Half a year later

The elevator in the West Blue was not a bubble elevator, and it did not ascend nearly as fast.

After waiting quietly for a while, Bege finally stepped onto the Red Line.

A squad of armored soldiers approached and led the group onward, seemingly escorting them, but actually keeping them under guard.

The West Blue and North Blue were not opposite each other, so they still had to pass Mary Geoise to reach the elevator to the North Blue.

The group walked along the edge of the Red Line, staying as far from the Holy Land as possible to avoid offending the Celestial Dragons' eyes.

A biting wind swept past, and Bege could not help pulling his coat tighter around himself.

The crowd advanced in silence. Even if someone spoke, the person beside them would quickly cover their mouth.

If they attracted the Celestial Dragons' attention, there was no telling what trouble might follow.

Only when they reached the North Blue elevator did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

They rode the elevator down and arrived at North Red Port.

Loud cries from vendors still filled the air. Bege picked a passenger ship at random and left.

Only after entering his room aboard the passenger ship did he transfer his consciousness inside his body.

Dill and the other three were in the living room. Everyone except Perona looked somewhat tense.

Criminals wanted by the World Government had passed right under its nose. No one could say what unexpected mishaps might occur.

Fortunately, everything had gone smoothly.

"We're safe now."

Bege emerged from the floor, grabbed the red wine on the table, and took a swig.

It was his first time crossing the Red Line, too, but a trace of excitement mingled with his nerves.

One day, he and Dill would blast that so-called Holy Land to pieces!

Just imagining the sight made him so excited he wanted to laugh aloud.

To settle himself, he took another swig of red wine, then asked Dill, who was sitting on the sofa:

"Where should I take you next? Do you have a specific destination?"

"No. Just drop us off on a reasonably prosperous island."

Dill had come to the North Blue with only one goal: to find Law's submarine.

He did not know exactly where it was, but it should be in the North Blue.

He decided to cast a wide net first and enlist some people to help him search.

"Oh, and leave us some money."

"It's all in the storeroom. Take however much you need."

Most of King Dill's treasure consisted of fixed assets such as gold and jewels.

Bege had not exchanged all of it for Beli.

Those fixed assets held their value better than Beli.

A newspaper still cost forty Beli now, but years later, the price would rise to a hundred Beli.

Still, to make transactions easier, he had taken some of the treasure to an exchange and converted it into Beli.

The largest Beli denomination was ten thousand, with a portrait of "Skull Yuji" printed on it.

Dill did not take much. He simply found a small bag and tossed a few bundles inside, around thirty million in total.

Apart from that, their packed luggage contained a few essentials: a Den Den Mushi, a compass, and a pocket watch.

Changes of clothing were not included. They could simply buy those things again.

They had not even brought Perona's oversized Kumashi. After all, he was as tall as a person and far too conspicuous.

Perona had sulked over that for ages, and Dill had only managed to appease her by promising to buy her an even bigger one next time.

Of course, if he used hypnosis, he would not have needed to make any promises.

But he did not like using hypnosis on those close to him.

Especially after the incident on Dill Island, the old king's experience had taught him at least one thing.

It would be very boring if everyone around him did nothing but bow and obey.

Thinking it over carefully, none of the three women around him had ever been hypnotized.

Robin went without saying.

Back on the little boat, he had activated his hypnosis ability, but Hina had never met his eyes. First, she had buried her head between her knees and asked questions in a muffled voice, then raised her head to look at Robin. After that, she had bent down and lowered her head to offer him a black spear, expressing her wish to join them. Once Dill accepted the black spear, he had deactivated his hypnosis.

In the cemetery, he had barely exchanged two sentences with Perona before Mr. 1 charged out. After he blocked the blade, Perona offered to help of her own accord, so he had not used hypnosis again.

He was very satisfied with the current atmosphere and did not want to change anything through hypnosis.

Other people were another matter.

There was a fairly prosperous island along the passenger ship's route, but they would not arrive until the next day.

Late that night, Bege used his ability to put several people into the space inside his body, including the ship's captain.

When the captain opened his eyes again, he found pitch-black darkness all around him. In the darkness, a pair of glowing eyes stared fixedly at him.

"Do you believe in me?"

The next morning, in the living room inside Bege's body.

Dill tossed a sheet of paper to Robin.

"This is a nautical chart I got from the captain. Hold on to it for now."

"You should at least rest for a couple of days."

Seeing Dill's exhausted expression, Robin immediately understood what had happened.

Her heart ached a little for him.

During their forty days on Thriller Bark, Dill had hypnotized five people every day without fail.

Apart from hypnosis, his days consisted only of eating, sleeping, and using the toilet. Dill had endured forty whole days like that.

"Your dream is to travel around the world. Does holing up in a room somewhere else to hypnotize people count as traveling?

"We don't need to rush so much."

Robin brought a glass of warm milk and set it in front of Dill, speaking in the coaxing tone one would use with a child:

"Here, drink this milk and go to sleep. I'll wake you when we get there."

"All right, all right. I was going to sleep anyway."

Dill yawned, drained the milk in front of him, and muttered:

"Wake me an hour early. I need to go to the kitchen and eat some more..."

His voice grew quieter and quieter until all that remained was the faint sound of breathing.

He had fallen asleep on the sofa.

Robin activated her ability and fetched a blanket. After a moment's thought, she replaced it with a quilt and covered him.

It was January, and the weather was still quite cold.

That evening, the passenger ship docked at an island's harbor.

Bege officially parted ways with Dill and the other three.

He would spend a few more days roaming the North Blue, then return to the West Blue and continue working toward his goal of unifying the mafia.

Dill and the other three found an inn and booked a luxury suite as usual.

The suite had a dining table by the window, where the four of them ate while enjoying the North Blue sunset.

In the days that followed, the four finally began to resemble a tour group.

They traveled between islands aboard passenger ships.

At every stop, Dill spent some time bringing the local ruler under his control.

Some were mayors, and some were kings.

These rulers would mobilize their subordinates to help him search for the submarine that might exist, while secretly spreading rumors about Dill.

They did not do so openly, but quietly.

He was very satisfied with his life now. Without the World Government pursuing him, even the air felt much fresher.

Until he found the submarine, he did not intend to reveal that he was in the North Blue.

Of course, they inevitably encountered some pirates who did not know better during their travels.

Dill had no interest in these scum who had neither power nor potential. Every time, he simply had Perona secretly release ghosts to help the passenger ship's sailors defeat them.

And so, half a year passed.

Dill encountered a group of people he had never expected.

"The Red Hair Pirates?!"