“Stop, Ace! Calm down!”
“Pops already said this time is an exception! There’s no need to chase after Teach!”
On Moby Dick, the members of the Whitebeard Pirates tried to stop Ace, but it was useless.
“Let go of me! That guy was my subordinate! If I just ignore this, how can Thatch, who was killed, rest in peace?!”
Blackbeard had always hidden his true nature, blending into the Whitebeard Pirates’ Second Division. Ace, who inherited the role of Second Division Commander, was close to Thatch of the Fourth Division. He simply couldn’t accept that Blackbeard killed Thatch.
“Ace, let it go—just this once. I have a bad feeling. That man’s ambition won’t let him keep running. He’ll come back sooner or later, and when he does, we can take care of him then.”
“That guy killed our comrade and ran away! After you took care of him for decades, he repaid you by disgracing you! Pops, your reputation has been damaged! How can we just sit back and do nothing? I’m going after him!”
Ignoring everyone’s attempts to stop him, Ace set off on his hunt for Blackbeard. Violating Whitebeard’s ironclad rule was a slap in Whitebeard’s face, and letting Blackbeard escape the New World unscathed was another.
Ace had earned Whitebeard’s recognition. He couldn’t tolerate this incident, and in the end, he boarded his custom-made boat and embarked on the path of chasing down Blackbeard.
Meanwhile, there was another group—or rather, dragons—preparing to go out as well.
……
On Onigashima, the Millennial Dragons had gathered once again. The time of their once-in-a-millennium return was approaching, and they were about to embark on their journey back to their ancestral land.
Previously, scouting teams formed by the Millennial Dragons had dispersed across the Beasts Pirates’ various territories, working in small groups of three to five alongside other pirates to complete their missions. But now, they have all returned to Onigashima.
With the final Millennial Dragon returning from Zou Island and shedding its Archeops form upon landing, the entire group was now assembled.
Ferren, who had eaten the Caveman Fruit, also descended, taking on his dragon-human form.
This was the agreement made long ago—the Beasts Pirates would provide them with a safe gathering place, and in return, they would serve as the Beasts Pirates’ air cavalry. On the day when all the Millennial Dragons across the world reunited, they would gather intelligence from their fellow dragons about the plates and Poneglyphs.
Under the lead of their chief, the Millennial Dragons began eating, storing energy for their upcoming journey. Meanwhile, Ferren entered one of Onigashima’s buildings alone. He needed to inform the Beasts Pirates that they were about to depart.
This was something that had been agreed upon long ago—it was just a routine notification. However, Yamato, who felt that Onigashima had become even more dangerous, planned to take this opportunity to leave as well.
She noticed that Kaido had changed, and he had redefined in his weird way what it meant to conspire openly.
In the past, when he attacked her, he would at least make up a reason. Most of the time, it was about how she was too weak, but he still maintained some semblance of justification.
Now, things were different. As Yamato’s ability to resist grew stronger, Kaido became even more excited. He simply laid everything bare—he wanted to fight her, and if she couldn’t defeat him, then it was just her bad luck.
Onigashima was not a place to stay for long. She decided to take advantage of the temporary end to Kaido’s madness and leave as soon as possible.
“Ferren, wait! Where exactly is the place you’re all gathering?”
“In human words… it’s in East Blue. Once we arrive there, we Millennial Dragons will naturally know the exact location.”
Over the millennia, the world has changed drastically. The location of the Dragon’s Nest can be described as being in a “special place” that changes every year. Only the Millennial Dragon, with the aura inherited from its bloodline, can successfully find the Dragon’s Nest.
“East Blue? Isn’t it a bit early for you to leave now?”
“Our path is unique, and there are other things we need to do along the way. We’ll be taking a detour and making some stops, so setting off now is just right.”
“That’s perfect!”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t mean it like that. What I meant was… would you mind if I came along with you?”
“That doesn’t really matter, but the journey will be quite boring. For humans, there’s not much excitement along the way.”
The gathering place of the Millennial Dragons was a secret, but since it only appeared once every thousand years, there were always a few fortunate individuals who, by chance, encountered the Millennial Dragons and were lucky enough to witness the full sight of Dragon’s Nest.
These people are the ones acknowledged by the Millennial Dragons. Some of the older Millennial Dragons even took the initiative to seek out trustworthy individuals to help them return to Dragon’s Nest.
This particular group of Millennial Dragons had been with the Beasts Pirates for a long time, so Yamato’s request wasn’t unreasonable.
“It’s fine, it’s fine! The longer it takes, the better!”
If she wanted to leave Onigashima, she could do so at any time. She was completely free now. However, part of her felt that she was already an adult and couldn’t just randomly run around for fun.
So she had been looking for a legitimate reason, and the Millennial Dragons conveniently delivered one right to her.
The Millennial Dragons’ gathering was already meant to help Arceus gather information about the plates. So, roughly speaking, her leaving with them this time is also helping Arceus find the plates, which makes more sense.
“We still need a few days to prepare. We’ll notify you when it’s time. But make sure to stock up on everything you need. Our rest intervals for humans are… well, actually, in your case, it probably won’t be an issue.”
The Millennial Dragons would be flying. If she traveled by ship, she wouldn’t be able to keep up, so she can only ride on their backs. But then Ferren realized something—Yamato’s monstrous physique, combined with the Beasts Pirates’ other flying Pokémon, made his concern unnecessary.
Even without relying on other Pokémon, young miss’ stamina was far beyond that of ordinary beings.
……
A few days later, the Millennial Dragons took off on schedule, forming a long line in the clouds as they flew toward the island imprinted in their bloodline. However, alongside them flew a Corviknight and a flying shark.
Besides Yamato, who simply wanted to tag along for the excitement, she also dragged along a few others who couldn’t stand being left behind alone—like the sibling duo, Ulti and Page One.
“Pay-tan, are you really not coming up? You’re just going to fly on your own?”
“Ah, no thanks, Sister Yamato. I’m fine flying outside on my own.”
Page One declined Yamato’s invitation to join her in the cabin, choosing instead to fly on his own. Partly because he was enjoying the thrill of flying, and partly because Ulti was sitting right next to Yamato. He figured it was best to stay outside and keep things calm.
Over the years, Yamato had become one of the few people who could completely overpower Ulti in every way. As someone who had inherited the Beasts Pirates’ signature stubbornness, there were very few people Ulti would willingly listen to.
But Yamato’s personality was the perfect counterbalance to hers—so much so that Ulti actually behaved and sat quietly beside her.
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