The docks of Whole Cake Island, once a bustling hub where hundreds of ships conducted foreign trade daily, now lay in absolute ruin.
Massive fragments of mountain debris had crashed into the harbor, blocking the waterways, while seawater continuously poured into the island's foundation through giant, spiderweb-like fissures.
The large ships that had been docked in the port had been caught in the crossfire of the apocalyptic battle, leaving behind nothing but a sea of scattered wood splinters and burning wreckage.
Only a few vessels remained seaworthy amidst the destruction.
Cavendish, having rushed to the scene ahead of time, had managed to locate a large, sturdy ship that could still sail.
Unfortunately, the pirate flag had been blown away in the chaos, making it impossible to identify which unfortunate crew it originally belonged to.
Regardless of whether Ray actually needed a ship to set sail, preparing one in advance couldn't hurt.
As a subordinate, it was his sworn duty to anticipate his boss's needs with elegance and perfection!
...
Half an hour later, Ray arrived at the shattered remains of the docks.
Cavendish, who had grown bored waiting and was checking his reflection in a puddle, immediately sprang to his feet.
Upon seeing Ray, he dashed toward him with a dazzling, overly confident smile.
"Boss Ray! I knew you'd sense that I, your most capable subordinate, prepared a magnificent ship for you! I checked the captain's quarters earlier—the bed inside is incredibly soft, perfect for a deep, comfortable sleep."
Cavendish paused, his eyes sliding toward the trembling female reporter standing behind Ray.
He winked dramatically, lowering his voice to a whisper.
"Huh, this girl... Tsk tsk, I get it. Say no more, Boss. After a big, blood-pumping battle, everyone needs to... relax. Don't worry, I understand completely. I'll stay on deck and guard the perimeter. I won't disturb your... fun."
Cavendish rambled on, looking immensely pleased with his own deductive reasoning.
The more Ray listened, the more exasperated he became.
A vein began to throb on Ray's forehead.
'This guy... he really needs a lesson.'
Initially, Ray had used his Observation Haki to sense Cavendish searching for a ship and had overheard his private mutterings.
He had heard things like, "I must show Boss Ray my determination!" and "This ship is too small; it doesn't match Boss Ray's elegance!" and "This bed is decent—let's move it to the bigger ship next door."
Since Cavendish had decided to become his subordinate, he had indeed performed quite well.
Especially in front of others, he managed to suppress his formerly narcissistic, prideful nature to uphold Ray's dignity.
Although Ray still felt little personal attachment to this guy, his attitude was undeniably good.
Coincidentally, Ray also intended to find a ship to rest and take care of some matters regarding the news in the New World.
So, he had headed toward Cavendish's location, planning to accept his gesture and perhaps offer a rare word of praise.
But then...
'You get it? You get nothing!' Ray thought, his annoyance spiking.
He had tolerated Cavendish's earlier attempt to feed him chocolate, but now this guy dared to insult his integrity?
He brought this girl, Frieda, along solely to inquire about the current situation in the Grand Line, especially regarding Luffy and the others.
As Morgans' niece, she was a walking database of information.
Yet, Cavendish actually thought Ray brought her for... "relaxation"?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he grew.
CRACK!
With a flash of green light, Ray's Light Whip materialized and lashed out.
"Waaaaah?! My beautiful face—!"
Cavendish was sent flying off the dock in a perfect arc, howling in protest before splashing heavily into the sea.
Snorting coldly, Ray ignored the splash and led a terrified Frieda onto the large ship.
Cavendish, who had resurfaced from the water spitting out seaweed, watched Ray board the ship.
Instead of being angry, he broke into a happy, masochistic grin.
"He hit me! That was a disciplinary strike of love! The boss I chose is definitely the real deal!"
...
Half an hour later, the ship had already sailed away from the coast of Whole Cake Island.
After watching Ray's ship disappear over the horizon, Katakuri and the other Sweet Commanders finally relaxed.
They collectively let out a heavy sigh.
Some of the siblings even collapsed onto the ground, their legs giving out.
They had been tense for so long, fearing that Ray might suddenly change his mind, turn around, and slash the island in half again.
Even if all these siblings joined forces, they knew the truth: they would only be delivering themselves as mere appetizers to a monster like Ray.
Thus, their attention had been fixed on Ray's terrifying aura the entire time.
Finally, Ray truly left.
The officers of the Big Mom Pirates felt as if sunlight had finally broken through the dark clouds.
Their lives were once again filled with hope!
The younger and weaker siblings hopped and skipped about, chattering excitedly about returning to their own islands to relax, rest, or indulge in revelry to celebrate their survival.
But Katakuri, Perospero, Smoothie, and Cracker were different.
They did not smile.
