"I'm heading down to Fishman Island later," White Ghost said. "If things go smoothly, I'll be back quickly."
"Want me to go with you?" Kuro pushed up his glasses.
White Ghost shook his head. "I'm just picking something up. In and out. Jinbe was supposed to deliver it topside, but something happened on the way, so now I've got to go in person."
"After we quit the Marines… where are we going?" Uta asked, looking at him.
He chuckled and ruffled her hair. Her face went pink instantly.
"We're going to travel the world."
"Huh?" Everyone looked up.
"First stop: Water 7, to build a ship. Then we play 'traveler'—sail around all four Blues, visit every sea we can. After that, the Grand Line."
He clenched his fist lightly.
"And finally… the New World."
"Travelers, huh…" Hiyori had been here for a while now. Every story about the outside world fascinated her. Hearing "round-the-world voyage" made her eyes shine.
White Ghost nodded. "We'll experience each country's culture. See all the things I haven't seen yet.
"And of course—"
He pointed at Brook and Uta.
"You two will be holding concerts everywhere we go."
"Really?!" Uta's eyes lit up. "We'll really do that?"
"Yep," White Ghost said. "Travel the world, sing around the world. Just like you always wanted—bring joy to people living in pain.
"Brook's old crew, the Rumbar Pirates… used to do something like that too."
Everyone turned to look at the skeleton in the suit.
"Yohohohoho! I didn't think White Ghost-san knew our Rumbar Pirates' story!" Brook clasped his hands behind his back, eye-lights soft. "In those days, we wandered the seas playing music for people… Yohohoho… it feels like a lifetime ago. To think we'll be doing it again—I'm so moved my heart could burst!
"Though, ah, I don't have a heart to burst. Yohohoho!"
Hiyori, Wanda, Carrot, and Pedro all looked excited as well.
Travel the world? Before this, they never would have even dared to dream of it.
White Ghost suddenly looked up.
"Mm?"
Everyone with Observation Haki raised their heads at the same time.
The sky was dark and heavy… and they all felt a presence rapidly descending from above.
The man's voice arrived before he did.
"Fuffuffuffuffu!"
The Warlord of the Sea—Donquixote Doflamingo.
Everyone was surprised, but no one drew their weapons.
Doflamingo landed, feather coat trailing behind him.
"Fuffuffuffu… Should I be calling you 'sir' now?" he said with a grin. "Or just stick to 'White Ghost'?"
White Ghost smiled faintly and patted the seat beside him.
"Whatever you like. Sit."
Then he turned his head slightly.
"The guest at the door can come in too."
"Huh?" Several people blinked.
There's someone at the door?
Kuro's expression darkened.
"Damn it… I just told myself to stay alert, and the moment White Ghost's around I let my guard down again…"
The grass in the yard suddenly rippled like the surface of a pond.
A large man rose up out of the earth itself—wearing a baby bonnet, a pacifier in his mouth, a yellow diaper with little stars on it, and a huge exposed belly.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. White Ghost. My name is Señor Pink. Sorry to intrude."
White Ghost smiled and introduced him out loud:
"Señor Pink. Officer of the Donquixote Family. Part of the 'Diamante Army' combat group.
"Swim-Swim Fruit user—able to 'swim' freely through solid objects.
"A man of loyalty and sentiment, soft-hearted toward the weak. A steel-blooded tough guy who hates cheap tricks. Even as a subordinate of a cruel pirate like Doflamingo, he's never lost his own nature."
Doflamingo's face twitched.
"Fuffuffuffuffu… You bastard. And you still claim you didn't plant a spy in my crew?"
White Ghost waved lazily.
"Inside."
Uta, Hiyori, and the three mink youngsters exchanged glances, then slipped back into the house; some things were better they didn't hear.
Stella finished setting out tea for the guests, then also went inside. Ain looked like she wanted to stay, thought about it, and went in as well.
"I didn't plant anyone in your crew," White Ghost said, lighting a cigar. "I just admire real men.
"Like him."
He nodded at Señor Pink.
"This is an honor for me," Señor said seriously, bowing. "To receive praise from someone like you…"
"Enough," Doflamingo cut in, irritated. "Tell me—where's the second location?"
White Ghost exhaled a ring of smoke and chuckled.
"You already guessed, didn't you? The second one's in Wano."
A vein jumped on Doflamingo's forehead.
"Fuffuffuffu… Are you messing with me on purpose? First you say Big Mom, now it's Kaido. What's next, Whitebeard?"
Kuro and Jango stayed relaxed; as long as Doflamingo didn't do anything suicidal, they wouldn't move. If he did… one swing from White Ghost would be enough.
White Ghost took another lazy drag.
"I never said it was in Kaido's hands. I said it's in Wano."
He spoke up just as Doflamingo's frustration was about to boil over.
Which was fair. Doflamingo had gone through a lot of trouble—killing a division commander under Whitebeard—to frame the World Government and stir things up, just for that first location.
If it weren't for White Ghost's strength, he'd probably have turned on him by now.
"Fuffuffu… If it's in Wano, that means it's in Kaido's hands," Doflamingo snapped.
Before his temper really blew, White Ghost reached into his bracelet and casually pulled out a long bamboo tube, several meters in length.
"What's that?" Doflamingo's attention shifted despite himself.
He hadn't thought much of the bamboo at first—but that little trick made him blink.
"Fuffuffu… Smart bastard…" With Vergo's reports in mind—about Devil Fruits being fused into objects—it only took a second for him to connect the dots.
He thought back to the fruits White Ghost had hunted down recently… all storage-types.
Suddenly, it all made sense.
You really made a killing on this deal, huh…
He felt a sharp spike of jealousy.
White Ghost jiggled the tube in his hand.
"The stone might be in Wano," he said lightly, "but I've already paid it a visit."
Doflamingo reached out on instinct, trying to grab the tube—
—and pulled his hand back at the last moment as the entire bamboo case suddenly turned obsidian-black with Armament Haki.
"Think it through," White Ghost said mildly. "Our deal was very clear. I tell you locations. That's it."
The warning from his Observation Haki made Doflamingo grind his teeth and withdraw his hand.
"…So? What do you want this time?"
"This time, I'm not asking you to find anything."
White Ghost's gaze never left Señor Pink.
"I'll say this first," Doflamingo said slowly, jaw tight. "He's one of my most important family members."
Señor finally realized what was happening.
This man has his eye on me…?
White Ghost set the bamboo tube down on the ground and didn't say another word.
He just waited.
Let Doflamingo think.
After a long pause, White Ghost turned to Señor Pink.
"I can cure your wife," he said calmly. "What she has is a lesion in the brain. I can remove it. Her consciousness will recover quickly."
"Is that… true?" Señor's heart thumped hard in his chest—but he didn't speak.
He was a subordinate. His loyalty was to his Young Master.
"Wife?" Doflamingo blinked.
White Ghost nodded.
"You're a terrible boss. You don't even know what your own people are going through."
He explained Señor Pink's story in a few simple sentences.
Doflamingo listened, then just stared at Señor for a long moment.
He didn't say a word.
"Señor Pink," Doflamingo finally said. "I'm sorry.
"This is something the family needs."
"I understand, Young Master," Señor said.
That was what he said out loud.
Inside… something quietly cracked.
White Ghost picked the bamboo tube back up and held it out to Doflamingo, then glanced at Señor.
"Bring your wife here," he said. "Kuro will go with you. If you leave now, you can be back by tomorrow."
Kuro nodded once, already shifting into his beast form as they prepared to depart.
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