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Jin chatted with Cobra for a while, then went to make the rounds with the King of Kilauea, Sherlock, and the three young kings.
Finally, the time had come.
The lights in the entire venue dimmed. As the audience murmured in surprise, a countdown appeared on the stage in the center of the arena.
10... 9...
The bright numbers flashed in the darkness, capturing everyone's attention.
When the countdown reached 0, a beautiful, clear voice, unaccompanied, rang out.
"Where the Wind Blows"
"Where is this wind blowing from, I wonder?"
"I ask, but the sky gives no reply."
"Where will this song end up, I wonder..."
Uta's voice echoed through the venue, silencing all other sounds, instantly drawing the audience into her "domain."
Cobra, Vivi, Morgans, Hina—every single person in the audience was stunned. A collective shiver ran through them, a tremor that touched both body and soul.
That voice... it was special. It pierced straight to the soul.
Uta was just singing.
But the power of the Sing-Sing Fruit was radiating from her, unseen.
The demon of Elegia was gone. But Tot Musica was still "alive," transformed by Uta into something new, something that was broken but unyielding.
Her fruit was in a state of advanced awakening.
Outside the venue, the pirates and onlookers who had gathered to see what was going on were all chattering noisily. But when the music drifted out, they all fell silent, listening, and then, involuntarily, they were drawn in.
Even rough-and-tumble brutes like the giant brothers were captivated, standing in silence.
The only sound was Uta's voice.
And then, it spread to all of Hannabal.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened to the song carried on the wind.
Birds landed on branches.
Beasts lay down in the grass.
Fish hung suspended in the water.
As she sang, the lights in the venue came up, illuminating Uta on the stage.
She finished the first verse.
With a single opening, she had captivated the entire audience.
They could all feel a tingling on their scalps, a trembling in their souls, as if they were being baptized.
Then, the music swelled, and more and more lights came on, like stars, illuminating the entire venue.
Morgans was already applauding, his mind racing. "Incredible! Where in the world did that king find her? She's a natural-born diva! No! From this day forward, she is the world's greatest diva! This is big news! Hahaha! This has to be the front-page headline tomorrow morning!"
The headline was already writing itself in his mind.
["A DEBUT IN HANNABAL! THE WORLD'S GREATEST DIVA HAS APPEARED!!!"]
What? Some people might disagree? There would be debate?
Perfect. Without debate, there's no attention. Without attention, how would he sell newspapers?
A hot topic like this... even if they hadn't paid for the ad, Morgans would have put it on the front page.
Backstage, Gordon listened to the silent audience and smiled.
A successful opening.
You have to grab the audience's attention from the very beginning.
Uta had done it.
Tonight's debut was already half a success.
"I hear the king invited the president of the World Economic Journal to write a column about tonight's concert," he thought. "Shanks and the others... they'll see the paper tomorrow, won't they? I wonder what their expressions will be."
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Jin made his rounds and then returned to Morgans. They listened to the music and talked business.
"So you want to create a weekly entertainment magazine, under the banner of the World Economic Journal?" Morgans asked, swirling the red wine in his glass. He had a refined palate. Just from the aroma, he could tell it was a special vintage from the West Blue.
"A partnership, to be precise," Jin said. "I'll provide the funding, you'll provide the equipment and personnel. The content will be focused on entertainment and leisure. The eccentricities of a certain king, new songs, celebrity fashion, serialized novels... that sort of thing. To satisfy the public's curiosity and their desire for refinement. We could also do a 'World's Most Beautiful' competition."
Morgans laughed. "I see. So that's your real goal, isn't it? You have a thing for beautiful women."
"You see it, but you don't say it," Jin said with a grin. "That's how you stay friends."
"Hahaha..." Morgans roared with laughter. He had done his own research on Jin. Other than a weakness for women, he had no real flaws. But for a man of power, that wasn't really a weakness. Beautiful women were the cheapest of resources. With the exception of the truly top-tier ones.
"If," Morgans said, a glint in his eye, "you can also give me the exclusive rights to distribute this diva's records..."
"Of course," Jin said with a smile.
Morgans raised his glass. "To our success!"
Jin clinked his glass against his.
Jin didn't have any media professionals or a global network of reporters. Morgans did. It was the perfect opportunity to use someone else's resources to build his own empire.
Entertainment, making money... that was just a secondary objective.
The main goal was to prepare for the day when he could control the narrative, to build his own mouthpiece.
"I'll have Ai translate Journey to the West and some other books with a rebellious spirit, adapt them to the pirate world," he thought. "Web novels, too."
He couldn't help but chuckle at a morbidly amusing thought. His old phone and laptop—they were a treasure trove of TXT files. He was about to give the literary world of One Piece a little shock.
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The concert wasn't just Uta. Gordon and a group of veteran musicians also took the stage, their performance more formal, but no less captivating.
And there was Porche and her troupe of long-legged dancers.
The sound of drooling could be heard throughout the venue.
Listening to the thunderous applause, Porche didn't miss her old, sunken captain, Foxy, in the slightest.
This stage... it was amazing.
The concert ended with Uta's rendition of "Unforgettable Tonight"—the lyrics, of course, had been translated.
The curtain fell, and the applause continued for a full ten minutes.
"That was wonderful! The best concert I've ever been to!"
"And I never thought I'd hear the style of Elegia played again in a place like this."
"That pianist... was that Gordon, the king of Elegia?"
Morgans was so moved he was crying, dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief. It was a bit over the top, but it seemed he was a fan of Gordon's. A fan seeing their idol... it was a normal reaction.
Morgans took out a pen and paper and began to write furiously. In a few short minutes, he had completed a front-page article.
Jin read it over. It was filled with praise. He, in turn, praised Morgans' writing and talent.
A little mutual flattery.
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The next day.
The morning edition of the World Economic Journal, with a rush print run, was delivered by the News Coos to all corners of the globe.
New World.
On a certain island, Red-Haired Shanks, Benn Beckman, and the rest of their crew were in the middle of a joyous feast.
"Hey, Captain! This is bad!"
The ship's doctor, Hongo, came running from the ship.
"What is it, Hongo?" Lucky Roux said, tearing off a chunk of meat. "Is it the three Admirals? Or have Kaido, Whitebeard, or Big Mom shown up?"
"No, it's not that! It's..." Hongo ran up to them and unfolded the newspaper in his hands. "Uta! It's Uta!"
"Hm?" Shanks, who had been raising a cup of sake to his lips, froze. His smile vanished. The entire crew fell silent, the festive atmosphere suddenly turning grim.
Shanks snatched the paper. His eyes locked onto the article, onto the photograph.
The report didn't name her, but there was no mistaking the girl in the picture.
It was Uta.
'What? Did Gordon take her out of Elegia? What happened?'
Shanks' expression was grave. He saw the location mentioned in the article. "Hannabal??"
Benn Beckman took a long drag from his cigarette and exhaled a cloud of smoke.
"Captain, we can't just ignore this."
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