Ilusia Kingdom, Bardock's Villa. All six members of the Dandelion Organization gathered together to celebrate the holiday. Aside from Leo and Mansherry, every single person in the room was effectively an orphan with nowhere else to go.
It was the final day of the Sea Circle Calendar Year 1507. This marked Bardock's second New Year since arriving in this bizarre, dangerous world.
It was a stark contrast to his previous New Year's Eve on the Sabaody Archipelago. Back then, he had sat completely alone on a roof, eating Wano Country ham and sipping West Blue wine while watching the beautiful fireworks. But his heart and mind had been completely consumed by an echoing, suffocating loneliness.
Suddenly transmigrating into a world as vibrant and deadly as One Piece had filled him with both immense anticipation and profound terror. He had anticipated clashing with legendary powerhouses and etching his name across the seas, but he was simultaneously terrified of dying a meaningless death halfway through the journey, terrified that his second chance at life would amount to absolutely nothing.
This New Year was entirely different. His personal strength was worlds apart from what it had been a year ago, and more importantly, he now had genuine comrades by his side. The longer he stayed in this world, the more fulfilling his heart became.
Inside the warmly lit dining room, the massive wooden table was practically overflowing with food. Every single dish was a homemade masterpiece, with Bardock naturally serving as the head chef.
"Come on, come on! Everyone grab a glass!" Bardock cheered, raising his cup. "To the past year, and to the journey ahead! Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
The six crewmates clinked their glasses together and drank heartily.
It was worth noting that out of everyone present, Daz Bonez was the only one drinking alcohol. The rest of them—including Bardock—were sipping on various fruit juices, milk, and cola.
As the ship's Teacher, Robin had strictly enforced the 'no alcohol for minors' rule. Bardock didn't really mind; he wasn't particularly fond of alcohol anyway, and fruit juice tasted better.
Gulp. Buuurp...
Leo set down a cup that was practically the size of a barrel to him, panting heavily. The dwarf actually had a monstrous appetite and could eat a terrifying amount of food. However, because his physical body was so small, his stomach capacity was severely limited. If he ate or drank too fast, he got full instantly and had to wait to digest before he could continue stuffing his face.
He was incredibly envious of Bardock's Seimei Kikan (Life Return) ability, which allowed the captain to instantly digest anything he swallowed.
"Leo, you don't have to chug the whole thing at once," Bardock advised gently, looking at the dwarf's slightly bulging stomach. "Look at Mansherry. Just drink at your own pace. We're all family here; the most important thing is that we're having fun."
Leo puffed out his chest, looking completely unconvinced. "I'm a manly warrior! How can I drink at the same pace as the Princess?!"
"Hmph!" Mansherry pouted, her cheeks puffing out. 'Just you wait,' she schemed internally. 'When we call my father on the Den Den Mushi later, your grandmother will definitely be there! I'm going to tell on you!'
"Alright, alright, let's eat," Robin smiled warmly, using a phantom hand to place a massive, sizzling drumstick onto Leo's plate. "If we wait too long, the food will get cold."
Leo stared at the drumstick, completely conflicted. What was he supposed to do? He genuinely couldn't take another bite right now!
"Pfft," Mansherry couldn't help but giggle at the dwarf's agonizingly conflicted expression.
"Time to dig in!"
Bardock transformed into an absolute eating machine, inhaling the feast at a terrifying pace. Fortunately, while he ate incredibly fast, he had prepared a mountain of food, so no one had to worry about him clearing the table before they got their fill.
"Mmm! This is delicious! Oh, this one is really good too!" Perona hummed happily, taking tiny, refined bites of her food and savoring the flavors. Since she had a small appetite, eating slowly allowed her to perfectly match the relaxed pace of the rest of the crew.
"Oh, these pastries look so cute! I wonder how they taste," Robin mused, having a clear preference for beautifully crafted desserts.
Her Devil Fruit ability was ridiculously convenient for dinner parties. Sitting completely still in her chair, a trail of phantom hands sprouted along the table, elegantly passing the specific dishes she wanted directly to her plate. Furthermore, she effortlessly played the perfect hostess, seamlessly passing food to anyone who couldn't reach it.
If Bardock had bothered to look up from his mountain of meat, he would have noticed that Daz Bonez was actually using a steak knife. The stoic bounty hunter meticulously diced his steak into perfectly uniform, bite-sized cubes before eating them one by one. Bardock couldn't help but wonder if Bonez's Atomic Slash technique was subconsciously inspired by his eating habits.
