The sea was calm again.
After the madness of Racket Ring Island, the shouting, the wagers, the games, the tricks, the fights, and Shanks casually ending the final round in a single strike, the quiet of open water felt strangely unreal.
The newly expanded Red-Haired Pirates stood gathered on deck as the last of the island shrank behind them.
Captain Dorga and the Marauder Claw Pirates had been left broken in spirit, poorer in crew, and considerably less smug than they had been at the start of the day.
And now came the final question.
What to take.
Shanks stood near the stern with one hand on his hip, looking back toward the distant shape of the island.
"Well then," he said. "That wraps it up."
Giovanni stretched both arms over his head and grinned. "That was amazing."
Limejuice, leaning against the railing, still looked like he was trying to decide whether the last two days had actually happened.
Lucky Roo was eating.
Bonk Punch sat nearby with Monster finally perched where he belonged again, both of them noticeably more relaxed now that they were back together.
Hongo stood a little off to the side, quiet and observant, watching this new crew with the steady eyes of a man who had not yet decided what exactly he had been dragged into.
Beckman lit another cigarette and exhaled slowly.
"So," he said, "what are we taking?"
Shanks blinked.
"Hm?"
"The final claim," Beckman said. "You beat Dorga. That gives you one last prize. Are you taking another crewmate? Supplies? Their ship?"
At that, the deck grew a little quieter.
It was true.
The rules of the Davy Back Fight had been clear from the start.
Shanks had one final choice.
Giovanni folded his arms and thought about it.
"A musician, a doctor…" he muttered. "We already did really well."
Lucky Roo nodded. "Not bad for a day's work."
Limejuice snorted. "That's one way to describe armed piracy through organized sports."
Shanks scratched his cheek and looked back toward the distant island.
Then he smiled.
"I want their Jolly Roger."
There was a beat of silence.
Then Giovanni's face lit up.
"That's cold."
Beckman smirked slightly. "Not a bad choice."
Building Snake nodded. "Taking their flag means taking their pride."
Bonk Punch let out a low laugh. "Yeah. That would sting."
Monster chirped in agreement.
Limejuice tilted his head. "You don't want anything else?"
Shanks shook his head.
"No."
His smile sharpened, becoming something prouder. More pirate-like.
"We already took enough from them."
He looked over his shoulder, red hair dancing in the wind.
"But taking their Jolly Roger…"
Shanks laughed.
"That tells the whole sea who beat them."
Giovanni pointed dramatically. "Captain behavior."
Beckman took another drag from his cigarette.
"It also saves us the trouble of pretending we need one more random pirate."
Lucky Roo raised a piece of meat in approval. "I support the theft of enemy pride."
Shanks threw one arm up.
"Then it's decided!"
And so the Red-Haired Pirates claimed the Marauder Claw Pirates' Jolly Roger as the final prize of the Davy Back Fight.
A symbol more painful than gold.
More humiliating than defeat.
A message.
A warning.
And most importantly—
A trophy.
---
By the time they returned to Sabaody Archipelago, the atmosphere had changed.
The earlier panic and military chaos had settled. The island was still lively, still lawless, still packed with pirates, merchants, gamblers, and drifters, but it no longer felt like it was on the verge of collapsing into open war.
The Red-Haired Pirates docked more carefully this time.
Just the steady hum of Sabaody's natural madness.
Once ashore, the crew made their way through the groves toward the one place Shanks had wanted to return to from the start.
Shakky's bar.
Giovanni walked near the front this time, hands in his pockets, eyes moving from one root path to another.
They had started as a tiny crew.
Now they looked like a real pirate band.
Shanks in front.
Beckman close behind.
Lucky Roo laughing to himself.
Building Snake walking tall.
Limejuice still insisting this was temporary.
Bonk Punch carrying Monster on his shoulders.
And Hongo, quiet as ever, watching all of them.
It was strange.
Good strange.
By the time they pushed open the bar doors, the late-day light had already started to soften.
The bell above the door rang.
Shakky looked up first.
Then Rayleigh.
And for one full second, neither of them said anything.
Because the crew that entered was not the same small group that had left.
Shanks grinned wide.
"We're back!"
Shakky blinked once.
Then twice.
"…You got bigger."
Rayleigh, seated at the bar with a drink in hand, let out a laugh.
"That was fast."
Shanks puffed out his chest proudly. "Right?"
Shakky leaned against the counter and looked from face to face.
"When you left, there were fewer of you."
"There were," Beckman said.
