221
Sir Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords, was a bit irritated, it had been two days since he last made contact with the Baroque Works agents he sent to Drum Island. Now, this usually wouldn't be a problem since he himself ordered Mr 3 to not make contact unless it was important.
But the main problem was the Newspaper he was reading:
[New Ruler elected in the Sakura Kingdom! Formerly known as Drum Kingdom!
After the previous ruler's execution by his own people, the citizens have elected King Dalton as their new ruler.
After the end of the tyrannic ruler Wapol, the Sakura Kingdom finally found its peace.
The island had suffered much at the hands of their former ruler. The Island which was well known for its doctors…] The paper went on telling about the history of the old kingdom and such.
But Crocodile didn't pay much attention to the rest. He had suspected that something might've happened to his agents, but now he was sure. If the Mr. 3 pair and Mr. 6 pair were successful in their attack then today's newspaper would have pointed out the other attack.
Or something along the lines of an unknown group taking over the kingdom and such. But there was no such thing.
That brought a lot of questions. And the fact that now that he tried to get in contact with them, his calls were getting declined proved his point.
Crocodile had a lot of things in mind. He was called a few hours ago by the Navy to assist them in the defense of the G-3 Base, where Jack the Drought had wanted to free some of his crew that got captured.
Obviously, Crocodile declined, as a Warlord, unless it was from the Five Elders themselves, one could avoid such tedious tasks. Jack was one of Kaido's men, and Crocodile didn't want himself to be put in the radar of that beast, not yet at least.
His plans for Alabasta were years in the making and were going well. Why stop now at the critical moment? The Straw hats were a thorn to his path, especially since they had Princess Vivi with them.
Mr. 2, Bon Clay, was called in and was currently making his way to Alabasta. When he arrives, his final plan for Alabasta will be set into motion.
The room to his office opened and Miss All Sunday walked in. "Sir Crocodile, we might have a problem…"
Crocodile frowned but let the woman continue. Nico Robin was well known for gathering information.
"A marine evacuation ship from the G-3 base came to Alabasta port." She said, "And I'm pretty sure 'White Lady' Kuina and 'Man-Demon' Gin were seen there. But the other Straw Hats are yet to be seen."
A small smile traced on the pirate's face before he started laughing, "Kuhahahah… That's not a problem my dear… can you make it so as to invite our guests here? I might want to have a little chat with them."
"I will see what I can do." Nico Robin nodded.
Crocodile wondered why two members of the Straw Hat pirates were on that ship but didn't pay that much thought into it. Capturing them would be good, and maybe with them captured, he could exchange Princess Vivi for them.
A mistake that he would regret later.
Crocodile would have gone to the Navy evacuation ship himself to capture the pirates, but going there might bring more problems then he needed.
He was considered a hero in Alabasta, so of course seeing him there, the civilians and marines might request his help for the G-3 base. And Crocodile didn't want to be put in a position where their image could be ruined. So he opted to give the job to Nico Robin.
"Oh, and take Mr. 1 with you," Crocodile said, "He will help you if the pirates get rowdy."
.
The port was now mostly cleared out; the rest of the civilians and the injured were being taken care of by the marines. X-Drake had woken up from his injuries a while ago but he didn't join the battle, it wasn't needed. The battle was won. Jack and the rest of the Beast Pirates were either killed or captured. A lot had happened while he was unconscious, it seemed.
He was glad to see that Sinbad and all of his friends were relatively unharmed due to the incident. But that wasn't even the surprising part, it seemed that while he was knocked out a certain group of pirates came along and helped the marines.
It was none other than the Straw Hat pirates. He really missed a lot of things while he was unconscious. But honestly, he didn't care. The situation was taken care of, lives were saved and a tragedy was averted. That was the main point, who cared if they had to work with pirates to do so?
Currently, X-Drake was overseeing the last of the civilians filling the ship, the Straw Hats had already left and no one tried to stop them.
Especially, since the civilians were praising the Straw Hats for helping them. Mainly two pirates were praised more than the rest. A pink-haired pirate who's name was Coby, and a pirate with a long nose who's name was Usopp.
He also heard Captain Kujaku, Vice Admiral Tsuru's granddaughter praising someone called Nami. Vivi was also mentioned by her, but it seemed she didn't know about her relation with Sinbad.
As the day started to end, the last two evacuation ships were finally filled. And their destination was the Alabasta Kingdom. The whole of Nanimonai Island was in ruins, it would take time for the G-3 base to be rebuilt.
Many lives were lost, both marines and pirates died. But then again both parties were willing to die in the sea, what made X-Drake sad was that many civilians died as well. Bodies were being counted and identified.
The Beast Pirates had lost the battle, and now most of them were captured, and to top it all off. Just to make sure another attack like this didn't happen, Vice Admiral's Cancer's unit was sent on his way to the G-3 base and Admiral Kizaru was tagging along with him as well.
Other than the prisoners, the G-3 base would mostly be empty. Any ranks above Captain were commanded by Fleet Admiral Sengoku to stand by. They didn't want another attack to happen, and so measures were taken, but the civilians were deported from the island in case another battle broke out.
But X-Drake doubted it would happen.
The marine wondered if this could've been avoided. If only they had received help sooner…
"There you are," A voice called out, bringing X-Drake's attention back to the present as he looked at Sinbad's figure who was wearing casual clothes, rather than his marine outfit. "We haven't eaten since morning… the chefs cooked some stuff up. We have to be quick if we wanna get some!"
The Zoan user smirked. "Heard a princess came to save you?" he said, "How was it meeting your long lost cousin… heard she was quite the looker~" He wiggled his brows.
