Teach and Mobius found a modest hotel on Cedar Island. Since they planned to rest for a day, Teach handed Mobius some Berries. "Go get training gear. Weights, steel poles, whatever you need."
He wasn't worried about sending the boy out alone. Mobius had grown strong enough to handle small-time pirates, and with his Observation Haki sweeping the streets around him, he was safer than most.
Teach spent the day wandering Cedar Island.
The shipbuilding hub bustled with life, pirates and sailors mingling in the taverns, shipwrights hammering day and night to patch up battered hulls. He passed by dozens of inns and bars, ate his fill, picked up a cherry pie or two, then returned with dinner for Mobius.
He'd hoped to find a young, skilled shipwright to recruit, but the island had none that caught his eye.
Such craftsmen were rare, and most worth recruiting were already tied to crews. Still, Teach wasn't discouraged. A shipwright wasn't his greatest need; he wanted fighters, not carpenters. Ship repairs could be left to professionals in shipyards or done by hand. He himself had mended hulls in the past.
Back at the hotel, Mobius had already returned with equipment and was hammering away at his training. Sweat gleamed on his brow, his eyes hard with determination.
That night, rumors spread across the island. The merchant ship they had left behind never made it. After being abandoned by the old captain, Ivan had boarded another vessel. Pirates descended in waves, drawn by word of the Devil Fruit. In the end, the ship sank, along with everyone aboard.
"Zehahahahaha!" Teach couldn't help but laugh when he heard. "How embarrassing." His chuckle was for a dead man who would never hear it.
Far across the sea, on Pet Island in the New World, the Kate Kingdom's golden palace gleamed. A man sat upon a throne encrusted with jewels, his fine clothes bright under the torchlight. At his side lay a white tiger the size of a carriage. When he stroked its fur, the beast purred like a housecat and pressed its massive head into his lap.
The courtiers dared not breathe too loudly. To them, the white tiger wasn't a pet but was a predator. More than forty people had been torn apart over the years for disturbing its master's peace.
At last, the prince's hand stilled. His gaze shifted lazily to the trembling man kneeling before him. "So. Ivan is dead?"
"Yes, Your Highness," the man answered, bowing low. "The fool lost your Devil Fruit."
The Tiger King's smile didn't fade, though his eyes turned cold. "If it's lost, I'll find another. Snake King raised a treasure in secret. I'll take it for myself. But… how did my fruit vanish?"
The man swallowed and delivered his report. "The Fire Wolf Pirates struck first. They failed, then spread word of the fruit. Other pirates swarmed the ship. It was sunk. The fruit either lies at the bottom of the sea… or in someone's hands."
"Then put a price on Hog's head," the Tiger King said softly, still smiling as his tiger rumbled. "Two hundred million in the underworld. Wipe out his crew."
"Yes, Your Highness." The man fled before the smile could turn on him.
Not long after, the Fire Wolf Pirates bled on their own deck. A masked assassin moved through them like a shadow, cutting down Hog's men without pause.
Hog, wounded and desperate, barked in fury. "Who are you? I never crossed you!"
"You didn't," the assassin replied lightly, his blade dripping. "But someone paid me to end you. Your head's worth three hundred million with bounty and contract combined. I'm here to collect."
The last thing Hog saw was a cold flash of steel. Then the Fire Wolf Pirates were no more.
Days later, Teach and Mobius landed on Pet Island, stepping into the Kate Kingdom. Mobius's eyes went wide at once. Everywhere, people walked with animals; cats, dogs, wolves, even bears.
Children tugged leashes, and fierce beasts padded tamely through the streets.
The Kate Kingdom's fame was clear. For generations they had tamed beasts, raising even the wildest predators from birth into loyal companions. Pet shops lined every street, selling creatures from tiny songbirds to scaled monsters. Tourists flocked here to buy pets unlike anywhere else in the New World.
"When in Rome," Teach muttered. He and Mobius walked out of a shop called The House of Serpents, each carrying a new companion. A young viper curled lazily around Teach's arm, while a baby cobra coiled itself playfully around Mobius's neck. They'd chosen hatchlings, easier to train, with more room to grow.
Still, not even here were beasts fully safe. Every year, people were killed by their own pets when instincts overpowered training. That danger gave the island its edge.
Through casual talk and the reach of his Haki, Teach gathered intelligence. The kingdom was ruled by King Brady, once a pirate himself and wielder of the Beast-Beast Fruit. His ability to command animals of every kind had made the Kate Kingdom untouchable.
When pirates had dared invade, his beast army had slaughtered them to the last.
But succession loomed. Three princes now vied for the throne. The eldest, Prince Sabre, he the Tiger King, ruled with strength and a white tiger at his side. The second, Prince Belinda, the Snake King, kept a palace crawling with serpents and trained assassins. The third, Prince Lemor, the Dragon King, boasted unmatched strength and was rumored to wield an ancient Dragon-Dragon Fruit.
Kaido's mark already pressed against the kingdom. Teach's Haki brushed over Beast Pirate scouts moving through the streets, bold enough to wear their emblem openly. If Brady fell, Kaido's beasts would descend like wolves on a carcass.
Teach knew the old king's days were numbered.
For now, though, he had his own path. He and Mobius entered the royal city, planning to rest a night before crossing the island. Mobius trained relentlessly, burning through the hours, while Teach slipped into a tavern to practice his own craft.
One by one, strangers sat across from him, only to blink in confusion, as if he weren't there. They muttered apologies and shuffled away, only for others to repeat the mistake minutes later.
Teach grinned to himself. His Observation Haki cloaked not just his aura but his very presence, warping perception until people forgot him even while looking at him.
They saw a man at the table, then forgot he existed.
Not yet perfect, but close. A skill that would decide battles.
He stayed until nightfall, then vanishing into the crowd like a ghost.