Rayleigh shook his head in disbelief, smiling despite himself. "So this is what you've been doing. You disappear for a little while and come back with a full crew."
Shanks laughed.
"Something like that."
Then, as always, he immediately turned introductions into a performance.
He pointed at Lucky Roo first.
"You know Roo already."
Lucky Roo lifted one hand. "Still me."
Rayleigh chuckled.
Then Shanks pointed at Building Snake.
"This is Building Snake. Navigator. Good head on his shoulders, which is rare around here."
Building Snake nodded respectfully. "It's an honor."
Rayleigh smiled. "Likewise."
Then Shanks swung one arm toward Limejuice.
"This is Limejuice. He says he's not part of the crew, but he definitely is."
Limejuice immediately frowned. "I said I'm staying temporarily."
Giovanni stepped in with perfect timing.
"That's what all permanent members say at first."
Shakky laughed softly.
Rayleigh's smile widened.
Shanks ignored Limejuice's visible irritation and moved on.
"Bonk Punch and Monster joined us too."
Bonk Punch folded his arms in a short nod, while Monster gave an energetic sound from atop his shoulders.
Rayleigh raised his brows slightly. "That pair, huh. Good pick."
Then Shanks gestured toward the quietest man among them.
"And this is Hongo. He's our doctor."
At that, both Shakky and Rayleigh visibly approved.
"Finally," Beckman said.
"Good," Rayleigh added. "You needed one."
Hongo stepped forward just enough to be polite.
"It's a pleasure."
But his eyes stayed thoughtful.
He was still learning them.
Still studying.
The crew, the dynamic, the strange way Shanks could somehow hold chaos together through nothing but instinct and charm.
Shanks, meanwhile, moved on to the introduction he had clearly been waiting for.
He put a hand on Giovanni's shoulder.
"And this—"
Giovanni already knew what was coming.
"—is Giovanni. My best friend. Swordsman. Loud. Dramatic and sometimes useful."
Giovanni clicked his tongue. "Only sometimes?"
Rayleigh's eyes settled on him.
So this was the one.
The young swordsman Shanks had already spoken of without really speaking of him.
Giovanni straightened slightly under that gaze.
Then his composure cracked.
"You're really Rayleigh," he said.
Rayleigh blinked once.
Then laughed.
"That's usually how introductions work, yes."
Giovanni pointed at him with the full sincerity of a fan who had just met a legend.
"No, I mean, you're really Silvers Rayleigh. The right hand of the Pirate King. The Dark King."
Rayleigh smiled behind his glass.
"I've been called worse."
Shakky smirked. "He's a fan."
"I can see that."
Giovanni folded his arms quickly as if trying to recover some dignity. "I'm not a fan."
Shanks looked at him.
"You absolutely are."
"I respect history."
Shakky laughed. "That's just a fancier way of saying it."
Giovanni opened his mouth to argue—
But Shakky cut in first, this time looking directly at him.
"Speaking of history," she said, "I found something on your father."
The mood shifted instantly.
Giovanni straightened.
The crew quieted.
Even Hongo's eyes sharpened.
Shanks looked at Shakky. "You found him?"
Shakky nodded once.
"A few years ago, his crew clashed against the Gecko Pirates."
At the mention of the name, Giovanni's expression changed.
Shakky continued.
"Their captain is Gecko Moria. At the time he was still a rising rookie."
She took a slow drag from her cigarette.
"Now he's valued at over one hundred million Berries."
Rayleigh's gaze flicked toward Giovanni for a brief moment, watching his reaction.
Shakky went on.
"After that clash, your father's entire crew was captured…"
She exhaled smoke.
"…and thrown into Impel Down."
Silence followed.
For one second.
Then two.
Giovanni didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Didn't even blink.
Inside, though, his thoughts were moving fast.
'He's in Impel Down.'
The words landed hard.
And beneath that another thought formed immediately.
'And he fought Gecko Moria.'
Giovanni's eyes narrowed just slightly.
This wasn't the Moria of later years.
This wasn't the broken, defeated pirate whose spirit had been hollowed out after disaster.
No.
This was earlier.
Before Kaido.
Before collapse.
Before loss took the bite out of him.
'Gecko Moria in this era…'
Giovanni exhaled slowly through his nose.
'He must still have been terrifying.'
Shanks looked at him carefully.
"Gio…"
But Giovanni was still thinking.
Impel Down.
The great underwater prison.
One of the worst places in the world to disappear into.
His father wasn't dead.
But trapped.
Buried alive in the World Government's nightmare cage.
---
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