40- That’s the cost of sailing under my banner

The silence that followed the tearing of reality was almost as violent as the dislocation itself. The gothic ship now rested on a strangely calm sea, a deep, unfamiliar blue. The air still thrummed with residual energy, thick with ozone.

Then the calm shattered.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Perona's scream sliced through like a blade, shrill and raw with primal fear. She was curled against the main mast, her huge eyes brimming with tears that streamed down her pale cheeks. "I thought I was gonna die! I really thought I was gonna die! That man… that monster… he… he…" Her words drowned in hysterical sobs, her negative ghosts swirling around her in pitiful disarray, as terrified as she was. "It was awful! Everything tore apart!"

Beside her, Kiku knelt, hands flat on the still-warm deck. She trembled deeply, a nervous quake that seemed to rise from her bones. Her usually stoic face was deathly pale, her wide eyes staring at the wood without seeing it. She'd felt her existence dissolve into nothingness, hurtling through a tunnel where space and time lost meaning. Her survival felt miraculous, unreal. A ragged breath escaped her lips.

Korran reacted with rage. With a bestial growl, he slammed his metallic left fist into the deck.

BANG!

The wood held, but a faint crack appeared. "ARGH!" he roared, frustration and helplessness twisting his gut. He struck again, harder. "Damn Admiral! Damn it!" He looked up, bloodshot eyes meeting Mihawk's.

The Captain stood motionless at the deck's center, slightly forward. His face was a stone mask, impassive, his yellow eyes scanning the unknown horizon. Not a strand of his black hair was out of place. No trace of fatigue or emotion showed.

Korran stared, his anger giving way to awe tinged with renewed fear. "So…" he muttered, voice hoarse, "this is the kind of enemy… my Captain has to face to become King?" The thought was dizzying. Terrifying. But seeing that unshakable figure, a spark of wild, dangerous excitement flickered in his chaotic core. 'If even this doesn't break him…'

Inside Mihawk, though, a storm raged.

'Underestimated.'

The word tolled in his skull like a death knell. 'I gravely underestimated Issho.' A cold fury churned in his gut.

In the manga he knew, Issho had never shown gravitational manipulation so precise and vast. Teleporting an entire ship, imbued with his own resistant Conqueror's Haki? That was far beyond the mere gravity tricks seen before.

'An Admiral… isn't a force to take lightly. Even a "moderate" like Issho.'

His fist clenched so tightly his knuckles whitened.

'If it had been Sakazuki… He wouldn't have hesitated. Not for a second. He'd have burned the ship to ash with Perona, Kiku, and Korran aboard, just to force a mistake.'

Mihawk had no doubt about his current strength. He felt it—raw, titanic, surpassing the Emperors he knew, overwhelming most forces in this world. But Akainu… Akainu wouldn't have played. He'd have struck where Mihawk was vulnerable: his fledgling crew.

'I could've lost them. Because of a misjudgment. Because of my own arrogance.'

The thought seared him. He'd skirted a catastrophic defeat, not from lack of strength but from failing to account for his enemies' ruthless pragmatism.

'Idiot.'

A slow, near-imperceptible breath escaped his nostrils. He tamed the inner fury, channeling it into icy resolve.

'What's done is done. Wallowing is pointless.'

His eyes, still fixed on the distance, swept the ship.

'The crew's condition is priority.'

He turned at last, pivoting with feline grace, his gaze sweeping over his three subordinates grappling with their demons. When he spoke, his voice was calm, neutral, but carried an authority that silenced Perona's sobs and made Kiku flinch.

"How's my crew holding up?" he asked simply.

Korran straightened abruptly, wiping away his rage for a guilty grimace. He bowed his head. "Captain… sorry." His voice was low, ashamed.

Mihawk didn't blink. "Explain, Korran. Why apologize?"

Korran looked up, face etched with frustration and embarrassment. "Because of us… you had to hold back. Let that guy… push you around. If we weren't here…"

Mihawk's gaze was cold, piercing like an icy dagger. Korran felt a chill crawl down his spine, more terrifying than Issho's gravitational wrath. The air grew heavy.

"Push me around?" Mihawk repeated, each syllable falling like frozen rain. "Are you implying, Korran… that I, Dracule Mihawk, am incapable of protecting my own crew? That your presence is… a weakness?"

Korran's mouth opened, eyes widening. "No, Captain! I didn't…" He tried to protest, to untangle his muddled thoughts.

