It should have taken hours to reach the Junior. The distance between the two ships must have been dozens of nautical miles.
But patience had never been one of the Emperor's virtues.
For the first time, Rida witnessed the true power of Edward's Devil Fruit.
Standing at the bow, Newgate swung his left arm and struck the empty air.
The space itself seemed to fracture beneath the blow.
The sea responded instantly.
Waves surged beneath the Moby Dick, lifting the massive ship and hurling it forward. Each wave grew larger, faster, pushing the vessel across the ocean like a leaf caught in a storm.
Rida locked herself inside her cabin.
She struggled desperately to control her nausea as the ship rose and crashed down again and again.
Lerena's crying made everything worse.
From the child's point of view the entire situation was extremely suspicious.
First—Marco had been gone since morning.
Second—the captain had disappeared.
And third—she had been dragged back to the cabin instead of being allowed to spend time with Thatch.
Combined with the violent rocking of the ship, it was practically a catastrophe.
The baby had absolutely no idea what was happening.
She lost her patience and at one point managed to scream loudly enough to be heard above the noise of the crew on deck.
For a brief moment Rida felt an overwhelming urge to scream at her to be quiet.
She could barely keep the child in her arms.
Calming her was impossible—Rida could barely hold herself together.
She told herself it would be over soon.
Just one more climb.
One more terrible drop.
Her stomach twisted violently as the ship plunged downward.
Her entire body trembled.
Curled in the corner of the cabin, she clutched Lerena in one arm while gripping the edge of the hammock with the other.
She swore that once they reached Tourmaline she would never set foot on a ship again.
Not ever.
She looked down at the baby in confusion.
Lerena's face had turned red from crying.
With the last of her strength Rida reminded herself that she was aboard the Emperor's ship.
If anything happened to the child entrusted to her…
She would have to answer to Edward.
"Lerry…" she groaned weakly. "The captain went to… find Marco…"
She had to pause, fighting another wave of nausea.
"But don't cry… shh… it'll be over soon…"
Her voice faded into a trembling whisper.
She tried to convince the child.
But mostly she was trying to convince herself.
Just a moment longer.
Just a little longer.
The knowledge of where they were going—and why—made it almost impossible for her to think clearly.
The Moby Dick rose once more.
Someone screamed on deck.
Then the ship dropped—
But the fall felt different.
Lighter.
Softer.
Lerena was still crying, but not as loudly.
Her writhing slowed until she suddenly froze.
The crying turned into soft hiccups.
The ship was slowing down.
Rida took a deep breath and opened her eyes, though she didn't remember closing them.
Then she heard a voice that seemed to thunder through her very soul.
She tightened her grip on the child as the words echoed across the deck—somewhere between heaven and sea.
"Wounded men on deck! Do not interfere! I'll handle it!"
The bow of the Moby Dick dropped one final time as Edward Newgate stepped forward to face a pirate named Kaido.
Rida desperately wanted to stay inside the cabin until everything was over.
Until the shouting stopped.
Until Edward returned to his chair.
Until Marco came to take Lerena.
But she couldn't.
The baby was growing increasingly restless.
It wasn't just the tense atmosphere or the unfamiliar rocking of the ship.
Lerena had realized something important.
No one except Rida was there.
And she was getting hungry.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, you spoiled little crab!" Rida snapped when Lerena began sobbing again. "You have to be quiet now or—!"
The baby hated both the tone and the shaking.
She burst into loud tears.
Rida found herself crying right along with her.
On deck the chaos continued.
Orders were shouted by only one voice now.
Marco.
He directed the pirates to pull the wounded and the fallen aboard. His voice echoed across the deck, sometimes closer, sometimes farther away.
Still Rida did not dare step outside.
After several minutes, when her panic had melted into exhausted tears, she forced herself to move.
She began pacing slowly around the cabin, trying to soothe Lerena.
But the child had already recognized Marco's voice.
She wanted him.
"Yes… yes," Rida murmured weakly. "We're going… we're going to see…"
She grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, holding the child tightly against her.
The setting sun lit the deck in deep crimson.
Only then did Rida realize that Lerena's feeding time had passed long ago.
She almost laughed.
Yelling at a baby simply for being hungry.
Lerena's renewed crying immediately attracted attention.
Several pirates leaning against the railing turned toward them.
The sight of a woman holding a baby aboard the Moby Dick was the second absurdity of the day.
They pointed.
They whispered.
Some were soaked from seawater.
Others were wounded and eagerly telling stories about what had happened aboard the Junior.
Ignoring the murmurs, Rida stepped to the railing.
She looked down at the wreck of the Junior, stranded against the shallows.
And there—
On the shattered deck—
Two giants fought.
Edward Newgate and a man nearly his equal in size.
Kaido.
The furious pirate who had destroyed the Junior's crew now struggled just to remain standing.
Rather than attacking, he mostly dodged.
Whitebeard wielded his bisento as easily as if it weighed nothing at all.
One strike from the right.
Another from the left.
Out of five attacks, Kaido managed to avoid only two.
Edward realized there was barely anything left of the man's boots.
Kaido was looking for a way to escape.
Whitebeard decided the game had gone on long enough.
The man who had boasted only hours earlier of defeating the Emperor's crew could barely see through the blood pouring into his eyes.
His left arm hung useless.
Something he had never experienced before.
Panic set in.
His thoughts scattered.
Whitebeard's presence grew heavier and heavier, crushing everything around it.
The Emperor was furious.
It was almost strange that the sea itself did not recoil from that anger.
The planks of the deck creaked.
Broken masts drifted through the water.
Shallows prevented Kaido's ship from reaching its captain.
He knew that now only Edward would decide whether he lived or died.
But mercy did not seem to be on the Emperor's mind.
Watching from the deck of the Moby Dick, Rida could hardly believe the two pirates could even stand upright as waves crashed violently around them.
Storm clouds gathered above.
Thunder rolled in the distance.
The air itself felt heavy from the sheer force of the battle.
The young pirate facing Whitebeard had no idea what kind of power he had challenged.
For a moment he believed he might escape.
That he could outmaneuver Edward.
Wear him down.
Whitebeard stood still for a moment, the Moby Dick looming behind him.
Then he swung.
The blade of the bisento ignited with blinding white light. And Kaido understood.
Too late.
"Rakshasa's Halberd."
The world ended.