Chapter 244

The night sky, with a full moon hanging high, cast its soft glow across the calm ocean, creating a serene and magical scene.

The Endless Dream sailed leisurely through the unusually calm waters of the New World, its deck gleaming brightly under the moonlight.

—That brilliance was the reflection of gold and jewels, piled high across the ship's spacious deck, all plundered from the Big Mom Pirates!

"Hahaha! We're rich! We've hit the jackpot!"

"Zyhark, don't you dare claim this loot for yourself! This was all collected by your goddess and Meowth, um, I mean, found during the battle!"

Aqua, completely disregarding any divine image, lay sprawled atop the piles of treasure, her delicate face alight with greed as she kissed a gold bar.

"Don't worry, since you were the one who 'collected' this, I won't take any of it," Zyhark responded, sitting cross-legged in a corner of the deck. His mind was busy analyzing every detail of his battle with Big Mom, drawing lessons from the experience.

As for the treasure, he had absolutely no interest.

Of course, despite the chaos of looting, the crew, apart from the foolish goddess who was lost in her greed, hadn't forgotten their true objective.

Since transporting the massive red Poneglyph from Big Mom's domain was impossible, they settled for taking precise photographs of all the ancient script inscribed on it.

With their objective achieved and their fame solidified, this mission to Totto Land could only be considered a resounding success, even if they had missed out on eliminating Big Mom for a bounty.

"I told you, this was all stuff that fell onto the battlefield! If it's on the ground, it's fair game!" Aqua puffed out her chest with pride. "I'm a goddess with principles! No way would I stoop to thievery or robbery!"

The rest of the crew averted their eyes, unwilling to comment on Aqua's dubious sense of "principles."

Even Meowth, a pirate and villain known for thievery, had to admit that Aqua's shamelessness truly set her apart as a goddess.

"Redefining others' belongings to suit yourself? That's rather arrogant of you, Aqua," Escanor, now in his timid nighttime form, emerged from the ship's bar, carrying a tray of drinks.

"Don't worry, Escanor, all goddesses are like that!"

Aqua, her eyes lighting up at the sight of alcohol, misunderstood Escanor's comment as praise and snatched a glass of wine with eager hands.

Escanor then handed two more drinks, each a different color, to Meowth and King.

"Thanks, meow. But we're comrades now, so just call me by my name," Meowth said, taking the glass delicately between his paws and swirling it with a touch of elegance.

"Meowth's right, Escanor. And it's thanks to you we defeated their second-in-command," King added, wiping his face with a towel after setting down his weights.

"I'm honored to have contributed, even a little," Escanor replied modestly, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Unlike his proud, daytime self, nighttime Escanor was humble and soft-spoken.

He continued on to offer Zyhark a drink.

"Thanks, Escanor," Zyhark said, taking the drink gratefully.

Nearby, Kanna, who had been quietly catching bugs under a fruit tree, suddenly stood at attention. She didn't ask for anything, but her wide, expectant eyes were fixed on Escanor.

"Of course, Kanna-chan. Here's a special juice, just for you," Escanor smiled, handing her a glass of orange juice.

"Arigato, Escanor!" Kanna chirped, happily sipping through a straw.

Having just eaten two caterpillars, she was perfectly thirsty for her juice.

Escanor's face twitched slightly, despite knowing that Kanna was over 10,000 years old, hearing such a childish tone from her still felt strange.

"Hey, Zyhark! Since we're all drinking, why not throw a party?" Aqua, already tipsy, raised her hand in excitement.

The others turned their attention to Zyhark, waiting for his response.

Zyhark finished reflecting on the battle and stood up, clapping his hands.

"A celebration after a big battle sounds like a good way to unwind," he agreed. "But just so you know, if anyone passes out drunk on deck, I'm not helping."

It was a small concession to satisfy the goddess who, to her credit, had managed to avoid causing any major disasters during the battle with the Big Mom Pirates.

"Yay!" Aqua cheered and darted toward the wine cellar with glee.

Watching the foolish goddess run off so eagerly, Zyhark shook his head in exasperation, then headed to the kitchen to prepare food.

Meowth and Escanor offered to help, following him inside.

With the promise of food, Kanna abandoned her caterpillar hunt and sat quietly on the deck, carefully using colored pencils to take notes on the taste and texture of her recent snacks.

King glanced around the suddenly quiet deck, hesitated for a moment, then picked up his dumbbells and resumed his workout.

As the crew busied themselves, a well-armed brigantine slowly approached in the distance.

The skull and crossbones flag flying in the night breeze made it clear—this was another pirate crew from the New World!

The crew's party began in earnest as songs echoed across the deck, accompanied by Aqua's newly discovered origami skills and King's impressive feats of strength. Despite the small number of people, the atmosphere was lively and joyous.

Zyhark, after eating a few bites of meat and drinking some juice, quietly slipped away to a corner of the deck.

