The next day, morning.
Birds in the trees chirped joyfully, the sun peeked over the New World horizon, casting its warm rays through the windows of the Dressrosa Royal Palace.
Inside Scarlett's bedroom.
Knock, knock, knock! A gentle knocking sound echoed, and Violet's voice came from outside the door. "Sister, are you in there...?"
The pink-haired girl struggled to open her still-sleepy eyes, and with a hoarse voice, she replied: "I'm here... The door shouldn't be locked... Come in!"
Violet slowly pushed the door open and slipped into the bedroom. She glanced towards the bed and found her sister still lying in bed, hugging a pink pillow and sleeping soundly with her eyes closed. The pink fabric had slipped off Violet's fair shoulders, revealing a red stain. Curious, Violet stepped closer. She was surprised to find her sister's neck also had two red marks!
"Sister... Why are there red marks on your body? Are you sick?" Violet asked, confusion evident on her face.
"Uh!?... No... I'm fine! Just a bruise..." Scarlett stammered, her cheeks flushing.
"Huh!?... Sister, your voice is so hoarse! Is your throat uncomfortable?" Violet asked again, her voice filled with genuine concern.
"Mm!... No, I didn't sleep well last night... I feel feverish... feverish!" Scarlett dodged, pulling the blanket up to cover her neck. She then instructed her sister: "Sister, there's a bat on the table in this room. Just put it in the iron cage... Hmm!... And while you're at it, feed him fresh cow or lamb blood."
"Okay!" Violet nodded, not asking further, though a hint of curiosity lingered in her mind. She turned and walked towards the table in front of the long sofa, extended her right hand, and reached for the black bat perched on the table, appearing very docile and calm.
"Huh!? Sister, why are your pajamas here... and there are bloodstains on them?" The black-haired girl's gaze swept casually across the floor and spotted the fallen light yellow nightgown. She extended her left hand and picked it up, only to find a small pool of blood on it...
"Ah! T-That's... That's... when I was feeding blood to a big bat, I accidentally spilled some..." Scarlett threw the blanket over her head, covering her entire body. Her voice sounded a little nervous and uneasy, trying to conceal the truth.
"Do you want me to take that gown to be washed for you...?"
"No! No!... Just put it on the sofa, I'll take care of it myself."
"Oh! Okay!" Violet nodded and placed the light yellow nightgown on the long sofa. Then she remembered the purpose of her visit. "Oh, that's right, brother Sephiroth, he left early this morning... Aren't you going to see him off?"
"I won't let that bad guy off! ... He's very bad!" Scarlett exclaimed, her voice slightly petulant, yet with an underlying tone of affection.
Hearing this, Violet tilted her head, looking puzzled. "Did you... have a fight?"
"..." Scarlett could only remain silent, a small smile playing on her lips from beneath the blanket.
Dressrosa Kingdom, East Coast Port.
After all the Marine soldiers had boarded the ship, the warship hoisted its sails, weighed anchor, and slowly sailed away from the dock, heading towards Red Port located in the New World.
Tokikake's gaze swept across the slowly receding dock. Then he gently nudged Sephiroth with his arm, a mischievous grin on his face as he teased: "Little brother Sephiroth, where's your Princess? Why didn't she come to see you off... Did you two break up...?"
Not far away, Gion was about to enter the ship's cabin. Upon hearing their conversation, her ears twitched unconsciously, and she listened intently, a hidden curiosity.
As if thinking of something, Sephiroth was silent for a moment before saying somewhat sadly: "That's right! We broke up..."
Hearing this, Tokikake was stunned for a second, but then he continued to laugh mischievously: "Ah! This... It's fine if you broke up. After we go back, we'll hit up the Pleasure Quarter in Sabaody Archipelago, and nothing else matters."
"Good idea!" Sephiroth agreed, though a flicker of amusement danced in his eyes.
"Hehehe...!" x2 The two looked at each other, their mischievous laughter mingling.
"Hmph!" Gion snorted. She glared sharply with an expression full of disdain and contempt at the two shameless men leaning on the ship's railing, grinning mischievously. However, a faint smile inexplicably appeared on her face, and her steps as she entered the cabin became slightly lighter, a sign of unconcealed relief.
Just as Sephiroth and Tokikake were chatting about everything under the sun, a newspaper gull suddenly flew across the sky. Seeing it, Sephiroth immediately whistled towards the sky and waved.
"Give me a newspaper!"
Soon, an albatross over a meter long, wearing a white hat with an "N" on its head and a newspaper bag hanging from its chest, landed gracefully on the ship's rail. Sephiroth first took out the World Economic News from the newspaper bag. Then he reached into his trouser pocket and fumbled, pulling out his wallet, only to find that it was full of ten thousand Beli banknotes, with no coins or other small denominations.
"Keep the change!" Sephiroth casually stuffed a ten thousand Beli banknote into the bird's money box.
"Sticky, gooey stuff!" A somewhat human-like smile appeared on the newspaper gull's face, and it nodded as if it understood. It flapped its wings and flew back into the blue sky, soaring into the distance.
Speaking of the World Economic News, one must mention the Boss of the World Economic News organization... Morgans! This person is a Zoan-type user, the Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Albatross. He is clearly a bird-man but cannot fly...!? Cough!... That's not the point!
Although Morgans couldn't fly, which seemed rather embarrassing, it was undeniable that Morgans was extremely resourceful. With his Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Albatross, he controlled and cultivated a large number of news birds, and based on this, he built an incredibly complete news system. After establishing a news system that could connect the world and almost become a monopoly, he constantly moved between the underworld and the surface world. Whether it was the underground world or the World Government, he had intertwined interests with them.
While Morgans used the newspaper's intelligence system to build connections and acquire huge profits, he also offended many people. Since Morgans's World Economic News organization did not have an armed group, for safety reasons, he established the newspaper's base on an airship floating in the sky, constantly moving, appearing, and disappearing mysteriously throughout the year, making it difficult for ordinary people to find its whereabouts. For safety, he always appeared before others in his albatross-human hybrid form, and no one knew his true form. Therefore, Morgans could always act so freely, yet no one could truly sanction him!
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