"Eww… she's like my baby sister you sick bastard!" Sinbad choked on his drink, coughing. "Get those thoughts away from your dirty mind."
X-Drake chuckled, before he gave his friend a knowing smile. "Eh… if that's the case, then you wouldn't mind if I hit on her?"
"Dude, what happened to the bro-code?!"
X-Drake just laughed, and after a while Sinbad joined in as well.
"It's good that you guys are alright." X-Drake said, "This day could have gone worse."
Sinbad nodded, he had nothing to say.
X-Drake smiled at his old friend, but a question still bugged him. "Sinny, what happened to the request we sent to the other marines? Specifically, what about Vice Admiral Vergo? He was supposed to be here. This was his base after all."
Sinbad blinked, before his mood shifted. X-Drake got a feeling he wouldn't like what he was going to hear.
222
"Garp, you know, your family is a headache!" Sengoku grumbled, as he cut off the call with elders.
"Bahahaha… nah, my grandson is a genius! He's even better than my son." Garp laughed while he lazily ate rice crackers.
Other than Garp and Sengoku, no one was in the office. All of them left after the fleet admiral barked out their orders.
Sengoku could do nothing but rub his head. "You do know your grandson is planning something?"
"Bahahaha, I don't know what you mean?" Garp deflected, acting like he didn't know any better.
Sengoku snorted, "He wants to be a Warlord, and somehow he knew that I was retiring." But then again, it was no secret, there was a plan for this for a little over a year now. As well as an upcoming war against one of the Yonko's. "And to top it all off, I can't just write off his contribution! The news of Straw Hat Pirates working side by side with the marines of the G-3 base would make news." He said, "With so many eye witnesses even the World Government wouldn't be able to cover it up…"
Garp didn't say anything and just ate his rice crackers. "Eh… who cares, at least he did you a favor." He said, gulping down his food before giving Sengoku a side glance. "With Jack in our custody, it should be easy to bring out Kaido for the war. And it's not the first time we beat up the oversized snake."
Sengoku frowned but nodded. "I have spoken to the Five Elders… they don't seem to be bothered by the plan. But I'm not sure how I will manage to convince them about Luffy joining the ranks of the Warlords. They don't particularly trust your family, after all."
"Eh… I'm sure you will manage somehow. Didn't he say he would take down Crocodile in Alabasta? With Princess Vivi vouching against the sand pirate, he's toast. No wonder why he refused to help with the G-3 base situation." Garp said.
In the call, Luffy had told them many things. On how to use Jack for the upcoming war to fish out Kaido, to giving him a seat in the Warlords and about how Crocodile was scheming his way into the Alabasta Kingdom. About how his organization was just a front for his real work.
Sengoku or any marines present didn't want to believe it. But when the princess, Vivi, vouched for his words, telling them of how she had joined Baroque Works to spy on them and gather information, and how they were ruining Alabasta from the inside.
Luffy even brought more evidence, two former members of Baroque Works. Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek, who they captured. They had blurted out everything they knew when they were questioned as long as they weren't arrested.
Both Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek had clean records and were mainly bounty hunters. Sure they did try to take over the Drum Kingdom but Luffy didn't mention it, so they didn't blurt that out either.
After that, it was obvious what Crocodile was planning.
Sengoku and Garp had to hold off Zephyr before the old marine could get out and do something. And so the plan was simple, Sengoku was pulling strings to find evidence against Crocodile, while unofficially Luffy's crew would bring down Crocodile.
After that when one seat becomes empty, Luffy will take the place as a warlord.
A very well-thought-out plan. And Garp really liked it, since this way he could keep an eye on his grandkid. Sengoku also saw it as an opportunity to reign someone in that was much stronger than Crocodile, mainly when it became almost obvious that a war with Kaido was inevitable.
"But Sengoku, are you sure about going into the war with a Yonko? I still think it would cost more lives on our side than we can afford." Garp said in all seriousness.
"It's orders from above. But I don't like it either." Sengoku said, rubbing his forehead. "But at least it's better than going into a war with Whitebeard. Among the Yonko, he might be physically weaker due to his old age, but he has the greatest number of allies. Bringing him down would take an even larger force. Kaido on the other hand is arrogant, there's even a chance that he might just bring one ship for the war."
Garp snorted, "He's arrogant, but not a fool. He will also bring his whole crew and allies to show his power to the world."
Senogku nodded.
Also, Whitebeard was a pirate, yes, but he was at least decent among the monsters that sailed the sea. Many islands were safe just because they had his flag on the island.
Kaido, on the other hand, was just a mindless beast. He had allies, yes, but they were limited in number. As far as they knew, at least.
Convincing the Five Elders to switch targets from Whitebeard to Kaido was the easy part.
Preparing for the war on the other hand was the tough part. Sengoku had a lot of paperwork and careful planning to do.
Even though Garp looked aloof about the situation, he was a lot more observant. Fighting Whitebeard might bring Ace, one of his other grandsons to the fight, and also reveal his identity as Roger's son. And Garp didn't want that. He didn't know why but he got a sinking feeling that Luffy tried to avoid it.
Garp grinned, 'You have grown, brat!' he thought internally as he continued eating his rice crackers. 'At least you got your father's brains for doing stuff. I just hope you'll be safe.'
Garp might not have liked how Luffy turned out to be a pirate. But what he did today made him proud. Every marine in Marineford was discussing how a rookie pirate stood with the Marines in times of danger.
Many were praising the young pirate for standing up for what's right. Of course, there were critics, but Garp didn't care. He only cared that his grandson was doing the right thing. And him being a warlord wasn't as bad now that he thought about it.
