By the following day, Zaraki was already well away from Marineford.
The emergency craft had eventually become unusable, forcing him to trade it at a small neutral port for an old but serviceable sailing boat barely large enough for several passengers.
It was not impressive, but after spending years moving around on Marine warships, the ridiculous little vessel had one advantage he appreciated immediately.
Nobody could tell him where to steer it.
Zaraki sat near the railing with his coat folded beside him, considering what came next.
Morgans could call him the Fifth Emperor until the bird lost his voice, but a newspaper title did not create an Emperor's organization overnight.
Zaraki had no territory, no established fleet, and very few people he could actually rely upon if Kaido or Linlin decided to move seriously.
Dorry and Brogy would answer if he called.
Jinbe probably would as well.
Hancock was... Hancock.
But allies were not the same thing as having people beside him who could move when he moved, fight when he fought, and keep everything from falling apart whenever Zaraki decided the simplest answer to a problem was cutting directly through it.
For the first time since leaving Marineford, the idea of gathering his own people began feeling less like an abstract possibility and more like something immediately necessary.
A sharp birdcall interrupted the thought.
A News Coo wearing a tiny postal cap circled overhead before dropping toward the boat. With several hard beats of its wings, it released a freshly printed newspaper onto the deck.
The sea breeze caught the pages immediately.
Zaraki pinned them beneath one hand.
An enormous headline occupied almost half the front page.
THE MOST VICIOUS ALLIANCE IN THE NEW WORLD!
KAIDO OF THE BEASTS AND BIG MOM JOIN FORCES—THEIR TARGET: MORGANS' "FIFTH EMPEROR," WAR DEMON ZARAKI!
Beneath it were photographs of Kaido and Charlotte Linlin, both wearing expressions unpleasant enough to ruin an ordinary sailor's appetite.
Their declaration was printed beneath the photographs.
"MAMAMAMA! IN FIVE DAYS, WE'LL HOLD THE GREATEST BANQUET IN THE WORLD!"
"WORORORORORO! WAR DEMON—YOU'D BETTER SHOW UP!"
Zaraki stared.
"This is no invitation."
The article agreed.
Morgans had already labeled it a declaration of war.
Two established Emperors had formally joined forces and chosen the unaffiliated former Marine currently being called a "Fifth Emperor" as the first person they intended to challenge before the entire world.
Zaraki kept reading.
As usual, Morgans had buried actual information beneath enough dramatic language to fill a theater.
The article dredged up old rumors that Kaido and Big Mom had once sailed beneath the same terrifying pirate flag decades earlier, alongside other monsters whose names later became legends.
Morgans carefully avoided claiming access to whatever history the World Government had erased, but he had no difficulty using the old connection to make the new alliance sound apocalyptic.
A smaller article revealed the location.
ONIGASHIMA. FIVE DAYS.
Copies of the challenge had already been sent to major news branches to guarantee maximum publicity.
Another invitation had supposedly been dispatched toward the Whitebeard Pirates.
Zaraki understood why.
They were testing Whitebeard.
The world had already noticed Zaraki's unusual relationship with Ace and Whitebeard.
Kaido and Linlin wanted to know whether challenging Zaraki meant challenging Whitebeard as well.
He crumpled one corner of the paper slightly.
'One thing after another.'
The cold sea wind blew across his face.
Salt stung the few superficial wounds Creation Rebirth had not bothered completely erasing.
If Zaraki had been alone and intended to stay alone, ignoring the challenge would have meant very little.
But he was already thinking about gathering people.
That changed the calculation.
Anyone willing to follow him into the New World needed to believe Zaraki would not disappear the first time two Emperors publicly threatened everything around him.
A banner meant nothing if the man holding it could not protect the people standing beneath it.
Zaraki's mouth curved upward.
'Good.'
If Kaido and Linlin wanted to solve the question immediately, he had no objection.
The newspaper rustled in his hand.
Then a familiar mechanical roar crossed the water.
Zaraki looked up.
A narrow one-man craft was racing across the waves toward him, its engine assisted by bursts of flame from the rider's Mera Mera no Mi.
The Striker.
Ace stood aboard it with his orange hat hanging against his back.
"YO, ZARAKI!"
He guided the Striker alongside Zaraki's boat, matched its speed, and jumped across.
"I was wondering what miserable corner you'd crawl into after leaving Marineford."
Ace landed on deck and grinned.
"I figured I'd eventually have to break you out of Impel Down."
He looked Zaraki over.
"Turns out you just walked straight out of Headquarters and saved me the trouble."
He pulled two apples from his bag and tossed one over.
Zaraki caught it, rubbed it against his shirt, and took a bite.
"You need something?"
Ace bit his own apple and looked offended.
"What, I can't visit unless I need something?"
His expression became serious almost immediately.
Then he pointed toward the newspaper.
"I saw that."
Zaraki took another bite.
"Hard to miss."
"Kaido and Big Mom together."
Ace frowned.
"You're not actually going, are you?"
The answer must have been obvious from Zaraki's face.
Ace groaned.
"Of course you are."
He rubbed his forehead.
"That banquet has 'ambush' written all over it."
"So?"
"So those two aren't the Marines!"
Ace's voice sharpened.
"They're not going to spend half the day arguing about jurisdiction while you stand there drinking!"
He folded his arms.
"If you lose on Onigashima, nobody arrests you."
"You die."
Zaraki swallowed the apple.
"You got a better idea?"
"Obviously."
Ace straightened, suddenly looking far too pleased with himself.
"Join us."
Zaraki already knew what came next.
"Come aboard the Moby Dick."
Ace grinned.
