"Hey, Luffy, Ace and the others can't see us anymore. Are you really not going to say goodbye?"
Almost the moment Katie's voice fell, Luffy, who had been facing away, turned around.
"Ace! I'll take good care of myself! You make sure to take care of yourself too!"
His choked voice carried far, and even though Katie was several nautical miles from Moby Dick, Luffy's words still reached Ace's ears clearly.
"Goodbye, Luffy. Hurry up and get stronger—I'll be waiting for you in the New World!"
Ace could naturally hear the sob in Luffy's voice, but he knew that now wasn't the time to say more, let alone urge him to stay. This was a man's promise. What they could and should do was silently support each other from behind.
"All right, Ace, your little brother is clearly not the type to die young. Even Red-Hair acknowledges him, so you don't have to worry. What you should be worrying about now is yourself."
"Huh? Why?" The old man's words came too suddenly—Ace didn't immediately understand what Whitebeard meant.
"This time you getting caught was partly my fault. I've been too lenient with you all, thinking there was enough time for you to grow. Looks like I was wrong. I can't let you off anymore. When we get back, I'm going to put every last one of you through real training."
A smile appeared on Whitebeard's face, but in Ace and the others' eyes, the usual warm smile now looked anything but kind, sending shivers down their spines.
"Chirp, chirp, chirp."
"Well, uh… Dad, I'll go buy a newspaper." Unable to bear Whitebeard's gaze, Ace seized on the flock of news birds overhead as an excuse to escape.
Whitebeard didn't stop him—he wanted to see how the papers were describing this war between himself and the Navy.
"One hundred thousand… a million… ten million… a hundred million… a billion…"
"A billion! Katie's bounty has reached one billion?!"
The next moment, Ace's exclamation rang across the Moby Dick, instantly drawing everyone's attention. They all crowded around him to see if it was true.
"Dad, look—it's exactly one billion, not a bit more, not a bit less," said Marco, handing Whitebeard a copy of the paper he had also bought.
"Hahahahaha… Has the Navy fallen so low? Only this much?" Whitebeard scoffed after glancing at Katie's new wanted poster.
"Yeah, they underpriced her. I'd say it should be at least 1.5 billion," Marco agreed. After all, Katie had defeated Akainu head-on—even if Akainu hadn't been at peak form, that wasn't something an ordinary person could do. If you doubt it, go try yourself—and if you survive, you're a real man.
"Dad, train me now! I want to get stronger!" The Ace who had just been avoiding training now actively requested Whitebeard's special instruction.
The shock from Katie's bounty quickly gave way to unwillingness. Nearly half of the thick stack of newspapers was filled with articles about Katie—
First among the Worst Generation, the number-one escapee from Impel Down, the young man who changed the Marineford War, the man who defeated a Navy Admiral…
One article even gave Katie the title "God of Fire." Ace's own name was mentioned, but only as a point of comparison. For reasons unknown, the author spent the entire piece belittling Ace and elevating Katie—going so far as to say that Katie was the one truly worthy of the Pirate King's bloodline.
Seeing this, Ace knew it was the work of someone deliberately stirring trouble, but he still felt uncomfortable. He didn't care whether he was the Pirate King's son.
But even a clay figure has three parts. How could Ace willingly fall behind? Since he and Katie had the same Devil Fruit ability, whatever Katie could do, Ace believed he could do as well.
"You'd better be ready—my training can be deadly," Whitebeard warned, seeing the unyielding fire in Ace's eyes. Inwardly, though, he nodded. Letting Ace realize the gap and take a hit to his pride might be a good thing.
"Bring it on! I'm not afraid!"
"Katakuri, did you see today's news? There's a really interesting guy in there—even Mama noticed him. She's even thinking about marrying one of our sisters to him."
Katakuri had sensed Brulee, approaching long before she arrived and hadn't reacted. But when he heard her last sentence, a faint ripple passed through his otherwise calm eyes—quickly concealed so Brulee wouldn't notice.
"I know. It's that woman named Katie, right?" He raised the paper in her hand.
"As expected of you, Brother Katakuri—you know everything." Brulee looked at the scarf-covered man with admiration, though deep in her gaze was a hint of pain. This man had sacrificed far too much for their brothers and sisters—more, even, than their mother had in recent years.
"But his bounty isn't as high as yours. I still think you're stronger, Brother." Even though she had heard of Katie's unbelievable feats, Brulee naturally assumed Katakuri was the mightier one.
Katakuri didn't respond to her praise. His sharp eyes stared into the distance. Since Ace's capture, he had been watching events closely.
He could say he was the one in the Big Mom Pirates who knew Katie best—and precisely because he understood her, he knew how terrifying Katie's talent was. He wasn't sure if he could beat her in a real fight. Still, there was no need to worry for now—the Navy wouldn't let her go unchecked.
"Brulee, go on ahead. I'm going to patrol again."
He knew, as did she, that a new era was coming—and as members of a Yonko crew, they were bound to be targets for every major power. He was going to see just who dared to reach into their territory.
"Bastard! How dare he save that bastard Whitebeard!"
"Someone! Bring me that brat Katie—I want to see if he's really as strong as they say!"
A fearsome aura poured out without restraint. Even though the man radiating it was their boss, none of his subordinates dared breathe too loudly—because his name was Kaido.
"Boss, the Navy won't just ignore Katie. If we go now, we might clash with them. Maybe we should leave it alone—for all we know, she's already doomed."
"What?! You're saying I'm afraid of the Navy?"
At that moment, the speaker felt like he had stepped one foot into hell and wished he could slap himself twice.
"B-Boss, that's not what I meant—"
But forgiveness didn't come—only a massive iron mallet. In the next instant, the man's figure vanished into the horizon, and the air grew even heavier.
"…Then we'll let him live for now."