Unknowingly, due to Luffy's actions, many of the marines that were part of Sword now idolized him. Well, there were quite a few of them in the G-3 base after all. All in all, Garp was really proud of his grandson.
223
Kuina, Gin, and Chopper sat in a very fine establishment. Sitting on luxurious chairs at a big fancy table. Even White Fury was with them, though she had nowhere to sit, so the establishment owners gave her a large mat to sit on.
All of them looked a bit bloated from the food they had, as one could see multiple empty plates on the table.
"Thank you for the wait, dear sirs! Here are your desserts." A group of waiters came, placing very fancy dishes and taking away the empty plates. All of them were desserts; cakes, ice creams, and fresh fruit salads that one wouldn't expect from a restaurant in a desert country.
"Thank you for the food!" All of them said at the same time, as the four Straw Hat pirates dug into their food. All of them had blissful expressions on their face as they paused from time to time to appreciate the food.
Now some might wonder how they got here. Well, after helping the Navy evacuation ship, many people offered many rewards. But the Straw Hats declined most of them since they were doing it out of goodwill. So they didn't want to take too much benefit from it.
But the four Straw Hats hadn't eaten for a whole day and so when one of the civilians there owned a restaurant here offered them food they didn't deny it. It was already night and they would need to eat dinner anyways. But who knew that they would dine here in such a fancy restaurant?
With the Straw Hats dining in there, there weren't any other customers. The restaurant owners didn't want their guests to get disturbed it seemed.
"Being a pirate is awesome! Umuu…" Chopper said as he ate the red cake. The reindeer mink had a blissful expression on his face.
"Um-hm!" Gin nodded as he licked his ice cream like a kid. No one should ever see the Man-Demon this way. The happy expression just didn't go well with his whole scary face.
"You should try the yellow cake after a sip from the coffee," Kuina suggested as she took her time to have some coffee.
All of them might have had better food in their lives because of Sanji. But that didn't mean the restaurant's quality of food wasn't praiseworthy. Even the big White Snake was wiggling around like a worm after having ice cream. Which was weird since most snakes didn't even eat that kind of stuff.
But unfortunately, their enjoyment was cut short as an explosion destroyed the front of the store and a group of thugs came out with weapons in their hands.
"Heard you were from the Straw Hat Pirates! We are from Baroque Works, the boss wants you folks to come with us…" The thugs pointed their large bazookas at them, "Don't even try anything, I was a Grand Line pirate with a decade of experience before joining…" The thug's words died down as he was suddenly frozen, frost gathering around his body, even the smoke and dust froze.
"All the food it's ruined…!" Chopper sobbed cute reindeer tears before he growled, his form changing from his child-like form to his muscular form with pissed red eyes. "You will pay!" He growled as his fist was charged with electricity.
"I didn't even get to touch my chocolate flavored ice cream…" Gin muttered, before his form started to change as scales grew over his body like armor, making him gain height and muscles. "You will suffer!"
"You people chose a very wrong time to piss me off," Kuina said, she looked calm, eerily calm. But that was in her nature when she was angry, if not downright furious. The whole area around them had already shifted in temperature, becoming cold. The group of thugs could see their own breaths as fog.
"H-Hey… w-what did you do to Bob!?" one of the thugs finally found the courage to ask, but he was ignored.
White Fury hissed in anger, as wings with sharp white feathers grew out of her back.
"Yes, yes you can have them as a replacement for your dessert," Kuina nodded. And with that, White Fury jumped onto the nearby pirates before all of the Straw Hats jumped in themselves.
"Agh…! She froze my arm!"
"Help me! It's going to eat me!"
"Zzzzz!"
"No!"
Loud cries escaped from inside the shop as the fight with a group of fifty thugs tried to survive against the Straw Hat pirates.
"Huh, who the heck makes this much noise this late…?" Said a man wearing a red hat and wearing a normal shirt that was unbuttoned. He also had a simple samurai sword strapped on his belt. "Huh, let's check it out…" he said as his hands touched his sword. "You seem excited for some reason?"
224
The Going Merry was speeding through the ocean at a rapid speed toward the island of Alabasta.
"We are on a short schedule. Hatchan, bring in the food!" Luffy said, as he and his crew rapidly ate their meal, almost all of them had bandages covering their bodies.
The kitchen door opened and the six-armed fish-man came out with six large dishes of food. Inside, one could see Sanji rapidly working in the kitchen, his figure blurring out from time to time.
All of the crew ate as if their life depended on it. Well, for some it did. Even though the Straw Hat Pirates helped the Marines, without Chopper they didn't have doctors. And the crew didn't trust others that much, especially Marines.
"Oi, Nami, how long till we reach Alabasta?" Zoro asked as he gulped down food at ridiculous speeds.
"Don't speak to Nami-swan like that, Mosshead!" Sanji screamed from the kitchen.
"At least four hours with the speed we are going, if we don't face any storms that is…" Nami answered.
Zoro nodded, focusing back on gulping down food at a comical rate.
The Going Merry was going at a very fast speed. Nami had used her knowledge and the log records from the Black Moon Pirates to find the best way to travel. As they didn't have any doctors on hand, their best bet was to get to Alabasta as fast as possible and see Chopper. Luckily most of the crew knew a somewhat basic usage of Life Return, so they could recover from most of their non-lethal injuries by eating.
For someone like Luffy, he was almost back to full health, his right arm, which had been purple and fractured in multiple places, was now pink and healthy. Even though Luffy had stressed the importance of Life Return, seeing the result was another thing. Many of the crew got motivated to look into that technique later.
