The Baratie floated gently under a bruised-orange sunset, the sea calm at last. The chaos, the blood, the clang of blades — all of it had been washed away by the smell of freshly baked bread, grilled fish, and sizzling spices.
Inside the floating restaurant, laughter replaced cannon fire.
The long dining tables were pushed together into one giant mess of a feast — overflowing with steaming dishes, bottles of wine, roasted sea king meat, and even a cake that Reina and Sanji had somehow not argued over while baking.
For once, there were no enemies. No pirates. No chefs trying to strangle each other with ladles.
Just people. Eating. Laughing. Living.
---
"Oi! Blondie!"
Reina called across the table, waving a spoon dripping with stew.
"Pass me that bottle of sake before I start seasoning your face instead!"
Sanji scowled, but poured her a drink anyway.
"Only because your cooking was decent tonight, fiery lady. Also you are beautiful too....But ,Don't get used to my generosity."
Reina smirked.
"Generosity? You're just trying to look cool in front of the ladies!"
Sanji nearly choked on his cigarette.
"I— What— Don't flatter yourself!"
From across the table, Zeff snorted, his wooden leg thunking on the floor.
"He's been trying to 'look cool' since he was twelve. Never worked once."
The entire hall burst into laughter.
---
Ash sat at the head of the table, chair leaning dangerously on two legs, arms crossed behind his head.
He looked around — his crew and the chefs all mingling, food flying, conversations overlapping.
Medusa was sitting beside him, The cursed woman had her chain wrapped lazily around her wrist, using it to grab food from other plates when she was too lazy to move.
"Hey!"
yelled Patty, the loudest of the Baratie chefs.
"You can't just steal my shrimp like that!"
Medusa chewed thoughtfully, then smiled, fangs flashing.
"It's called sharing. You should try it sometime."
Reina choked on her drink laughing.
"Oh my god, she actually said that!"
Ash smiled proudly as a mock tear floated in his eyes. 'Ah ...she came a long way ...right , she used to remain silent...now look at my babygirl pulling pranks on people'
---
Nami, meanwhile, sat at the far end, counting money even while eating.
"One, two, three... Shit.....okay, the damages to the Baratie are worth—"
"None of that tonight, nami"
Ash interrupted, pointing his fork at her.
"We're celebrating! No math!"
Nami sighed dramatically.
"But do you know how expensive it is to repair a hole in a sea restaurant's deck?"
Ash shrugged.
"Do I look like a guy who pays for collateral damage?"
"YES!" Nami shouted.
Ash laughed. "Then you're looking at the wrong guy."
Reina raised her glass, half-drunk already. "To collateral damage!"
Everyone roared with laughter and clinked their cups.
---
Sanji twirled a fork elegantly.
"You know, if I had a crew like yours, I'd probably jump overboard within a week."
Reina gave him a smug look.
"You'd last three days. Tops."
Medusa added without looking up,
"Two if she keeps talking."
Ash chimmed in ,
"He probably just wants to sail with beautiful women..."
Zeff chuckled, watching the young chaos unfold.
"Reminds me of my old days on the seas. Dumb kids, big dreams, and no idea how to shut up."
Ash grinned. "Yeah, that sounds about right."
---
The room was alive — dishes clattered, chairs scraped, and stories flew like bullets. Ash recounted how he once tried to roast an eel with gunpowder ("it worked too well").
Patty and Carne argued over who had made the better stew.
Even Nami joined in when Sanji tried flirting again.
"Beautiful Nami-swan, may I refill your drink?" Sanji purred.
"No," she said sweetly,
"but you can refill hers."
She pointed at Reina, who grinned like a devil.
Sanji froze, then groaned.
"Why does fate hate me…"
Ash chuckled.
"Because you're trying to flirt with women who could punch holes in ships."
Reina raised her cup again.
"He's not wrong."
---
Hours passed in a haze of laughter and firelight. Outside, the stars began to bloom across the dark canvas of the sea. The water reflected them like molten glass.
Zeff finally stood, arms crossed.
"Alright, you rowdy idiots, drink up and get some sleep before you drown in your own nonsense."
Reina raised her cup lazily. "Aye aye, old man chef."
Sanji rolled his eyes. "Don't call him old—"
Zeff smacked him on the head with a ladle before he could finish.
"HEY!"
