The celebration on Fish-Man Island continued, glasses still clinking, songs still echoing.
But Aaron Ball was already standing on the deck of a Marine ship.
On deck, Boer leaned against the rail, holding a cup of black tea Carina had just brewed.
Carina stood two steps behind him, still holding the teapot.
She said nothing.
Her gaze rested on Boer's back, her lips pressed lightly together, her fox ears tilted slightly backward. Her tail hung unnaturally behind her instead of swaying lazily as usual.
She was thinking about something.
Boer's Extrasensory Vision spread silently, picking up that her heartbeat was about fifteen beats faster than usual.
Her breathing had changed too, shallow and rapid, like a small animal that had caught the scent of danger.
"Carina."
"Yes?" Her voice rose a little.
"The tea is good."
"...Oh." Her voice grew quieter.
There was a trace of barely perceptible disappointment in it. She had thought he was going to say something else.
Boer said nothing else. He merely raised his cup and took another sip.
Toward the stern, Sakazuki and Aramaki were sitting beneath the deck awning.
Sakazuki was bare-chested, wiping the sweat from his shoulders with a damp towel.
Aramaki lay in a hammock woven from vines, its ends tied to the masts, swaying like a cocoon hanging from a branch. His eyes were closed, a trace of drool hung at the corner of his mouth, and his snores were steady and drawn out.
Sakazuki glanced at Boer.
"Alabasta next?"
Boer did not turn around.
"Yes."
"That desert kingdom." Sakazuki paused. "Crocodile's territory."
"Yes."
"He's a Shichibukai."
"Yes."
Sakazuki fell silent for a moment, then wiped the back of his neck with the towel.
"You have history with him?"
Boer turned, leaning against the rail as he looked at Sakazuki.