Especially Zoro, since he was the one that got the most injured.
The ship was being pulled by Momoo, who had been fed first. Well, with so many bodies of pirates and marines floating around the sea, the sea king had a lot of time to snack on.
But even then, the speed at which Momoo was pulling the ship was unnaturally fast. It shouldn't have been possible, yet it was. After the battle with Swift was over, and Sanji came to consciousness, he rushed and looked through every corner of the island looking for the fruit.
Sokudo-Sokudo no Mi (Velocity-Velocity Fruit) was a blue spiral-shaped lemon. And with the excuse of looking for survivors —and the help of his crewmates— Sanji was able to find the fruit.
It was located in one of the marine kitchens in the bases. Sanji didn't even waste any time and ate it, becoming the speed human.
With his natural talent for speed, the fruit finally found a great user, boosting Sanji's abilities to a significant level. But the problem was that Sanji was unable to control the speed. Going through walls, and breaking stuff even when he tried to walk.
That is until Luffy suggested channeling the speed to something else. Like how Usopp did with his Size Size fruit. And all of them were surprised that it was possible to increase others' speed as long as Sanji was in contact with them. That is the reason why the Going Merry was running at five times its regular speed.
But at the same time, Luffy made sure to use Bartolomeo's shield ability to mold a shield around the haul of the ship to the front, so that the fast currents didn't damage Merry. And with all of their combined effort, the Going Merry was reaching the Alabasta Kingdom at a very fast rate.
Seeing Sanji's sudden improvement, Zoro pushed himself into training. Well… not any heavy lifting or anything like that. No, he was specifically training for Life Return. As he already had Tekkai, learning Life Return shouldn't be that tough as both techniques work in controlling your body.
Like how Soru was kind of like a pre-technique for Geppo. Same was the case with Life Return, learning Tekkai was the first step.
And after seeing what Luffy was able to achieve, Zoro was very keen in learning the technique. So, his first task in learning Life Return was to eat as much food as possible, and force his body to use the added food to make his punctured lung and damaged liver recover. And shockingly enough it was working.
Kuina already knew Life Return, mainly because she needed to better understand her own body to use her Ice Manifestation, Virf. So Zoro had another reason to learn the technique. He couldn't let either Sanji nor his childhood friend get a leg up on him. Not now.
Even Luffy was impressed by what Zoro was able to do. It seems the rivalry between Zoro and Sanji pushed both of their growths to the extreme. Though Luffy could see that even with Sanji's new powers, Zoro was stronger now.
While Sanji's power did increase quite a lot, it wasn't controlled. In fact, with the introduction of the devil fruit, Sanji needed to work really hard so that it wouldn't become a liability. Now Sanji could only activate or deactivate his powers, not control them. He needed to get that covered if he wanted to improve his fighting style.
Also speaking of fruits, Hatchan admitted to killing a guy who had the Swamp Swamp fruit. The same guy who tried to harm Vivi and Nami. Luffy could guess a story there, but didn't ask. Hatchan was a kind-hearted guy, so he knew it took a lot for him to kill. But as they didn't find the fruit on the island, it was most likely left there. Luffy really hated leaving behind a logia fruit like that.
But with all the marines, it was good as it is that they were able to get the speed fruit. Being too greedy might put them on their radar. Still, a logia fruit, especially the swamp-swamp fruit, was shown to be able to carry prisoners and things inside one's body… so Luffy was a bit sad about it.
But oh, well. It's useless crying over spilled milk. In actuality, he was sure there were more fruits that were lost in the battle, as the Beast Pirates had a few normal zoan fruits in their ranks. Some of them were Smiles, but some of them were devil fruits, so it wasn't just the swamp fruit that Luffy lost out on.
Sabo also took the time to contact Dragon about what had happened. Even though the fall of the G-3 base was a major loss for the safety of the islands that were near it. It also gave the Revolutionaries an opportunity to spread their work around the said islands and maybe bring some people towards their cause.
After the eating was done, Luffy also made a quick call to Gin, who he had given a normal transponder snail. He was just making sure White Fury, Chopper, Gin, and Kuina were okay or not.
Dinner ended shortly, and everyone went on with their routine. Everyone but one member of the crew. It was Vivi, the princess was petting Karoo and thinking about what just happened a few hours ago.
225
Viv was petting Karoo and was thinking about what just happened. A few hours ago, she was worrying about Alabasta, then Sinbad, and now all her worries were gone. Sure Crocodile was still out there, but Luffy had made sure to 'report' everything to the Fleet Admiral, and his grandfather Garp. And now Crocodile was only a Warlord in name.
Vivi had thought of reporting her findings on Crocodile to the Marines many times. But getting into contact with high-ranking officers who would actually believe her story was another issue. Heck, if it was easy, she would contact her uncle or Sinbad.
But Luffy had managed to not just tell any marine, but the highest ranking marine there was. The fleet admiral was very displeased about what Crocodile did, especially after he declined to help with the G-3 base situation. Vice Admiral Garp was down yelling at Sengoku about how he let that happen.
And by extension, her uncle Zephyr, —honestly, Vivi didn't know he was hearing the call— now Crocodile was no longer under the protection from the Marines or the World Government. Well, on paper he still was, but Garp just told Luffy to take care of him off the book so things would be stable.
Sinbad was pissed enough to go there and beat the pirate himself. But Fleet Admiral Sengoku stopped him in his tracks, he had other duties. Such as looking after the Beast Pirates until they were transported to Marineford.
