Tesoro stepped forward and gave a slight bow to the doctor. "Hello, Doctor. Allow me to introduce you—this man is the emperor of the underworld, controlling twenty percent of the world's wealth. For our captain, money is just a string of numbers."
Rhett chimed in, "And that 'South Sea Emperor Fever' Olga has? It can be completely cured now. Just one injection is all it takes."
The doctor instantly rushed up to Rhett. "Really? You can really save my daughter? Even an incurable disease can be treated?"
Rhett looked at the excited doctor and nodded. "Yeah, and our ship's doctor can handle it."
Stella stepped forward. "Actually, you don't even need an injection." She activated her Devil Fruit ability, and a faint glow enveloped Olga's body. After a brief treatment, Stella patted Olga's head. "All done. She's cured."
The doctor walked over to Olga and gently removed her pure gold ring. Seeing Olga's normal expression, the doctor burst into tears again.
His tears gushed like a broken faucet, pouring down endlessly.
Are you sure you didn't eat the Tear-Tear Fruit or something? How are you not dehydrated after crying this much?
"Hey, hey, Doc, if you keep crying, you're gonna pass out from dehydration," Rhett said, picking at his ear with a look of disdain.
The doctor sniffled and wiped his tears. "S-sorry… I just…"
Olga pouted, though the corners of her lips curled up slightly. "Dummy dad."
Just as everyone was about to leave, the three dinosaurs that Laboon had smacked away earlier suddenly ran up to him.
Laboon instantly shifted into battle mode.
The dinosaurs let out a "Rawr!" before turning and darting into the shadows. Moments later, one returned with a shiny scale in its mouth and solemnly placed it in front of Laboon.
Laboon: "?" (tilts head)
Rhett raised an eyebrow. "Little Laboon, are they trying to make you their big bro or something?"
Laboon shook his head violently, his whole tail rejecting the idea. "Woo!!" (frantic head-shaking)
After shooing away the three dinosaurs who were dead set on following Laboon, the group finally left—though the dinos still seemed reluctant to part ways.
Now, getting out became the next problem.
"Let's figure out how to make the lantern fish spit us out."
The Bluma Jackson floated atop the lake of stomach acid inside the lantern fish's belly. The pulsating flesh walls around them continuously secreted corrosive fluids, and the gilded hull emitted faint "hiss" sounds.
"Tesoro, how long can this gold plating hold up?" Rhett knocked on the ship's railing.
Tesoro assessed the situation seriously. "At the current rate of corrosion… probably another thirty years."
Rhett stared at Tesoro's deep, contemplative expression. Normally, it wouldn't have been a big deal.
But then…
If you zoomed out a little—
Tesoro stroking his chin, eyes filled with seriousness. Stella beside him, eyes sparkling with admiration. Behind them, Rhett could practically see a giant heart floating in the air.
Rhett decided to stop looking at them.
Rhett: "..." (silently turns to Lina)
"Hey, Lina."
"Captain, I'm here." Lina kept her head down, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible.
Rhett really wanted to complain—when Lina wasn't giving orders, her presence was practically nonexistent. She never spoke, just quietly followed at the back of the group.
But if you saw her during navigation command? Miss one glance at her, and she'd chew you out. It made it really hard for Rhett to adjust.
"You've never seen our Bluma Jackson roar, have you?"
"Eheh~"
As he spoke, he caught Enel grinning mischievously.
Enel froze. It had been a long time since his special training, and Rhett hadn't asked him to perform any large-scale charging. Not that it was difficult for him now, but—
It was like senior year, I realized. You might remember the good bits—the parties, the freedom—but you'd never want to relive the grind. Up at five, asleep at eleven, holidays that felt like a blink. A year of that, and you'd tell them anything they wanted to hear.
Everyone paused, then turned in unison toward the ship's bow, where a menacing dragon-head figurehead loomed.
Enel's lightning crackled around him. "Captain, you don't mean—"
"Exactly!" Rhett leaped onto the cannon platform, his blood mist furiously pumping into the energy chamber. "Let's make this big fish taste—"
"Quit standing around—FIRE!"
The entire ship suddenly trembled violently as the mithril engravings along the hull lit up with blinding blue light.
"Thunder energy reserves, 100%!" Tesoro monitored the gauges.
"Wind Dials pressurized and ready!" Moria's shadow flitted across the control panel.
Laboon jumped onto the bow and "THUD!" slammed the charging button with his head. "Woo—!" (translation: FIRE!)
*"BOOM—!!!"*
A crimson thunderbolt erupted from the dragon's maw—only to strike the stomach wall and—
*"CLANG!"*
Sparks flew, but the flesh remained completely unharmed.
Everyone: "..."
Seriously, bro? Even without Armament Haki, you didn't even scratch it? Truly a millennia-old sea king—wait, does this thing even count as a sea king?
Lantern Fish: "..." (smugly wriggles twice)
Enel flew into a rage. "A mere sea king dares to mock divine punishment?!"
Enel gradually devolved into a sprinting, furious mess—
"I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET THIS!!!"
His entire body erupted with lightning, golden arcs surging down the cannon barrel. The dragon's maw twisted with a vortex of red-and-gold energy.
"Again!" Enel went completely berserk. "ARMAMENT HAKI—INFUSE!!!"
The Haki-clad energy beam—
*"BOOOOOOM—!!!"*
The crimson thunderbolt blasted from the dragon's mouth, slamming directly into the lantern fish's stomach wall! Seawater violently rushed in, and the entire acid lake began boiling.
"BLARGH—!!!"
This time, the lantern fish's eyes rolled back as the Bluma Jackson was vomited out in a tidal wave of stomach acid!
The lantern fish let out an earth-shaking retch as the ship was ejected from its mouth, soaring through the air in a perfect arc.
Rhett enveloped the entire ship in his blood mist—no way was he letting everyone get covered in fish puke.
"HOLD ON—!!!" Rhett laughed, gripping the mast tightly.
Enel looked completely spent.
As they burst out of the lantern fish's mouth, the sea returned to calm. The only downside? Rhett had been so focused on avoiding the vomit that he forgot to stab the damn thing on the way out.
Then Rhett spotted a ship slowly approaching in the distance.
"Wait!" Olga suddenly pointed at the sea. "What's that?"
Amid the waves in the distance, a warship flying the Donquixote Family's flag was cutting through the water.
At the bow stood a man in red leggings and a ridiculous yellow hairdo.
Doflamingo's fleet fanned out in a semicircle, his pink feather coat billowing dramatically in the wind.
"Fufufu… What an unexpected encounter."
But behind those sunglasses, his expression was anything but relaxed—
He had just watched the Bluma Jackson get vomited out of a lantern fish. That blood mist was a constant reminder—Rhett was an incredibly dangerous opponent.
Doflamingo: "...Fufu?" (translation: What the actual fuck?)
Rhett stood at the bow, blood mist swirling in his palm. "How interesting. You came for me first, huh?"
Rhett had never bothered hiding his movements. Ever since Doflamingo realized he'd stolen from Rhett's operations, he probably hadn't slept a wink.
Rhett had considered that Doflamingo might quietly pretend nothing happened and focus on profiting. He hadn't expected the man to come straight for him.