After leaving the sea restaurant, satisfied to the bone, White Ghost's crew continued on their way. During the meal, Wanda had even chatted with Zeff and his people about cooking for a bit.
Wanda was currently a part-time cook and combatant. More than once, White Ghost had thought about recruiting a proper chef, but he just hadn't met anyone suitable yet.
They drifted across the sea for two full months—pure sightseeing. Whatever made them happy, they did. Every time they ran into an island, they went ashore to rummage around.
White Ghost couldn't figure it out.
Why the hell hadn't he found the Flame-Flame Fruit?
He'd stepped onto every island himself.
One of them even looked exactly like the place Ace had washed up on—based on White Ghost's memory from his previous life.
He tore that island apart and still didn't see it.
He got so mad he nearly split the entire island with a sword.
At one point he even suspected someone had deliberately steered Ace's boat there—then "prepared" the Flame-Flame Fruit for him.
In the end, he still didn't find it.
So in a fit of rage, he cut down the island's giant eagle and roasted it on the spot.
He had to admit—Wanda's cooking was getting better and better.
"If it's not there, it's not there," Elena said, handing him grilled meat. "Don't stew in it and wreck your own health."
White Ghost took a bite, then glanced at Elena's smooth, dewy skin.
His mood improved instantly.
No Flame-Flame Fruit…
But they did find the Smooth-Smooth Fruit, and a regular Zoan—some kind of Snake-Snake Fruit.
The Snake-Snake Fruit went straight to Ashie for experiments. After finishing Franky's work, Ashie had been buried in Vegapunk's notes.
As for Franky—he spent those two months refitting the ship with memory alloy, turning the Dragon Emperor into a true steel battleship.
Now the Dragon Emperor looked even more overwhelmingly domineering than before. Its entire body was memory alloy—heavy, cold, and oppressive.
Franky was also tinkering with cannons. He said that since White Ghost could "spit energy," the dragon's mouth at the bow needed an electromagnetic cannon too.
The Smooth-Smooth Fruit went to Elena.
The moment she heard it could keep skin flawless—and let you eat without getting fat—she ate it on the spot.
After Elena turned even more radiant, White Ghost couldn't resist "discussing Devil Fruit experience" with her for a long time.
It got to the point where Elena started avoiding him the moment she saw him coming.
White Ghost chewed his grilled meat and unfolded today's newspaper. They'd been searching the island all day, so he hadn't had time to read it earlier.
He paused at one headline and snorted.
"Isn't Doflamingo supposed to be sharp?" White Ghost muttered. "How'd he piss off Big Mom and get beaten down?"
It was probably about the Road Poneglyphs. Big Mom had taken a vicious bite out of him—he must've lost a fortune.
Kaido didn't care.
What did Big Mom have to do with him? And what did Doflamingo have to do with him?
Not even comparable.
Didn't get what he wanted, and picked up a mountain of trouble instead.
White Ghost clicked his tongue. "Does he even know his own weight? If that fat hag gets serious, she'll cut you down in one hit."
Doflamingo's real problem was the darkness in his heart—he couldn't unify his will. Without that, Conqueror's coating would never fully take shape.
Next page: the Red-Haired Pirates had seized more territory again. They'd also had minor friction with Big Mom—sooner or later, they'd clash.
The New World was practically waiting for Shanks to collide with Charlotte Linlin. A lot of pirate crews crushed under the Emperors' pressure were flocking to Red Hair.
Morgans was blowing it up as usual—
Could the New World be getting a new emperor?
Four Emperor candidate: Red-Haired Shanks!
Bounty: three billion berries!
Sure enough, that shit-stirring bastard was stirring shit across the New World, and his bounty climbed with it.
Another piece surprised White Ghost:
The William Pirates had defeated one of the Whitebeard Pirates' commanders, then escaped cleanly.
Whitebeard's crew was searching for them now.
White Ghost could already picture the old man's "dad instincts" flaring up again—spot a promising kid and immediately want to say, Be my son.
"They're trying to be kings," White Ghost swallowed a mouthful of meat, grumbling inwardly. "Not trying to become your son."
