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Baratie.
Sanji finished reading and repeated the line to himself. Damn... isn't that just me?
And the main character's story... it was so similar to his own...
He was supposed to have great power, but it had never awakened.
He was despised by his father, bullied by his brothers. But he'd had a loving sister who had helped him escape.
And the old man...
Sanji glanced at Zeff. Was it him?
'That damn king... did he base this novel on me?'
What would the main character do? Would he fight back? Would he get his revenge? And what about him?
Sanji took a long drag from his cigarette, his head spinning.
Alright. So what happens next?
That was it?
"To be continued..."?
Bullshit!
What happened next? Did he get his revenge? Did he put them in their place? How did he slap that old noble's face?
Sanji was fuming.
He'd gotten to the good part, and now he had to wait for the next issue?
A whole week?
This was torture.
Carne sidled up to him. "Hey, Sanji, you done with that?" he said with a grin. "Is it any good? It's my turn."
"Can't you just subscribe yourself?" Sanji said, handing the paper back to him. "It's trash," he said coolly. "I was just bored, killing some time. I'm not going to waste my money on a garbage novel."
He glanced over and saw Patty studying the paper, muttering to himself, "First prize, a billion Berries..."
—————————
Hannabal, Entertainment Weekly Headquarters.
"Boss! It's incredible! The phones are ringing off the hook with new subscriptions! This is only the second issue, and we're already a worldwide bestseller!" an employee shouted, ecstatic.
"Our subscription numbers have already passed five million, and they're still climbing!"
"Quick! Contact Mr. Morgans! We need to print more!"
At the headquarters of the World Economic Journal, Morgans, a cigar clamped in his beak, looked at the sales numbers for Entertainment Weekly, his jaw hanging open.
This was insane!
He had thought that if Entertainment Weekly could hit 100,000 annual subscriptions, it would be a success.
"It's the lottery," he mused. "The bundled sale has created a subscription frenzy. That king... he's a genius. At this rate, hitting ten million subscriptions isn't just a dream. That's five billion Berries an issue... Damn! It's a license to print money. Even if they really do have to pay out a billion, the profits are still staggering. Get more equipment. Prioritize printing Entertainment Weekly."
Morgans had invested in the paper. He wasn't about to miss out on a golden opportunity like this.
"Boss," an employee asked, "should we... do a lottery for our other papers, too? To boost sales?"
"A copycat?" Morgans was tempted. But after a moment's hesitation, he shook his head. "No. No need to antagonize that king."
—————————
The New World.
Ace was still on the Moby Dick.
He was a defeated man, a prisoner. He wore no handcuffs, no shackles. But this was the sea. He was a Devil Fruit user; he couldn't swim. And if he couldn't get a boat, he wasn't going anywhere.
Not that he had any intention of running.
Now that he had recovered his strength, he went after Whitebeard almost every day. Sometimes he would attack him in his sleep. Sometimes he would come at him from behind with an axe.
And every time, Whitebeard would swat him away like a fly.
"Hey! He fell in the sea!"
"Someone go get him!"
Ace's relentless attacks, and his equally relentless defeats, had made him famous throughout the crew.
He was trying to kill their captain.
They would have been within their rights to tie him up and throw him overboard.
But no one did.
It was as if they all had an unshakeable faith that no one could ever truly harm their Pops.
After Ace had been fished out of the water, the third division commander, Diamond Jozu, clapped him on the shoulder. "The river flows east for thirty years, then west for thirty more," he said, encouraging him to try again.
Izo laughed. "Hey, Jozu, you think he's Xiao Yan?" (The protagonist of Battle Through the Heavens.)
"Well, they're both hotheads, aren't they?"
Life at sea was a tedious affair.
And so, the new, unique Entertainment Weekly had become the crew's favorite pastime. Some studied the lottery, some looked at the beautiful women, some read the fashion articles...
And the simple, straightforward story had spread.
—————————
The Big Mom Pirates.
"Brother Katakuri! Quick, use your Observation Haki! Tell me what this week's winning numbers are!"
Katakuri was silent.
He was getting tired of his siblings asking him to predict the future. Even Daifuku and Oven had come to him.
Damn it. If he could see that far into the future, would he have lost that fight?
He wasn't a god.
He shook his head and saw Cracker approaching. "Those two thieves... what did Mama do with them?"
"One of them is dead," Cracker replied. "The other had fifty years of their life taken and lost their left eye."
"And Lola?" Katakuri asked. "Any news?"
"Not yet."
Katakuri breathed a sigh of relief. He was angry, but also a little grateful. If she had been caught, she would have certainly been killed.
—————————
In the thick fog.
A strange song drifted through the air.
A skeleton was playing a violin and dancing. It was a sight that would have terrified anyone.
"My shadow, my shadow, yohohoho..." Brook celebrated the return of his shadow.
Suddenly, he stopped playing and looked in a certain direction.
"Yohohoho... yohohoho..."
His own laughter was echoing back at him through the fog, over and over. A chill ran down his spine.
"A ghost? Or something else?"
The sound grew closer.
A massive, unmanned ship tore through the fog like an arrow. Before his horrified eyes, it split open, revealing a mouth of sharp, vicious teeth.
"Ah! Am I being eaten by a ship??"
His soul nearly jumped out of his skull.
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