Nami had heard everything.
Every conversation—between Gojo, Mr. 5, Miss Valentine, Vivi, Igaram… all of it had reached her ears. She was just standing around the corner and from the way Princess Vivi reacted, from the urgency hidden beneath her composure, Nami could tell one thing clearly:
Alabasta was in trouble.
And trouble, especially the kind involving an entire kingdom, almost always meant opportunity. Big opportunity.
And wherever there was money… there was Nami.
So it was no surprise that, not long after, the Straw Hats were more or less dragged off Cactus Island by her insistence. Since they didn't have an eternal pose to the Alabasta Kingdom, they had no choice but to follow the direction indicated by their log pose, sailing toward their next registered destination instead.
Time passed steadily at sea.
…
Two days had already gone by, and by now they were only about a day's journey away from Drum Island. Of course, they had no intention of stopping there—but even so, from their current route, it would still take another six to seven days before they could finally reach the Alabasta Kingdom.
That morning, Vivi woke up as usual and stepped out onto the deck.
The very first thing she noticed made her freeze.
"…The sail?" she muttered.
The ship's sail—their sail—was gone.
Shock rushed through her, and she immediately leaned over the side of the deck, looking down. What she saw left her completely baffled. Below, on the deck level, Gojo and Igaram were working together, carefully handling the sail as if working on something important.
Confused, Vivi hurried down to them.
As she drew closer, she finally understood what they were doing—and her eyes widened.
Painted directly onto the sail were two large eyes.
Not random symbols. Not a crest.
Eyes.
They were sharp, vivid, and unmistakable—painted in the same striking color as Gojo's own eyes, carrying the same strange presence. Gojo was calmly applying the finishing touches, brush moving smoothly as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
Vivi stared at the sail in stunned silence.
Vivi hesitated for a moment before finally asking the question that had been lingering in her mind.
"Why are you painting eyes on the sail?" she asked. "Is this going to be your Jolly Roger? Your pirate flag? But you clearly said you hate being associated with pirates."
Gojo didn't stop working immediately. He calmly applied another stroke of paint, perfecting the sharp curve of the pupil, before answering in an unbothered tone.
"Of course not," he said. "This isn't a Jolly Roger."
He straightened up slightly and glanced at Vivi from the corner of his eye.
"But I still need a symbol, don't I?" he continued. "Something that tells others whose ship this is. This is Gojo Satoru's ship."
His voice grew colder, more deliberate.
"These eyes will warn anyone who looks at them. They'll tell other ships one simple thing—if you dare attack this ship, you'll face the consequences." His lips curved faintly upward. "And if someone still chooses to ignore that warning…"
He finished calmly, without a hint of emotion.
"Then their death is on them."
Vivi felt a chill run down her spine.
She could tell—this wasn't exaggeration or empty intimidation. Gojo meant every single word. If anyone truly defied this symbol, they wouldn't just lose a battle—they would pay a terrifying price.
Slowly, Vivi nodded.
"…I understand."
What she didn't know was that Gojo had already planned this long ago. He had bought the special paints back in Loguetown, intending from the start to mark his ship with a symbol of his own. The colors he used were rare and unique—ones that would faintly glow in the darkness, making the eyes visible even under moonlight.
When the final touches were complete, Gojo looked at the sail with clear satisfaction. It was simple, yet overwhelming. A masterpiece in its own way.
Together, Gojo and Igaram lifted the sail back into place. Once secured, the ship—momentarily at rest—began moving again, cutting through the sea as it resumed its course. They headed toward Drum Island, which they would bypass entirely, and beyond that lay their true destination.
The Kingdom of Alabasta.
With Gojo aboard, the journey was strangely smooth. No matter how subtle or sudden the shifts in the Grand Line's weather were, Gojo always sensed them in advance. Storms, violent winds, sudden climate changes—he predicted them all with uncanny accuracy.
To Vivi and Igaram, it felt almost divine.
