Chapter 184: Arrival (part 2)
“What did you say?!”
“【Pluton】 Rayleigh actually appeared on a ship with the Beasts Pirates?!”
Hearing the report from his subordinate, the massive albatross humanoid began excitedly shouting into the Den Den Mushi, startling the poor Den Den Mushi so much that its eyes retracted a bit.
“Yahaha hahaha!”
“On this occasion, with all the major factions of the New World present!”
“An alliance? A chance encounter? Or are they trying to send some message?”
It seemed like a question, but he wasn’t waiting for an answer.
The president of the World Economic News Agency—【Big News】 Morgans—spread his wings and gestured animatedly as if giving a passionate solo speech.
“The veteran overlord Roger Pirates and the rising overlord Beasts Pirates appearing together on the territory of another Sea Queen…”
“And the one attending is none other than the first mate 【Pluton】 Rayleigh!”
“This is absolutely big news!”
“A major event that will stir up the New World, dormant for half a year!”
As one of the few who knew about the God Valley Incident, he had thoroughly investigated all the factions involved afterward.
The focus, of course, was on the Roger Pirates, one of the protagonists, and the remnants of Rocks who had begun dominating the New World again.
Now, these two formerly hostile factions had come together without warning. Whatever the reason or purpose, it was enough to rattle certain people’s nerves.
But he didn’t care about that. As long as it was news that could set the sea aboil, he would report it no matter what!
That was his principle, 【Big News】 Morgans’ principle!
After venting his excitement a bit, Morgans picked up the Den Den Mushi again and began inquiring about the specifics.
“Who was the other side? Who was leading the Beasts Pirates’ group?”
“No, unknown. For now, we’ve only seen Rayleigh with four… no, five children.”
Seeing Obei who had just come out of the cabin, that reporter hurriedly corrected himself.
“Hm?”
“Five… children?”
“Are you sure you didn’t miss anything? I remember the Beasts Pirates’ executives include King and Burufaruto, as well as…”
“?!”
“Wait!”
As if seizing on something, Morgans suddenly shrieked, then burst into even sharper, more excited laughter.
“Yahaha hahahaha!”
“Could it be, could it be, could it be…!”
“Could it be that the Beasts Pirates sent the three mysterious executives from the rumors this time?”
“Finally, finally, finally…”
“Finally coming out into the open? No photos, no portraits, just rough names known—the executives hidden by the Beasts Pirates!”
A major event plus a big reveal!
Morgans could no longer imagine what expressions the readers on the sea would have after that newspaper issue came out.
“Where are you now? I’ll come personally!”
“I, I’m at the dock right now.”
Click—
Getting the answer, Morgans directly hung up the Den Den Mushi and headed for the door.
“Please wait a moment, Mister Morgans!”
“Lord Perospero gave orders that you shouldn’t move around freely before the ceremony starts. After it begins, you can shoot however you want—”
“Get lost!”
Morgans punched the attending pirate to the ground, then shoved open the door amid the terrified pirate’s trembling.
“Wait? What a joke?!”
“Timeliness is the life of news! Idiot!”
Stepping over the passed-out pirate, Morgans ran toward the dock at top speed.
……
“Everyone, this is Candy Island, under my charge. Perorin~”
Walking ahead, Perospero elegantly extended one hand, introducing it to La and Rayleigh and the others.
Looking along his candy cane staff, everywhere in sight, the entire island seemed wrapped in a layer of candy.
Red, green, yellow… candies of all colors filled everyone’s vision.
“Oh oh oh oh! Amazing!”
“Are all these really candy?”
Buggy’s eyes shone with incredulous excitement.
“Of course. Red ones are strawberry flavor~ Green ones are apple flavor~ As for yellow…”
“You can taste them yourselves.”
With that, Perospero conjured a handful of candy and handed it to the children.
Don’t let his appearance fool you—Perospero actually quite liked children and had a lot of prestige among the kids in Whole Cake Island.
……
Buggy and Shanks eagerly took the candy but didn’t eat it. Instead, they both simultaneously offered it to La first.
“Sister La, you try it first.”*2
“Mm.”
Seeing the two little ones like this, La smiled and took one candy from each of their hands.
She was quite curious about candy made from this ability and wondered how it compared to real candy.
“Aoxi, Obei, do you want some?”
“Yeah, give me one, Big Sister.”
Obei snatched Buggy’s candy from La’s hand. Seeing little Baki frustrated and angry but not daring to come forward, he just pitifully hid behind Shanks.
“I don’t want any.”
Unexpectedly, Aoxi, who usually loved snacks, shook her head and refused outright.
The Homies everywhere on the island had already made her feel nauseous; how could she have the mood to eat candy?
She just wanted to finish the ceremony and hurry back.
Sensing Aoxi’s discomfort, La said: “If you feel unwell, go back. No need to force yourself.”
“No need. I want to see with my own eyes what kind of person that woman who did this disgusting thing really is.”
Aoxi shook her head and continued staring at the Homies around them.
Completely unaware that the other was dissing his mother, Perospero resumed his guide duties after handing out the candy.
But for some reason, Perospero felt that Candy Island, so familiar in the past, had a trace of eerie strangeness today.
『So weird? Normally when people come, the island’s Homies would shout and sing, but why is it completely silent today?』
『Could they be broken?』
The quiet environment on the island gave him a sense of unfamiliarity.
The houses, trees, flowers, and such that usually grinned happily were like dead today, all wilted and silent without a sound.
What a joke—didn’t they see the Underworld God who controls souls next to them with a magnetic scowl the whole time?
Even with only the most basic intelligence, the pitifully broken souls in these Homies made them instinctively play dead the moment they sensed Aoxi’s presence… or just faint from fright for real.
“Please follow me. I’ll take you to the Candy Hotel to check in first. Someone will arrange all your services for the next few days shortly.”
“‘Whole Cake Island’ won’t disappoint you all.”
Putting these thoughts aside, Perospero regained his previous composed demeanor and led the group forward.
（PS: Morgans, this birdman, actually can’t fly.）
By the way, it’s about time for the three little ones to have their own nicknames. Any ideas? Share them for my reference. （Nicknames shouldn’t be too out-of-place; they need to fit the simple, straightforward style of the Pirate World.）
