"A little girl who was shipwrecked?"
Nami poked the cheek of the girl they had just rescued.
In an exceptionally foul mood, Moya saw the girl and immediately came up with a plan for revenge.
He would wipe out this bunch of scummy Marines. Then the Marines could change his nickname back.
"Kaya, wake her up. Have her take us to Warship Island. I can't wait to take out the Marines and clear my name."
"Moya, even if you get your nickname changed, you still can't go around killing innocent people."
"Don't worry. They're all a bunch of scummy Marines, and they deserve to die. You'll understand once you wake the girl."
"If that doesn't work, Carmen can bring over some delicious food. I bet she fainted from hunger."
Moya was very enthusiastic about this. His reputation was at stake.
"Mm... where am I?"
The girl, Apis, woke to the smell of food.
"You're aboard the Moya Adventure Group's ship. We rescued you. What's your name?"
Nami looked at Apis kindly as she asked.
"Shouldn't you tell me your name before asking for mine? Baka~"
Apis's expression crumbled. You'd never have guessed she was a clueless little girl.
"My name's Nami, and they're all my adventure companions."
Nami answered honestly.
"Hey, stop wasting time, kid. Take us to Warship Island. I'm looking for Marines to vent on, and I don't care about that feathered dragon of yours."
Just then, Apis saw a handsome young man, almost too handsome to be real, speak with a gloomy expression.
"How do you know so much about Master Dragon? Are you out for revenge against the Marines? Could it be... because you're so beautiful, the Marines... violated you?"
The mood suddenly grew tense. Everyone felt a chill run through them. How could a little girl have such a twisted idea?
"Kid, take me to Warship Island. Now. Immediately."
At the edge of losing his temper, Moya couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed Apis, and his Conqueror's Haki spilled out in faint waves. Apis bore the pressure head-on, while the crew around them struggled too.
So scary, so scary. Apis's eyes nearly rolled back as panic and terror overwhelmed her.
"Moya, calm down! Calm down!"
Nami leaped onto Moya's back and kept bouncing against him.
Moya set little Apis down, then, under everyone's gaze, turned and went straight back to his room to cool off. His anger? His desire?
In front of Nami, who was smooth and persuasive, little Apis spilled everything like water bursting through a dam.
At last, everyone pieced together what was going on.
"All right. Whether it's for Apis, to protect Master Dragon, or to defend our captain's reputation, we're going to make our Adventure Group famous this time!"
With Moya absent, Nami was in charge.
"For Captain Moya's reputation! The Moya Nickname Makeover Plan is now underway! Wipe out those scummy Marines!"
Nami hated scummy Marines with a passion, having suffered at their hands herself.
The officers and squad leaders, of course, weren't about to pass up a chance to fight the Marines. They all cheered.
"Okay, Apis. Show us the way."
"Thank you, Nami. You're all such nice people."
Little Apis, still as clueless as ever, had tears in her eyes and was deeply moved.
For no clear reason, the Moya Adventure Group had begun a campaign to clear Moya's name—and, along the way, earned Apis's approval.
On the other side of Warship Island
A Marine fleet was sailing.
"Commodore Nelson, is the information you received reliable? Is there really a lead on a Millennium Dragon? Can its bones really grant eternal life?"
He was as thin as a bamboo pole, with earrings in both ears, tiny eyes behind dark glasses, and hair sticking straight up.
He was the notorious Marine mercenary Eric the Whirlwind, a Scythe-Scythe Fruit user known as the Scythe Man.
"Eric, my men captured the kid who saw the Millennium Dragon. The information is reliable."
The East Blue Marines' 8th Branch Commodore, Nelson Roy, was as fat as a giant pig. He fanned himself and spoke at an unhurried pace.
"I hope so."
A dangerous red gleam appeared in Eric's eyes.
If the dragon bones really could grant eternal life, why share them with that fat pig? Then, heh...
You'd better not lead us astray. The moment we find the Millennium Dragon will be your last.
Aboard the Yanhuang
"That's Warship Island. It looks like a pile of warships stacked on top of each other."
The Moya Adventure Group stared at the towering island in the distance, stunned. Going out to sea really was wonderful. Every island was so unique.
"I think it looks like a pile of gold ingots."
The money-loving Nami shared her unique perspective.
"Charge! Find the Marines and kill them! Make them pay for upsetting Captain Moya!"
El Drago and Bartolomeo shouted, egging everyone on.
Buggy the Clown, Steel Mao Xiong, and the squad leaders joined in.
And so, the Moya Adventure Group and the 8th Branch fleet landed on opposite sides of Warship Island.
They were both headed for the cave where the Millennium Dragon lived. It looked like a fight was inevitable.
Seeing his crew so fired up, Moya thought that having subordinates was pretty useful after all.
He didn't even bother to warn them. The Scythe Man was just a Scythe-Scythe Fruit user. Buggy and Bartolomeo were his perfect counters.
This would be a little test for them.
Nami led Apis and the four top officers toward the Millennium Dragon's cave.
Moya took the girls and rode Richie the Lion onto the island to enjoy the scenery.
The Yanhuang was in the care of Sea Cow Moo and Jango, who had stayed behind, so there shouldn't be any problems.
Moya remembered that the Millennium Dragon's lair, Lost Island, lay east of Warship Island.
Lost Island was both a dragon's lair and a dragon graveyard. Young Millennium Dragons returned there to mate, breed, and lay eggs, while the old ones returned to die.
According to Master Dragon's memories, he'd returned to the lair several times in his life, so it probably didn't surface just once every thousand years.
Maybe he could capture some Millennium Dragons as mounts. The feathered ones weren't especially handsome, but they could fly.
Just imagine how cool it would be to form an aerial force of Millennium Dragons.
The thought left Moya full of excitement. No, he had to come up with a plan. If he couldn't get adult dragons, he'd at least get some dragon eggs.
This was tied to Moya's plans for the future. Skypiea was definitely a territory he had to claim.
An air force would mean another elite force. From a modern perspective, Moya knew how much air power could dominate land and sea forces.
Whoever controlled the skies controlled the right to speak.
That was how Golden Lion's Flying Fleet operated: rampaging at will, able to attack or retreat, and firmly in control of the battle.
At the thought, Moya's mind began racing. How could he coax them into joining him—no, how could he forge a partnership with the Millennium Dragons?
He began weighing the plan's chances. If all else failed, he'd still have to get some dragon eggs in a fight.
What could he offer to persuade the Millennium Dragons?
Breeding? Safety? Protection?
Moya thought he'd come up with something. It looked like he'd have to give it a try.
Animals throughout the One Piece world generally possessed intelligence and their own unique languages.
To communicate with them, there was Chopper's Human-Human Fruit, Apis's Whisper-Whisper Fruit, and Roger's Observation Haki, the Voice of All Things.
Oden, Luffy, and Momonosuke seemed to have this kind of Observation Haki too.
Of course, the protagonist, Moya, had it as well. He'd awakened all three types of Haki on the Execution Platform, but still wasn't very good at using them. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.
But that was fine. He still had Apis.
Before you continue