Holy Land Mary Geoise.
Room of Flowers.
A long, piercing scream filled with feminine charm suddenly resonated throughout the room.
This high-pitched scream lasted for several minutes.
It was fortunate there were no outsiders in this room, or else some misunderstandings and rumors would inevitably arise.
A black silhouette shrouded in robes slumped over a newly appeared small puddle on the floor.
The robes covering her body trembled slightly, manifesting her suppressed rage.
Of course, this could also be due to some unknown reason causing her body to tremble uncontrollably.
"Adolph D. York!!!"
Gritting teeth as the name was shouted, the voice from under the robes was no longer the previous female voice, but a male voice filled with magnetism and hatred.
"Mu... will remember you!!"
"Mu... will definitely catch you!!"
...
Several days later.
West Blue.
A harbor in a non-affiliated country.
A warship with a large "X" painted on its flag docked quietly at the port.
Whitebeard, Charlotte Linlin, Streusen, York, Kaido, Gloriosa, Stussy, Shakky, and little Teach, who had woken up and was now bewildered.
The group gathered in a tavern in this port city for a farewell banquet.
Satiated with food and wine, the weather was fine.
Whitebeard, carrying his bag in one hand and Murakumogiri in the other, was the first to stand up from his chair.
"It's about time, I'm leaving."
York put down his wine glass, looking at the standing Whitebeard.
"Won't reconsider? I'm different from Rocks."
"Gurararara... Domination isn't what I want; all I want to find is a family."
York glanced at Stussy with a slightly strange look.
"Then why did you reject Stussy back then? If you wanted family, a wife and child are the easiest to obtain, right?"
Hearing this, Stussy glared at York discontentedly.
This bastard, bringing this up deliberately right at parting.
"Gurararara..."
Whitebeard grinned.
"The Rocks Pirates was too dangerous; I dared not let my cherished family stay in that pirate crew."
"As for Stussy, I truly had no feelings for her. Treat her well in the future."
With that, Whitebeard showed no lingering attachment, opened the tavern door, and walked straight out.
York curled his lips.
"Thought he'd say he pretended not to like you back then for some reason."
Stussy reached out, pinching the soft flesh at York's waist and twisting 180 degrees.
"Why do you like playing this game so much!!"
York grinned and grimaced in pain while chuckling mischievously.
"Because I'm the winner! Of course, I have to show off vigorously in front of the loser!"
"Hmph!!"
Stussy snorted coldly, looking at Gloriosa and Shakky.
Strictly speaking, all three of them were forcibly snatched by York from others.
This guy... if not for the fact he hadn't targeted married women, she'd really suspect he had some special fetish.
After another round of eating and drinking, this time it was York who stood up first.
"Rather than waiting for you to leave first and leaving us till the last, better transfer the right to stay behind and cry to you."
York grinned.
"Linlin! Streusen! We're leaving too!"
Charlotte Linlin rolled her eyes at York while stuffing dessert into her mouth.
"I won't possibly cry over your departure!"
"Hahahaha!"
York laughed heartily, then led Gloriosa, Stussy, Shakky, Kaido, and the merely two-year-old Teach out of the tavern together.
"Don't just eat desserts all day! Eat more lean meat and vegetables! Avoid losing your figure when you get old!!"
From afar, York's last words drifted back.
Hearing this, Charlotte Linlin, who was stuffing dessert into her mouth, sniffled, but ultimately didn't shed a single tear.
...
The warship set sail.
This ship was seized by Gloriosa and Stussy, naturally belonging to York and the others.
Besides, Whitebeard was alone; he couldn't operate a warship to sea by himself.
After the warship left the dock and successfully turned around, a News Coo responsible for selling newspapers suddenly flew onto the gunwale.
Seeing this, Stussy walked up and bought the latest newspaper with a coin.
Watching this scene, York asked somewhat surprised: "World Economy News Paper?"
Stussy nodded.
"It's a newly risen newspaper agency, known for daring to report content other agencies dare not, and its unique seagull news-selling service."
"I estimate in a few years, this small agency might grow into a giant in the press industry, provided it isn't acquired beforehand."
York nodded slightly.
He knew in the future this agency truly became the world's number one newspaper; pirates could buy papers wherever they sailed.
But what surprised him was that this agency was established so early.
Morgans should be only 14 or 15 this year, right?
Truly impressive!
"The latest report on God Valley is out."
Stussy's sentence successfully recalled York's wandering thoughts.
He stepped forward quickly to ask: "What does the paper say?"
"Garp defeated the Rocks Pirates and became the Marine Hero."
Stussy summarized the newspaper content concisely in one sentence.
York took the newspaper to check; the text information was indeed as such.
A large amount of real information was omitted; the whole report reeked of a fabricated story.
However, York still noticed the photo in the newspaper.
This photo captured Rocks.
But the Rocks in the photo wasn't the image he was familiar with.
Instead, he had demonic horns on his head, demonic wings and tail on his back—completely demonized.
Looking at this photo, York's gaze dimmed slightly.
He could roughly guess the development of the battle in God Valley after they left.
Imu's main body, or possessing a new target, descended on the scene.
Joined forces with the Five Elders to beat Rocks to near death.
Then used Black Twist Dominion to command Rocks to kill everyone on the island who might have seen Imu.
Finally, Garp and Roger, who had been happily soloing, were forced to join hands, together killing the demonized Rocks.
This conjecture wasn't accurate; after all, it was just York's wishful thinking. Only the parties involved—the Five Elders and Imu—knew the truth.
Of course, York's conjecture didn't mean Garp and Roger's combined strength exceeded the combination of Imu (possessed or main body) + Five Elders.
As mentioned before, demonization enhanced size and strength but weakened combat wisdom.
In battles at Yonko/Admiral level, stats were important, but having no brains affected the final victory or defeat even more.
After reading the newspaper and confirming no other important information could be extracted, York handed it to Gloriosa, letting them pass it around.
In this process, several wanted posters that were clipped inside silently drifted onto the warship deck.