Kekkei Genkai "Ice Release," Physical Technique "Eight Gates"

On an island in the New World, over on Ron's side.

After confirming that although Kaido was at a disadvantage, the boost from the Nine-Tails' chakra meant he would not be defeated anytime soon, Ron withdrew his gaze and turned to leave the battlefield.

He was heading to the mountain behind the town, where, according to Ochoku, Annika was being held in a cave.

Behind the town's mountain.

After putting in quite a bit of effort, Ron finally found the spot where a large boulder sealed the cave entrance, marked by a small sapling planted in the stone.

He walked forward, raised his foot, and kicked.

Bang!!

The huge boulder flew away, revealing the cave entrance.

Slanting sunlight shone inside, illuminating a dim tunnel.

The tunnel was not long, only around five meters. At its end was a somewhat spacious natural stone chamber. Damp moss grew along the walls, and the air carried the mixed scent of earth and stone.

At the far end of the stone chamber, beneath the rock wall, a figure was curled up on the ground.

Hearing the commotion from the entrance, the figure abruptly looked up. After staring blankly for a moment, she quickly climbed to her feet, deftly picked up the ingredients she had already bought from beside her feet, and hurried toward the entrance in quick little steps.

"Lord Ron!"

Annika stopped before Ron. Her expression was calm. Though her clothes were a little dusty, they were still neatly arranged. She did not look at all like someone who had just been rescued from a kidnapping.

Ron said nothing.

He simply stood there, eyes lowered, staring at Annika without moving.

Annika grew a little flustered under his gaze. She hurriedly bowed to Ron, speaking faster than usual. "I'm sorry, Lord Ron! It was all because of a little mishap on my part, but!"

She paused, raised her head, forced out a smile, and lifted the bag of food in her hand. "The ingredients have all been bought! It won't take long before we can eat."

"Are you hurt?" Ron asked softly.

Annika froze slightly. The forced smile on her face stiffened for a moment before she shook her head. Her voice sounded more natural than before. "N-No. Annika is fine."

As she spoke, her gaze unconsciously passed over Ron's shoulder toward the distance behind him.

Black smoke rose there, drifting into the sky with the wind.

Explosions rang out one after another. Though they were far away, faint tremors could still be felt beneath their feet, and fierce gusts of wind occasionally swept over them.

"Lord Ron, over there..."

"It's nothing." Ron answered, turned, and started walking down the mountain.

Annika stood where she was for two seconds before jogging after him.

The two walked one behind the other along the mountain path.

After they had walked a short distance, Ron's voice sounded beside Annika's ear.

"Keeping up a disguise... must be tiring, right?"

Annika's steps paused slightly.

Whether it had been aboard the World Government warship or after Ochoku kidnapped her, Annika's behavior had been far too unusual.

"I don't know what you've been through before, but here! Right now! You don't have to pretend."

"There's a saying from my hometown that I really like. The real, imperfect you is still worthy of being embraced and cherished."

Ron did not mean anything else by it. He simply thought Annika was a good person and felt that something might be wrong in her heart, so he wanted to help her work through it.

Annika stood there in a daze. As she watched Ron's retreating back grow farther away, her eyes flickered slightly, and something deep within them quietly began to melt.

Ever since she was young, her father had always told her: You aren't outstanding. You aren't perfect. You will only be abandoned.

She had to show everyone her best, most proper side. Otherwise, she would be disliked and left behind.

Those words were like nails hammered into her bones. Over the years, they took root and sprouted, becoming a nearly instinctive habit.

But today, someone who seemed like a bad person, yet was gentler than many others, had told her—

The imperfect you is still worthy of being embraced and cherished.

She sniffed, her eyes reddening slightly.

Then she started walking and jogged after Ron.

With a faint nasal tone in her voice but a smile on her face, Annika said, "Lord Ron, you're such a good person."

He had somehow received another "good person card"!