Mihawk raised a hand slightly, a minimal gesture that demanded instant silence. "Quiet." His voice hadn't risen, but the command was absolute. "Listen well, all three of you. What you just experienced…" His gaze encompassed a trembling Perona, a frozen Kiku, a petrified Korran. "…was a mere taste. An appetizer. This will be your daily reality now." He paused, letting the words' weight settle. "Monstrously powerful enemies. Situations where death lurks at every turn. Choices heavier than mountains. That's the cost of sailing under my banner. The price of aiming for the Pirate King's throne."

He turned specifically to Kiku. His yellow eyes met hers, still clouded by the shock of spatial dislocation. "Kiku." She jolted as if shocked. "You're shaking. You've seen the face of the world you've stepped into." Mihawk tilted his head slightly. "Do you still wish to stay by my side? The door's open. You can leave. Now."

Kiku blinked. The trembling in her hands intensified. She looked at Mihawk, that steel-and-shadow figure who'd just defied an Admiral and declared a boundless ambition. She recalled Issho's power, ripping reality itself. The world was vastly larger, more terrifying than she'd ever imagined in her isolated village. A primal fear knotted her gut.

Then her eyes settled on Mihawk again. On his calm assurance, a strength that seemed to defy the universe itself. A strength that had shielded them, even in gravitational chaos.

"The world…" she whispered, voice fragile as glass, "…is more terrifying than I ever thought." She clenched her fists on her knees, trying to still her shaking. She raised her eyes, meeting Mihawk's inhuman gaze. "But you… Captain…" She swallowed hard. "…you're even more terrifying." It wasn't a complaint. It was a realization, almost an acknowledgment. A different fear, laced with absolute respect and morbid fascination. "I'm staying."

A sobbing gasp broke the moment. "I WANNA GO HOME!" Perona wailed, wiping her eyes with her arm. "It's too dangerous! Too awful! I want back to Kuraigana! Or anywhere but here!" Her negative ghosts pouted despairingly around her.

Mihawk turned his gaze to her. Not a muscle moved on his face. "My crew's second-in-command doesn't flee at the first hurdle, Perona." His voice was flat, final. "You stay."

Perona's mouth formed a stunned circle, tears halting abruptly. Then her face flushed with rage and helplessness. "WHAT?! But… but… THAT'S NOT FAIR!" She stomped her foot. "I'M A DELICATE YOUNG LADY! NOT A… A SUICIDAL TRAILBLAZER!" She turned her back on Mihawk, crossing her arms fiercely, cheeks puffed in a monumental sulk, shoulders shaking with fresh sobs—half fury, half despair.

Mihawk ignored her tantrum with unnerving serenity. His focus shifted to immediate tasks. "Kiku." The young woman stiffened, suppressing her lingering tremors. "Inspect the ship. Thoroughly. I shielded the hull and main structure with my Haki, but internal damage is possible. Holds, cabins, rigging. Everything."

Kiku nodded, regaining some control through a concrete task. "Yes, Captain." Her voice was still faint but resolute.

"Korran." The giant looked up, surprised. "Go with her. Two sets of eyes are better than one. And your strength will help if anything needs moving or quick repairs."

Korran blinked, then a grin split his scarred face. Being useful, acting, was exactly what he needed after feeling powerless. "Got it, Captain! We'll handle it!" He gave Kiku a reassuring (slightly too hard) pat on the shoulder, nearly knocking her over. "Come on, Amazon princess, let's get to work!"

As they moved off, Korran glanced back, a burning question on his lips. "Captain?" Mihawk turned his head slightly. "Are we… heading back to Sabaody?"

A glint flashed in Mihawk's yellow eyes. "No." His reply stung like a slap. "The Marines just made it crystal clear they won't tolerate my presence in Paradise." A cold, humorless smirk curled his lips. "Fine. If they're so keen to keep us out…" He glanced at a sulking Perona, then at Kiku and Korran. "…we set course for the New World. Immediately."

Korran nodded slowly, a savage excitement rekindling in his eyes. "Yes, Captain!"

When Korran and Kiku vanished below, Mihawk stood alone on the deck, save for Perona's shivering, sulky back. He gazed at the unknown horizon, eastward, toward the New World's turbulent waters.

'Fine. If the Marines refuse the peaceful path…' A relentless resolve, forged in cold anger and narrowly averted humiliation, radiated from him. '…then we'll be brutal.'

TO BE CONTINUED...

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