Especially after Luffy hinted at there being a mole inside the ranks. Because in all reality, that was extremely likely since very few people knew the layout of the G-3 base and the pirates had attacked in very specified locations, promoting the idea that someone had leaked the information.
'Maybe Luffy knew something,' Vivi thought, 'Well, he did tell something to only Sinbad.' Luffy knew a lot of stuff, so she wasn't surprised that Luffy figured something out.
After that was over, Sinbad wanted Vivi to stay with him, and uncle Zephyr proposed the same thing. But Vivi declined, sure both of them were worried, but she trusted the Straw Hat pirates more than the Marines.
Even though Vivi didn't like how Crocodile's schemes would remain unknown to the world at large, it was for the better. Other nations would laugh if they knew the Alabasta kingdom was almost taken over by a pirate. Baroque Works really did mess up her country.
Speaking of Baroque Works, Vivi glanced at the two agents that were on the deck of the ship. Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek, both had eaten dinner with them
Also, it meant bad news as well, the fire lit between the Alabasta revolutionaries and the kingdom was at a critical stage. Taking out Crocodile would help, but it wouldn't solve all the problems.
Well, that could still be taken care of if any third party didn't intervene. Alabasta might be going through a lot right now but Vivi was sure her father could do something to calm them down. There was a negotiation between the King and the leader of Alabasta's revolutionaries in a few days. It would be better if Crocodile was dealt with before that.
More so when as Luffy wanted the Alabasta kingdom be under him. Which would stop most pirates from coming to their islands and causing havoc.
While Crocodile was a scheming bastard, due to him many pirates stayed tame if they ever crossed through Alabasta. He was just that fearsome.
Unlike others, no one suspected Crocodile of being the mastermind of Alabasta's problems. Not even the World Government, not that they would have helped. It was well known that the World Nobles had a dislike for her family.
Still, it didn't matter. Luffy and the crew are strong enough to handle Crocodile and her country would be free. That is the only thing that mattered.
But that brought another question. She was reaching home. Would she have to leave the crew?
"Hey! Um… I think Momoo just ran over something?" Hatchan called out.
"We are on the sea! What do you mean Momoo ran over someone?!" Nami called out.
Luffy squinted his eyes at the night sky, before pulling back his fist and launching it in the air. "Gotcha!" And with it, he pulled in a certain someone.
.
"So the G-3 base was attacked…" Dragon nodded to himself as he finished his call with Sabo. Making calls from the base was a lot of trouble, especially since they had to set up Black Transponder snails from both sides. Good thing that Luffy had one with him. Still, it was one of the reasons why they weren't able to contact each other often.
After leaving with Luffy, Sabo had only now reported back. Well, it was better than the Marines finding out about Luffy getting in contact with the Revolutionaries. Especially now that his son had some specific goals.
The G-3 base was destroyed in the attack by the Beast Pirates. It meant that the Revolutionaries could move a bit more freely in the first part of the grandline.
A good thing in his books. Due to the Marines focusing on the first part of the Grand Line, the revolutionaries had to pull back from there. Even their base was located in the second part of the Grand Line because of it.
Dragon wondered what his son was planning after becoming a Warlord. So far he was doing his own thing, but his son, like him, had ambition. A small smile dawned on his face as Dragon leaned back on his chair looking at a picture frame. Well, two pictures set in that frame side by side, placed on his table. Most of the time he kept the picture inside his drawer but not today.
Both of the pictures had Dragon on them, but with two different women. His first and second wives. Taken a few years apart.
Both women were beautiful, people that Dragon would give anything and everything in the world for. And yet both of them were no more. They were one of the main reasons why he wanted to take on the World Government.
To avenge what was taken from him. To stop it from ever happening again. The absolute power of the World Government had made the lives of regular people miserable. The Marines as an organization couldn't fully serve justice if they were under those corrupt rulers.
The World Government did many things to hide its history, and yet he found a lot of it over the years. But then again his first wife would know better than him about the past.
A sad smile was on his face as he looked at the picture of a silver-haired woman. Dragon sighed, rubbing his forehead. He opened his drawer and took out a bounty poster of Nico Robin. His firstborn.
Dragon wondered where she was. Just like her mother, she was really good at hiding from the Navy. And because of it, Dragon never knew where she was.
He only knew that she was somewhere, alive, and not captured, due to the active bounty poster. He kept track of it every week. He wondered how he would break the news to his own son, of him having a sister.
After what happened to his first wife and firstborn, Dragon didn't want to take chances with Luffy and placed him in his father's care. That was the best way he could keep him safe. At least he wouldn't fail Luffy this way.
Dragon sighed thinking about things. No one knew about Nico Robin being his firstborn, not even his second-in-command Sabo. He only knew she was important.
What the leader of the Revolutionaries didn't know was that Sabo already met Nico Robin. But with all things that were going on, the blond actually forgot to mention it in the reports. If only Dragon knew.
————————
A/N: I don't know if Nico Robin being Luffy's sister will be canon in the future or not. For now, it's AU in my fic.
You can look up theories on Luffy and Robin being siblings. Some of them do make valid points.
Anyway, I have some interesting take for what's Ace's swords going to be. But you guys can make guesses.
Happy reading!
226
"And that is why, Mr. 1, I suggested not going in there head first." Nico Robin said as the Baroque Works grunts were taken care of swiftly by the Straw Hat pirates.
Mr. 1 looked at Miss All-Sunday, "Didn't we poison the food? It was one of our best restaurants, they are going to destroy it at this rate… so why isn't it taking effect?"