The feast lasted for hours. By the end of it, everyone was completely stuffed and overwhelmingly happy. Truly, good food tasted infinitely better when shared with friends.
After dinner, the entire crew gathered around the living room table as Mansherry and Leo called King Gancho in the Tontatta Kingdom via Den Den Mushi.
Mansherry had been away from home for nearly a year. King Gancho missed her so dearly that the Den Den Mushi nearly died of dehydration from crying so much before the call finally ended.
Outside, the city began setting off fireworks. This year, Bardock had bought his own stash. He had transitioned from a lonely spectator watching the festivities from a distance into an active participant.
As the vibrant, colorful explosions bloomed across the night sky, they bid farewell to the old year and welcomed the new.
Early the next morning, on the first day of the New Year, Andrew—the former boss of the Night Wolf Gang and current General Manager of the Dandelion Trading Company—arrived at the villa to pay his respects.
Clothes really do make the man. Dressed in a sharp, tailored suit, Andrew looked entirely like a legitimate, professional businessman.
Seeing him, Bardock recalled a piece of intel: after defeating the Flying Dagger Society, the Fang Gang had completely avoided the Dandelion Trading Company's turf and expanded in the opposite direction. He wondered if Capone Bege had given them specific instructions to steer clear.
Either way, it worked out perfectly. Bardock had no desire to deal with petty annoyances right now.
In addition to his New Year's greetings, Andrew also delivered a detailed business report to Robin.
Robin had been remotely managing the Dandelion Trading Company the entire time. Before meeting Bardock, she had spent years on the run, working countless odd jobs across various industries in the underworld. She knew the hidden rules and secrets of almost every trade. Combined with her natural genius and her Devil Fruit's peerless intelligence-gathering capabilities, she managed the massive trading company with effortless grace.
Despite being established quite recently, the Dandelion Trading Company was already turning a massive profit. This incredible success had deeply reassured the former mobsters who had chosen to follow Andrew into legitimacy.
For ordinary men like them, whether they joined a gang or a company, their primary goal was simply to put food on the table. While their new lives weren't as flashy or intimidating as their mob days, their wallets were significantly heavier, and they didn't have to constantly worry about getting shot in an alleyway.
Having prepared for the meeting beforehand, Robin quickly finalized her directives for the upcoming quarter. With the convenience of the Den Den Mushi and the fact that every single former mobster was absolutely terrified of Bardock's monstrous strength, managing the company from a distance was incredibly simple.
After resting in the Ilusia Kingdom for another seven days, Bardock and his crew boarded the White Dragon and set a direct course for the Kano Country.
However, this time, Bardock had absolutely no intention of using the Flying Nimbus to launch an aerial assault directly onto the enemy's headquarters. The Kano Country was entirely different from any territory they had invaded so far. Aside from Don Chinjao, the legendary 12th Leader of the Happo Navy, Bardock had zero intel on the strength of the other Navy Leaders stationed there. More importantly, he didn't know how much of Chinjao's prime strength the old man still retained.
Bardock wasn't Monkey D. Luffy. He wasn't going to blindly charge into an unknown, heavily fortified superpower without a plan.
"Robin, once we reach the Kano Country, I'm relying heavily on your espionage," Bardock said, gathering the crew on the deck. "We need to gather intel slowly and carefully. It is highly likely that many of their officers have mastered Observation Haki, meaning your phantom eyes and ears could be detected. We have to be incredibly cautious this time."
Bardock briefly explained the political structure of the Kano Country and the legendary status of the Happo Navy. The crew's expressions turned serious; this was a genuine, world-class military superpower.
"Don't worry, Bardock. Gathering intelligence is what I do best," Robin assured him, though her brow furrowed slightly. "I'll undoubtedly secure their latest operational status and locations. However... I have no way of accurately assessing their physical strength or Haki proficiency."
Robin was highly confident in her Devil Fruit, but she couldn't gauge a fighter's true power level just by looking at them. Even Bardock couldn't do that.
"That's fine. We don't need a power-level read," Bardock nodded. "Your only objective is to pinpoint the exact locations of the various Navy Leaders. Once we know their routines, we'll isolate Don Chinjao when he's completely alone. To be completely honest, since his ultimate weapon—his drill-shaped head—was permanently flattened by Garp, his offensive power has drastically declined. Even if I can't beat him, I am absolutely confident I can grab all of you and safely escape."
Without his drill-head, Bardock was fully confident he could endure Chinjao's strikes.