140 Chapter 140: Attention from the New World

On the deck of the Moby Dick, located in the New World of the Grand Line, Whitebeard Edward Newgate was reclining on a large sofa at the center of the deck, sipping wine from a barrel. He sported a white pirate hat that revealed his golden hair underneath, and his towering six-meter-tall body was cloaked in a white coat. His legendary supreme grade sword, Murakumogiri, lay beside him.

Members of the Whitebeard Pirates were scattered around the deck, feasting and drinking heartily, their cheers echoing continuously. This ship, bound by the ties of family, had no specific rules.

"The strongest supernova of all time?" Marco, the first division captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, mused. With his golden pineapple punk hair, a dagger at his waist, and the Whitebeard Pirates tattoo on his chest, he was engrossed in the latest newspaper.

As the ship's doctor and one of the few cultured members of the Whitebeard Pirates, Marco often enjoyed reading the newspaper to keep abreast of the latest news and gossip.

"Marco, why don't you join us for a drink?" Diamond Jozu, the third division captain, approached with a flushed face, slinging his arm around Marco's shoulder and glancing at the newspaper in his hand. "Everyone else is enjoying the party. Why are you reading newspaper…"

"White Ghost… Celestial Dragon… Admiral…" Diamond Jozu was taken aback by the contents of the newspaper he had just skimmed.

"A daring new pirate," Marco remarked, pulling the newspaper away from Jozu and striding towards Whitebeard. "He hasn't even reached the New World yet, but he already has a bounty of over six hundred million berries. He even fought Sengoku and escaped… Pops will definitely be interested in this guy!"

Despite both being located in the Grand Line, the survival difficulty in the latter half of the New World far surpasses that of the first half, known as Paradise. Any new pirate who ventures into the New World will not only face harsher weather and oceanic changes than in the first half, but will also constantly be challenged by the older pirates.

This trend will become even more pronounced in the future when the power structure of the Four Emperors is fully established. Any pirate crew that ventures into the New World without aligning itself with one of the Four Emperors is likely to be defeated and sink into the sea's depths.

For instance, among the eleven supernovas who emerged simultaneously on Sabaody Archipelago about two decades later, several directly aligned themselves with the Beast Pirates!

"Pops!" Marco approached Whitebeard.

"Gulalala, Marco, I didn't steal your wine this time!" Whitebeard instinctively covered his wine cup with his hand. "Vista gave it to me."

"Vista? I'll find him for a drink later… Pops, take a look at this first."

Marco lifted the newspaper in his hand to Whitebeard's eye level.

"Oh? A new pirate has emerged from Sabaody Archipelago?"

Whitebeard quickly skimmed the newspaper's contents, then burst into laughter.

"Publicly torturing Celestial Dragons… and battling Sengoku for over half an hour… Gulalala! What a lively and powerful newcomer!"

Marco asked, "Pops, once this White Ghost reaches the New World, should we invite him to join our Whitebeard Pirates?"

As one of the top pirate crews in this sea, the Whitebeard Pirates are always eager to recruit fresh blood. Almost every year, new rookie pirates who have made a name for themselves in the first half of the Grand Line become their potential targets.

"Let's see, he still needs to pass Fishman Island! Every year, many pirates end up in the sea's depths."

Whitebeard took a gulp of wine and laughed heartily.

"Gulalala… Don't worry too much about these rookie pirates, Marco. Go and enjoy the banquet to your heart's content!"

…

Grand Line, New World, Totto Land

The main island of Whole Cake Island, also known as Cake Island, resembles layers of stacked cakes. The capital of Totto Land, 'Sweet City,' sits at the island's center, with the towering Cake Chateau standing to the city's north.

At this moment, within the grand hall of Cake Island, the Queen of Totto Land, Charlotte Linlin, also known as Big Mom, was seated on a large throne. She was indulging herself by continuously consuming disgustingly sweet dessert cakes.

"Mama-mama-mama, Perospero, is there any good news today that's worth having another feast?" she asked.

Wearing a hat with alternating blue and white stripes, and holding a candy cane combined with a board of sugar, the slender 'Minister of Candy,' Charlotte Perospero, removed his hat, bowed, and respectfully greeted her, bending at the waist.

"Yes, Mother, a shocking event has just occurred in Sabaody Archipelago. You might be interested," Perospero, despite his long and thick tongue, spoke clearly.

"A rookie pirate named White Ghost tortured a Celestial Dragon, then sent him to the slave auction in Sabaody Archipelago. He first defeated Admiral Borsalino, the user of the Glint-Glint Fruit, then fought with Sengoku, the Buddha, for half an hour without losing ground. In the end, he successfully extorted a large sum of money from the World Government before successfully escaping. His whereabouts are currently unknown."

Compared to the information in the newspaper, Perospero's knowledge was obviously much more detailed. After all, the Big Mom Pirates' intelligence network is renowned as the best in the world.

"Mamamamama…" Big Mom laughed for a few seconds before her voice turned stern. "A Celestial Dragon was sent to the slave auction? Why didn't we receive this information in advance? Why was no one there? You know, Celestial Dragons are also one of the intelligent races lacking in the Whole Cake Kingdom!"

Under Charlotte Linlin's pressure, Perospero couldn't help but sweat and immediately explained:

"Mother, no one knew where White Ghost had placed the Celestial Dragon before he revealed this information. Moreover, the Celestial Dragon who was thrown into the slave auction was covered in charred marks, making it impossible to discern his appearance. Everyone assumed he was just a lowly human slave."

{This couple of paragraphs above is so confusing. Like, slaughtering of pirate took place, you think people are still continuing the auction.

Or the best explanation will be that there were other auction house in the Sabaody's other islands and Adrian had thrown Rosward in one of those.}

"Hmph! That explanation will suffice!" Big Mom snorted, then asked, "What about this White Ghost?"

Perospero immediately presented all the information he had gathered about the White Ghost to Big Mom, including his Devil Fruit ability.

"Ghost Fruit?" Big Mom said with a slight frown. "What is the difference between that Ghost Fruit from the Soul Fruit? Is it a lower-level version of the Soul Fruit?"

"We cannot draw any conclusions for now, Mama," Perospero responded.

"Hmph, White Ghost!" Big Mom exclaimed. "His bounty exceeds six hundred million, and he's not bad-looking either. I wonder what kind of peculiar reaction the Ghost Fruit and the Soul Fruit would have together… Perospero, what do you think of him as my new husband?"

…

In addition to the Whitebeard Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates, several other top pirate crews sailing in the New World were also paying attention to this rising newcomer, such as the White Pirates and the Lion Pirates.

Adrian was unaware that his reputation, which he had initially expected to instill fear in the hearts of other pirates, had become the reason why so many of the top pirates in the New World were paying attention to him.

Time moved forward slightly.

Adrian, who had just completed his journey to Sabaody Archipelago, did not immediately continue diving to Fish-Man Island, which lies ten thousand meters below sea level. Instead, he prepared to return to Water Seven.

Before he set sail, Adrian still needed to deal with a 'Visitor.'