The room erupted again in laughter.
---
Later that night…
The Baratie was quiet. Moonlight spilled across the deck like silver paint.
Reina and Sanji had fallen asleep in the kitchen — she snoring with her head on a cutting board, he slumped in a chair with a cigarette still dangling between his lips.
Nami had passed out on top of her treasure map, quill still in hand. Medusa was lying on the deck, eyes open, humming softly to herself while her cursed chains coiled protectively around her like serpents.
Ash leaned on the railing, looking out at the sea. The horizon shimmered under starlight.
Zeff approached quietly, arms folded. "You've got a strange crew, kid."
Ash smiled faintly. "The best kind of strange."
"Strange gets you killed," Zeff muttered.
Ash glanced back at his sleeping crew, a proud grin tugging at his lips. "Maybe. But it also gets you remembered."
Zeff grunted. "Hmph. Fair enough."
They stood there for a while — two captains, one old, one just beginning — watching the sea breathe beneath the stars.
"You should get some sleep to..." Zeff said as he walked away leaving ash alone.
Ding.
______________________
System notification:
Mission : Defeat Krieg pirates
Penalty: none
Reward: life bound pet [random]
Status : completed
--> Does the host want to claim the reward right now ?
________________________
Ash smiled,thinking to himself-
'A pet huh ?.....well let's see what we get ?'
He gave a mental command-
'claim the reward system'
_____________________
System notification:
Reward claimed
______________________
Morning came softly.
Seagulls cried overhead as the first rays of sunlight painted the ocean gold.
The crew stirred awake one by one — Medusa stretching, Reina yawning, Nami immediately checking her coin pouch.
Sanji served breakfast for everyone —
"on the house,"
he said, though Zeff grumbled that nothing in Baratie was ever free.
Reina bit into her toast.
"Not bad, blondie."
Sanji sighed.
"The lack of gratitude on this ship is criminal."
Ash stood on the deck,the morning wind tugging at his coat.
He had barely slept. The taste of wine and laughter still clung to the air, mingled with the faint scent of grilled meat and spilled rum from last night's chaotic banquet.
He stretched, rolling his shoulders, the early light cutting across his features like a blade.
Then, something stirred in the air.
The gulls' cries stopped.
The wind shifted.
Ash's eyes opened slowly, a faint gleam flickering in them.
From somewhere above the clouds, a deep, resonant cry echoed—not sharp like a seagull, but heavy, ancient, filled with something that didn't belong to the ordinary world.
He tilted his head upward.
At first, it was just a dark speck gliding between the light. Then the speck grew—wings spread wide, cutting through the sun like a blade through silk.
The air trembled as it descended.
The creature that came down wasn't just a raven. It was a storm wrapped in feathers.
Each plume shimmered with layered darkness, black so deep it caught the sunlight and refracted it in faint shades of violet and blue.
Its feathers glowed faintly along the edges—as though lightning itself had been frozen in their veins.
Its eyes burned an impossible red, not wild, but regal. Old. A gaze that had seen things far beyond this ocean.
When it spread its wings, it cast a shadow that rippled across the entire deck. The world fell silent.
Even the sea seemed to still.
Ash didn't flinch. A small smile curved his lips. "...You took your sweet time."
The raven gave a deep, guttural cry that rolled like distant thunder. Then, with deliberate grace, it circled once—twice—before landing on the railing beside him. Its talons gripped the wood, leaving faint scorch marks where they touched.
---
Reina's voice, groggy and annoyed, drifted up from below deck.
"Ugh… Ash? Why are you talking to the air again? It's—"
She froze halfway through the sentence as she stepped into the light and saw it.
"What in the actual hell is that?!"
she gasped, rubbing her eyes as if she thought she was still dreaming.
The raven turned its crimson eyes toward her, wings half-open, feathers rustling with quiet menace.
Reina instinctively took a step back.
"That's not a bird… that's— that's a monster!"
Ash chuckled softly.
"Relax. He's harmless… most of the time."
The raven clicked its beak once, as if offended.
Reina blinked. "It understood that!?"
Ash smirked. " Intelligent like it's master."
From the corner, Nami stumbled out next, hair a mess, clutching her tangerine mug like a holy relic.
"What's all the yelling about—wait, why is there a demonic pigeon on our ship?"