Then came the gossip pages.
White Ghost's face grew darker with every line.
Morgans… that damn bird.
White Ghost and Fish-Man Island: the story you can't not hear!
An "intimate bond" with the Fish-Man Island Princess!
An ambiguous relationship with Queen Otohime!
White Ghost's expression turned pitch-black. He almost wanted to fly straight into the New World, find Morgans, and tear his feathers out with one claw.
No wonder Elena had been giving him the cold shoulder today.
There was another article too:
White Ghost and the Mermaid Café's owner: a night of deep conversation!
"Let me catch you," White Ghost growled, biting off a huge chunk of meat like it was Morgans' neck. "I'll pluck you bald."
"So now you're acting like you can't admit it?" Elena said beside him, voice quiet and dangerous.
"How could I not admit it?" White Ghost gave a dry laugh. "The stuff about Queen Otohime and Princess Shirahoshi is pure nonsense. Morgans made it up to sell papers!"
Ain walked over and poured him a cup of wine.
"I knew it," she said coolly. "Last time you came back from Fish-Man Island, you smelled like perfume. So we've got a sister over there now?"
Stella came over with a bowl of chilled vegetables—White Ghost had been craving that lately.
Even Little Squirrel looked at him shyly.
The women all stared at White Ghost, waiting for him to explain himself.
White Ghost looked at the women around him, the corner of his mouth lifting.
Worth it.
"No one told you to smile," Elena snapped. "Explain. Queen Otohime. Princess Shirahoshi. And that café owner."
"Shyarly is real," White Ghost admitted bluntly. He wasn't going to lie to his own women.
The women all showed the same expression: Of course.
With their man's shameless nature, how could he possibly let a cold, mature beauty slip away?
They were a little jealous—but not truly angry.
At this point, it came with the territory.
White Ghost continued, "Shyarly offered herself. In exchange, she wanted me to protect Fish-Man Island in the future—give the fish-men a corner of my territory when the time comes."
"They haven't seen the sun for hundreds of years," he said quietly. "So she gave everything she had, just to buy them a future."
"And there was also that Devil Fruit—you all know about that."
Ain listened to the full story, her eyes turning wet.
What a woman.
For her people's future, she sacrificed herself.
Little Squirrel bit her lip. It reminded her of herself.
Hadn't she also been working for her own people's future—researching that medicine?
But for her, being with White Ghost wasn't sacrifice.
It was what she wanted.
"Alright, enough with the sad faces," White Ghost cut in quickly when he sensed the mood tipping. "You all know I like things lively. The more races under my flag in the future, the better."
"And Queen Otohime and Princess Shirahoshi?" Elena asked, clinging to his arm.
White Ghost sighed. "Otohime had the same idea—for Fish-Man Island's future. But I don't have any relationship with her."
"As for Shirahoshi… she's special."
"The three Ancient Weapons—you've heard of them, right?"
The women nodded. "We've heard."
"She is one of them," White Ghost said. "Poseidon."
The women's faces changed.
White Ghost scratched his head, a little awkward. "And you also know my ability."
"My ability… reacts to Poseidon. It's like a resonance. When I'm near Shirahoshi, I can sense the Sea Kings—like the sea itself is answering her."
He spread his hands. "So Morgans wrote it as 'romance' to sell papers. In reality, it's more like… she's a walking natural disaster, and my instinct is to keep that disaster from being used by anyone else."
The women stared at him for a few seconds.
Then Ain's gaze sharpened. "So the real issue is: if someone kidnaps her, the whole sea becomes their weapon."
"Exactly," White Ghost said. "And Fish-Man Island is tangled in the World Government, pirates, and the future of the sea. A lot of people want to put their hands on Poseidon."
Elena's expression eased a fraction. "Then why were you pampering Nami like that too? You even gave her the Rumble-Rumble Fruit."
White Ghost coughed once. "That's unrelated. Nami's just… Nami."
Nami, squatting nearby and gnawing meat, lifted her chin like she'd been praised.
"Hmph!"
The women stared at her for a moment, then sighed.
Fine.
They'd lost that argument years ago.
—
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