The next morning, the seas buzzed with news about Weiss. Rumors spread like wildfire, and newspapers were being thrown across the ocean as if they were free.
Naturally, this was the doing of the Carmeline family. They spared no effort in promoting Weiss's name across the world. Morgans couldn't stop grinning—fools with that much money and loyalty were hard to come by.
The Grand Line. The New World. All four seas.
Almost everyone who could read a newspaper now knew: a young, absurdly powerful swordsman had emerged on the seas!
He had fought one of the Four Emperors head-on without falling behind and defeated a Warlord of the Sea.
Before that, he had also clashed with an Admiral and one of the All-Stars of the Beasts Pirates.
Some had once scoffed at Weiss's strength, thinking it was all just exaggerated hype—"If I were there, I could've done the same."
But after reading this latest issue, all such thoughts vanished like mist. Even the mere presence of the figures mentioned on those pages carried an overwhelming aura few dared to challenge.
---
On Flying Bird Island...
Theodore strutted around like Doflamingo, a shameless grin on his face. With both hands outstretched and what he thought was a kind smile, he approached a little girl who had just tripped and fallen.
"Let me help you up," he offered.
The little girl blinked in confusion—then screamed, "Mom! There's a creep!"
Tears streaming, she ran away crying.
Unbothered, Theodore continued his stroll, clearly enjoying himself.
Flying Bird Island was still in ruins. Reconstruction efforts were underway, and with the Navy and the Carmeline family having evacuated the civilians early, there had been no casualties.
Now, Flying Bird Island had become a chain of smaller islets—perfect for small boats to navigate between.
So why was Theodore so cheerful?
Because Weiss had finally had enough. Imagine waking up to find a blond pretty boy staring at you at the bedside.
He'd kicked Theodore out of the room without hesitation.
Had it been a beauty, maybe he wouldn't have reacted so violently.
But he wasn't gay!
Eventually, he agreed to let Theodore board the ship. Free labor, after all—why not?
Weiss had initially planned to hire a crew to sail the ship. But hey, if Theodore wanted to raise his own flag and follow along, that didn't cost Weiss anything.
Once Theodore got the confirmation, he seemed to snap a little, turning into some strange fusion of personalities—a walking disaster. If it weren't for the hope he'd return to normal, they might've used him as a sacrificial offering already.
---
Aboard the ship, Weiss finally woke up after a full day and night of rest. Starving, he scrambled onto the deck like a man possessed.
Karina had prepared a literal mountain of food and was still cooking more.
Without hesitation, Weiss began devouring it like a starving beast. After several rounds of feral eating, the hunger finally started to fade.
His eating slowed, and only then did he realize most of the food was already gone.
"I'm exhausted," Karina sighed. "Vice Admiral Garp once said that strong fighters eat a ton after battle, so I made extra. I was worried it wouldn't be enough!"
She patted her chest in relief—every single dish had been prepared by her alone.
Jack and Kadun, the two muscular men, had gone to rest after catching enough sea fish.
"Thanks for all the hard work, Karina. Since you've gone through so much trouble, I'll raise your salary to 500,000 Berries," Weiss said casually while chewing the last bits of food.
"Really?!"
Karina's eyes sparkled like gold coins as she ran over with her arms full of joy.
"Really."
"Hell yeah!"
"But," Weiss continued, "since staying on this ship costs over a million Berries per day, if we round it up, you owe me... about 500 million, give or take."
That number was totally made up.
"What?! You heartless bastard! I've worked myself to the bone for you, and you have the nerve to bring up money?!"
Karina froze mid-celebration, as if turning to stone. Then she exploded at Weiss in rage.
In that moment, Weiss finally understood the phrase "She flipped faster than a book."
"I've been paying you every month! How could I still owe that much? You greedy con artist!" Karina screamed like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on.
"Are you sure about that?" Weiss raised an eyebrow playfully.
"Uh…"
Karina's confidence vanished. Truth was, she had spent all her pay the moment they landed on Flying Bird Island. Otherwise, where would all that stuff she'd brought have come from?
Not that Weiss really expected her to repay anything. They'd been traveling together for a long time now—he did consider her a companion.
He was just teasing her.
Seeing her crestfallen expression, Weiss chuckled. "Alright, I'm joking. You don't owe anything. You already paid for lodging with treasure before, and after that, I was paying you to work on the ship."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Thank you so much, Weiss!" Karina cried, lunging forward and hugging him tightly. She even gave him a big kiss on the cheek.
Weiss froze. Then his expression darkened. "My first kiss is gone?!"
If he'd known this would happen, he wouldn't have forgiven the debt!
Damn it!
Such a loss!
"What kind of face is that?!" Karina yelled, baring her teeth like a wildcat. Now that she was debt-free, her true nature had returned.
"Nothing. Just... a normal reaction," Weiss muttered. Why is this woman starting to remind me of Nami? He was beginning to regret it all.
"You finish eating—I'm going to check on the barbecue." Karina backed off once she saw his expression was genuinely not too bad.
"Oh, right—this was delivered by someone from CP that night. I didn't look at it." She handed him a folded note.
Weiss took the paper, his mouth still full of food. Karina returned to the barbecue, yawning as she stood beside it—after all, she hadn't slept in over a day. Those two muscleheads had just followed orders and gone to bed like nothing happened.
With greasy fingers, Weiss unfolded the note. The message inside surprised him.
"The information about your knowledge of Devil Fruit technology was leaked by the Groo family."
What surprised him wasn't the source—it made sense.
What shocked him was that CP had actually sent him information. After what had happened on Canopy Island, their relationship had been tense at best. Countless people had died trying to calm the Celestial Dragons' wrath.
The note continued:
"The members of the Groo family have all been captured and will be executed under charges of conspiring to attack the Celestial Dragons."
At that, Weiss casually tossed the note aside.
It was no longer his concern.
That chapter was over, and there would be no future interactions with those people.
He doubted he'd run into another power-hungry schemer like that again—most of the top families in the first half of the Grand Line had been dragged down with the Groo family.
That's what happens when you aim too high without the strength to back it up. If no one catches you, fine. But once they do—you're nothing but meat on the chopping block.
The Carmeline family had clearly made the smarter move.
---
The sun was high in the sky... and here came Theodore, strutting like a clown once again.
And as soon as everyone was gathered, Weiss, now fully fed and rested, shouted—
"Set sail!"
---
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