While Karl was touring and adventuring in the New World,
the tidal waves he'd stirred across the world all last year—from "god-slayer" in the first half of the Grand Line to the New World's fifth Emperor of the Sea—gradually calmed over more than seven months.
After fixing Sea Circle Calendar 1517 as the Dragon Knight Year—the Karl Year—Karl suddenly kept a low profile.
With nothing happening for a long stretch, public attention on him slowly waned.
Time is a frightening thing.
It lets a man die, and then lets him be forgotten entirely.
As one of the world's highest peaks, unless Karl stirred up another giant headline, ordinary people would soon only remember him the way they remember Whitebeard and those other great pirates—while their attention drifted to other rookies and super rookies.
Because they are not people of the same world.
Yet in September, Sea Circle Calendar 1518,
a string of stories about a man climbing fast pulled the world's gaze back to Karl's existence—
and reminded everyone how terrifying Karl truly is.
"One of the former Twin Stars of the East Blue, Portgas D. Ace, has recently been challenging major New World pirate crews."
"With all three types of Haki and the Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit, Fire Fist Ace mirrors Dragon Knight Karl. He's taking a path to chase Karl—can he prove himself in the New World?"
"After challenging and defeating several Whitebeard division commanders, the man with a 711,000,000-Berry bounty—Portgas D. Ace!"
That's right.
While Karl took Yamato traveling and adventuring, Ace began to push hard in the New World.
A child of destiny is still a child of destiny.
The year that should have belonged to him—1517—was seized by Karl, a transmigrator with "hacks," turning it into the Dragon Knight Year, the Karl Year, leaving Ace the biggest loser and a supporting role.
But after challenging Karl and being ruthlessly one-shot,
Ace's arrogance was shattered. He set Karl as the target to chase, stopped blindly challenging the greats,
and instead fought opponents near his level to grow his Haki and Devil Fruit.
Perhaps the luck that Karl pressed down for a year finally rebounded!
With his innate talent, Ace's strength skyrocketed in just over half a year as if he'd flipped a switch.
Aside from certain pirate alliances, even a New World pirate captain lost to Ace after a three-day, three-night battle.
After that first victory over a New World powerhouse, Ace turned his eyes to officers of the Four Emperors.
He chose to challenge the division commanders of the strongest pirate crew—the Whitebeard Pirates.
Starting from the weaker commanders, Ace won again and again, quickly catching the eye of Big News Morgans, who'd been short of a "cash-cow" headline.
Seeing the other of the Twin Stars finally surge in the New World, Morgans excitedly grabbed his pen and fanned the almost-forgotten
"Twin Stars of the East Blue" back into a hot topic.
Under Morgans' hype, Ace rapidly drew the attention of Mary Geoise and Marine Headquarters.
Here was a young man who had once refused an invitation to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and like Dragon Knight Karl possessed all three Haki and a Logia power.
Though the Marines knew the New World would hardly produce another Dragon Knight, they still gave Ace immense weight.
Because of Karl, Ace's bounty leapt past the original 550,000,000 to 711,000,000 Berries—firmly in New World monster territory.
With that bounty, even among a Yonko's crew he could count as a senior officer just under a first mate.
By the way, Ace's bounty ending digits match Karl's exactly.
Because—
both were born on January 1.
After Morgans printed that little discovery, everyone noticed the Twin Stars of the East Blue both hailed from the "weakest sea," were born the same day, and both wielded all three Haki and a Logia.
The only difference...
Fire Fist Ace is only now surging; it took him nearly two years to rise to 711,000,000.
Dragon Knight Karl first shook the world as the number one bounty hunter; the second time he made waves he slew a Celestial Dragon and became the 1,011,000,000-Berry Dragon Knight—the God-Slayer.
After entering the New World, he toppled the world's richest man, shattered a Buster Call, and his bounty soared to 2,011,000,000.
If not for his relatively small organization and lesser direct threat to Mary Geoise and Marine Headquarters compared to the other four Emperors,
once he defeated Kaido, truly stood at the world's summit, and was hailed the fifth Emperor of the Sea, his bounty would have spiked again.
Nothing is crueler than comparison!
Morgans' praise for Ace, in fact, set Karl's power and terror in even starker relief.
Beyond the title "Fire Fist," the label of "biggest supporting role and biggest loser" may trail Ace for years.
He can't help it; he hasn't shed the super rookie halo to stand alongside his peer as a new Emperor.
And Morgans is wicked enough.
Everyone had almost forgotten the "Twin Stars," yet he had to whip the topic hot again.
Fortunately Ace had been one-shot by Karl; otherwise, with his pride, he would surely challenge Karl again in refusal to accept it.
Even if he can't be compared to Karl, Ace's record still leads his peers.
In the original tale, "Pirate Prince" Cavendish shook the world with a 280,000,000-Berry bounty.
Ace's 711,000,000 shows how huge a stir he's caused.
With Karl's 2,011,000,000—given their age and bounties—the two are a class of their own since the start of the Great Pirate Era.
No rising star can match them.
Thus...
if 1517 was the Dragon Knight Year—the Karl Year—then this year in the New World, with no pirate able to steal his thunder, can barely be called the Ace Year.
Even if that so-called Ace Year can't compare in gold content to the Dragon Knight Year,
it's enough to make the whole world remember the Twin Stars of the East Blue once more.
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