"Phew… Finally, we're safe."
On the merchant ship, having narrowly escaped death, a sailor lay sprawled on the deck, panting heavily.
Beside him were several companions, also lying down like him.
One of them asked curiously,
"I wonder what that island's all about. I think I just heard the pirates opposite us shout 'One Piece'."
"Right, right, I heard it too."
Another sailor immediately agreed.
"Then we..."
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by someone beside him,
"We didn't hear anything, and we didn't see anything."
He first emphasized it loudly, then whispered,
"Are you crazy! We don't even have guns. Those are pirates who kill without batting an eye! How could we possibly compete with them for some One Piece?"
The one who spoke earlier seemed a bit unconvinced,
"But that's the Great Treasure..."
"Something's happening!"
The greedy sailor's words were interrupted once again.
"What?"
"Something's happening again?!"
"It can't be pirates chasing us again, can it?"
The sailors complained, chattering, but still obediently got up from the deck.
After all, being caught by pirates was no joke; complaints aside, their lives were more important.
Before they could even look, a massive shadow already enveloped the merchant ship.
The sailors looked up to see a cruise ship, several times the size of their merchant vessel, stopped not far from them.
On the cruise ship, the flag of the World Government fluttered in the wind.
The gangway was lowered, and Blake, this time not riding a Slave, descended with Stella, Aramaki, and two CPs.
"A… Celestial Dragon?!"
"How is that possible? How could a Celestial Dragon appear in the West Blue?!"
"Quick, kneel! Do you want to die?"
Hearing their discussion, Blake chuckled softly, then turned to Stella beside him and smiled,
"The World Government's propaganda is really effective; these ignorant fellows can actually recognize my identity."
"It is Your Highness's heroic posture that leaves them without the courage to even look up."
Hearing this, Blake's eyes showed a hint of surprise. He glanced at the smiling Stella and reached out to ruffle her golden hair,
"You're quite good at providing me with emotional value."
This was the aspect of Stella's personality that Blake liked the most.
Whether it was her submissiveness or her adaptability, Stella always seemed to adjust to her environment, always facing life with an optimistic and positive attitude.
However, now was not the time to tease Stella, because there was someone in the cabin that Blake found even more interesting.
Entering the cabin, Blake seemed extremely familiar with the layout. He walked through the corridor and arrived at the door of a storeroom.
Aramaki, with good foresight, stepped forward, opened the door, and stood in front of Blake, secretly on guard.
Blake patted him on the shoulder,
"Don't be so nervous."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Aramaki stepped aside, and Blake entered the room.
Though called a storeroom, the ship's commonly used tools were actually placed in easily accessible locations, so there weren't many things here.
Blake walked to a section of the floor, lifted it up, and simultaneously shouted,
"Wah!"
"Wah!!!"
A distinctly startled sound came from beneath the floor... Back on the ship, Blake smiled helplessly and handed the little girl he was holding to Stella,
"This child is too timid. You take care of her for a while; we'll talk about the rest once she wakes up."
Stella let out a giggle, and Blake glared at her.
Stella recoiled, but wasn't overly afraid. She bowed to Blake and then left, holding the little girl.
Turning around, she softly murmured,
"Your Highness is actually a very gentle person..."
After a year of living together, Stella had gained some initial understanding of Blake's personality.
In his daily life, Blake was no different from other Celestial Dragons.
However, Stella keenly observed that Blake wasn't particularly fond of the ceremonial pomp; it was more a perfunctory act due to his status.
Moreover, Blake was very lenient with the maids around him; even if someone made a small mistake, they wouldn't be punished.
In fact, in the past year, Stella had never seen Blake punish any maid.
Judging by his recent act of scaring the little girl, Blake was still a very childlike person... On the other side, Blake felt a little dejected.
The reason he boarded that merchant ship was, naturally, because there was someone on board who interested him.
In his recent Observation Haki perception, Blake discovered that there was a hidden compartment in the storeroom of the merchant ship, and a two or three-year-old girl was hiding inside.
The little girl had long pink hair and a pair of large, flickering eyes that made her appear exceptionally lively.
Combining this with the presence of the Thriller Bark, Blake easily guessed the girl's identity.
Ghost Princess—Perona.
Recalling Perona's unpleasant personality in the original story, Blake decided to scare her a little.
Unexpectedly, Perona was so timid that she immediately got swirly eyes and fainted on the spot.
Regardless, encountering Perona put Blake in a good mood, and he didn't mind that Aramaki had been slacking off and not training since boarding the ship.
Lying back in his lounge chair, he ordered the guards to continue sailing, and Blake began to ponder a question.
"Given Perona's current age, she shouldn't have acquired the Ghost-Ghost Fruit (Devil Fruit) yet. So where could the Ghost-Ghost Fruit (Devil Fruit) be?"
"In the original story, Perona was raised by Moriah as his daughter. Could the Ghost-Ghost Fruit (Devil Fruit) be in Moriah's hands?"
Thinking of this, Blake called out,
"Aramaki!"
Swish!
Aramaki instantly appeared before Blake, kneeling on one knee,
"Your Highness!"
Blake was a little helpless,
"You are a retainer, not a guard, and certainly not a Slave."
Slaves were one thing, but important combat personnel should be treated with a bit more ease.
The situation with retainers was actually similar to the Marine; they didn't need to kneel when facing a Celestial Dragon.
The attitude of other Celestial Dragons meant that their subordinates not revolting was purely due to the high level of brainwashing.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Seeing Aramaki's expression, Blake knew he hadn't listened.
This guy always put on a 'next time for sure' attitude.
But now was not the time to care about such things; Blake's expression became serious.
"Go back to that merchant ship and search. See if there's a Devil Fruit on board. If not, then go check the island ship."
He paused, then Blake still reminded him,
"Be careful. The island ship is home to the great pirate Moriah. With your current strength, you're more than enough to deal with him. Don't disappoint me."
Aramaki immediately said solemnly,
"Your Highness, rest assured, your subordinate will do his utmost."
After speaking, he bowed to Blake, turned, and left, flying towards the merchant ship using Moonwalk.
Moriah was about ten years older than Aramaki, and should have been at his peak strength.
However, Aramaki's talent ceiling was clearly much higher than Moriah's. Plus, Moriah had just been beaten by Kaido to the point of a mental breakdown, and might not even be able to use Haki, so sending Aramaki to deal with him was already more than enough.