At the entrance to the Grand Line, Twin Cape, White Ghost's crew was busy with their own matters.
Naqin and the little squirrel were discussing medical knowledge with Crocus.
To thank White Ghost for healing the wounds on Laboon's head, Crocus had given the two women all the medical books he had treasured for many years.
At that moment, both Naqin and the little squirrel were reading through them. The little squirrel in particular was extremely excited.
Because White Ghost had gone out this time to obtain the medicine that could let the Mink Tribe enter their Sulong state without moonlight.
Although she and Naqin had also developed a substitute, that medicine came with the side effect of shortening one's lifespan.
That was why White Ghost refused to let anyone use it.
He had said, "You can sell that stuff for money, but you're not allowed to use it to screw over our own people."
Pedro didn't mind. He had desperately wanted to try it. For the future of the Mink Tribe, he wasn't afraid of anything.
But White Ghost had given a strict order: if anyone dared eat it, they would be thrown off the ship on the spot.
So Pedro didn't dare.
It was only after White Ghost said he was going to retrieve the real medicine this time that Pedro's mood improved.
Right now, Pedro was lifting iron with Seastone strapped to him like his life depended on it.
He had long since completed Seastone resistance training, but training his body while wearing Seastone doubled the effect for an ability user. So whenever he had time, Pedro trained like mad with it.
Of course, he hadn't forgotten the captain's instructions—he couldn't just train his upper body. He had to train his lower body too.
Nearby, A-Da and A-Er were refusing to fall behind, also lifting like maniacs.
For the two of them, all they had to do was keep training their bodies and Haki.
Crocus lay on a beach chair under the sun, and the sight of everyone training so desperately left him inwardly shocked.
Are these people working this hard because they plan to wage war in the New World one day?
That kid had mentioned before that his final goal was in the New World.
He turned and saw Brook sparring with Ain. The two were fighting speed against speed, both pushing themselves to the absolute limit of their current velocity.
Laboon was watching happily from the side, roaring from time to time.
"Oooh! Oooh!"
Then Crocus shifted his gaze to the sky above the sea.
There, two Devil Fruit users were also sparring. One in a demonic Mythical Zoan form, the other in an angelic Mythical Zoan form.
Crocus's mouth twitched.
On the sea, Mythical Zoans were even rarer than Logias, yet here he was seeing two of them at once.
Those three were said to have come down from Skypiea?
Crocus turned to the three-way melee happening nearby.
Well, it was basically Enel and Urouge fighting each other.
As for Wyper, he never lasted long before getting beaten flat by the two of them.
There was also that cyborg.
Crocus hadn't seen much of him lately. Apparently, he was modifying the ship.
As for the scientist…
That guy wasn't even worth mentioning.
He stayed buried in his laboratory and never came out. If his daughter didn't bring him meals, Crocus suspected the man would simply starve to death in there.
In the end, Crocus cast a glance at Zango.
That guy had been eyeing Laboon recently, seemingly thinking about challenging the whale in a contest of strength.
Crocus directly ignored that sort of brute.
There had been plenty of brutes on Roger's ship too.
Especially that "Demon Heir," Bullet.
The man had been a pure-blooded brute. Other than training and fighting, he cared about absolutely nothing else.
Crackle!
Lightning exploded off to one side.
Crocus turned to look.
Of course—it was that little Logia lightning girl again.
He had no idea how many rookie pirate crews had suffered over the past two days. But what surprised Crocus was that this group clearly made distinctions between pirates.
If they weren't the sort who committed evil, they were simply let go.
But if they were the kind who committed atrocities—or if they looked at the women with the wrong kind of eyes—they were immediately sent off for good.
As Nami herself put it, they belonged to White Ghost, and anyone who dared stare carelessly would be erased.
Bzzzt!
After looting a pirate crew's treasure, Nami came running back, her little face full of delight. It was obvious her haul had been excellent.
"Looks like you did pretty well, Nami," Uta said from the side as she practiced a piece of sheet music, glancing up at the beaming girl.
Nami's happy expression was impossible to hide. She waved a hand modestly.
"It was fine, it was fine."
Uta was amused by the little money-grubber, put down her sheet music, ran over, and hugged Nami, rubbing her cheek against hers.
"Hahaha— It tickles! Uta, it tickles! Stop messing around!"
Nami kept struggling in Uta's arms, though not seriously.
Then again, even if she were serious, it probably wouldn't help.
At least not where Uta was concerned.
Her ability was just a bug.
No, not just for them—for the One Piece world as a whole, her power was a complete bug.
Meanwhile, Stella and Ilena were flipping through magazines and discussing which outfits looked better.
The two of them had already positioned themselves as decorative flowers.
Well, flowers with a little strength.
At least by the standards of the people on the ship.
Against ordinary minor pirates, Stella could deal with them with a single exploding bubble.
As for Ilena?
What a joke.
With the Silver-Silver power, anyone without Haki shouldn't even dream of hurting her.
Even cannon fire couldn't touch her.
On the surface, Crocus looked as unconcerned as ever.
Inside, however, he was thoroughly shaken.
At their current level, this crew could already establish a firm foothold in the New World.
So what exactly was White Ghost still worried about?
Could it really be that he simply wanted to travel the world first?
If White Ghost had been here, he would've told him plainly:
I'm worried about too many things.
The moment I enter the New World, I'll probably end up fighting Kaido.
As for the other three…
Well, they'd definitely be watching me like hawks too.
Red-Haired Shanks didn't even need mentioning. Whitebeard and Big Mom would probably be wary of White Ghost as well.
So in White Ghost's mind, the stronger his crew became, the better.
"Oooh!"
From the sky, White Ghost's group descended slowly.
They could have arrived long ago, but White Ghost had made a detour on the way to pick up something.
Everyone looked up.
And then they saw a small island wrapped in golden flame clouds slowly descending from the sky.
Wasn't that the island ship from the World Pirates?
Zango and a few others had seen it before.
The rest were immediately shocked.
"What? That thing's an island ship?"
Naqin's expression turned a little complicated.
Not out of sadness or anything like that.
She had already betrayed Captain Byrnndi World once before.
At the time, it had been because there was a traitor within their ranks, and they had no choice but to flee.
Later, while they were drifting at sea, White Ghost had led people to kill the others and leave only her alive.
Naqin had long since made peace with it.
On this ship now, as long as she didn't betray him, she was free to do whatever she wanted.
The only condition was that she had to develop the medicines the captain needed.
Thinking of that, Naqin smiled faintly.
Why am I overthinking this?
I'm no longer one of Byrnndi World's people.
Now I belong to the strongest creature, Dragon Emperor White Ghost.
As long as I don't court death, I'll be fine.
Boom!
The island ship landed with a crash, sending waves splashing high. The churning seawater continuously pounded against the shore.
Crocus narrowed his eyes.
What's this brat bringing a thing like this here for?
White Ghost and the others walked out from inside the island ship.
Kuro and Akin looked normal enough.
But why was Boss White Ghost holding a rabbit in his arms, while some tanuki-like creature clung to his leg?
Zango looked utterly baffled.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios