"Phew… we are finally saved."
On the merchant ship that had just brushed past death, a sailor sprawled flat on the deck, gasping for air.
Beside him, several of his companions lay the same way, limbs spread, chests heaving.
One of them said curiously,
"I have no idea what that island was, but I swear I heard those pirates yelling about One Piece just now."
"Yeah, yeah, I heard it too."
Another sailor chimed in immediately.
"So then we…"
He had barely started when someone next to him cut him off.
"We heard nothing. We saw nothing."
That man deliberately raised his voice first, then lowered it and muttered,
"Are you insane? We do not even have guns. Those are pirates who kill without blinking. How are we supposed to compete with them for something like One Piece?"
The greedy sailor who had spoken earlier still seemed a bit unwilling.
"But that is the great treasure…"
"There is something out there."
His words were interrupted yet again.
"Something again?"
"Do not tell me another pirate crew is after us."
The sailors grumbled in a chorus, but still obediently scrambled up from the deck.
Being caught by pirates was no joke. They could complain all they wanted, but their lives still mattered more.
Before they could even look properly, a massive shadow had already fallen over the merchant ship.
They lifted their heads and saw a luxury cruiser several times the size of their own vessel floating nearby.
On its mast, the flag of the World Government snapped in the wind.
The gangway was lowered. This time, Hiruto Blake did not ride down on a slave. He walked down in person, with Stella, Aramaki and two CP agents following behind him.
"A… a Celestial Dragon?!"
"How is that possible? How could a Celestial Dragon show up in the West Blue?"
"Kneel. Do you all have a death wish?"
Hearing their muttering, Blake chuckled and turned to Stella with a smile.
"The World Government's propaganda really is thorough. Even these backwater bumpkins can recognize what I am."
"It is Your Highness's majestic bearing. They do not even dare raise their heads to look up at you."
Blake blinked, slightly surprised, then glanced at Stella's smiling face and reached out to ruffle her golden hair.
"You are pretty good at providing emotional support."
That was the part of Stella's personality Blake appreciated most.
Call it submissive, call it adaptable. Either way, she always seemed to adjust to her environment, always facing life with that soft, optimistic attitude.
But now was not the time to tease her, because there was someone on this ship who interested Blake even more.
He entered the merchant vessel. It was as if he knew the layout by heart. He walked down the corridor and stopped in front of a storage room door.
Aramaki, sharp eyed as ever, stepped up, pushed the door open and stood in front of Blake, quietly on guard.
Blake patted his shoulder.
"Relax a little."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Aramaki stepped aside. Blake walked into the room.
It was called a storage room, but in reality most of the tools needed on a ship were kept in easy reach elsewhere. There was not much piled up in here.
Blake walked over to a plank on the floor, grabbed the edge, flipped it up and shouted at the same time,
"Boo!"
A small, clearly frightened voice let out a shriek from the space under the floorboards.
Later, back on his own ship, Blake could only give a helpless smile as he handed the little girl in his arms over to Stella.
"This kid startles too easily. Take care of her for a while. We will talk about the rest when she wakes up."
Stella could not help it. She let out a little laugh.
Blake shot her a look.
Stella shrank her neck a bit, but did not show much fear. She gave Blake a proper maid's curtsey and carried the girl away.
As she turned, she muttered under her breath,
"His Highness is actually a very gentle person."
After a year of living together, Stella had formed a rough picture of Blake's personality.
In daily life, he did not behave much differently from other Celestial Dragons.
But Stella had keenly noticed that Blake did not actually like all the pomp and ceremony. Most of the time, he was just going through the motions because of his status.
And he was exceptionally tolerant toward the maids around him. Even if someone made a small mistake, there would be no punishment.
In fact, over the past year, Stella had not seen Blake punish a single maid.
And judging from the way he had just scared the little girl, Blake clearly had a very childish side.
On the other side, Blake himself was a bit annoyed.
The reason he had boarded the merchant ship in the first place was, of course, because there was someone on it who caught his interest.
With his Observation Haki earlier, he had discovered a hidden compartment beneath the storage room floor. Inside was a little girl of about two or three.
She had fluffy pink hair, big round eyes that sparkled with life, and a face that was almost painfully cute.
Combined with the sudden appearance of Thriller Bark in these waters, it had not been hard for Blake to guess who she was.
The Ghost Princess, Perona.
Remembering Perona's nasty little personality in the original story, Blake had decided to give her a scare.
He had not expected her to be this timid.
She had gone full spirals-in-the-eyes and fainted on the spot.
Even so, running into Perona like this put Blake in a very good mood. So much so that he did not even bother complaining when Aramaki slacked off and skipped training after they got back on board.
He lay back on his deck chair again, told the guards to keep sailing, and began thinking about a new problem.
"At Perona's current age, she probably has not acquired the Hollow Hollow Fruit yet. So where is it?"
"In the original, Perona was raised like a daughter by Moria. So does that mean the Hollow Hollow Fruit is in Moria's hands?"
With that thought, Blake called out,
"Aramaki."
Aramaki appeared in front of him almost instantly and dropped to one knee.
Blake felt a bit helpless.
"You are my retainer, not a guard, and definitely not a slave."
Slaves were one thing. When it came to important combat power, he preferred to keep things more relaxed.
A retainer's situation was essentially similar to the Marines. They did not need to kneel when facing a Celestial Dragon.
The way other Celestial Dragons behaved, it was a miracle their subordinates had not rebelled already. The only explanation was that centuries of brainwashing worked really well.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Judging by Aramaki's expression, Blake knew he had not taken that in at all.
This guy put on the same "I will definitely do better next time" face every single time.
But this was not the moment to fuss over that. Blake's expression grew serious.
"Go back to that merchant ship and search it. See if there is a Devil Fruit on board. If not, then head to the island ship."
He paused, then added a reminder,
"Be careful. That island ship belongs to the great pirate Moria. With your current strength, you are more than enough to handle him. Do not let me down."
Aramaki answered solemnly,
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. I will give it my all."
He bowed to Blake, turned, and left, stepping into the sky with Moonwalk as he flew back in the direction of the merchant ship.
Moria was about ten years older than Aramaki and should, by rights, be in his prime.
However, Aramaki's talent ceiling was clearly much higher. On top of that, Moria had just had his spirit shattered by Kaido. It was entirely possible he could not even use Haki right now.
Sending Aramaki to deal with him was more than enough.