Volunteers, Mary Geoise, the Curtain About to Rise (Continued)

In the warship's mess hall, the usual dinner hour had turned into something like a banquet thanks to the noisy marines. Some raised their cups and laughed, while others sang shoulder to shoulder. It was loud and lively.

After all, they were all young people in their teens or twenties.

Naito sat alone at a table, keeping entirely to himself. His table also held the most food, piled almost into a small mountain.

His eating was nothing short of wild. He had abandoned utensils entirely, grabbing everything with his hands, which moved so fast they left afterimages in the air. He swept the food off the table and into his mouth like a whirlwind.

The mountain of food was shrinking visibly.

He couldn't help it. His body had used up a little too much energy and needed a great deal to replenish it.

In the dream world, he could conjure any delicacy he wanted with a thought, and its texture and flavor would be perfectly reproduced. But it was still only a dream, and it couldn't supply his real body with energy.

When will I become a true god among men?

Young Naito pondered, troubled.

Strangely, despite swallowing so much food, his stomach didn't bulge in the slightest. It was as though his stomach were a bottomless pit.

The value of Life Return!

Having long since mastered the Six Powers, Naito had of course learned this technique. By controlling his digestive system with his will, he had the food completely digested as soon as it entered his stomach.

As he wolfed down his food, Naito also devoted part of his attention to the dream world.

As he watched Buckingham's dream, the corners of Naito's mouth curled upward.

She seems to like it a lot.

And it was clear that Buckingham really had been suppressing herself for far too many years. She had practically pushed the human body to its limits. The older generation really did know more tricks.

Fortunately, Buckingham had returned to her younger appearance in the dream. Otherwise, the sight would have been quite painful to look at.

Mother and son were actually in their own dreams, which had become part of Naito's dream world. Naito had separated their dreams and made them into a dream space exclusively for the two of them.

That made everything in the dream incredibly real. At least, they couldn't tell the difference through their senses.

Although they had lost their supreme authority within her dream and could no longer manipulate it as they pleased, Naito had still left them a little control. They couldn't actively alter the dream, but it would take the form of their deepest desires.

That was why Buckingham found the false Whitebeard so hard to resist: he was the Whitebeard imprinted in the deepest part of her heart.

It was basically Infinite Tsukuyomi.

For now, though, there were only the two of them, so he could let them dream as they pleased.

Once more people entered the dream world, he couldn't have everyone playing single-player anymore. They needed multiplayer, and for that, they needed an open world.

Naito pondered.

He needed a permanent dream world.

Even as he thought, Naito's hands never stopped. The food on the table was already nearly gone.

"Speaking of which, Naito,"

Binz, sitting at the next table, struck up a casual conversation while gnawing on a chicken leg. "We'll all be going our separate ways once we get back to headquarters. Where do you want to go?"

"Naito will stay at headquarters, of course, right? He might even be assigned to serve under an Admiral!"

A marine sitting at Binz's table spoke with some envy. "Damn it, I want to be a genius like Naito too!"

"Haha, you don't necessarily have to be a monster on Naito's level."

Binz grinned. "I might be able to stay at headquarters too."

"Binz! Have you betrayed us?!"

The marine immediately seized Binz's shoulders and shook him desperately, his eyes turning red. "No! Turn it down!"

Who would be jealous of Naito staying at headquarters?

But what made that bastard Binz worthy?!

The success of a drinking buddy was the hardest thing to accept.

"Hahaha, I'm a Devil Fruit user, at least! My training results were among the best too!"

Binz didn't resist, merely laughing smugly. "You guys should just behave yourselves and go to the branches! Naito and I will wait for you to come back to headquarters!"

Naito, who had already polished off every scrap of food on his table, lazily wiped his mouth. Slumped against the back of his chair, he glanced at Binz, who was being mobbed by several marines.

He said slowly, "Don't compare me to you, Binz. Headquarters? That would be too boring for me."

"Huh?"

Binz blinked. "Boring? What do you mean?"

"Getting promoted properly, one step at a time, is too boring, isn't it?" Naito said lazily.

When he heard that, the corner of Binz's mouth twitched. "Wow..."

"So, Naito,"

On Naito's other side, Ain, sitting at another table, opened her eyes slightly wider. "You don't mean to stay in the New World, do you?"