They knew that starting from today, the Big Mom Pirates had officially entered their countdown to destruction.
Without Big Mom's overwhelming power and fear to suppress them, even someone as strong as Katakuri couldn't make all the siblings obey him.
The family was too large, and the personalities were too volatile.
Although there wouldn't be major issues in the short term, as time passed, the ambitions of more and more siblings would gradually ignite.
By then, they would face wolves circling from the outside—Marines, other Emperors, rookies—and rebellious people from within the family itself.
Smoothie looked at the retreating ship and sighed helplessly.
"Ah... it's a pity Ray-sama wasn't willing to accept our allegiance."
Yes, before Ray took the female reporter away, Smoothie had desperately proposed this idea.
She hoped the Big Mom Pirates could follow Ray.
As long as they could gain his protection, they were willing to obey all of Ray's commands, even if it meant opposing the Marines or the World Government.
But Ray naturally refused.
The reason was simple: he didn't like it, nor did he need it.
Ray understood clearly that the Big Mom Pirates were just a group of bandits who adhered to the law of "the strong prey on the weak."
He understood this law of the jungle, but he didn't like them personally.
As for having this group fight for him?
At his current level, he alone could be considered an Emperor-level crew.
Why would he need these disloyal, squabbling little pirates dragging him down?
If he occasionally needed underlings to help with menial tasks, he could just recruit one casually.
For example, Cavendish.
…
On the large ship.
Cavendish was currently grumbling while on his hands and knees, scrubbing the floor.
"Why am I, the Prince of the Pirate World, scrubbing plankton off the deck?"
Originally, he wanted the female reporter Frieda, whom Ray had brought back, to do the cleaning.
But before he could even give the order to the girl to assert his dominance, Ray told him to get out and scrub the deck himself.
"Ah, Boss Ray is really something. She's just a female reporter—I could easily trick a few onto the ship if I went to any island with just a wink of my eye."
He scrubbed a particularly stubborn stain aggressively.
"But... the 'Straw Hat Pirates' that Boss Ray mentioned earlier... that name sounds somewhat familiar?"
Cavendish paused, soap suds dripping from his nose.
"Straw Hat... Straw Hat Luffy? Could it be the Boss's pirate crew? Tsk~, I remember now!"
…
Inside the captain's cabin.
Ray was sitting comfortably, listening to the report from the female reporter, Frieda.
Frieda, her face flushed red from nervousness and proximity to the man who killed a Yonko, was struggling to suppress the trembling in her hands.
She forced herself to maintain a calm, professional tone as she relayed information about the Straw Hat Pirates bit by bit to Ray.
"Lord Ray, according to the latest news from our World News Agency headquarters, the Straw Hat Pirates landed on the Sky Islands controlled by the Golden Lion Shiki about two hours ago."
"Our News Coos are closely monitoring their movements from a safe distance."
"After all, it's a battle between the Supernova pirates and a legendary pirate from the old era—our newspaper naturally won't miss a scoop like this."
After hearing this, Ray felt the information was somewhat lacking.
He frowned slightly. "That's it?"
Sensing his dissatisfaction, Frieda scrambled to make another phone call.
She spoke rapidly into the Den Den Mushi, nodding furiously.
After hanging up, she turned back to Ray, looking more confident.
"I have more! Three days ago, Golden Lion Shiki went to war with Buggy the Clown on his floating sky islands. Apparently, the conflict started because Buggy discovered upon landing that Golden Lion's goal was to destroy the East Blue so they immediately clashed."
As she explained, Frieda grew more and more animated, forgetting her fear for a moment as the journalist in her took over.
She gestured wildly to demonstrate the scale of the fight.
"It was a battle of floating powers! Golden Lion Shiki with his Fuwa Fuwa no Mi and Buggy the Clown with his Bara Bara no Mi have quite similar abilities in principle, and their fight was incredibly intense!"
"Islands were flying back and forth! Buggy was splitting into thousands of pieces to dodge debris! It was chaos!"
"But Shiki, being a legendary pirate who rivaled Roger, managed to defeat Buggy in just 20 minutes."
Frieda paused for a dramatic effect.
"However, according to our informants, Buggy didn't go down easily. Dozens of the floating islands were destroyed by him, forcing Shiki to scramble to find new islands to rebuild his fleet."
"To some extent, Buggy's chaotic resistance has slowed down Golden Lion Shiki's plan to destroyed the East Blue."
"Oh, right! One last thing," Frieda added, checking her notes. "Our informants on Golden Lion's Sky Island also spotted a few people connected to you."
Hearing this, Ray raised an eyebrow, asking with interest.
"Who?"
Frieda replied with a chuckle:
"Several former top agents of Baroque Works."
"It seems they've all accepted the Golden Lion's invitation and joined his ranks."
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator