Elegia

Some time ago, Shanks had contacted Louis through a Den Den Mushi and told the group returning with him to head straight to the Music Kingdom, Elegia.

Louis had more or less guessed what Shanks had in mind, so he changed their destination from Foosha Village to the Music Kingdom, Elegia.

The warship, its pirate flag fluttering, sailed along the route Louis had planned, cutting through the waves as it traveled alongside the seagulls.

A seagull wearing a naval cap and a little satchel around its belly circled the warship, cawing and drawing the group's attention.

"Hm? A News Coo?" Uta looked up and spotted a bird circling beneath the sunlight.

She waved, signaling for the News Coo to come down and sell her a newspaper.

The News Coo soon landed on the warship's railing and pulled a newspaper from its beak, offering it to Uta.

After slipping a Beli into its satchel, Uta took the newspaper.

Then she sat beside Louis and opened it.

The next moment, she let out a cry of surprise. "Louis, come look! A Celestial Dragon went missing at sea after leaving Sabaody Archipelago! They suspect he was killed!"

Since meeting Louis, Uta had asked Beckman and the others about the Celestial Dragons. She knew more or less that an attack on one was an enormous incident.

Louis raised an eyebrow at the news, thinking, Akuldona's luck is incredible. He actually managed to catch a Celestial Dragon?

Then he took the newspaper Uta handed him and examined it closely.

"They even dare to report something like this. What's the story behind this news agency?" Yelena asked curiously as she approached with several cold drinks.

"I'm not sure. The person behind the World Economic News Agency always stays transformed using a Zoan Devil Fruit, so nobody knows who he is."

Louis shook his head, showing that he knew very little about the World Economic News Agency himself.

Then he continued reading the article.

It said that several hours after the ship carrying the Celestial Dragon left Sabaody Archipelago, both the ship and its passengers had vanished. The World Government had already dispatched several Navy search parties.

This only made Louis more certain that Akuldona was responsible.

Just then, Uta leaned over to look at Louis's calm expression.

"Louis, aren't you happy?"

Louis rubbed her head and smiled. "I'm glad someone got what was coming to them."

"Got what was coming to them..." Uta murmured, pondering his words.

"Buru~ buru~ buru." Just then, the Den Den Mushi on Louis rang.

Its ringing drew Uta and Yelena's attention, and they both looked over.

"Click..." Louis took out the Den Den Mushi and answered.

The next moment, a voice unfamiliar to them came through.

"Louis, did you see the newspaper?"

"I did," Louis replied.

"Nobody saw you when you made your move, right?"

On a deserted island somewhere in the latter half of the Grand Line.

The handsome, white-haired man with brown skin and black wings sprouting from his back grinned. "Of course not! I sank that World Government ship from several thousand meters away!"

A bonfire burned in front of him, with several enormous, unfamiliar cuts of meat roasting over the flames.

East Sea

Yelena and Uta froze at his words. They glanced at the newspaper lying on the table, their faces turning strange.

Is this the person involved?

Then they looked at Louis. They had never expected him to be connected to the incident.

Before Louis could reply, the man continued venting to him. "Louis, listen. I got in touch with King of the Beasts Pirates, but he absolutely refuses to believe who I am!"

He explained that he had shared everything except information about Louis and the two settlements, but King the Conflagration still didn't believe him.

King simply assumed he was a fraud and kept denying that he was a Lunarian.

But as Akuldona gathered more and more information about King the Conflagration from Shakky, he became increasingly certain that King was one of his people.

The other man wouldn't give him a chance, though, and there was nothing he could do.

Akuldona was wary of Beast Kaido, and he couldn't go to Kaido's territory to speak with King face-to-face.

For a while, he felt the whole matter was a real headache.

Louis raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected things to get so complicated. "In that case, keep an eye on the Beasts Pirates while you're operating deep in the New World."

"If any of their higher-ups show up, you can just use them to confirm your identity to King."

Louis's suggestion made Akuldona's eyes light up. "You really are the brains of the operation!"

Without thinking, he glanced at the food on the bonfire and immediately felt his heart sink.

The tender meat had somehow already turned completely black and charred.

"My dinner!" he cried out instinctively.

Louis: "..."

Aboard the warship, Louis thought for a moment before speaking hesitantly. "Akuldona."

"Hmm?" came the confused reply through the Den Den Mushi.

"If all else fails, just eat it raw!" Louis advised as tactfully as he could, hoping to discourage him from cooking for himself.

Louis figured that, compared to Akuldona's culinary disasters, eating raw food would probably be safer.

On the other end, Akuldona's face darkened like the bottom of a pot, and he hung up.

On the deck, Yelena and Uta exchanged glances.

After a long while, Uta recalled something Shanks had once said and asked Louis, "Is he that friend of Shanks's? Has he come out to sea too?"

"That's right."

Louis nodded, answering her.

Uta fell into thought.

Yelena seemed thoughtful. She remembered Louis saying that this man was the strongest person in Bar, and that two years ago he had been a little weaker than Shanks.

Then Yelena asked Louis a question of her own. "Louis, is he already the strongest in your people?"

Louis thought of a towering figure, almost like a giant, and shook his head.

"Not quite. There's also a taciturn old man on the other side."

Akuldona had greater potential, while the muscular old guy in the Calm Belt was stronger. But Louis felt he still fell short of the top monsters.

He could fight, but he was far more likely to lose.

Several days later, in the waters near the Kingdom of Elegia in the East Sea. The warship sailed with the wind, leaving a pale wake across the azure sea.

A girl's song rose with the melody of the sea breeze, graceful and lilting. Her voice was as clear as a spring, carrying far across the water.

As time passed, the outline of an island gradually came into view.

The girl with two-toned hair stopped singing and leaned against the warship's railing, gazing longingly at that kingdom of music.

"So this is... Elegia!"