"It's a raven,"
Ash corrected, not looking away from it.
"And not just any. This one's… mine."
Medusa emerged silently, still half asleep. Her snakes stirred lazily, their hissing slowing as they fixated on the dark creature.
"That… aura,"
she murmured.
"It's ancient, ...Wrong, .... but Beautiful."
Reina crossed her arms.
"Of course he has a pet apocalypse bird."
Ash smirked faintly.
"He's no pet. He's a ....friend."
The raven tilted its head proudly, chest puffed out, the sunlight glinting along its black plumage.
A single feather drifted loose, spinning lazily before landing in Ash's open palm.
He twirled it once between his fingers, eyes half-lidded.
"His name's Ruin."
[Image]
---
The word itself seemed to vibrate faintly through the air, as though the name carried a weight it shouldn't.
Nami blinked.
"Ruin? Seriously? You named your bird 'Ruin'? Why not 'Sunshine'?"
Ash smirked."Because when he flies, the sun hides."
Reina groaned, massaging her temples.
"You've been hanging around Zoro too long, you're starting to sound poetic and stupid at the same time."
Medusa actually chuckled."I like it. It suits both of you."
The raven gave a proud, low caw—almost smug—then flapped once, scattering wind through everyone's hair.
"Hey!"
Reina shouted.
"Do that again and I'm deep-frying you!"
Ruin simply blinked slowly at her,
unimpressed.
Ash looked at friends and said with an smirk
"Well,time to move. We've got a mountain to climb."
Nami blinked.
"Wait. What mountain?"
Ash grinned.
"The Reverse Mountain."
"Yeah right .....that thing is there too."
Nami blinked realising their actual route was reverse mountain not Baratie.
Reina groaned.
"Ugh, already ? I was having fun here y'know, but fine ! Whatever you say you pretty bastard."
Medusa smirked. "Fun."
Sanji who was nearby facepalmed. "You're actually going there?! You people are mad."
Ash's grin widened. "Yeah. But that's kind of our thing. Beside... it's exciting !"
Zeff crossed his arms, watching from a floor above them.
"Heh. Another batch of lunatics chasing dreams…"
Ash turned to nami
" alright ,ladies and gentlemen let's get zoro on the ship,I think he will be fine if we kept his injuries in check, as the ship doctor of Baratie has already mended and took care his wounds."
Reina saluted. " Aye aye captain ~"
Sanji waved — reluctantly.
"Take care of her, bastard."
Ash raised an eyebrow. "You mean Reina?"
Sanji looked away, muttering, "Yeah, yeah, whatever…"
Reina smirked. "Jealous much?"
"Shut up!"
Laughter echoed across the ship.
---
Later that day...
The sun glimmered across their faces — a band of dreamers heading straight into the impossible.
And as the Baratie faded into the horizon, Ash whispered, almost to himself:
"Next stop… North blue."
The wind carried the words into the dawn.
Meanwhile unaware of them a newspaper was circling around all over the world.
_____________
BIG NEWS! BIG NEWS!
By the Great Big News Morgans Himself!
Hold onto your hats, ladies and gentlemen of the seas, because history just shook its feathers!
Reports are flying in from the East Blue — yes, that East Blue — where a floating restaurant turned into a battlefield for the ages!
-->> The Krieg Pirates, led by the self-proclaimed "Golden Armada King" Don Krieg, were utterly decimated after a fiery clash against none other than Ash the grim reaper, the swordsman wielding the great blade Mikazuki Munechika! Witnesses claim that the seas roared in carnage as Ash unleashed techniques unseen in the Four Seas!
But that's not all, readers!
-->At the very same location, the second in command of grim reaper's crew ,the sword demon -Roronoa Zoro challenged the World's Strongest Swordsman, Dracule "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk himself! Though the young warrior fell in combat, he survived — bearing scars that sing of ambition and defiance!
The East Blue has never seen flames and steel like this before — and word is, Ash's crew is now sailing toward the Reverse mountain!
What awaits them beyond Reverse Mountain?
Who is this enigmatic "sword demon" that even Mihawk himself acknowledged?!
Stay tuned, my dear readers—
Because this... is only the beginning of a legend!
---
Big News Morgans — signing off!
"Wherever the wind of destiny blows, I'll be there to print it!"
__________
.
.
.
.
________To be continued _________