Despite the heavy drinking the night before, thanks to the physical resilience of a Mythical Zoan, Valthior woke up early and full of energy.
After washing up and getting ready, he planned to go train his stamina and Haki.
But the moment he stepped out of the inn, he saw Roger across the street, leaning alone against a railing, his expression extremely serious—like he was pondering some world-shaking problem.
The sea breeze blew past him, causing his wine-red captain's coat to flutter loudly.
Seeing this, Valthior felt a bit puzzled, but still walked over and asked, "Captain Roger, you're up early. What are you thinking about?"
"Oh, Valthior." Roger glanced at him, his expression still grave. "Come here, I've got something serious to tell you…"
"Oh? What is it?" Valthior grew curious and walked over, leaning against the railing beside Roger. "Go on."
As soon as Valthior leaned on the railing, a wicked grin appeared on Roger's face. He tilted his head and whispered, "The paint's not dry yet…"
Valthior: ???
You son of a...!!!
About ten minutes later, Shiki also walked out of the inn. At a glance, he saw Valthior and Roger leaning against the railing across the street, both wearing extremely serious expressions, as if something major had happened.
Shiki was immediately intrigued. "What are you two doing here? Why do you look so serious? Did something happen?"
"Oh, Shiki." Roger kept that same grave expression. "Come here, I've got something serious to tell you…"
Shiki felt like something was off.
But he still walked over and leaned on Roger's left side. "What happened?"
Seeing Shiki lean on the railing, Roger grinned and said softly, "The paint's not dry yet…"
Shiki froze, then touched the railing. Looking at the dark green paint now smeared on his hand, his face twitched before he roared, ""You bastard! I'm gonna kill you!!!"
Over an hour later, when Rayleigh came out, he saw Gaban, Roger, Shiki, Valthior, Silver Axe, and the rest all leaning against the railing across the street.
Every single one of them wore the exact same serious expression, as if something earth-shattering had happened.
Rayleigh was stunned.
What the hell was going on? What kind of event on the seas could make these guys look this grim?
Even the God Valley battle hadn't looked this terrifying!
A moment later, Rayleigh silently walked over… and leaned against the railing as well.
At the same time—
On top of a nearby clock tower, a reporter excitedly snapped a photo of this group of big shots leaning on the railing with heavy expressions. He couldn't help shouting, "I've hit the jackpot! I've hit the jackpot! Combined with the photos from the tavern yesterday, the boss is gonna be over the moon! I'm getting a promotion and a raise!!!"
As he spoke, he pulled out the photos he had taken the previous day in the tavern.
Looking closely, they showed Valthior, Roger, Gaban, Silver Axe, Shiki, Babel, and others sitting at the same table, raising their cups in a lively scene that almost looked like sworn brotherhood.
"The Roger Pirates and Shiki's crew have joined forces… this news is definitely going to shake the seas, right!?" the reporter muttered excitedly before quickly dialing his boss with a Den Den Mushi.
...
The World Economy News Paper—
Before the God Valley incident, it had been nothing more than a small, insignificant outlet.
But Morgans had seized an opportunity—he reported that Shakky was the grand prize of the God Valley event, instantly turning the once-obscure paper into a rising star in the news world.
However, that wave of popularity was already fading, making Morgans increasingly anxious.
He needed something even more explosive—something that would shock the entire world!
And right now, he did have something.
He was currently pushing his staff to work overtime.
"Hurry up, hurry up! This extra print run has to make the deadline! Tomorrow, I want the news of former Rocks Pirates member Kaido being defeated and captured by Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral 'Black Arm' Zephyr in the gateway waters of the New World to sweep across the entire sea!!!" Morgans shouted.
That's right—
Kaido, who had just eaten the Azure Dragon Fruit at God Valley and was ready to begin his new pirate life…
Shortly after flying over the Red Line from the West Blue and returning to the New World, he ran straight into Zephyr, who was patrolling the area.
At this time, Zephyr was at the peak of his strength. The Marines were even considering promoting him to Admiral—at most two years later, at age thirty-eight, he would officially take the position.
Meanwhile, although Kaido had grown significantly stronger after obtaining the Azure Dragon Fruit, he was still no match for Zephyr at this stage.
He got completely beaten down—and captured alive.
Not long after God Valley, a former core member of the Rocks Pirates had already been taken down.
This was absolutely huge news.
Morgans took it very seriously and immediately mobilized his team upon receiving the information.
But he also knew that his paper wasn't the only one with the scoop. The Marine Headquarters had already begun spreading the news to various outlets to suppress pirate morale.
So it wouldn't be easy to stand out.
Just then, the Den Den Mushi at his side rang.
He quickly picked it up. "Photo King? Got anything good?"
"Photo King," nicknamed the Flame Photography Hero, had once been the head of the Marine Headquarters photography department. During the God Valley incident, he had secretly sold Morgans a large number of photos and was subsequently fired by the Marines.
Morgans had also been strictly warned not to publish any photos that violated World Government standards.
At this stage, Morgans still relied heavily on Marine and World Government leaks, so many of the God Valley photos were never published.
However, he gained something else—
He recruited Photo King, making him a core member of the World Economy News Paper.
"A huge scoop!" Photo King said excitedly. "I'm on Stania Island in the West Blue. I ran into Shiki, Silver Axe, Babel, and the others. And coincidentally, the Roger Pirates arrived here yesterday too. The two sides had a brief clash, but quickly made peace. I got photos of them drinking together in a tavern, and just now, all of them leaning against a railing together. I'm sending both images over—take a look!"
As he spoke, he transmitted the photos using a portable Den Den Mushi fax.
Morgans received them almost immediately.
Looking at the images, his eyes lit up. "The Roger Pirates and Shiki's crew have joined forces!?"
"I'm just speculating," Photo King replied. "There's no concrete proof."
"Proof my ass! These two photos are more than enough for us to spin a story!" Morgans said excitedly.
A true moment of journalistic "creativity."
And to be fair, the photos were excellent—clear, well-angled, full of atmosphere. Truly worthy of Photo King's skill.
But soon, Morgans noticed something odd.
"Who's this silver-haired handsome guy? Never seen him before. Is he from Rocks' crew? Or Roger's?"
"He's a new member of the Roger Pirates. Name's Valthior, I think. I don't know much about him, but he looks kind of familiar… Anyway, anyone sitting at the same table with Shiki and the others is definitely not simple," Photo King said.
Morgans didn't dwell on it. After exchanging a few more words, he hung up and immediately turned to shout:
"Hurry! Scrap the layout we just made! We've got bigger news now!!!"
Who gives a damn about Kaido getting captured!?
How could that compare to Roger and Shiki joining forces!?
This time—
The World Economy News Paper was going to shake the entire sea!
...
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