Hearing Jerry's direct question, Cavendish didn't deny his motivations. He responded with genuine sincerity:
"I know about your pirate crew's accomplishments, and you always steal my headlines... Ah, no—what I mean is, I genuinely want to join, and I won't be a burden to you."
Jerry looked around at his crew members, pondered for a moment, then asked: "What does everyone think?"
The crew exchanged glances with each other. After a brief discussion among themselves, they all turned back to Jerry, allowing him to make the final decision.
After all, except for Brook, everyone in the crew was aware of Jerry's special Observation Haki abilities and trusted his judgment about people's character.
Jerry noticed that Deuce seemed to have some lingering doubts, so he turned his attention to the navigator. Deuce stroked his chin thoughtfully before speaking:
"You're boarding our ship here, but what about your previous ship and subordinates?"
Cavendish responded without hesitation: "I've instructed them to return to the kingdom. They don't have bounties on their heads, so there shouldn't be any major problems for them."
Deuce considered this for a moment and decided to save any remaining questions for later. He turned to look at Jerry and remained silent.
Seeing everyone's eyes focused on him again, Jerry stood up and looked directly into Cavendish's eyes:
"Alright then, welcome to the crew."
"Woohoo! Let's throw a party!" Before Cavendish could respond to anyone, Ace jumped up and shouted excitedly, always ready to celebrate.
Late that night in Water 7, after confirming multiple times they weren't being followed, Iceberg and Franky quietly met at their secret base.
Franky had several bandages wrapped around his body. He moved gingerly and grimaced with discomfort.
"Hiss! That kid really doesn't hold back. He hit me hard enough that I actually got a bit banged up," Franky complained, though there was a hint of respect in his voice.
Iceberg noticed that despite his complaints, there was a slight smile playing at the corners of Franky's eyes, so he asked:
"So... those blueprints you handed over—were they real or fake?"
Franky shrugged with characteristic nonchalance: "Who knows? Super!"
Hearing this response, Iceberg nodded and didn't press further: "Fair enough. I already passed them to you, so you can do whatever you want with them."
Franky was clearly in good spirits, a slight smile on his face. "Hehe, lucky we discovered those spies when we did. But that guy really made full use of his resources—actually getting Lucci and the others to help build the ship before taking them down..."
Iceberg chuckled as well. "Ha! Come to think of it, I never did pay Lucci and the others their wages. Guess that's not necessary anymore."
Then the smile slowly faded from Iceberg's face as he grew more serious: "Thanks to Jerry for helping divert attention temporarily, but we still can't let our guard down."
"Since the government has targeted those blueprints, there's a strong possibility the next batch of undercover agents will arrive soon."
Franky was quiet for a while before whispering: "Iceberg... don't get yourself killed so easily."
Iceberg scratched his ear and said: "What was that? I didn't hear you clearly! But whatever—anyway, let's try not to meet like this in the future."
"Get lost, you bastard!" Franky replied with gruff affection.
"SHOCKING! Leviathan leads Black Star Pirates to eliminate World Government agents and allegedly steals classified materials! Was this premeditated?!"
"Pirate Nobleman joins Black Star Pirates! Young ladies across the world lose sleep with worry!"
"World Government dispatches additional forces as Vice Admiral Gion leads continued pursuit!"
As dawn broke, the latest news began circulating widely across the seas.
People around the world who followed the newspapers had varied reactions to these developments. It wasn't particularly uncommon for pirates to bypass Marine forces and directly confront World Government agents on the vast ocean.
However, the specific details of what had actually been stolen were secretly noted by various interested parties.
"Pops, we were right about this. Ace and Jerry have been quite restless lately. I wonder what they've taken that has the World Government so eager to take action," Marco said after finishing the news on deck, looking up at Whitebeard, who was leisurely basking in the sun.
"Gurararara! Don't worry about what he took. The World Government is just making a statement—they won't actually start a war over this," Whitebeard replied with his characteristic laugh.
The Emperor understood clearly that the World Government's foundation wouldn't be easily shaken just because someone had obtained certain items.
"That boy Ace seems to be doing well. Does he look a little... rounder?" Marco observed, squinting at the newspaper photo.
"Haha! Marco, your eyesight isn't that good. I bet he just had a big meal recently," Thatch interjected, approaching with delicious food in his hands. He glanced casually at Ace's photo in the newspaper and made his assessment with confidence.
"Hey, forget about that—let's eat!"
Skull and the others had gathered together with newspapers in hand. They'd just finished reading the content and hadn't started discussing it when Cavendish's entire demeanor suddenly transformed.
He leaped high into the air, landed with theatrical grace, then spun around on the deck several times while saying with obvious intoxication:
"I, a magnificent star, am on the front page again! I wonder how many more fans are going crazy over me right now."
"There are many burdens that come with increasing popularity, but for the sake of my devoted fans, I'll bear them without hesitation!"
"Let the fans who adore me come with even greater fervor! A perfect being like myself deserves such overwhelming popularity!"
Several different styles of retractable chairs had been added along the sides of the Black Nova for comfort and convenience.
Jerry was sitting by the ship's railing, adjusting his fishing equipment. When he heard Cavendish's proclamation, he turned around and stared at the narcissistic prince with suspicious eyes:
"I suspect you joined us just to grab headlines and boost your popularity, but I have no evidence."
Cavendish continued gazing skyward with his eyes fixed on the heavens, as if completely absorbed in his own thoughts and oblivious to everything around him:
"Did someone call for the magnificent star? Very well, I heard you!"
"Wherever I am, that becomes the brightest place in the world!"
"You should thank me—I've brought the world's attention to your crew!"
Suddenly, a frying pan came flying through the air and struck Cavendish squarely on the head with a resounding clang. His eyes spun as he staggered and collapsed to the deck.
"Why are you still prancing around out here? Come eat something!" Carina stood in the restaurant doorway, shouting to everyone present.
Ace and Carrot looked at each other and practically floated into the restaurant like twin gusts of wind.
Skull turned to see Cavendish rubbing his head while getting up, and immediately burst into laughter: "Yohohoho! Here we go!"
"Oh my, Miss Carina is full of energy today as always! In that case, might I catch a glimpse of your panties?" Brook asked with his usual perverted enthusiasm.
Carina raised the spatula in her hand threateningly and glared at the skeleton.
"Ah, Miss Carina, might you have any roses I could admire?" Cavendish asked while rubbing his forehead and walking slowly toward the restaurant.
"No! Not unless you hand over five million berries!" Carina waved her spatula and pointed it directly at Cavendish.
Cavendish spread his hands helplessly: "I only brought a portion of my funds. My butler and the others took the rest back with them to the kingdom."
This prompted Carina to once again shout about wasting valuable resources—a complaint she'd voiced multiple times since learning about Cavendish's casual attitude toward money.
After Jerry finished securing his fishing rod in place, he looked at the lively and harmonious atmosphere among everyone on the ship, stretched his body contentedly, and said to himself:
"Take it easy. Let's get some food first."
He then noticed Deuce, who was writing and sketching with intense concentration after completing his morning exercises.
"Deuce, let's go eat."
After finishing their meal, Jerry found Deuce and Skull to discuss and decide their sailing route for the next destination.
Jerry looked up at the sky with a smile spreading across his face, thinking to himself that maybe he'd finally be able to take that long-awaited stroll up there very soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more early access chapter of this fanfic or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~