No surprise, our first mate really is reliable.
Tesoro stepped forward and gave a slight bow to the doctor. "Hello, Doctor. Allow me to introduce you. This is the Emperor of the Underworld, who controls nearly twenty percent of the world's wealth. To our captain, money is nothing more than a string of numbers."
Rhett cut in with a grin. "And by the way, that so-called incurable disease afflicting Orga, the one even the South Sea Emperor Heat couldn't fix, can now be cured. One shot is all it takes."
The doctor bolted forward, eyes trembling with hope. "Really? You can really save my daughter? Even a terminal illness can be cured?"
Rhett looked him in the eye and nodded. "Yes. And it can be treated by our ship's own doctor."
Stella stepped up, her voice gentle. "Actually, no injection is even necessary." She activated her fruit ability, a faint glow wrapping around Orga's small body. Within moments, the illness had been purged.
Stella gently patted the girl's head. "There you go. All healed."
The doctor stumbled forward, tears flooding his eyes as he carefully removed Orga's pure gold ring. Seeing his daughter acting completely normal, he broke down and wailed like never before.
His tears poured like a burst dam, streaming uncontrollably.
Rhett scratched his head and muttered, "Are you sure you didn't eat the Cry-Cry Fruit? You've been crying so long I'm surprised you haven't dehydrated."
"Hey, Doctor, if you keep bawling like that you'll faint from dehydration," Rhett added with a disgusted look, picking at his ear.
The doctor sniffled and stammered, "S-sorry… I just…"
Orga pouted, though a small smile tugged at her lips. "Stupid Dad."
Just as the crew was preparing to leave, the three dinosaurs that Laboon had smacked around earlier suddenly came running back up to him.
Laboon instantly squared up, ready for another fight.
But the dinosaurs let out a whimper, then darted into the shadows. Moments later, they returned, one clutching a shimmering scale in its mouth. It carefully placed it before Laboon with almost ceremonial solemnity.
Laboon tilted his head. "?"
Rhett raised a brow. "Little Laboon… don't tell me they want you to be their boss."
Laboon shook his head so hard it looked like his whole body was refusing. "Mooo!!" (Translation: No way!!)
Even as they left, the dinosaurs trailed after them reluctantly, clearly unwilling to part.
Getting out of the giant lanternfish, however, proved to be the real problem.
"Think we can make the lanternfish spit us out?"
The Bluemar Jackson floated on the acidic gastric lake inside the fish's stomach. The flesh walls pulsed and secreted a corrosive fluid, sizzling faintly against the ship's golden plating.
Rhett rapped his knuckles against the hull. "Tesoro, how long do you think your gilding can hold out?"
Tesoro examined the surface intently. "At the current rate of corrosion? About thirty years, give or take."
(Note: In the original story, Tesoro's gold weakens in seawater, but in this version, his strengthened powers removed that flaw. Think of it like how Aokiji can freeze the sea while walking on it. In the movie, if Tesoro didn't have that weakness, Luffy would have been done for.)
Rhett looked at Tesoro's deadly serious expression. Alone, it would have seemed fine, but if you zoomed out on the scene
Tesoro was stroking his chin with grave focus, Stella's eyes sparkled like stars beside him, and behind them Rhett could practically see a big glowing heart.
Rhett immediately turned his gaze away.
"…," he muttered, then looked toward Lina.
"Hey, Lina."
"Yes, Captain," she answered softly, almost in a whisper, head lowered.
Rhett sighed. Honestly, when Lina wasn't giving navigation commands, her presence was so faint it was like she vanished. She just followed quietly at the back of the group. But when she was in command, she'd scold you for not paying attention to her instructions. Rhett never got used to that contrast.
"You've never seen the roar of the Bluemar Jackson, have you?"
"Eheh."
At that, Enel grinned mischievously, clearly guessing what was coming.
He froze a second later. Since his special training, Rhett hadn't asked him to unleash large-scale lightning attacks. It wasn't that Enel couldn't it just felt like reliving senior year of high school: sure, you might reminisce fondly about the memories, but you'd never willingly go back to waking at 5 a.m., sleeping at 11 p.m., and measuring vacation in hours. Nobody wanted to repeat that grind.
The crew glanced toward the ship's bow, where a menacing dragon head figurehead loomed.
Enel's body crackled with electricity. "Captain… you don't mean—"
"Exactly!" Rhett vaulted onto the cannon platform, blood mist surging into the energy core. "Let's give this big fish a taste of our power!"
"Don't just stand there, fire!"
The entire ship trembled violently as intricate silver lines along the hull lit up with a blinding blue glow.
"Energy reserves at 100%!" Tesoro reported.
"Wind shells fully compressed!" Moria barked from the control panel, his shadow arms working furiously.
Laboon leapt onto the console and slammed the activation button with his head. "Mooo!!" (Translation: Fire!!)
"BOOM!"
Scarlet lightning erupted from the dragon's mouth, blasting into the stomach wall.
"CLANG!"
The beam sparked off harmlessly, leaving not even a scratch.
Rhett: "…"
Everyone else: "…"
Seriously? Not even the surface? Guess that's what happens when you're inside a thousand-year-old Sea King.
The lanternfish wriggled smugly.
Enel's eyes bulged with rage. "A mere Sea King dares mock God's judgment?!"
He went full Grey Wolf, bolting to the cannon.
"You'll regret this!!!"
Golden arcs of lightning wrapped his body as he poured it all into the dragon cannon. The muzzle whirled with a spiraling storm of red and gold energy.
"Again!" Enel roared, fully unhinged. "Now with Armament Haki!"
Haki coated the swirling beam.
The dragon's mouth blazed, then unleashed a titanic scarlet lightning blast that tore into the stomach wall.
"UUGHHH!!!"
This time, the lanternfish's eyes rolled white, and seawater surged inward. The gastric lake boiled violently as the beast gagged.
With a thunderous retch, it spewed the Bluemar Jackson out in a flood of bile and seawater.
The ship arced through the sky in a perfect parabola.
Rhett wrapped the hull in blood mist, wrinkling his nose. "No way I'm letting us stink like puke."
"Hold on tight!" He laughed, gripping the mast.
Enel collapsed beside the cannon, looking completely burnt out.
They'd made it out alive, though Rhett regretted not leaving a parting slash in the lanternfish on the way out.
Then Orga pointed at the horizon. "Wait! What's that?"
Far ahead, through the waves, a fleet bearing the Donquixote family flag surged toward them.
At the prow stood a wiry blond in red tights, his iconic pink feathered coat billowing in the wind.
Donquixote Doflamingo.
"Fufufu… what an unexpected encounter."
But beneath his sunglasses, his expression was grim. He had just watched the Bluemar Jackson blast its way out of a lanternfish's gut, cloaked in that eerie blood mist. The sight hammered home a simple truth: Rhett was no ordinary opponent.
Doflamingo tilted his head, chuckling through clenched teeth. "Fufu? Is that even possible?"
Rhett stood calmly at the bow, blood mist swirling in his palm. "Interesting. So you came looking for me first."
He'd never hidden his whereabouts. Doflamingo must have been losing sleep ever since Rhett had stolen his business. Rhett had thought maybe Doflamingo would play it quiet and pretend ignorance. He hadn't expected him to show up in person.
One thing was certain, though. The man had guts. And that earned him a couple extra points in Rhett's book.
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