Baltigo. The island of white clay.
Endless sandstorms veiled the hidden headquarters of the Revolutionary Army. Inside a sprawling conference room, Dragon sat at the table, the newspaper spread before him. The dark red tattoo across his face looked deeper than usual under the lamplight.
Kuma's wanted poster sat apart from the rest.
"Dragon. This young man, Portgas D. Ace, is something else."
Hack, the fishman martial arts instructor, walked over and stared down at the bounty sheet. "Three billion. The World Government is treating him like a full-fledged Emperor. What surprises me is Kuma. How did he end up running with that crew?"
Dragon nodded.
"Kuma's been dragging Bonnie across the seas for years, searching for a cure."
He looked at Kuma's photo. "I never expected him to board a pirate ship with a Marine bounty that high."
"Did Ace force him?" Koala asked.
"No one forces Kuma onto a ship he doesn't want to board. Not even a three-billion-berry pirate."
Dragon lifted his teacup. "It seems that young man, Ace, made Kuma a promise he couldn't refuse. Storming Punk Hazard was about curing Bonnie. She may actually have a chance now."
"And our stance on the Eclipse Pirates?"
"An enemy of our enemy is a potential ally."
Dragon rose and faced the window, watching the sand whip past. "That crew acts without restraint, but they've killed Celestial Dragons and raided a government black site. That does real damage to the rotting establishment. Keep watching. Our paths will cross."
---
"Nojiko! Come see this!"
Fourteen-year-old Nami jabbed her finger at the back page of the newspaper, where a great white shark fishman's photo dominated the column. Her voice cracked with excitement. "Shark, the Demon Shark! That's the fishman who killed Arlong and freed our village! His bounty's four hundred thirty million now!"
Nojiko set down her water bucket and looked at the front page. Ace's three-billion-berry portrait stared back. She exhaled softly.
"I still can't believe it. Someone that powerful... and he just happened to clean up Arlong and his trash for us. Nami, what kind of place is the sea, really?"
Nami touched her shoulder where the Arlong tattoo had been scrubbed away. She looked up at the endless blue sky.
"Who knows. But it looks like not every pirate out there is like Arlong."
---
Drum Island. Bighorn.
"One hundred berries? Ahahahaha!"
Dr. Kureha cackled over her plum wine, the newspaper shaking in her grip. Chopper's blurry photo stared up at her.
"Are those Marine idiots blind? The genius doctor I trained, listed as a pet? That little reindeer is going to cry himself unconscious when he sees this."
She was mocking him, but behind those dark sunglasses, her eyes held something softer. "Still. Running with a black ship that doesn't give a damn about the World Government. At least his life won't be boring."
---
Water 7. The mayor's office.
"SUPER COOL!"
Franky, in nothing but his briefs, struck his signature pose. "Iceburg, did you see Jeno's bounty poster? That armor is pure man's romance!"
Iceburg sat behind his desk, gazing at the massive black silhouette of the Eclipse printed on the page. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"A warship that sails in and out of Marine encirclements like it's nothing. That's man's romance. Causing this much chaos in the New World... old Tom would be proud, watching from above."
---
North Blue. An unnamed stretch of sea.
A yellow submarine surfaced.
Trafalgar Law held the newspaper in one hand. His dark-ringed eyes were unreadable.
"Captain! That Ace guy is terrifying! Three billion!" Bepo the polar bear mink yelped beside him.
"Forced an admiral to retreat. Raided a World Government research facility. The Fifth Emperor."
Law ignored Bepo's panic. His gaze was locked on those lines of text.
"A Fifth Emperor worth three billion, huh." His fingers tightened around Kikoku's hilt. "If I could harness power like that... Doflamingo's head..."
The revenge plan he'd been nursing sharpened in his mind.
---
In the South Blue, the reaction was louder.
"Fifth Emperor my ass! One day I'm ripping that bastard's head off!"
Eustass Kid slammed his fist through the bar table in front of him. Splinters flew.
"Kid. Calm down." Killer, masked as ever, kept his voice level. "That crew's bounties are all high. No point provoking them now."
"Killer, get the ship ready! We're setting sail! The Pirate King's throne is mine!"
---
At the same moment.
The first half of the Grand Line. Ten thousand meters above the sea.
The chaotic winds that had buffeted the Eclipse gradually died. The ship's black Vermilion Bird figurehead tore through the last of the dense cumulus clouds. What spread before the crew now was a pure white, impossibly soft, endless sea of cloud.
"Whoa! This is the ocean in the sky? It really does look like cotton candy!"
Bonnie skittered her black mechanical spider across the deck, her eyes glued to the external display. The dreamlike White-White Sea filled the screen. She shrieked with delight. "Chopper! Look! Fish with wings! Flying fish!"
"I see them! Those must be sky fish, native to this altitude!"
Chopper shifted into his human-beast form and leaned over the railing, both eyes sparkling. "Brook! Big Bear! Look at this! It's a miracle!"
"Yohohoho. Magnificent." Brook stood elegantly on the deck, leaning on the Seven Star Sword. "I've never been anywhere this high. Feels like the soul itself is being cleansed by these pure clouds."
Bartholomew Kuma stood quietly beside Bonnie, adjusting his round glasses. Something in his expression relaxed.
As the crew drank in the view, sleek figures flashed through the distant clouds. Dozens of winged warriors, riding Wind Dial surfboards, closed in on the Eclipse from all sides. Reject Dials and spears bristled in their hands. Every face was sharp with wariness.
