The Fleet Admiral's succession ceremony caused a stir throughout the World.
The World Economy News Paper dedicated an entire page to the report, even including the speeches of Kong and Sengoku.
However, it was quite shameless.
It was clearly Kong's major mistake that led to his forced transfer.
But the way they spun it, it sounded quite inspiring.
As the New World sun baked the deck into a honey cake, Blake was tormenting a tiramisu with a golden fork in one hand and holding a newspaper in the other.
Cream splattered onto his gold-embroidered cuffs from his rough movements.
"That's right! Justice! It's simply too just!"
Robin glanced at the newspaper in Blake's hand, rolled her eyes, and said nothing.
She was already used to the ways of the Marine and the World Government.
The Marine now was not like at the beginning of the original story, when they still listened obediently to the World Government and acted quite conscientiously.
Unlike after Luffy set sail, when they first sent Aokiji, who was both a teacher and friend to Garp, to capture him.
Then they had Garp personally go capture his grandson.
Finally, it was Kizaru, who was suspected to be a Revolutionary Army infiltrator, who went to capture him.
Kizaru's foot hovered above Zoro's head for half an episode, his leg almost numb, until Rayleigh finally arrived.
If the Marine had sent Akainu out even once, the Straw Hat would not have reached Sabaody Archipelago.
But now… it was one thing for others to question the Marine's justice, but if a Celestial Dragons were to question the Marine, that would be rather heartless.
Blake continued to flip through the newspaper, his gaze suddenly stopping on a very small section.
"Marine Traitor Monkey D. Dragon Reorganizes Self-Defense Force, Renames it Revolutionary Army"
This matter, which Blake considered very important, was not taken seriously by either Morgans or the World Government at the time.
"This must have been Dragon's decision after meeting Vegapunk, right?"
Blake mused to himself.
After the God Valley battle, Dragon had left the Marine due to attacking the Celestial Dragons and formed the Self-Defense Force outside.
However, it had never gained much momentum, only small skirmishes.
The current Dragon was not yet the world's most dangerous criminal he would later become, so he naturally wasn't qualified to compete with the Fleet Admiral for the front page headline.
As Blake was pondering these things, Perona, taking advantage of his inattention, tried to squeeze wasabi into his Blake tea, but was caught by the cheek by an arm that suddenly proliferated on the cake.
Robin's voice drifted over:
"According to the records of some kingdom calendars, certain young children reach their peak of foolishness around three in the afternoon."
"You hateful bookworm! You ruined Perona-sama's plan again!"
Perona shouted in exasperation and anger.
Blake reached out without looking back, accurately grabbed Perona by the back of her collar, and dangled her in mid-air:
"If you cause any more trouble, I'll give you to Robin as a research subject."
Perona squirmed in the air, her bell shoes making a crisp sound:
"Put me down! You big meanie!"
"I'm going to tell Sister Stella that you secretly ate my hidden candy yesterday!"
"Oh?"
Blake raised an eyebrow, pinching Perona's cheeks with his free hand and pulling them outwards:
"Then do you want to talk about how the candy ended up under my pillow?"
Robin had a book spread open in front of her and said without looking up:
"This book states that the frequency of pranks by certain young creatures is inversely proportional to the intelligence of their guardian."
Before Blake could reply, Koala suddenly emerged from under the coffee table.
The six-year-old Slave was holding a silver tray larger than herself, piled high with freshly baked scones, looking like child abuse.
"Careful!"
Koala exclaimed, as the topmost scone was about to slide off.
Robin's fingers twitched, and three arms that appeared out of thin air steadily caught the pastry.
"Thanks, Sister Robin."
Koala grinned, her recently lost front teeth making her smile quite amusing.
Mandy appeared silently by the coffee table, her sword tip lifting a cup of specially prepared herbal tea, which she offered to Rami.
Stella timely handed Blake a glass of iced lemonade and used a gold-embroidered handkerchief to clean his cuff.
Her long dress was stained with flour, indicating she had just rushed from the kitchen.
"Your Highness, Mr. Victor and his team have developed the first version of the special medicine, and it is now being tested on Rami."
"Hmm, tell them to pay attention to the dosage later; Rami's body is too weak."
Stella noted Blake's words, then retreated to the side, like an excellent butler.
At this moment, Robin carefully walked up to Blake:
"Your Highness…"
"What are you doing?"
Blake instantly became wary.
He had a deep understanding of the phrase, "An unsolicited favor is either a trick or a theft."
Moreover, Robin had been with him for nearly two years, and Blake had never heard her speak to him in such a tone.
The little Slave had no awareness of being a Slave, often mocking, teasing, and being sarcastic.
Robin bit her lip, hesitating, but finally spoke:
"Your Highness, I want to go back to Ohara to see."
At these words, Mandy's scabbard knocked over the sugar jar, Koala accidentally tossed a scone, and even Perona stopped struggling.
The sea breeze suddenly grew boisterous, sweeping away all sounds on the deck.
Blake was silent for a moment, then turned to Stella and said:
"Give the order, continue through the Calm Belt, to the West Blue."
The Calm Belt on either side of the New World leads to the North Blue and West Blue respectively, which means crossing the New World horizontally.
Seeing Stella turn and leave, Blake asked Robin:
"Why do you want to go back? Don't tell me you want to clean up the Marine's mess?"
"I'm going to see if their mess has been cleaned up."
Having received permission, Robin regained her composure, sneered, and picked up a copy of "Lost Civilization" published in Ohara.
Blake suddenly plunged a silver fork into the cake in front of Robin, splattering cream onto her nose:
"Let's get this straight, if you're crying with a long face when we get there, I'll feed you to the Sea Kings as a living bookmark."
"Cough, cough, cough…"
Rami's cough broke the frozen air, she shook the medicine bottle in her hand, and smiled weakly but slyly:
"Your Highness, I can share half a bottle of Daddy's newly developed drink with you, please don't make things difficult for Sister Robin."
Blake was startled for a moment, then burst out laughing:
"Deal!"
He glanced at Robin:
"Don't expect me to use the medical capsule from Mary Geoise to heal your eyes then!"
Mandy silently used her sword to pick up the damp pages of the book, hanging them on the sail ropes to dry.
Koala had already brought an entire dessert tower and piled it in front of Robin, trying to comfort her.
Stella came to Blake's side and whispered:
"Your Highness clearly cares a lot about Robin…"
Blake turned and glared at her.
Stella merely smiled gently, leaving him quite helpless.
Amidst everyone's laughter, the shadow of Ohara seemed temporarily forgotten behind the setting sun…