The Moby Dick cut through the sea in steady silence, waves crashing softly against the massive hull as the afternoon sun burned gold across the water.

Then came the shadow overhead.

“Oi! News Coo!”

A messenger pelican circled above the ship, flapping wildly while stacks of fresh bounty posters rained down over the deck like confetti.

Instant chaos erupted.

“NEW BOUNTIES!”

“GET MINE FIRST!”

“MOVE!”

Thatch nearly tackled Izou trying to grab one while Ace leaned over the rail laughing at the mess. Marco stayed perched lazily against the mast, half-awake as always, though even he reached down to snag a paper from the deck.

Whitebeard himself sat at the center of it all on his massive chair, sake cup in hand, watching his sons lose their minds with a booming laugh.

Meanwhile, you remained completely unbothered.

You sat on the railing of the second deck above the crew, one leg hanging loosely over the side while a thick book floated inches from your face. Crimson energy curled around its spine, turning pages every few moments on their own.

The Chaos Chaos no Mi.

The air around you shimmered faintly red, tiny distortions flickering every so often like reality itself struggled to behave in your presence.

Below, Ace blinked at one of the bounty posters in confusion.

“…Huh?”

He turned it around slowly.

Then immediately whipped his head upward toward you.

“YO!”

That got everyone’s attention.

Marco frowned. “What?”

Ace looked downright horrified.

“No way.”

“What?” Thatch barked impatiently.

Ace swallowed once before holding up the poster with both hands.

“Her bounty got updated.”

A few whistles sounded immediately.

“Again?!”

“What’d the Government blame you for this time?” Vista called upward with a grin.

You didn’t even look away from your book.

“Probably existing.”

A snort rippled across the crew.

Marco pushed off the mast and walked over. “C’mon then, read it already, yoi.”

Ace looked like he wasn’t emotionally prepared for what he was seeing.

Whitebeard narrowed his eyes slightly. “… well?”

Ace inhaled deeply.

“Dead or Alive…”

The entire deck leaned in.

“‘The Crimson Witch.’”

Even Whitebeard’s grin faded a little at the title alone.

Ace’s eyes widened further somehow before he finally shouted:

“4,980,000,000 BERRIES!”

Silence.

Complete.

Absolute.

Silence.

The ocean itself seemed to stop moving.

A mug shattered somewhere on deck.

Thatch choked on air.

Vista actually dropped his sword.

Marco stared.

Ace stared harder.

Even Whitebeard’s brows lifted slightly.

Your bounty was higher than every single commander aboard.

Higher than the Emperors the Marines publicly acknowledged.

Higher—

Than Whitebeard himself.

The paper in Ace’s hands shook violently.

“T-That’s almost FIVE BILLION!”

“THE HELL DID YOU DO?!”

“You’re officially more dangerous than Pops!”

“THAT SHOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE!”

The crew exploded into shouting all at once.

You finally glanced down from the second deck.

Your glowing crimson eyes drifted lazily toward the poster.

The floating book snapped shut softly beside you.

Then you tilted your head.

“That’s it?”

The entire ship froze again.

Ace looked seconds away from collapsing.

“THAT’S IT?!” he screamed.

Marco rubbed a hand down his face. “Yoi… the Government thinks you’re an apocalypse.”

A faint smirk tugged at your lips.

“Well, they’re not wrong.”

The air around you pulsed.

For one brief second, the sky above the Moby Dick distorted violently—

Clouds twisting backward.

Wind stopping entirely.

Several crewmen suddenly stumbling as their emotions flipped from excitement to raw terror without warning.

Then it vanished.

Just like that.

Chaos itself sat casually on Whitebeard’s ship with a floating book and a mildly disappointed expression over a bounty worth nearly five billion berries.

Whitebeard suddenly burst into thunderous laughter so loud the ship shook beneath everyone’s feet.

“GURARARARARA!”

He pointed his massive sake jug toward you.

“That’s my daughter!”