"Well, we didn't poison the food." Nico Robin cleared, "I just put some strong sleeping potion in it. Mr. Zero did want us to bring them for a bargain… killing them here wouldn't do us any good when they could be much more useful as a bargaining chip later for the princess." Also the fact that she didn't want to actually kill unless needed.
Daz Bonez nodded.
"It would be better if we retreat. Fighting them head-on will only cause problems…"
Both Nico Robin and Daz Bonez (Mr. 1) were hiding in an alleyway, looking towards the restaurant where the Straw Hats were. In the middle of the night, they could easily hide so no one could see them.
"No," Daz Bonez said, pointing to something, "Look there… Who is that?"
Nico Robin frowned and looked at the figure that Daz was pointing at. To get a better view she used her fruit powers to sprout an eye near the restaurant. And what she found shocked her. "No… it can't be. It's the 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates; 'Fire Storm' Ace!"
"What's he doing here…? Does he have some connections with the Straw Hat Pirates?" Daz Bonez asked, but the answer came when Ace suddenly the front of the shop burst into flames and ice. "I will take that as a 'no' for an answer."
.
"You're 'Fire Storm' Ace?!" Kuina shouted in question as she clashed blades with the fire user.
Ace blinked, confused, "Yes, I am, but why are-"
Kuina cut him off, "Then fight me!" With that, she attacked relentlessly as her blade started getting cold, gathering frost. The area around her dropped down to freezing temperatures.
Ace sidestepped a stab from the odd girl, before taking a step back to avoid a slash aimed at his chest. From the brief interaction, he deducted two things. First, she was much weaker than him, and second, she wasn't actively trying to kill him, more like challenging him to test out his skills or to test herself. Which confused him even more, as he didn't know the lady.
But if it's a fight she wants, a fight she will get. With that, Ace activated his powers, countering hers, the temperature shifting to a boiling point on his side as he blocked and parried her strikes.
"What's your name, lady? Do I know you? If I did something wrong I'm sorry, I guess?" Ace said as he easily countered Kuina's strikes. Sparks of frost and flames flying in the air. Ace jumped back, gaining a little distance.
"Kuina, and no you don't know me. Anyway, fight me!" Kuina said, "Sakura Hurricane!" A giant blast of ice that looked like small sakura petals dragged toward the Whitebeard pirate.
Ace sighed, "What's with girls always picking a fight with me..?" He mumbled thinking about a certain large girl, who also wore a white kimono. Also, about a certain orange-haired marine. And lastly, about a pink-haired female pirate that really loved to eat. "Blaze Burn!" he announced, swiping his blade upwards as a volley of flames ate away at the ice, canceling out the Ice Lady's attack.
"Gorgeous, Beautiful, and Blood-thirsty, you really know how to pick em, huh captain?" Masked Deuce said, lazily leaning on a nearby wall, the flames or frost not touching him.
Hearing the words of his First Mate, Ace's eye twitched but before he could respond Kuina was on him yet again. Pushing him with her attacks to an empty section of the town, Ace could only watch in annoyance as his First Mate waved him a goodbye.
"Crap!" Gin called out coming out of the restaurant, "Why is Kuina fighting him!? She knows who he is!"
"Who is he?" Chopper asked, returning back to his smaller form, and he was also feeling a bit sleepy, "Is it me, or am I a bit sleepy?"
Gin blinked, "Now that you mention it…" he said, narrowing his eyes. "Someone drugged our food."
"What?! Then we need a doctor! We need a doctor!" Chopper screamed, running around Gin, before the taller pirate grabbed the panicked mink.
"You ARE the doctor," he said nonchalantly.
"Oh… but why aren't the drugs taking effect? I'm used to overdosing on drugs since I was little, so it doesn't affect me, much… but what about you and Kuina? I mean White Fury is already asleep."
Gin blinked and checked to see that the large snake really was asleep. The large White Snake also had a bulging stomach, it seemed that she didn't leave anyone behind, earning a respectful nod from the Man-Demon.
"I had a lot of alcohol tolerance before joining the crew. Could drink anyone under the table… good to know I still have that skill in me." Gin said, "But then again, I've been trying to learn Life Return for quite a while now, so maybe that might have been the case. I think Kuina's case is similar, she is the third one I know that has fully learned the technique."
Chopper's eyes took a shine in them, "Oh, that technique that uses Bio-Feedback. I am trying to learn that as well." Gin nodded, "Anyway, why is Kuina attacking that guy again? Who's that guy, anyway? He seems quite strong."
"That's 'Fire Storm' Ace, and of course, he would be strong." Gin said, "Well, he is Captain's…" But he was cut off, as his words froze. Chopper blinked at why suddenly his friend stopped talking.
A man with blue hair and a mask casually walked towards them.
"You shouldn't just go around telling those kinds of things around here… not when there are eavesdroppers around here, rookie," Masked Deuce said, pointing towards a certain empty alleyway. He then let go of Gin, making the pirate blink in confusion. "And, yes, I do know about that relationship between your captain's and mine. I'm sorry that my captain didn't recognize her immediately, but he seems to be enjoying the fight. So let's leave them be. Come out, little listeners!"
But no one came out.
"Huh, It seems they are making a run for it. What should we do?" he asked Gin.
Gin shifted in his place, he recognized the man. Even though Luffy didn't actively tell others about his family. The rubber man trusted Gin enough to give him key details about Ace. And this man was Ace's First Mate, Masked Deuce. Gin promptly took out his transponder snail, "Um, let's call my captain."
Masked Deuce blinked. "Wow… carrying a transponder snail like that. Resourceful… and a good idea."
