As for whether this coverage would bring more blades down on those two-the Marines would never admit to any ill intent. They called it "necessary publicity."
Rough fingers tightened around the paper, and the smell of ink mingled with the briny sea air in his nostrils.
The captain's gaze fixed on the face in the headline. Even though he could not read, he recognized that wildly laughing face on the page.
Golden Lion.
The name made the captain clench his jaw, his knuckles turning white.
First Roger, and now him... Was the balance of these waters, maintained for so many years, truly beginning to tip?
He occupied an island, with warehouses, docks, and rules, unlike those roving bandits who plundered wherever the wind took them.
If he lacked anything, it was merely a piece of paper bearing the World Government's seal.
"This makes things difficult."
He spat, crumpling the newspaper in his palm.
In a loft thick with alcohol fumes, a sinewy hand set down the newly delivered news.
Dark patterns seemed to shift beneath the skin, like scales flashing briefly in the light.
"Even that old lion went under?"
The voice rolled through the spacious room, then broke off into laughter.
"So what if the outside world's turned upside down? Are Wano Country's cliffs and waterfalls just for show?"
Only when the speaker stood did his build become apparent-three meters tall, yet comical with his enormous head and short torso.
His sleeve slipped back as he raised his cup, revealing a thin wrist.
"Please, Lord Kaido."
At the other end of the loft, a man with loose black hair leaned in the shadows.
His white shirt hung open over a rocklike torso; black leather trousers encased his long legs, and a solid-black spiked club rested beside him.
He