With that…
Crocodile moved to hang up, but paused. "Wait... that archaeologist. What's she been up to lately?"
"Nico Robin? Still in the library, reading those historical texts."
Crocodile let out a cold snort, his eyes drifting to the phone lying face-down on the table.
The faint screen light glowed from the edges. He hesitated for a second, then reached out and slipped the phone into his coat pocket before leaving the room.
…
Marineford, Fleet Admiral's Office
Sengoku sat behind a desk buried in documents.
On his phone, a video was playing—Queen's livestream of the Beasts Pirates preparing for a grand banquet.
"What the hell is Kaido doing!" Sengoku slammed the desk, sending droplets of tea splashing from his cup and onto official papers.
"Pretending to drop a Devil Fruit? Like it's that easy to just drop one?!"
Sengoku didn't know what kind of conspiracy Kaido was cooking up, but it was definitely nothing good.
Vice Admiral Tsuru walked in with freshly brewed tea. Seeing the scene, she raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You saw it too?" She placed the teacup next to Sengoku. "That old guy Garp just messaged me. Apparently, Luffy saw this video in East Blue and now says he wants to host a banquet too. Hehe."
A vein throbbed at Sengoku's temple as he struggled to contain his irritation. "This isn't just some regular entertainment stream."
He pointed at a corner of the screen. "Look there, you can catch a glimpse of a weapons depot. And here—" The screen switched to a wide shot of the banquet hall. Sengoku paused it sharply. "They even fake-dropped a Devil Fruit. Such poor acting, it's hard not to suspect something."
"Even if there's something going on, we can't act now. We'll have to wait and see."
Sengoku sighed. "Yeah. Let's just hope this doesn't spiral into something worse."
…
Amazon Lily
Ron leaned against the corridor railing of the palace, casually scrolling through TikTok.
Trending: #BeastsPiratesCarnivalFeast #Breaking!
"This Queen guy... he really is a character. A singing, dancing, and rapping special? He reminds me of an old friend."
But soon, Ron noticed that the comments were overwhelmingly mocking.
> "Queen, your bounty may be higher, but if we're talking singing and dancing, I challenge you."
> "I'm dying. Can Queen even dance? Looks like a pig climbing a tree, hahahaha!"
> "Forget the rapping. Just standing there with a mic is hilarious enough!"
Ron looked at the barrage of sarcasm.
Originally, Queen had the potential to be an entertainment streamer. But clearly, he had been labeled as the Sea's top comedy streamer.
Ron couldn't help but laugh. He also noticed that everyone in the Beasts Pirates had a phone now.
"Giberson really has some skill. Wano's been closed off for years, and he still managed to open up supply routes so quickly."
Just then, the distant sounds of unloading cargo ships echoed from the port. It was the third shipment of fabric raw materials to arrive today.
Ron turned toward the palace hall, each step soft and deliberate on the red carpet scattered with flower petals.
Inside the hall, several Kuja warriors were counting and balancing accounts. When they saw him enter, they immediately bowed in unison.
Ron waved casually, his eyes sweeping over the towering stack of financial statements on the table. Hancock's clothing business was running smoothly now, the contract factories working round-the-clock, with daily revenue counted in the millions of Berries.
Then,
A system notification sounded in his mind.
[TikTok user count has surpassed 90 million. Once it reaches 100 million, the system will undergo its first upgrade!]
"Finally, an upgrade!"
Ron's eyes lit up. He'd been waiting so long. The first system upgrade was finally within reach. He wondered what new features would be unlocked, and the store would update too. Hopefully, some rare items would show up.
Outside the window, the sunset over Amazon Lily burned like fire, lighting the entire sky in vivid red and gold.
"It's time..." Ron murmured, his finger absently tracing the edge of his phone.
He turned to a maid and instructed, "Prepare a ship. I'm setting out on a long journey."
Then he looked to the far horizon, a quiet smile curving his lips. "It's time I visited some old friends."
The maids exchanged glances but quickly bowed and left the hall.
Moments later, Hancock came running in, her bare feet tapping urgently across the marble.
"Ron-sama, are you leaving already?"
Her eyes, deep and glistening, brimmed with tears. Her fingers gripped his sleeve tightly, knuckles whitening.
"…Yes, Hancock, I… I…" Ron had just begun when he was stopped by a soft, intoxicating fragrance.
Hancock rose on her toes, pressing her red lips gently against his without warning. The soft warmth made his pupils constrict. Her eyes were closed, long lashes trembling, like she had poured all her courage into that single moment.
The warmth lingered on his lips. That taut string in Ron's heart, pulled tight for so many years, suddenly loosened.
Back when he was in the Marines, he lived a life of blood and battle. Later, in his crusade against the Celestial Dragons, he pushed himself to exhaustion, his health collapsing. Where would he have found time to think about love?
If he kept pretending to be blind to this… what kind of man was he?
"Ah!" Hancock gasped as she was lifted off her feet.
Ron cradled her in his arms, walking steadily toward the bedchamber.
"Ron-sama, you… you, you, you…" She buried her face in his shoulder, ears blushing deep crimson.
"What do you mean, 'you you you'?" Ron-sama chuckled, his voice full of rare tenderness.
He kicked open the carved wooden door. The sunset spilled through the gauze curtains, casting mottled shadows across the floor.
"Ron-sama, I…"
Hancock trembled, fingers clutching his robe, but then heard him whisper beside her ear:
"Don't call me Ron-sama anymore. From now on… just call me Ron."
"...Mm-hmm."
The sea breeze stirred the wind chimes by the window. The soft chimes mingled with the distant crashing of waves.
The maids had long since retreated to the far corners of the palace.
Only the roses in the garden remained, blooming quietly in the twilight.
…
Winter Island.
Bitter winds howled through piles of discarded scrap. Under the pale sunlight, the glint of metal turned cold and sharp.
Wapol pulled his tattered fur coat tighter, squatting beside a heap of junk. His rough fingers gripped a phone tightly. On screen, Queen's livestream was still flooding with bullet comments.
"It's really him… it's really Plague Queen…" Wapol muttered, lips trembling with excitement.
(To be continued.)