"If you asked, Pops would take you in. Hell, he already offered you a place before."
"Thanks."
Zaraki shook his head.
"I'm still not looking for another father."
Then he glanced at Ace.
"Besides, Whitebeard has enough trouble of his own."
Ace's smile faded.
"Teach."
"Still haven't found him?"
"No."
Anger immediately tightened Ace's face.
"That bastard's slippery."
His fist closed.
"But I'll find him."
Ace's voice grew harder.
"He killed Thatch. That's the one crime nobody on Pops' ship forgives."
He stared across the sea.
"I was his commander. I'm settling it."
Zaraki watched him.
Ace had not changed his mind despite everything that happened at Mary Geoise.
That was not surprising.
Responsibility and pride were two of Ace's strongest qualities.
They were also capable of driving him straight into danger once he convinced himself something belonged entirely on his shoulders.
Zaraki had exchanged blows with Teach at Mary Geoise.
He knew firsthand that the man was dangerous.
Teach's body had endured punishment strangely, his darkness behaved unlike anything Zaraki had encountered before, and the ease with which he had betrayed Whitebeard before immediately bargaining with the World Government said more than enough about the kind of enemy Ace was pursuing.
None of that required Observation Haki to diagnose some hidden secret inside Teach's body.
The bastard was dangerous simply from what Zaraki had already seen.
"Try not to underestimate him."
Ace glanced over.
"That concern I hear?"
"No."
Zaraki bit into his apple.
"I just don't want Whitebeard complaining to me if his idiot son gets himself killed."
"Who are you calling an idiot?!"
Zaraki ignored him.
"So you came looking for me while you're supposed to be chasing Teach?"
"I'm passing through."
Ace snorted.
"I got word that Teach might have been sighted around Hannabal Island. Could be old information, could be bullshit, but it's the best lead I have right now."
"Hannabal?"
Zaraki looked toward him.
Ace caught the reaction.
"No way."
His eyes widened.
"You're going there too?"
"Yeah."
Zaraki saw no reason to hide it.
"This boat is garbage."
Ace looked around.
"That's insulting to garbage."
Zaraki continued as though he had not spoken.
"And if I'm really walking into Onigashima in five days, doing it completely alone would be annoying."
He looked toward the horizon.
"I need people who can handle themselves, keep a ship moving, and cover things I don't feel like dealing with."
Ace stared.
"You're recruiting a crew?"
"Something like that."
Ace's grin slowly returned.
"Well, now I'm definitely coming."
"You were already going there."
"Exactly! Convenient, right?"
Ace rubbed his hands together.
"I'll help you look."
Then his expression became mischievous.
"If somebody really good shows up, maybe I'll recruit them for Pops before you can."
"Just try not to make things worse."
"No promises."
Their two vessels continued side by side toward Hannabal Island while the sun gradually sank toward the ocean.
By evening, the island's silhouette had appeared against the orange-red horizon.
Hannabal was an outlaw island famous for attracting exactly the kinds of people civilized ports preferred to keep away: bounty hunters, deserters, mercenaries, masterless swordsmen, smugglers, pirates, and criminals who became violent whenever anyone asked too many questions.
Lights gradually appeared across the harbor.
Noise drifted out over the water.
Zaraki entered the tiny cabin of his boat and returned wearing a hooded black cloak.
Ace stared.
Then laughed.
"Seriously?"
Zaraki pulled the hood lower.
Ace pointed at him.
"You know that isn't going to fool anybody if they look properly, right?"
His grin widened.
"Morgans has been printing your face everywhere under 'Fifth Emperor' in letters bigger than the actual news."
Zaraki ignored him.
They entered the harbor.
Zaraki tied his boat to a barnacle-covered post while Ace moored the Striker beside it.
Then both stepped onto the old wooden pier.
The contrast with Marineford could hardly have been greater.
Gas lamps swayed in the wind.
Saltwater glistened across dark boards stained by substances Zaraki had no desire to identify.
The air smelled of cheap rum, smoke, scorched meat, sweat, seawater, and the persistent metallic tang of blood.
Hannabal Island.
A nest of violence floating beyond the reach of law.
Ace looked around with the enthusiasm of a child entering an amusement park.
Unfortunately, nearly every attraction here could probably stab him.
"So seriously."
Ace caught up beside Zaraki as they headed deeper into town.
"What kind of people are you actually looking for?"
He gestured toward him.
"More simple-minded lunatics like you?"
Zaraki glanced sideways.
"Or are you finally admitting you need somebody with a functioning brain to make plans?"
Zaraki considered it.
He needed strength.
That much was obvious.
There was no point walking into an alliance between Kaido and Big Mom with people who would collapse the instant an Emperor looked in their direction.
But brute force alone was not enough.
He needed people capable of making decisions when everything went wrong, people he could trust to watch his back rather than run the moment the odds became ugly.
"Strong people."
His voice came slightly muffled beneath the hood.
"But preferably the kind who don't behave very well."
Ace stared.
"What does that even mean?"
He spread both hands.
"We're pirates. How many of us behave well?"
Zaraki did not explain.
He merely looked toward the brightest and loudest district deeper inside the island.
The farther they walked, the thicker the noise became.
Rough-looking drifters and armed ronin leaned against buildings while pirates shouted drunkenly from taverns and bonfires.
Most people who looked too closely at Ace quickly decided they had somewhere else to be.
Eventually, Zaraki and Ace rounded a corner and found an enormous open square filled with firelight, music, drunken singing, challenges, fistfights, and men raising whole barrels of liquor over their heads.
Zaraki stopped at the edge of the celebration.
If Hannabal Island had anyone worth taking to Onigashima, this was where he would start looking.