"Master, did you get the Paramecia Teleport-Teleport Fruit?"
Watching Yami stand there as if feeling it out, Nami asked curiously.
Yami didn't answer. He looked a certain way, then slipped an arm around Nami's shoulder.
————
In the next second, the scene before Nami twisted.
When her vision cleared, she realized she wasn't in the room anymore—she was back on the Pegasus's deck.
Right in front of her, Carina and Perona jumped in fright.
"...We're back?"
Nami's mouth fell slightly open as she looked toward Yami.
But Yami had vanished.
Instinctively extending her one-of-a-kind Observation Haki, Nami could still sense far-off Beehive Island, but not a trace of Yami.
"Popping up out of nowhere scared me! Huh, where did Master go now?"
"There wasn't any electrical trail just now, so it wasn't Nami's electric-field teleport. Looks like Master got the Teleport-Teleport Fruit."
"Ala ala... Boss is probably off testing it."
"But… my Observation Haki isn't sensing Master at all."
Nami murmured, stunned: "One second I was on Beehive Island, the next I was here. How big is Master's teleport range?"
"Huh? Didn't you read the Devil Fruit encyclopedia?"
Carina stared, surprised. "The Teleport-Teleport Fruit lets you teleport anywhere you can see. Master's the man with Clairvoyance."
"Gasp…"
Nami drew a sharp breath, voice trembling. "Then… doesn't that mean Master's teleport radius tops out at four thousand kilometers?!"
"Mm."
Carina nodded slightly, smiling. "Mufufu… Outside, a 4,000-kilometer jump; inside, the Door-Door Fruit to walk through subspace. In Master's all-angles-unbeatable plan, speed is now completely solved."
"From now on, the Yami Pirates go wherever we want—no more fear of anyone or any power."
"Mhm, mhm…"
Perona nodded again and again, a warm sense of safety blooming in her chest.
"Ala ala… which corner of the world did Master go to now?" Robin tapped a finger to her lips and, with a light laugh, redirected the trio's attention.
"With four thousand kilometers in a blink—and if the stamina cost isn't too high—Master needs only a few seconds, ten-something at most, to reach any sea."
Carina teased, "While I'm chatting, Master might already be touring the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line."
"For real? That's insane!"
Perona's jaw dropped—she finally grasped what four thousand kilometers meant.
"It's not that exaggerated… though it's close," Nami said, actually nodding.
East Blue, Loguetown.
In subspace at the plaza execution platform, Yami looked at the sparse night pedestrians with a faint smile.
In that moment, no one could fathom what lay behind that smile.
Just as Carina had said.
While they were talking, Yami had already made a lap through the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line.
Four thousand kilometers in a blink ate a fair bit of stamina, but nothing serious—about the same as using Black Hole a few times.
With his stamina, he could easily take the girls and teleport around at will like this.
After sampling a few 4,000-kilometer jumps, Yami's mindset shifted drastically.
It had been more than a year since he crossed into this world.
In that time, his mindset had changed many times.
Fearful and helpless before he'd gained the innate multi-fruit monster physique.
Ecstatic after becoming a monster, full of longing for the future.
Cautious after getting the Dark-Dark Fruit, advancing step by step.
Confidence and swelling pride after seizing the Multiply-Multiply Fruit and Float-Float Fruit.
Now, it advanced again… to not knowing what fear even was.
Whether the Four Emperors, the World Government's Holy Knights and the unknown Imu, or even the Ancient Weapons and the Ancient Kingdom—none could inspire caution or fear in Yami.
No matter who the opponent was or how many, he was absolutely confident he could get Carina and the others out.
As of now, his speed and escape power had reached cross-dimensional levels.
Once his offense and defense also crossed that threshold, Yami would be untouchable from every angle—and it would be others who had to fear.
————
After lingering at the scaffold for a bit, Yami's figure vanished without warning again.
A little over a minute later, he reappeared on the Pegasus's deck.
"Master, you're back!"
"Master, where did you teleport just now?"
Nami and Carina, waiting on deck, immediately took his arms left and right and asked.
Robin and Perona watched curiously beside them.
"Not many places—just testing how much stamina it costs to teleport."
Yami didn't elaborate; there wasn't much to tell.
"So is it heavy?" Carina pressed.
"For moving a person, not much."
With an arm around each of them, Yami grinned. "So I'm heading back out now to see what it costs with multiple people."
As he finished, Yami and the two girls disappeared together before Robin and Perona's eyes.
A few minutes later, the three returned.
"Nami, Carina—how did the ultra-long-distance teleport feel?"
This time it was Perona, eager for details.
"Amazing. It feels like voyaging just got easy mode."
Nami, still buzzing, added, "Too bad it's night outside and subspace is all green—there wasn't much to see anywhere."
Carina looked to Yami. "Master, how was the stamina drain?"
"Much heavier than before, but still fine—enough to take you all around the world."
Yami answered offhand, then walked to the Pegasus's rail, laid a hand on it, and stared in a certain direction.
A second later, sweat beaded on his brow.
"Huh? Beehive Island disappeared?"
Nami blurted in surprise.
Then she and the others seemed to realize and gathered around Yami.
Seeing his sweat, Carina hurriedly took out her handkerchief, dabbed his face, and asked, "Master, were you trying to teleport the Pegasus in one go?"
"Yeah. I only moved it a little over two thousand kilometers and it nearly drained me dry."
Yami nodded, a bit rueful. "This teleport doesn't scale on headcount—it scales on weight and distance."
In that moment, he finally understood why the Blackbeard Pirates didn't bring the whole crew every time they warped in.
When the jump was long, Van Augur could only send a few people—never everyone.
The heavier what you move and the farther you send it, the greater the stamina cost.
With monster-level stamina, solo or with a few in tow, Yami could blink around the world for little cost.
But teleporting with the Pegasus meant moving the equivalent of countless Carinas and Namis at once.
The stamina needed was colossal.
No wonder that even as an Emperor, Blackbeard took only a handful on that raft-like flagship when he went to Amazon Lily.
Bringing everyone at once was beyond Van Augur's capability.
Sending that raft and a few of Blackbeard's core was his limit.
Strong as he was, even Yami couldn't hurl the Pegasus four thousand kilometers in one jump—the limit was just over two thousand.
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