And so Gin made the call.
227
"Now what do we have here?" Luffy wondered looking at Bon Clay, who was knocked out.
"Hey, still alive in there!?" Bartolomeo asked, as he poked the okama with a stick. "I think we killed him, big bro."
"Sad!" Johnny nodded.
"Sad!" Yosaku nodded.
"Huh, what's sad?!" The okama sat up from his lying position, scaring the three pirates.
"YOU ARE!" All three Straw Hat pirates said at the same time.
"What?! Wait, did I almost die?" He asked, "Did you guys save me?"
"Ne ne we saved you, so you have to thank us." Luffy said, sitting down with crossed legs in front of the Okama.
"Uh… thank you then." The crossdresser said genuinely, "I didn't know what hit me, but thank you."
"Sure." Luffy waved it off, getting a bunch of sweat drops from his crewmates. "Anyway, wanna join my crew?"
"No, I'm sorry. I'm already in a crew." The Okama nodded.
"Aw… that sucks!" Luffy said, "Then can we be friends?"
The Okama blinked and nodded vigorously, "Of course."
"Then as a friend, can you do me a favor?"
"Anything!"
Luffy stretched out his hand, and Bon Clay shook it, but suddenly Luffy wrapped something around his arms. That made the Okama drop to the ground, weak and drained.
"Just don't try to get out of the cuffs," Luffy said, cuffing the okama's hands behind his back.
Bon Clay felt betrayed and before he could say anything someone cut him off.
"Is that you Mr 2?"
"Wait what are you doing here, Mr 3? They also got you?" Bon Clay asked.
"No, well kinda…" Answered Miss Goldenweek who was having tea and some snacks on a nearby table. She stretched both of her hands, "See, we have no cuffs, so the situation is a bit different."
"See, she gets it… act right and you will get out of the cuffs in no time. Shishishi…"
"That's not how it works!" Bon Clay screamed before he shed a tear. Looking down at the ground in disbelief, "I thought we were friends… wait, now that you mention it. I didn't get your name, my name is Bon Clay by the way."
"Uh-huh, name's Monkey D. Luffy. I'm quite famous around here."
Bon Clay felt his jaw drop and he looked around. This was the crew his boss had warned him about. He could clearly see Princess Vivi glaring at him. Shit.
"Pere pere pere pere pere~ Pere pere pere pere pere~"
Luffy blinked as Nami came out of the navigation room with the transponder snail.
"Ugh, get to know the crew," Luffy said, "I'm sure we can be the best of friends after the situation with Crocky is over."
With that Luffy went inside the navigation room, with Nami. After sitting on the nearby table, he finally received the call. "Moshi Moshi…"
"Ugh, Captain. I think we have a problem." It was Gin.
Luffy frowned, "What? Did Crocodile attack you guys?"
"Um… yeah, that did happen. Well, he didn't attack, but his guys did. But that's not the problem. You see it's your brother, Ace. Kuina is kind of fighting him right now."
"Pfft… Oh, I thought you said there was a problem?" Luffy asked with a smile. "I'm sure he's having a good time. I mean who doesn't like a good fight?"
A chuckle came from the other side, it wasn't Gin's. "Brothers indeed. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Masked Deuce. Ace said a lot about you…"
Luffy's grin widened.
.
Kuina panted, her breath rough, she eyed her opponent carefully. She drew in a breath of air, fog coming out of her mouth, before she disappeared from her spot. Appearing right in front of Ace.
She swung downwards, her sword getting blocked by Ace's. Wado Ichimonji hummed like never before, it was as if the sword had awakened its will.
She striked, slashed. Her blade leaving an afterimage after every move, each one move more elegant than the last. Pinning down Ace's weak points and striking them. And yet the fire user avoided them without a hitch. Not even using his logia ability to do so.
Both of their blades met in the middle, drawing sparks of frost and fire.
"You are very talented, huh." Ace said, smiling. "Your moves kind of remind me of one of my crewmates. Whitey Bay? Do you know her?"
Kuina didn't say anything, focusing all of her will into her blade, before pushing Ace back.
The fire user jumped back, doing a backflip, and avoiding the flying slashes before landing. He held his hat, "It's time to get serious I suppose." He held up his blade, his blade gaining a shine of black.
He looked at his sword, it's been acting a bit rowdy lately. However, it was being rowdy in a good way. The last time it got rowdy it tried to suck all of his Haki into itself. Though at the time, it did save his life. He has been using this sword for about a year now, and yet the sword felt full of mystery.
With Enma enforced in Haki, Ace looked at his opponent and moved. He was going to get serious, but he was also having fun in a way. So why not test his opponent? It took Ace a bit of time, but he did figure out what the true identity of his opponent was.
Kuina also moved her sword shimmering white, before both of them clashed. Creating a clash of fire and ice..
Ace moved with a flurry, each strike having more force then the previous. His blade naturally sucked in his flames, gaining a simmer of red along the blackness of the sword.
Even though Ace was getting faster and faster the girl was able to match his speed. "Impressive!" Ace said, "Let's see you handle this! Flame Commandment!" He swung his sword around his body, gathering all of the flames in it before releasing a thick wheel of flames.
Kuina was astonished as the speed of the attack was too fast for her to react. She braced herself with Virf, gathering as much cold as possible.
The attack landed on Kuina, generating a large pillar of flames that expanded to the sky. Lighting up the surroundings.
Ace grinned, before his smile flattened. He didn't overdo it, did he?
The pillar of flames that stretched to the sky suddenly started shimmering, making Ace grin. Suddenly the pillar of flame was replaced by a pillar of white ice.
