Ritter stared at the steam curling from his teacup, the rising vapors oddly shaped like tiny skulls. It reminded him of the campfire party on Laugh Tale, when Buggy secretly dumped hot sauce into Shanks' drink.

This strange aesthetic... Ritter thought, Yep. Totally Perona.

He took the cup. "Looks like you've got it pretty good here."

Moonlight spilled across Moria's broad shoulders, illuminating the small girl curled up inside his cloak. Perona, no more than four or five years old, slept soundly in his arms, clutching a worn-out teddy bear.

With a gentle touch, Moria brushed some cookie crumbs from her cheek. "Found this kid in some ruins on an island…"

His eyes swept across the deck, over his crew.

"I'll lead my crew to challenge Kaido and carve our place at the top."

"Hey, brat," Ritter interrupted, "you know fighting that monster gets people killed, right?"

That sentence struck like a key, unlocking a long-shut door of memory.

Ritter suddenly remembered those desperate days before Roger disbanded the crew, when he was constantly sparring with Rayleigh.

Back then, the first mate had said:

"You think getting stronger will let you hold on to something?"

Moonlight filtered through the porthole, falling on Roger's trembling hands as he carefully patched up each crewmate's rucksack for their final journey together. The same Roger everyone thought was a big goofball, doing this in silence.

"Hey, Moria." Ritter suddenly stood up. "Wanna sail with me?"

He released a wave of Conqueror's Haki. The sheer pressure blew Perona's teddy bear right out of her hands. Moria scrambled to catch it.

Ritter caught the little bear midair. "Come with me. Disband your crew."

In the original timeline, all of Moria's companions died in that fateful clash with Kaido. That's why he later told Luffy something along the lines of:

If I had comrades like yours, things might've turned out differently.

(Paraphrased here to avoid plagiarism concerns.)

Ritter admired that kind of loyalty to one's crewmates.

Besides, he genuinely believed that Moria, in his youth, had the strength to go head-to-head with Kaido. He wasn't weak he had just lost his way. His decline had cost him at least seventy percent of his true power.

Looking at you, Golden Lion. And you too, Bullet. Y'all wanna chime in?

Moria flared up. "What the hell are you saying?!"

But Perona stirred in his arms, rubbing her sleepy eyes. He immediately lowered his voice.

"Why the hell should I follow you—"

"Because you're scared." Ritter pointed at his own chest. "You couldn't protect your crew. And if I wanted, I could kill every single one of them right now."

Moria stiffened.

"But real strength doesn't come from brute force alone," Ritter continued. "You know the gap between us."

Moria blinked, trying to follow. What the hell was this guy going on about? External strength? Haki philosophies? He'd always believed in his own strength but deep down, Ritter wasn't wrong. He had seen what Ritter could do. The newspapers made it clear: Ritter had one-shot Kaido.

If Ritter could flatten Kaido, what chance did Moria ever have?

"Hey, Ritter," Moria muttered. "If I fought Kaido now… would I win?"

Ritter didn't hesitate. "You'd all die. You'd be the only one left standing."

Moria fell silent for a long time.

"…I'm not giving up on Kaido."

"No problem," Ritter replied coolly. "My crew isn't afraid of anything. Hell, you can go fight him now I'll back you up. You could ride on Kaido's face if you want."

When dawn pierced the clouds, Moria's fleet was holding a quiet disbandment ceremony.

He did care about his crew Ritter had seen right through him. But truthfully, these men were recent recruits. Aside from Perona, there weren't deep bonds yet.

Moria handed out all his treasure to his men. He didn't ask Ritter to let them join. He could tell Ritter ran a tight, elite crew. These weren't ordinary pirates he was sailing with.

And so, Moria officially stepped aboard the Oro Jackson.

Looking around at the band of ragtag pirates on deck, he raised a skeptical brow.

"Oi, Captain. These guys our crew?"

"Oh, those?" Ritter waved casually. "They're pirates who tried to rob me. I caught them and made 'em work as laborers."

"Ah, makes sense. Shadow Horn Kill."

A moment later, all the overworked pirates on deck collapsed, snoring. Ritter didn't stop Moria he was curious to see what the guy would pull.

Moonlight streamed down as Moria vanished for a bit.

A line of zombie sailors began filing onto the Oro Jackson, each dragging a slumbering pirate and tossing them overboard into the sea efficiently, if a bit stiffly.

"Huff… puff…" Moria wiped his sweat. "These are my premium navigator zombies. All famous names in the New World, back in the day…"

Ritter booted him aside. "Cut the chatter. Get to work."

Curious, Ritter walked over to examine one of the zombies. They were far more refined than the ones in canon clearly Moria's prized collection.

He poked one thoughtfully. Then a weird idea popped into his head

Wow, this one's kinda cool to the touch… kinda nice...

Shaking the thought away, Ritter cleared his head.

The zombie sailor gave a chilling grin. "Captain… would you like to hear the tale of my seafaring days…"

Just then, a silvery ghost floated down from above.

"Wowww~ So this is the legendary Oro Jackson? It's amazing!" Perona hovered above the deck, her wide eyes glittering. "Lord Ritter, you're incredible! You found such an awesome ship all by yourself!"

Ritter: ??????

"This ship was a gift from my captain. His journey might be over but the Oro Jackson's hasn't ended yet."

Perona tilted her head, trying to understand. She was still too young to fully grasp what he meant.

Looking into her bright, expectant eyes, Ritter sighed.

Ah, whatever. Let the kid admire me a bit.

He softened his expression. "Ahem... Yeah, I guess it's pretty cool."

In the corner, Moria crouched, drawing circles on the floor. "Hmph. My zombies are doing all the work, but no one appreciates me…"

Perona floated over to Ritter. "Lord Ritter, I heard you were the third-in-command under the Pirate King. That's amazing!"

Ritter: ??????? Third?

What the hell, World News? You wanna die printing this nonsense?

He was clearly Roger's number one! Without him, they'd have needed double the wood to patch up the ship! That alone made him proud!

"Is there anything Perona can do for you?" she asked sweetly, cupping her cheeks. "Want me to carry your bags? Brew you some tea? Or maybe…"

She pulled out a sewing kit. "Your clothes look a little torn. I can fix them up for you~"

Ritter's face flushed. "N-no need…"

Getting fussed over by a child… he really couldn't bring himself to accept it.

"Hey! Perona!" Moria jumped up. "I raised you! How come you never offer to fix my clothes?!"

Perona stuck out her tongue. "Because you're a slob, Moria! Lord Ritter is cool!"

Moria dropped to his knees and coughed blood. "Traitor… My little Perona…"

Ritter had saved up roughly 300 million berries from his years of adventuring. He decided to head straight for Water 7 and see what Tom could do with the Oro Jackson.

He was planning a major overhaul. And if the funds weren't enough? There was always Skypiea the time traveler's ATM. He wasn't leaving that place untouched.

"These years of savings are finally paying off." Ritter grinned. Totally worth being a deadbeat all this time.

Perona floated beside him, peering over his shoulder. "Lord Ritter~ Are we going to build a new ship?"

"Nope. Just giving this old friend an upgrade." Ritter patted the hull. "We're about to shake the world. Can't have our ship falling behind in the hardware department."

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