With a flick of his wrist, a crackling arc of lightning flashed across the sky. In the next moment, an electrical clone of Zyhark, made from pure lightning energy, materialized and leaped onto the pirate ship trailing behind them.

This technique, stolen from the Glint-Glint Fruit user Kizaru, was far less powerful than his true self, but with the help of his Observation Haki, it was more than enough to deal with these sneaky pirates.

"Ah! You—you're Zyhark, the Thunder Calamity?"

"It's truly an honor to meet you, sir! We saw your incredible battle in Totto Land! Please, let us join your crew!"

The pirates on deck, instead of panicking, were overjoyed to see Zyhark's clone appear before them.

Zyhark's clone glanced over the crew of rough-looking New World pirates.

Their captain, a massive man nearly five meters tall with a muscular upper body and spindly legs, carried a giant axe on his back.

Typical pirate world body proportions.

The battle against Big Mom had been so explosive, even Kaido had been drawn in. It was no surprise that other pirates in the area had taken notice.

Still, Zyhark didn't recognize this crew.

He had memorized a few bounties when he first set out, but after acquiring the riches of Skypiea, he had lost interest in such trivial matters.

"I don't take underlings. You'd better leave before you get struck by lightning," Zyhark said flatly.

Regardless of whether or not these pirates were loyal, they would be useless against the Four Emperors and Admirals they were soon to face.

"Please, Zyhark-sama! We're offering our complete loyalty to you! We're certain you'll be the next Pirate King!" the pirate captain pleaded, his voice filled with admiration.

The sight of Zyhark's Three Hundred Million Volt Black Flash: Thunder God Spear still haunted him, a testament to Zyhark's overwhelming power.

Although he had a bounty of over 200 million berries himself, it was still incredibly difficult to survive in the treacherous New World.

Aligning himself with a powerful force was his only option.

Zyhark's clone raised his hand, electricity crackling. Thunder rumbled ominously above the pirate ship.

The crew, already trembling from the immense power, began to reconsider their loyalty.

Yet the pirate captain, despite his fear, stood firm, staring into Zyhark's eyes.

"Please believe us! We're here with full sincerity! And we even have information on one of the red Poneglyphs!"

Zyhark paused for a moment, intrigued.

The pirate captain continued, speaking quickly before Zyhark could change his mind.

"Not long ago, we spotted the massive elephant Zou, carrying the Mink Tribe's island on its back. We know where the red Poneglyph is hidden!"

"Oh?"

Unexpected information made Zyhark lower his hand slightly.

Kaido's Beast Pirates were a tougher crew than Big Mom's, and Zyhark had planned to lay low for a while before heading to Wano.

But if he could retrieve the Poneglyph from Zou first, that would be a huge advantage.

Once he had that, combined with the red Poneglyphs from Big Mom and Kaido, and with Nico Robin's help, he could make his way directly to Raftel.

Everything was falling into place perfectly!

Watching the subtle changes in Zyhark's expression, the pirate captain breathed a sigh of relief. He had taken a gamble—and it seemed he had won.

"The island is near the waters of Elegia, the destroyed Island of Music, where the Four Emperors Red-Haired Shanks laid waste."

"Elegia?"

The name sent a shiver through Zyhark.

Immediately, a vision of a beautiful girl with red-and-white hair came to mind—Uta, the world's greatest songstress and Shanks' daughter!

'Right now, Uta must be a young girl, still devastated by feelings of abandonment and betrayal,' Zyhark thought.

After a moment of reflection, he made a decision: he would go to the waters near Elegia, find Zou, and along the way, rescue the troubled Uta.

Besides the emotional appeal, there was another crucial reason to save her.

Uta possessed the Sing-Sing Fruit, an ability with massive potential.

If harnessed properly, Uta's voice, broadcast through Transponder Snails worldwide, could become an invaluable tool for gathering followers for Aqua's divine powers!

As Zyhark considered the possibilities, the scent of alcohol wafted over to him.

"Hey, Zyhark, what's all this talk about Elegia? C'mon, drink up! Don't tell me you're already done for the night?" Aqua slurred.

"See, I knew I'm the best drinker on this ship!"

Thud.

With that bold declaration, Aqua passed out at Zyhark's feet, sending rainbow-colored vomit flying.

"…Seriously?" Zyhark muttered, before turning into a bolt of lightning and zipping to the ship's bow, far from the drunken goddess.

Refocusing on the pirate ship, Zyhark's clone spoke again.

"You've given me useful information. I'll let you live," he said quietly.

Finding Zou would've been easy with his lightning abilities and his alliance with Morgans from the World Economy News, but the pirates had still saved him some trouble.

For that, Zyhark decided to give them a small reward.

"If you survive, head to Thriller Bark and find Gecko Moria. Tell him I sent you, and he'll know what to do."

"Gecko Moria? Could it be that the Warlord is…"

Before the pirate captain could finish, Zyhark's clone raised his hand once more.

A bolt of lightning split the sky, illuminating the night as it crashed into the sea, engulfing the pirate ship completely.

(End of Chapter)

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