Ron sighed softly. "Where I'm from, giving someone a 'good person card' makes them very sad..."

"Ah?" Annika froze for a moment, then reacted quickly. With her free hand, she grabbed at the air as though catching something, stuffed it into her mouth, and chewed. "I caught it and ate it! What I said just now doesn't count!"

The sight made the corner of Ron's mouth twitch slightly. He said nothing and continued onward.

By the time Ron brought Annika back to the shore where the auxiliary ship was docked, he discovered that Rocks' Saber of Xebec was moored beside it as well.

On the auxiliary ship's deck, Stussy was busy beyond measure.

She carried treasure chests along the gangplank toward the Saber of Xebec, going back and forth until she was drenched in sweat.

"Ron! You're back just in time!" Stussy leaned over the Saber of Xebec's railing and waved at Ron below. "Come give me a hand! Move the Heavenly Tribute we stole from the auxiliary ship over here. This is killing me!"

Before Ron could speak, Annika had already stepped forward voluntarily. "I'll do it, Lady Stussy."

Ron grabbed Annika and stopped her from going over.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Stussy pouted as she leaned against the railing. "Ron, that's not right! Fine if you won't help me, but why are you stopping little Annika from doing a good deed?"

"She's mine, so of course she listens to me. But! If you're willing to pay a hefty fee, I can allow it."

"To hell with you, Ron! Are you robbing me?" Stussy complained, rolling her eyes before continuing to move the cargo by herself.

Ron turned to look at Annika, only to find her grinning happily.

"What are you so happy about?"

"Uh!" Annika immediately wiped the smile from her face and shook her head, indicating it was nothing. A moment later, as though remembering something, she added, "Oh, right, Lord Ron! You must be starving, right? I'll go cook now!"

Before Ron could respond, Annika had already dashed onto the auxiliary ship with the bag of ingredients, disappearing behind the cabin door in no time.

Ron withdrew his gaze, leaped up, and landed on the deck of the Saber of Xebec.

He still had something to take care of.

According to Ochoku, two Devil Fruits were hidden in his bedroom.

As for whether that was true, he would have to search the place to find out.

A moment later, inside Ochoku's bedroom.

Ron sat on the edge of the bed, frowning slightly as he fell into thought.

He had turned the entire room upside down, yet he had not found a damn thing.

"That sly bastard... could there be a secret passage in this room?" Ron muttered, his gaze sweeping back and forth across the room.

Then he stood and began inspecting the place more carefully, knocking on the walls, pressing the floorboards, and examining the edges of every wooden plank.

About ten minutes later, he discovered an unusual echo from the floor near the foot of the bed. It sounded hollow when struck, clearly different from the solid areas around it.

Ron's eyes lit up. He pushed the bed aside and pried up that floorboard.

Beneath it was a shallow hidden compartment containing two fruits covered in spiral patterns.

"Fuck! You're pretty good at hiding things, aren't you?"

Ron did not waste any time. He immediately placed the two fruits side by side in his palm, closed his eyes, and silently said, Activate the Mysterious Roulette.

[Ding, the Mysterious Roulette requires the consumption of "Devil Fruits." Current Devil Fruit: Jacket-Jacket Fruit. Confirm?]

[Ding, the Mysterious Roulette requires the consumption of "Devil Fruits." Current Devil Fruit: Bean-Bean Fruit. Confirm?]

"Jacket? Bean? Uh... they really are useless Devil Fruits, but... I'm not picky."

"Confirm."

[Ding, this consumption used Devil Fruit ×2. The Devil Fruits have been reborn somewhere in the world. Randomly drawing rewards...]

[Ding, congratulations to the host for obtaining the Kekkei Genkai "Ice Release."]

[Ding, congratulations to the host for triggering the simultaneous unlock: None.]

[Ding, congratulations to the host for obtaining the physical technique "Eight Gates."]

[Ding, congratulations to the host for triggering the simultaneous unlock: None.]