become one of the most widely recognized publications across the seas. Its influence might not yet rank absolutely at the top, but it was already significant enough that the entire world of public opinion took it seriously.
More importantly, despite the years that had passed, the newspaper's sales continued to grow dramatically every single year. According to evaluations from the World Government's intelligence agencies, within the next five to ten years, the World Economy News Paper was expected to become a true giant of the news industry, possessing enough influence to shape public opinion across the entire world.
Precisely because of this, the World Government had spent recent years steadily strengthening its ties with Morgans. While attempting to exert influence over him, they also hoped to insert themselves into the newspaper's operations.
However, Morgans was indeed an extraordinarily smooth and capable operator. Though he constantly entangled himself with the World Government and cooperated with them on many fronts, he never loosened his grip where it truly mattered. At no point had he ever allowed the Government to genuinely infiltrate his newspaper.
The King of News truly lived up to his reputation.
And as for this so-called business partner of his?
Naturally, it was none other than the equally well-connected, impeccably informed, and socially omnipresent Commander of CP9 himself — Spandine.
Not long ago, Spandine suddenly contacted Morgans and informed him that he had better head to Hachinosu immediately if he did not want to miss a major incident. Naturally, Morgans' curiosity was instantly piqued, and he pressed Spandine repeatedly for details. Yet every single time, Spandine brushed him off under the excuse that it was "inconvenient to disclose." In the end, he revealed only two words:
"Pirate King."
And those two words alone were enough to drive Morgans into a frenzy.
After all, although the initial excitement had faded somewhat, the most eye-catching topic across the seas right now was still the Pirate King and his crew.
The more mysterious they remained and the less they appeared before the public, the more people became obsessed with them.
"Look over therem, isn't that the up-and-coming rookie who's been making waves lately, Blaze Stark? His bounty's already over two hundred million Berries. Take a picture. That alone makes this trip worthwhile," Morgans instructed excitedly. "Honestly, this island really is full of value. Even if I don't get the result I'm hoping for, just gathering material here would be enough for two full newspaper editions."
Hachinosu bustled with people coming and going, and most of them were pirates. Quite a few among them were already well-known figures.
Simply taking photographs of them — or better yet, managing to land an exclusive interview — would more than justify the trip.
Yet just as Morgans was busy searching the crowd for familiar famous faces, something suddenly caught his attention. He abruptly turned his head toward the harbor where he had landed earlier.
An utterly ordinary cargo ship had docked there. Numerous workers were disembarking and unloading goods, while several passengers who had merely hitched a ride also stepped onto the island.
Then, perhaps guided by nothing more than a man's instinct, Morgans' gaze locked tightly onto a tall figure within the crowd. The person wore a headscarf and a heavy coat, concealing nearly their entire appearance, but Morgans was absolutely certain he had seen this "important figure" somewhere before.
He simply could not remember who it was for the moment.
Then, at that exact instant, a gust of sea wind swept past and lifted the veil covering the figure's face, revealing a fleeting glimpse beneath it.
Even though he did not see it clearly, Morgans' pupils instantly widened. He swallowed hard and grabbed Photo King by the shoulder.
"That's… that's… the most beautiful woman in the world, Shakky!!!"
"Shakky? Where? Where?" Photo King hurriedly turned around and scanned the area, but seemed unable to find her. "President, are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
"That figure with the headscarf and veil!" Morgans exclaimed excitedly. "See wrong? Are you questioning my instincts as a journalist? Besides, I built my career on news about Shakky in the first place! There's absolutely no way I could mistake her!"
After all these years, why had Shakky suddenly returned to Hachinosu?
Was she planning to speak with Wang Zhi and reopen the long-abandoned Rip-Off Bar?
Clearly, although Morgans had risen to prominence because of news surrounding Shakky back then, he knew nothing about the fact that Wang Zhi had sold her out.
"No, no, no…" Morgans muttered rapidly as his mind raced. "Combining this with the information Spandine gave me about the Pirate King, and considering that Shakky's relationship with Rayleigh is now common knowledge… that means she's actually here to meet Rayleigh? To revisit the memories they once shared together? This news… this news is definitely huge, but it still feels like something's missing!?"
At first glance, "Shakky and Rayleigh on a date" sounded utterly ridiculous as headline material.
But in truth, on these seas, it absolutely qualified as explosive news.
To put it bluntly, when Shakky disappeared all those years ago, the resulting shock had reportedly caused economic stagnation across the seas for several weeks. The scale of it was so absurd it bordered on unbelievable.
If Shakky were to appear in the newspapers again after all this time — especially alongside Rayleigh — the sheer sensationalism of it would undoubtedly capture countless eyes and shake the entire world.
And yet, despite recognizing the immense value of such a story, Morgans still felt something was off.
It still was not explosive enough.
Besides, why would a CP commander like Spandine bother paying attention to Rayleigh and Shakky going on a date? No matter how he thought about it, that simply did not make sense.
Before Morgans could untangle the mystery any further, he saw Shakky step onto the island and immediately begin moving forward without the slightest hesitation or pause, striding directly toward the enormous skull at the center of Hachinosu.
And that place…
…was the stronghold of the Pirate Patriarch, Wang Zhi himself.
"So she really is going to meet Wang Zhi first and catch up with him?" Morgans muttered. "Forget it, let's follow her and see what happens!"
With that, he waved his hand and hurried after her at once.
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