An island somewhere in the New World.
"Ugh..."
In the bustling tavern, an abrupt, discordant retching sound rang out.
The drinkers nearby looked at the man bent over the table, vomiting violently. Some cursed him, while others laughed and jeered.
"Damn it, if it weren't for this newspaper, I wouldn't be throwing up like this."
Cursing under his breath, the man picked up the newspaper and forcefully wiped the corner of his mouth.
Usually, when the effects of alcohol rose up, he only needed to suppress them a little.
He had never expected that merely seeing almost everyone in the tavern holding a copy of the newspaper would spur him to order one himself. The result was that he had nearly vomited up the food from the previous night out of disgust.
"Old Pointy-Nose, if you can't hold your liquor, don't blame the newspaper. It's like how a few days ago, your 'thing' clearly wasn't working, yet you insisted on blaming that young lady for not being attentive enough."
At the next table, a slender woman with heavy makeup and a sword and gun strapped to her waist sneered disdainfully. She, too, held a newspaper featuring the headline about Maud becoming a Shichibukai.
The moment she finished speaking, a thunderous wave of laughter erupted around them.
Old Pointy-Nose, drowned out by the laughter, did not care in the slightest, as though he had long since grown used to being targeted out of jealousy.
He wiped his unkempt face with his sleeve, then pointed at the stained newspaper and glared viciously.
"Look at what's written here. It's nothing but praise from beginning to end, and they don't even bother varying it. They can publish this kind of overblown garbage? I don't even know which news agency put it out. It should