Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the signing event finally began.
Readers started to enter, each with a ticket, and the hall quickly filled up.
The seats were packed, but a few figures, even sitting in the corners, still drew a lot of attention.
One was Vice Admiral Yamakaji from Marine Headquarters, his tall frame draped in the justice coat of a senior Marine officer.
The other was Morgans, the president of the World Economic News, one of the dark emperors of the underworld.
He also drew attention because Morgans always appeared in his Zoan form from the Bird-Bird Fruit, Albatross model, as a beast-man.
A large beak, small eyes, white feathers all over, a large tail, and wings that looked like arms.
He wore a black top hat with a red and white feather stuck in it, a light blue shirt, and a yellow bow tie.
His lower half was red and white checkered trousers, and he wore a black cape.
This appearance was bound to attract attention.
But Morgans didn’t care about that; he only cared about his news and his reports.
He was a man who practically wanted to stir up trouble.
When he saw “JOJO’s Bizarre Adventure,” submitted by Noah under the pen name Adam, his keen journalistic eye knew that this illustrated novel would be a huge hit across the seas.
He immediately sent his most capable subordinate to sign a contract.
As expected, this signing brought incredible exposure to the World Economic News, and sales soared.
Unfortunately, Adam was a writer who traveled the four seas, so Morgans didn’t have the chance to discuss things further.
Later, “Water Margin” began serialization.
In Morgans’ eyes, this novel wasn’t just about being popular anymore; it contained a power within its core that could incite rebellion across the seas.
This kind of thing was exactly what Morgans loved.
He decided to protect the publication of this novel.
Some people within the World Government acutely sensed that the novel was mirroring reality and wanted to ban it.
But Morgans used his influence to stop them.
The dark emperor of the underworld was not to be trifled with.
Unless the World Government made a direct and irresistible demand, he wasn’t afraid of any other approaches.
And in the end, the president even openly resisted for the sake of the news, truly a journalist in the traditional sense.
Now, Adam had come to the Grand Line and was holding a signing event.
Morgans, having the time, naturally wanted to come and see who this person was who could write these two books.
After all, anyone who could write such things was likely to have some issues.
The mayor of Water Seven said a few formal words and then handed the stage over to Noah.
Noah sat on a sofa on stage and began to speak eloquently, occasionally interacting with his book fans.
The atmosphere was excellent.
Young, that was Morgans’ first impression of Noah.
Could someone so young write such profound articles?
Mysterious, that was Morgans’ second impression of Noah.
The news president, having met countless people, could sense that Noah’s outwardly refined demeanor was a disguise.
But what lay beneath the disguise?
He was somewhat curious if this would make for a big scoop.
He temporarily suppressed his curiosity; it wasn’t time to dig into his identity yet.
So many people on the seas were looking forward to Mr.
Adam’s current and future works.
However, when Adam stops producing works, he might consider digging into it.
The one-hour meet-and-greet ended quickly, followed by the signing.
A long line stretched as far as the eye could see.
Only 5,000 books were prepared for this signing event.
Noah signed book after book, feeling like it would never end.
Fortunately, he was a swordsman with astonishing stamina, signing them rapidly with a flourish of his pen.
He truly signed until dark, the last person to get an autograph being Vice Admiral Yamakaji.
Handing the book to the writer, Yamakaji said sheepishly,
“Mr.
Adam, I have a friend who seems to be very troubled lately.
I plan to give him this book.
Could you trouble yourself to write a message of blessing or encouragement?”
“No problem.”
If you’re talking about inspirational quotes, Noah’s treasure trove was vast.
“A person’s life should be lived like this: when he looks back on his past, he should not regret wasting his years, nor be ashamed of his idleness; thus, when he dies, he can say: I have dedicated my entire life and all my energy to the most magnificent cause in this world—to fight for the peace and justice of the seas.”
He slightly modified the last sentence.
That final line was too unsuitable to be revealed now.