"Black ship! Halt immediately! This is the sacred land of Upper Yard!"
The man at their head was bare-chested, his torso a canvas of wild tattoos. Wyper, the God of War. He gripped his Burn Bazooka, eyes blazing with threat.
"Oi, Wyper. Six months and you're already aiming at me?"
Ace walked to the bow and waved down at the guerrilla fighters.
The man in the dark red coat came into focus. Wyper stared. Then he signaled his fighters to lower their weapons.
"Lord Ace? It really is you. But this ship..."
"New ride. This is the Eclipse now." Ace grinned.
"Then welcome home, Lord Ace!" Wyper dropped onto the deck, gliding down on his board. He pounded a fist against his chest in salute.
Before anyone could say more, Carina's eyes snapped shut. Her expression shifted.
"Uh, everyone. The world below is losing its mind."
"What's going on, Carina?" Sabo asked.
"My listening coins are picking up chatter from everywhere."
Carina's Devil Fruit ability kicked into full gear. A sly smile crossed her lips. "Moria and the Fishman District crew are flooding the group chat, too. The special edition just dropped. The Marines updated all our bounties."
A clear chime rang through the minds of every Eclipse officer.
"Ace! Shark! Did you see it?!"
A squad leader from the Fishman District was screaming through the channel. "The papers! They're everywhere! The Marines declared Captain Ace the Fifth Emperor!"
"Kishishishi!"
Moria's deep voice rumbled into the channel. "Carina, forget the papers for a second. Show us the sky island! I've never seen what the sky looks like in my whole damn life!"
"Me too! I want to see!" Shirahoshi clapped her enormous hands in Ryugu Palace, her bright voice chiming through everyone's consciousness.
"Alright, alright. Shared vision coming online. You can watch the scenery and the bounties at the same time."
Carina's power surged. The crew of the Eclipse, Shirahoshi deep beneath the sea, and Moria in his fog-shrouded castle all saw the same image bloom in their minds. A split screen. On the left, the magnificent cloud sea of the sky island and the Golden Bell. On the right, the thick pages of the news special.
"Look! The captain's first!" Carina's voice rang through the mind channel.
"Portgas D. Ace. Bounty: three billion berries."
The ship went dead silent for one beat. Then the exclamations erupted.
"Three billion." Sabo let out a laugh. "Looks like the Marines rolled every debt we've ever racked up into one number."
"Yahahaha! That figure suits my eyes just fine." Enel floated lazily above the deck. "Who's next?"
"First Mate Sabo. One billion three hundred twenty million."
"Thunder Calamity Enel. One billion one hundred eighty million."
"Tyrant Bartholomew Kuma. Nine hundred fifty million."
"Mad Chef Leonora. Six hundred fifty million."
"Mad Monk Urouge. Five hundred eighty million."
"Demon Shark Shark. Four hundred thirty million."
"Hold on! What about me?!" Buggy shot across the deck, his detached head rocketing right into Carina's face.
"Three hundred fifty million." Carina glanced at him. "The Marines are calling you the Shadowy Master of Poisons and Explosives."
"Three hundred fifty million?! That's barely an increase!" Buggy's jaw dropped. Then he erupted. "That's wrong! My hidden power hasn't even surfaced yet! Did those Marines mix me up with some random nobody?!"
"Shut up, red nose." Carina waved him off.
"Machinist Jeno. Five hundred fifty million." She read on. "Carina. Three hundred twenty million."
"Yohohoho. I seem to have three hundred thirty million." Brook sounded pleased.
"Lord Ace... Chopper's bounty... it's a little strange." Shirahoshi's voice came through the channel, soft and hesitant.
Carina squinted at the page. She snorted.
"Blue-Nosed Reindeer Chopper. Bounty: one hundred berries. Status: Eclipse pet."
"WAAAAH! I developed the Limit Breaker serum! I'm a doctor! Not a pet!" Chopper collapsed on the deck, rolling in agony.
"Gawk! What about me?!" Beli flapped his wings.
"Barrier Parrot. One hundred berries."
The deck dissolved into laughter. The mind channel was even louder. The fishman soldiers roared their approval while Moria openly drooled over the image of the Golden Bell.
Ace tossed aside the coconut shell in his hand.
"Emperor of the Sea. If they're bold enough to hand us the seat, we'll sit firmly in it."
He turned to Kuma and Chopper.
"The Eclipse stays moored on this White-White Sea for the next six months. Bonnie's treatment starts today. Chopper, Indigo, Caesar. You three are chained to the medical bay until further notice. No slacking."
"Mission accepted!" Chopper wiped his tears and puffed out his chest.
"As for the rest of you." Ace swept his gaze across Sabo, Enel, and the others. His tone hardened. "The Limit Breaker serum raised your ceilings. It didn't hand you much raw power. These six months are when we turn potential into real, usable strength."
"Remember this. Haki is the only currency that matters on these seas." Ace clenched his fist. A flash of dark red rippled across his knuckles. "For the next half year, every single one of you trains until you drop. With me and Kuma here, don't be afraid of getting hurt."
"Yahahaha! That's exactly what this god wanted to hear!"
"For the Eclipse's flag!"
The Eclipse descended slowly, settling onto the peak of the great vine. And the Golden Bell, silent for so long, rang out once more. Its deep, resonant toll rolled across the ten-thousand-meter sky.
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