Watching him casually announce incoming weather shifts before they happened left them both stunned. More than once, they exchanged glances, silently acknowledging the same thought—
Traveling with Gojo Satoru made the Grand Line itself seem tame.
…
Gojo's ship gradually neared Drum Island.
Even before the island was fully in view, the climate changed drastically. The air turned biting cold. Snowflakes drifted lazily across the sea, and the once-restless waves slowed under a layer of creeping frost.
For Gojo, however, it meant nothing.
With Limitless constantly active, the concepts of heat and cold never truly reached him. Extreme temperatures were filtered out long before they could affect his body. While the world around him froze, he remained completely relaxed.
Igaram and Vivi were not so fortunate.
Both of them had wrapped themselves tightly in thick blankets, their breath visible each time they exhaled. Their hands trembled slightly as they moved, and it didn't take long before they retreated inside the ship. Even being on deck for a short while in this weather was unbearable.
Inside the cabin, a fire burned steadily, casting warm orange light against the wooden walls. Vivi and Igaram sat close to it, waiting patiently for the ship to pass through Drum Island's waters.
Gojo, meanwhile, was in his own room.
He reclined comfortably in his chair, blindfold still covering his eyes. His posture was relaxed, almost lazy, yet his presence was unnervingly calm. His mind was strange—empty, yet at the same time razor-focused, like the surface of still water hiding unimaginable depth beneath.
Then—
A vision flashed through his mind.
His ship's right corner, violently torn apart—
A massive water jet erupting from below the sea—
Destruction occurring seconds into the future.
Gojo's eyes snapped open beneath the blindfold.
He stood up instantly.
That wasn't a dream.
That wasn't imagination.
"…So it's come to this," he muttered.
He knew exactly what he had seen.
Observation Haki: Future sight.
Without wasting even a fraction of a second, Gojo stepped out of the cabin and onto the deck. The ship was still intact—for now—but the future he had witnessed was already set in motion.
Gojo raised his hand.
Limitless surged.
At full strength, invisible force wrapped around the ship, and with overwhelming control, he dragged the entire vessel sideways, pulling it sharply to the left as if it weighed nothing at all.
At the exact moment the ship vacated its original position—
BOOOOM!!
A colossal jet of water exploded upward from beneath the sea, piercing through the surface like a spear. The attack shot straight through the space where the ship had just been, powerful enough to have obliterated its right side completely.
Spray scattered violently across the air.
Vivi and Igaram rushed out of the cabin, their eyes widening in shock at the scene before them. Above the sea, a large bluish orb-like distortion—the residual effect of Gojo's Limitless—slowly faded away as the ship stabilized in its new position.
"…That would've destroyed us," Vivi whispered.
Gojo didn't respond.
He had already moved.
In the blink of an eye, Gojo appeared midair above the spot where the water jet had erupted. He hovered effortlessly, gaze fixed downward.
With a calm motion, he removed his blindfold.
His eyes—sharp, luminous, and terrifyingly focused—pierced through the sea, searching for the one foolish enough to attack his ship.
Before he could scan any deeper, a voice echoed from below the surface.
"Fishman Jujutsu…"
"Sea Current Lifter!"
The ocean responded instantly.
A massive stream of compressed seawater surged upward, twisting violently as it shot straight toward Gojo in the sky—dense, fast, and lethal.
Gojo extended his hand toward the ship.
On the deck, his sword trembled.
Then it flew.
Cutting through the air at incredible speed, the sword landed perfectly into Gojo's grasp. He caught it smoothly and settled it against his right waist, posture relaxed—almost casual.
"…Sword Drawing," Gojo said calmly.
In one fluid motion, he drew the blade.
"Sword Slash."
A sharp flash of motion followed.
A flying sword arc erupted forward, slicing through the air with overwhelming force. It collided head-on with the incoming sea stream and cleaved it cleanly in two, dispersing the attack into harmless sprays of water that rained back into the ocean.
The clash ended in an instant.
The sea fell silent again.
----
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