A New Ruler

The longer Amina looked, the stranger it seemed. She folded her wings and landed softly on the last of the silent pirate ships.

She moved lightly across the deck, searching without a sound. The entire ship was deathly still. She could not hear a single voice.

Then a faint noise came from deep inside the cabin.

Amina did not hesitate. She pushed open the door and stepped into the dim cabin.

The sight that met her eyes was horrifying.

Pirates' bodies lay strewn across the floor. Crimson blood soaked the planks, and the stench hit her at once. The whole cabin was a bloody wreck.

Amina crouched and checked one corpse for breath. It had long since gone cold.

She turned the body over. A neat, bloody hole pierced the pirate's chest, and blood was still slowly seeping out.

"This looks familiar."

Her gaze swept over the other corpses. One man had been cut clean in half at the waist. The smooth wound had not been made by any ordinary sword.

Amina's eyes sharpened. "That wasn't a sword. This kind of attack is..."

Before she could finish, a sharp hiss tore through the air from deep inside the cabin.

"Finger Pistol!"

Danger flooded through her. Amina rushed deeper into the cabin without a moment's delay.

She shoved open the door at the far end.

In the dim room stood a tall figure dressed in black and wearing a mask.

A member of CP0.

An invisible, razor-sharp force burst from his fingertip. His Paper Pistol struck precisely, piercing the chest of the bald pirate captain before him.

The bald pirate's pupils contracted. Before he could even scream, he crashed to the floor and died.

At the sound, the CP0 member slowly turned. His gaze settled on Amina through his mask, his voice flat.

"No one here is alive. Go back and report."

Amina planted her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"Hey! Charlos already told you not to follow us. Why are you still sneaking after us?"

The CP0 member replied in a cold, mechanical voice without a trace of emotion.

"We only carry out the World Government's orders."

Amina pressed her lips together in frustration. There was nothing she could do about him, so she gave an angry huff.

"Do whatever you want!"

With that, she turned and stormed out of the cabin.

Once Amina was well out of sight, the CP0 member expressionlessly kicked the pirate captain's corpse aside.

The next instant, he vanished from the dark cabin without warning, leaving only the bloody carnage behind.

Meanwhile, aboard the luxurious ship, the mood was relaxed.

Rukia sat obediently in a chair while Charlos carefully wiped the flour from around her eyes with a damp cloth.

When he finished, he asked gently, "Open your eyes now. Is that better?"

Rukia nodded. "Much better."

The moment she said it, she instinctively raised a hand to rub her eyes again.

Charlos caught her hand at once.

"Don't touch your eyes. Give them a rest. They only hurt because you kept rubbing them."

"Oh." Rukia settled down.

Watching from the side, Amira's eyes darted about. She promptly shut them and whined in a drawn-out voice.

"Charlos, my eyes hurt."

She had barely taken a step before Charlos stopped her with a retort.

"Why not tell me your butt hurts too?"

Amira froze, then immediately said, "Then—then my butt hurts too!"

Charlos did not know whether to laugh or sigh. He waved a hand.

"All right, enough nonsense. Open your eyes."

Amira opened them and muttered plaintively, "I'm a kid too, you know."

Charlos sighed. "Fine, fine. Go sit down, you little brat. I'll make the rest of the mooncakes myself."

Charlos returned to the table, looked at the flour spread across it, and picked up the water pitcher.

Standing nearby, Nico Robin reminded him, "Use less water this time."

"I know. You don't have to remind me," Charlos said without looking back.

Robin chuckled. "You said that last time too. Then you added too much and got batter all over the table."

"Trust me this time," Charlos said confidently.

Rukia came over and watched him intently. "Wait. I'm going to watch you do it."

Charlos turned to her. "What's wrong?"

"You don't know how to knead dough," Rukia said bluntly.

"I do. Trust me."

Rukia raised an eyebrow. "Then how much water should you add?"

Charlos was stumped. "I don't know..." he mumbled.

"If you don't know, why say you can do it?"

While they bickered, Amina beat her black wings and descended onto the ship's deck. After landing, she looked around.

Charlos immediately turned to her. "Well? What were those three ships?"

"Pirate ships," Amina replied. "The other two are probably in chaos by now."

"Really?"

Nico Robin picked up a telescope and peered out to sea. She gave a small cry of surprise at what she saw.

"Wow, they really are! The two sides are fighting, and both ships are on fire. But there's one more ship that doesn't seem to have been caught up in it at all."

Amina nodded. "Right. When I boarded that one, CP0 had already killed everyone aboard."

"Oh, I see." Charlos nodded, promptly put the trouble at sea out of his mind, and waved with a smile. "Come on, forget about them. Let's get back to making mooncakes."

Nico Robin stepped forward with a smile. "Want me to help?"

"No need. I can definitely do it myself this time," Charlos said with great confidence.

Robin raised an eyebrow teasingly. "Are you sure? I'm the fastest mooncake maker here."

"I'm sure!"

Robin did not press him. She turned to Amina and smiled warmly. "Then I'll help you, Amina."

Amina readily agreed. "Sure."

Charlos stood there, stunned. "W-wait..."

Amira walked over, tied on an apron with practiced ease, and glared at Charlos with her cheeks puffed up.

Her sulky expression made Charlos laugh. He slipped an arm gently around her and coaxed, "Don't be mad."

"Hmph." Amira turned her head away, still sulking.

"Please don't be mad. I was wrong," Charlos said softly.

Amira glanced sideways at him. "You know what you did wrong?"

"I really do."

Rukia watched them and sighed helplessly.

"Amira's too softhearted. If it were me, I'd teach you a proper lesson."

At that, Charlos stuck his tongue out at Rukia.

Amina smiled faintly. "All right, enough fooling around. Let's make mooncakes together."

At the Velosia palace, a large force had surrounded the entire building.

Marine Colonel Doka stood beside Gray.

Gray turned to look at him.

"Colonel Doka, sorry for the trouble, but would you come inside with me?"

Colonel Doka nodded and followed Gray into the great hall.

Inside, the old king gripped a longsword and pointed its tip at Gray, his face contorted with rage.

"What are you trying to do? Are you planning to usurp my throne?"

Gray remained indifferent, a cold sneer tugging at his lips.

"Father, you have only yourself to blame. You secretly plotted to send men to intercept and kill a Celestial Dragon. Did you really think the World Government wouldn't find out?"

The old king shuddered. "What do you mean?!"

Gray gave a low chuckle.

"What else could I mean? From now on, I, Gray, am the new king of Velosia. And you, Father, are to be removed."

"Impossible!" the old king roared. "I am the king of Velosia!"

Before he finished speaking, a figure silently descended.

A CP0 member in a white suit and mask landed slowly in the center of the hall.

He looked up at the old king, his voice cold and flat.

"Not anymore."

"What nonsense are you—"

Before the old king could finish, blood burst from his neck. His head rolled across the floor, and his body collapsed heavily onto the hall's tiles.

Colonel Doka whipped his head toward Gray, his expression conflicted.

"Long live King Gray!"