Karl didn't care how furious Big Mom was. He had a far bigger problem: he couldn't catch a single fish.
On a whim he'd proposed a ship-wide fishing contest. Now everyone—even Enel—had a bucket full of flopping prizes. Everyone except the captain.
"Enel, you didn't… use your fruit, did you?" Karl squinted at the overflowing pail. "Feels like you zapped the sea and scooped the stunned ones."
"Yehahahaha! Captain, so you can lose to this god!" Enel beamed, for once tasting the sweet nectar of victory.
"Uncle, you're way too noob. Not one fish?" Ann leaned over, cheeks puffed.
"Ann, my sweet niece, when did you become so heartless…? Your uncle's in pain." Karl clutched his chest dramatically.
"Hmph. I only speak facts."
Karl sighed deep. "She's grown up. Not the same little angel anymore."
"Karine, let's do teppan grilled fish tonight."
"On it. We'll grill as we fish—best vibe." Karine vanished below, then returned with iron plates, spices, and skewers. Soon the deck smelled criminally good.
"Captain," Aderian said between bites, "you grill surprisingly well."
"Of course. Back in my village, I was the grill king."
"Funny, never heard that one," Aderian deadpanned.
"Aderian, your skewers are revoked."
"Wait—sorry! You were world-renowned, the Grill Emperor!"
They were still laughing when a news gull flapped down. Karl flicked it fifty Berries and took the fresh paper.
"Tch. Morgans still doesn't understand clickbait. Headline should've screamed twelve exclamation points…"
"What's the news, Captain?" Bansen asked.
Karl tossed him the paper. Across the front:
"Big Mom's Tea Party Invitation Fails! Sweet Commander Katakuri Returns Gravely Wounded—New Emperor Rises?!"
The write-up was gloriously exaggerated, practically rubbing the Big Mom Pirates' face across the Marineford plaza.
"Trying to make me 'the next Emperor,' huh?" Aderian snorted after skimming a sidebar bio on Karl. "Every line in this 'profile' is wrong."
"If he doesn't exaggerate, who buys the paper?" Karl shrugged. "It's called news because half of it's made up."
"Stop yapping or I stop grilling," Karine warned, flipping a fillet.
"Eat! Eat!" Enel and Ann chorused.
Bansen, still reading, paused. "Captain, there's a notice in the back. Nodis Kingdom in the North Blue is holding an auction in a month—four Devil Fruits on the block."
Karl's eyes sharpened. A kingdom openly advertising four fruits? Bold. Bold enough to get stolen by an Emperor—or Kaido, who hoarded Zoans like candy. Or Big Mom, if there was a dessert-adjacent Fruit.
"What fruits?" Karl asked.
"One Zoan: Insect-Insect, Model: Giant Bee. One Zoan: Worm-Worm, Model: Earthworm. Two Paramecia: Taste-Taste Fruit, and Pouch-Pouch Fruit."
"Pouch-Pouch?" Karl took the paper and read the description. User becomes a living, heavy-duty sack able to store roughly a hundred cubic meters.
His grin was immediate. "We're going. All four are ours. Three can go to Ellie's research. The Pouch-Pouch is useful."
He'd wanted a compact storage solution for ages. And if an object ate the Pouch-Pouch, he'd basically have an honest-to-goodness storage bag. Getting an object to eat a fruit? Vinsmoke Judge could handle that. Karl had planned to visit him for custom raid suits at the very start of the voyage… until Skypiea detoured everything.
Aderian glanced up. "Do we leave now?"
"After dinner," Karl said. "And stop fishing, this pile's enough. Come on—cheers to a good haul!"
"Cheers!"
"Hold on," Ann said, sipping milk. "Uncle, you didn't catch any. If anyone's celebrating, it's us."
"Ann… hand over that skewer. The one your uncle grilled."
"Heehee. Kidding. I'll pour you a drink."
They clinked cups. Somewhere far away, Totland shook with rage.
"Damn that Morgans!" Big Mom's roar cracked the candy windows. "Belittling my crew—does he want to die!?"
Homies trembled as her Conqueror's Haki washed across the hall. Her children went silent; even Zeus and Prometheus hovered very, very still. The wider world buzzed at the headline—some shocked that a newcomer had snubbed an Emperor and sent Katakuri home bleeding; more shocked that Big Mom hadn't struck back yet.
Whitebeard's camp didn't care—Dad wanted peace for his sons.
Kaido grinned, weighing whether to "help" Mama or just snatch a few islands while she was distracted.
Red-Hair kept his crew on alert; the New World had only just stabilized.
The Marines watched like gamblers ringside, praying the pirates would maul each other so they could swoop in for scraps.
Karl ignored all of it. The Tiger God carved a path toward the North Blue.
"Karl," Ellie said later, chin propped on her palm as stars came out, "should we… form an organization? Sailing like this feels like it's missing something."
The sea wind curled around them. The crew went quiet, waiting for Karl's answer—
—and the waves answered first, slapping the hull like a ticking clock.
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