A clear stretch of sea under the first half of the Grand Line offered no hint of the chaos left behind in the archipelago. The massive, midnight-hued hull of the Eclipse cut smoothly through the water, its ventral propulsion units resting while the lateral oar arrays maintained a steady, calculated cruise.
High above the primary rigging, a single News Coo circled before dropping a fresh, ink-scented bundle onto the clean steel of the deck.
Carina caught the roll with a flick of her wrist, tossing a silver coin back to the bird without looking. As her purple eyes skimmed the front-page headline, a look of profound amusement twisted her features into a sharp sneer.
"Captain, everyone... you need to see the latest fiction from the capital," she called out, leaning against the rail. "Those suits in the World Government certainly know how to rewrite a disaster."
The crew members resting on the main deck closed in around the table.
The centerpiece of the front page was an aggressively edited photograph: Admiral Kizaru stood wreathed in blinding gold light, his heel extended in a flash of photons. At the very edge of the frame, blurred and distorted by the angle, the dark silhouette of the Eclipse appeared to be in full retreat.
The bold, ink-black headline read:
THE MIGHT OF AN ADMIRAL! BORSALINO'S TRIUMPH AT SABAODY! THE OUTLIER PIRATES ROUTED AND SEVERELY DAMAGED!
The text below contained no mention of the shattered stones of Grove 1, nor did it touch upon the three missing lineages of the World Nobles. The entire column was a carefully tailored narrative detailing how a single Marine Admiral had single-handedly suppressed three core officers of the Outlier crew, forcing the arrogant newcomers to scatter like common thieves.
"What?!"
Enel's eyes flared, blue-white sparks snapping from his shoulders and scorching the deck plates. "Yahahaha! Those crawling ants dare print that I fled from a fight? That yellow monkey had his midsection torn open by the Captain!"
"It's a political facade," Sabo said calmly, running a cloth down the length of his alloy staff. "If the truth of what happened to the Nobles got out, the fear that keeps the world in check would evaporate by morning. They had no choice but to build a golden wall of lies to protect their pride."
"The civilians might buy it, but the New World isn't blind," Carina added, turning the page to expose a smaller, unvetted intelligence sheet printed by underground brokers and black-market informants.
The alternative press was already boiling. Despite the Marine cover-up regarding the Nobles, the immediate execution of Sweet Commander Snack and the defeat of the Warlord Hanafuda at Sabaody had reached the ears of every major captain across the red sea.
Two of the Four Emperors had already issued public decrees.
Kaido of the Beasts:
"You slaughter my subordinate and then turn around to play house in the lower seas? If you have the spine to cross the threshold into the New World, I will grind your bones to paste myself!"
Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin:
"Arrogant whelps! You spit on a blood alliance with Totto Land and leave one of my Sweet Generals broken in the dirt! You can burrow into the deepest trench on this sea, but Mama will personally tear the souls from your skin and stuff them into the dirt!"
"Targeted by two Emperors before we even cross the line... that's a special kind of death sentence, isn't it?" Buggy muttered, his face turning an ashen white as he instinctively eyed the hatch to the relative safety of the lower decks.
Ace sat back in his leather chair, a quiet scoff escaping his lips as he dismissed the long-distance fury of the New World lords. "Let them roar from their thrones. Once we've harvested what we need from these lower waters, I'll cross the sea and show them what an absolute nightmare looks like."
He reached down, pulling a small, polished wooden box from the storage compartment beside his seat. "Compared to their posturing, we have actual business to settle."
As the lid clicked open, a distinct Devil Fruit was revealed. It was an eerie, pale green specimen, its surface covered in the familiar arabesque spirals, shaped precisely like a heavy glass orb.
"Paramecia: the Barrier-Barrier Fruit," Ace said. It was the prize Buggy had dragged from an underworld vault back in Loguetown.
"Why bring that out now, Captain? Who's taking it?" Buggy asked, squinting at the orb.
"The unique trait of this fruit is simple: it generates an absolute physical and energy barrier that cannot be broken by conventional force." Ace's gaze cut across the deck, bypassing the human officers and locking onto the large Macaw perched on the steel railing, idly cracking a nut between its beak.
"Berries. Get over here," Ace called.
"Gah! The Boss wants me! Gah!"
The red-and-gold bird, highly perceptive, flapped its wings and glided down, landing squarely on Ace's forearm before preening its feathers against his sleeve.
Carina's eyes widened, her finger pointing at the bird as her breath caught. "Ace... you don't mean..."
"On this ship, we don't carry pets," Ace said, a cold smile touching his lips as he raised the pale green fruit to the parrot's beak. "We only carry crew members who can stand in a fight. Eat, Berries. From this day on, you are the final shield of this ship."
With the Dark-Dark Fruit now resting in his own arsenal, Ace had no shortage of options, but the absolute defense of the Barrier Fruit was uniquely suited to the intelligent bird, providing an impenetrable fallback line for both itself and Carina.
"Gah? Food? Gah!"
Ignorant of the true nature of the gift, the Macaw opened its curved beak and took a massive bite out of the fruit's flesh.
A second later, the bird's eyes rolled back into its head. Its feathers puffed out like an exploded cushion, and it began hopping erratically across the iron plates like a beast that had stepped on a live ember, thoroughly traumatized by the foul taste.
A collective, heartless laugh went up from the officers along the deck.
After forcing the mass down its throat, Berries stood blinking dizzily, shaking its head with an indignant screech. "Gah! Rotten! Horrible! Gah!"
"Test the legacy, Berries," Ace said, leaning forward. "The trigger requires a crossing of the digits. Try using your talons."
The bird tilted its head, its sharp eyes processing the instruction with human-like clarity. Standing on its left leg, it raised its scaly right claw, struggling for a moment before forcing two of its long toes into a deliberate, overlapping cross.
Hum.
A translucent, pale green panel of solid glass, three meters high, manifested out of empty air, locking itself firmly into place before the bird.
"Yahahaha! Let's see what it holds!"
Enel's eyes danced with sudden malice. He flicked a single finger, discharging a sharp lance of blue-white electricity capable of boring through heavy armor plate straight toward the barrier.
"Gah!"
The lightning slammed into the glass wall, dissolving into a violent spray of static and bright sparks. Yet, when the light cleared, the green pane remained flawlessly smooth, without a single hairline fracture on its surface. Berries stood behind it, completely untouched.
Furthermore, the kinetic energy of the thunderbolt was instantly redirected, reflecting outward in a sharp concussive blast that blew the loose dust off the surrounding steel deck.
"It absorbed the full voltage and threw the shockwave back?" Enel muttered, his casual disdain vanishing as he clicked his tongue in genuine surprise.
"The concept of the Barrier Fruit is absolute," Ace remarked, watching the Macaw draw itself up, its tail feathers cocked with newfound arrogance. "Unless the user drops the technique, even an Admiral's full output won't shatter that glass."
The final guardian of the deck was in place. Ace stood, his eyes turning toward the horizon where the open sea stretched into the distance.
"Little Eclipse. Register the next coordinate."
The ship's automated core gave a low, responsive hum.
"Full speed ahead. Target: Drum Island."
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