On the night of the following day, the pirate ship Moby Dick arrived at Elegia.
"You found this place surprisingly fast. The magnetic field around here is completely disordered now. Unless you have a Log Pose, there's no way you could locate it."
Luffy spotted Ace at the harbor.
Ace laughed.
"It was thanks to Moria."
Moria immediately explained,
"I left part of my shadow here."
As he spoke, a black shadow clinging to the ground swam rapidly from afar and merged into Moria's own shadow.
His Devil Fruit still has this ability?
Luffy thought in surprise.
At that moment, Marco appeared, jumping off the ship with a tall, restrained man.
"This is one of Kaido's subordinates—Jack the Drought, one of the All-Stars of the Beasts Pirates. He attacked us out of nowhere yesterday and was captured."
Jack's face was filled with fury.
"Straw Hat…"
Falling into the hands of another Yonko was truly bad news.
"I'll hand him over to you, Luffy," Ace said with a smile. "There's no point in keeping him with us."
Jack had attacked on his own initiative. Whether they killed or detained him, it would inevitably cause conflict with Kaido—and the Whitebeard Pirates couldn't afford a disaster like that right now.
After much deliberation, they decided to hand him over to Luffy.
Luffy laughed and said,
"Let him go."
"Now?" Marco froze for a moment.
"It's fine. Let him leave."
Soon, the seastone chains on Jack's body were removed. Yet even after regaining his freedom, Jack didn't dare make any suspicious moves.
"Why did you do this, Straw Hat Luffy…?" He couldn't understand the other party's intentions.
"Go back and tell Kaido that I'll be visiting him soon."
Hearing this, Jack nodded and ran off without hesitation.
As for his subordinates… they were turned into zombies by Moria.
Jack took a small boat and left alone, quickly disappearing from sight.
"Come on, I'll take you to the castle."
As the host, Luffy warmly received the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates.
In the castle's banquet hall, the captains of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet and the Whitebeard Pirates held a friendly meeting.
"Let's get straight to the point. Ace, why did you come looking for me?"
"Luffy, we're in trouble."
Ace sighed and began to explain.
After Whitebeard's death, many pirate fleets started devouring his territories like hungry sharks.
Without the deterrence of Whitebeard's name, the remaining territories of the Whitebeard Pirates were being attacked from all sides.
They were stronger than ordinary pirates, but the sheer number of attacks was growing worse by the day.
If this continued, they too would eventually become targets.
They could still defend themselves for now, but as time passed and the chaos worsened, it was only a matter of time before they were singled out.
Unless the Whitebeard Pirates disbanded, they would inevitably be targeted.
But Ace didn't want that.
So there was only one option left: seek protection.
After listening to everything, Luffy nodded and said,
"You can settle in Elegia. No one will dare do anything to you."
"No, Luffy, that's not what I meant," Ace said solemnly. "I want the Whitebeard Pirates to join your fleet."
This was also the conclusion everyone had reached.
In the current situation, only one of the Yonko could protect them.
Hearing this, Luffy let out a deep sigh.
The rise and fall of a great force depended almost entirely on its captain.
Was there really such a huge difference between the current remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates when he was still alive?
In truth, no. Their main fighting strength had been largely preserved.
And yet, once the deterrence of Whitebeard's name vanished, things had come to this.
If one day he were to die, the Straw Hat Grand Fleet would also be in serious trouble.
No—its situation would be even worse than Ace's and the others'.
Not only the Grand Fleet, but also several countries in the Sun Sea Region, Amazon Lily, and Fish-Man Island would immediately become targets of the World Government.
When he fell, tens of millions of people would be affected.
Without realizing it, he already wielded tremendous influence.
"Yes. I allow you to join us. Ace, the Whitebeard Pirates will become the Sixth Division, and you will be its captain!"
Luffy replied with a smile.
Ace had matured. In the past, he would never have come to ask his younger brother for help.
Ace had always been stubborn.
Just like in Alabasta—telling him not to go was useless. The more people insisted, the more determined he became.
"Thank you, Luffy!" Ace smiled.
The rest of the Whitebeard group also sighed in relief; at least they wouldn't have to face disbandment.
"As for Pops' territories, we also want to reclaim them, Luffy," Marco said seriously. "You don't need to get directly involved—we'll just replace the flag."
Replacing Whitebeard's flag with the Straw Hat flag was the best solution for now.
"In the future, all the gold and silver tributes offered in those places will be handed over to you," Marco added.
"No need. I don't collect protection fees," Luffy refused immediately.
They only controlled a few poor territories now, and he had already accepted a small amount of gold, which was more than enough as a protection fee.
"If you don't charge them, the others will feel uneasy," Marco explained helplessly. "This is the system of the New World. Just as countries allied with the World Government must pay Heavenly Tribute, territories protected by the Yonko must also pay protection fees."
That was true.
Luffy realized that good intentions didn't always lead to good results.
Rather than refusing the fees, it would be better to think about how to use them.
He could simply pass them on to the Neo-Marine.
Garp and the others needed that money more than he did.
"I understand. I'll trouble you with that from now on."
After a pause, Luffy asked again,
"Ace, have you already met Shanks?"
He brought up the alliance after mentioning Shanks.
Everyone was shocked.
An alliance between two of the Four Emperors could quickly become the greatest force in the New World.
"After burying Pops, the Red-Haired left, saying he was looking for something. That was a long time ago."
"Is that so?"
What could he be looking for?
Unable to guess, Luffy asked,
"Do you know where the Road Poneglyph on Fish-Man Island is?"
Hearing this, the captains of the Whitebeard group exchanged glances, filled with absolute despair.
(End of Chapter)