Noah had no intention of directly igniting a fire in Yamakaji, even though his name was Yamakaji.
The Vice Admiral had expected ordinary words of blessing, not such soul-stirring ones.
He savored the words.
This sentence was a perfect depiction of the life of a righteous person in the Marines.
He suddenly felt a little reluctant to give it to Teacher Zephyr.
Yes, Yamakaji was making this request on behalf of Zephyr.
He knew Zephyr was a fan of Mr.
Adam’s books and that he hadn’t come today because he was feeling down and a bit depressed.
Upon learning this, Yamakaji had the idea to ask the author for a message to encourage his reader.
But such profound and thoughtful words were extremely rare.
Yamakaji himself felt inspired.
After thinking for a moment, he took out another book and made another request.
“I’m very sorry, Mr.
Adam.
Could you write a sentence for me?
What you said was truly wonderful.”
Noah pondered for a moment.
This request was too easy to fulfill.
He picked up his pen and wrote:
“Life may bring wind and rain, but we can hold a ray of sunshine in our hearts.
— To Yamakaji”
“Thank you, thank you!
You truly are a great writer.
If you have any problems in the future, you can always come to me.
As long as it doesn’t violate justice, I will definitely help you solve them.”
Look how polite Yamakaji was.
Yamakaji looked at the inscription on the title page, liking it more and more.
He happily put it away, planning to share it with “Tsuru” when he got back.
He heard that the mayor had invited Mr.
Adam to tour Water Seven tomorrow.
Yamakaji thought that his mission here wasn’t so urgent, and there might even be hidden pirates here.
He decided to proactively take on guard duty for the next two days.
He wouldn’t let any pirates harm such a positive author.
That evening, at the banquet, Morgans had a brief chat with Noah.
He still wanted to interact more with Noah.
Seeing the message Noah had written that afternoon had also stirred his emotions.
The first sentence, in particular, could inspire anyone.
“Mr.
Adam, this is our first meeting.
I am honored to meet you.”
“You are too kind.
Without the president’s support, my novels would not have been published across the seas.”
“That last sentence of the message this afternoon, I felt it might have had a more fitting wording, for some reason.
That line about fighting for the peace and justice of the seas—I felt there might be more earth-shattering words suitable for it.”
“You misunderstood.
I came up with the message on the spot, so it might have been a bit rough.”
Noah secretly became wary.
This news magniff’s linguistic perception was too strong.
People who dealt with words every day were not easily fooled.
He could guess that I had changed a sentence on the spot; amazing.
“Oh, I see.
To come up with such powerful words on the spot—talents on the seas are truly unpredictable.
I hope you will release more and better works in the future.
Our World Economic News will always support you.
If you have any problems, you can always tell the people at the newspaper, and we will do our best to handle them.”
“Alright.”
After speaking, Noah distanced himself from Morgans, while Morgans gazed deeply at Noah’s retreating back, lost in thought.
Later in the banquet, Noah discussed the next day’s itinerary with the mayor.
There would be reporters taking photos all day tomorrow, so some details needed to be ironed out.
All these actions were done to be able to openly commission a ship from Tom’s Workers company.
He was patient enough in this preliminary stage of achieving his goal, cooperating as much as possible with the political actions of the official personnel.
Tomorrow, he would first take photos with dignitaries at City Hall, then take a boat tour along the waterways, passing the Grand Cathedral dedicated to the water god Aqua Laguna, the city’s most famous commercial street, experience the city’s water elevators, visit several major shipyards, and finally arrive at Tom’s Workers.
This way, the tour would showcase the unique characteristics and cultural atmosphere of Water Seven, as well as its economic strength.
After confirming the details and schedule, the banquet dispersed.
Noah returned to the hotel, greeted Robin, and went to his room to sleep.
Making up stories is too tiring.
It has to be logical and flawless, yet also have emotional climaxes.
Plus, I have to answer all sorts of weird questions from the audience.
Being a writer is not easy.