"I don't have time to play with the small fry in Paradise or even the Four Blues,"

Naito said. "The front lines are where you get promoted fastest, right? Hmm, Teacher Zephyr became an Admiral at thirty-eight. I'll go ahead and beat that record by ten years."

The New World was the region where the World Government's control was weakest. There was plenty he could do there.

And it was also true that the front lines were where he could rise through the ranks fastest.

When being a bad guy, he ought to be a proper bad guy; when being a marine, he ought to be a proper marine. That was how it should be.

"You've got some nerve, kid."

Binz clicked his tongue.

Teacher Zephyr's rise through the ranks had already been among the fastest in the marines' eight hundred years. Admiral Aokiji, the youngest of the current Admirals, had been thirty-nine when he was promoted last year.

Naito stretched and said casually, "That's why Binz is just Binz, and Naito is Naito."

"..."

Ain was somewhat speechless.

Stay in the New World?

To be honest, it was still a little too early for recruits like them to enter that sea, where monsters held sway.

But Naito did seem to be different.

Binz's eyes also widened at once. Whoa, did this guy just say something really cool?

Refusing to back down, he immediately clenched his fists. "It's just the New World, isn't it? Who's afraid? I'll ask Teacher Zephyr to let me stay in the New World too!"

"Suit yourself."

Naito shrugged.

The New World...

Ain pressed her lips together.

One day later.

The Red Line towered into the clouds.

Bubble ships traveled straight up the steep rock face, one after another.

After reaching Red Port at the foot of the Red Line, travelers had to board these specially made bubble ships to reach Mary Geoise.

Inside one of the largest bubble ships.

Naito sat cross-legged on the floor, resting his face in one hand. With drooping eyelids, he gazed at the magnificent sea of clouds outside the bubble.

The white sea of clouds reflected golden light in the sun, looking just like a surge of golden waves.

It was quite spectacular. Whatever else could be said, this world never lacked breathtakingly beautiful scenery.

Zephyr sat in a chair with his arms folded, calmly watching Weevil and his mother, who sat on the floor in seastone shackles.

Buckingham had some bruising around her eyes, but that didn't stop her from trying to open them wide as she studied Naito, who sat in front of her.

Was it this kid? The one who defeated me earlier?

His voice sounds very similar.

He's so young. Has that bastard Zephyr trained another monster?

But the kid doesn't matter right now.

Buckingham had tested it many times.

She and Weevil could return to that mental world whenever and wherever they wished.

In that world, she was the queen of a country, possessed endless treasure, and everyone worshipped her and obeyed her every command. There was also Newgate, who loved her deeply.

Buckingham knew it was false, but all her senses told her it was real.

She was even quite addicted to it.

But Buckingham knew those pleasures came at a price.

Neither she nor Weevil could resist that mysterious ability user anymore.

They might even have to rely on that mysterious fellow to stay alive from here on.

After all, they were about to be sent to Impel Down, and she didn't think her old bones would last long in that hell on earth.

I'll take it one step at a time.

Buckingham had accepted her fate.

Naito completely ignored Buckingham's gaze and wasn't worried in the least about her saying anything she shouldn't.

He only needed to devote part of his consciousness to monitoring the old woman around the clock. He could even pull her consciousness into the dream world and take full control of her body at any time.

From the moment Buckingham was pulled into the dream world, she had ceased to be a threat.

The bubble ship continued upward and soon reached the sky port in Mary Geoise.

The recruits carried their luggage, while Naito accompanied Zephyr in escorting Weevil and his mother. At last, the group set foot on Mary Geoise.

The group boarded one of the automatic walkways distinctive to Mary Geoise and headed toward the sky port on the other side of the Red Line.

From here, they could clearly see the towering Pangaea Castle in the distance, as well as the white town not far from it.

Still sitting lazily on the automatic walkway, Naito looked away.

The King of the World and his lackeys were here.

But after seeing the fight between Imu and Loki in the manga, he felt that Imu wasn't quite so far beyond reach.

"Teacher Zephyr, I wanted to ask this when we went to the New World before."

Binz, who was also helping escort Weevil and his mother because he was among the strongest recruits, licked his lips and said with a grin, "Can't you really take us around Mary Geoise? This is a legendary place."

"Be quiet, Binz."

Without the slightest hesitation, Zephyr simply rebuked him in a low voice. "There will be plenty of chances later."