"Freezing Moon!" Kuina said as she stepped out of the frost pillar. Panting. That last attack took quite a bit out of her. But at the same time, she could feel something deep within her almost awakening.
Her sword was calling her to strike, to stress the boundaries. To be free.
Kuina breathed out, as the frozen pillar behind her scattered into steam and mist surrounding the general area.
"Ho… blocking my vision won't do you any good. I do have Observation Haki…" But suddenly Ace stopped mid-way as when the mist touched his body it froze his arm. Of course, it didn't stay frozen as Ace had blasted it with fire, but that got him on the edge.
He also took a few jumps back away from the mist. That was dangerous, a grin spread out on his face. And he liked danger. The hold on his blade tightened, maybe he was going to enjoy it after all.
228
Sir Crocodile's brow twitched hearing Miss All Sunday's reports. "So you are saying a Whitebeard pirate is fighting one of the Straw Hat pirates."
The woman nodded, Daz Bones didn't say anything but he looked a bit pissed.
"You did the right thing by withdrawing… the Whitebeard Pirates aren't someone you guys can go against," Crocodile said taking a drag from his cigar, his left arm giving a phantom pain hearing that name. The sand user tightened his jaw, remembering what had happened.
Whitebeard, he hated that man. But for now, it would be better for him to not engage the enemy. That would bring too much attention. And there should already be already a few marines there, so maybe they could handle it.
"They are also causing a lot of destruction in the lawless part of that town…" All Sunday said, as if to prove her point right at that exact moment the night sky lit up.
All of them looked at the small pillar of flame that was visible from here. Crocodile grunted, "That Fire Storm brat… leave him be. Same for the Straw Hat pirates, it seems they are not as easy as it seems."
Crocodile had gotten a few reports from the marines under his payroll. And he came to notice what happened at the G-3 base. It seemed for some reason they were spotted on that base. Meaning they shouldn't be here for at least another day. Good.
By then Mr. 2, Bon Clay, should be here and ready for the mission.
"We have to speed up our plans," Crocodile said.
Robin looked at him, "What do you have in mind?"
Crocodile grinned.
.
Kuina panted, her breathing ragged, multiple wounds were visible on her body. Almost all of them were shallow, but the large number of wounds showed how powerful Ace was. All of the wounds were shallow only because he was holding back.
He was also sporting some damage to his clothes. But he looked rather fine and fresh. "That technique of yours is quite amazing… But I guess it's a win for me." Ace said, smiling. "Why don't we end this here, before you get yourself hurt."
"N…" Kuina was about to refuse, but stopped when she saw something. With that, she sheathed her sword. "Okay, but you do have other things to worry about."
"Like who?"
"Like my captain…"
Ace frowned and looked back over his shoulder to see someone falling from the sky. The figure was tall, almost as tall as him, having a solid build of muscle. The said figure also had a large naginata coated with Haki, and Ace recognized him. His brother had changed so much, the fire logia grinned.
"Aaace!" His brother yelled with a wide smile.
"Luffy!" The fire user responded with his own smile, coating his own weapon with Haki.
Their weapons met in the middle, creating large sparks of red and black lightning, as both of their eyes bleed red.
"Shishishishi…"
"Ehahahahah…."
Fire on one end and wind on the other end blew any nearby buildings in the nearby area. Even Kuina had to unsheathe her sword and stab it into the ground so as to not get thrown away.
A wave of Conqueror's Haki spread outwards, knocking down anyone who was weak-willed, breaking any nearby glass and wood. And Kuina had just one thing to say. 'Monsters!' she smiled, even though she lost the fight with Ace, she earned something valuable in the fight. It wasn't perfect but it should be doable, until she learned Haki.
.
The ringing of a transponder snail could be heard from the office.
Purupurupuru… Purupuru… Purupuru… Kachak
"This is Captain Hina speaking."
"Hina. Have you gotten the reports?" A rough voice from the other end answered quickly without introducing himself.
"About Crocodile?" She asked. "Yes… Headquarters made it clear to clear out the civilians and stop the rebels if needed." She sighed, "This is a total mess."
"Yes," Smoker said, "I have made a decision… I will personally deal with Crocodile."
"What? Are you insane Smoker…? He's a Warlord!"
"And I'm a logia…" Smoker curtly replied, "If anyone could stop him, it would be me."
"You would be going against direct orders!" Hina said, "And you know what happened to Anchor?"
"Heh, when we joined SWORD we did leave out a letter of resignation on the table. I came to serve justice, and I won't just stand still while that monster destroys the country."
Hina bit her lips but nodded. She was mainly stationed here in Alabasta, Smoker had come mainly chasing after the Straw Hat Pirates. But it seemed things had changed. Now the White Hunter had a new target.
Then headquarters had informed the higher-ranking marines, or only those that Garp and Sengoku trusted about Crocodile's deeds. After the G-3 base incident, the old Marines were a lot more cautious about what news they shared.
So Hina and Smoker only knew what Crocodile was doing. Headquarters didn't specify how the Warlord would be dealt with. Only that the civilians should be cleared out if any fights break out. And if needed, help the kingdom to stop the rebels.
But that was it. They didn't know that the Straw Hats were going to deal with the situation. And so Smoker, seeing how bad in shape Alabasta was, he wanted to help.
People trusted the marines a bit more than pirates. And so Smoker wanted to use that as an advantage to face Crocodile head-on.
"Are you confident that you can take him on?" Hina asked.
"I'm not sure… but I will bring backup with me." Smoker said.
"And that would be…?"
"Me." Another voice came from the other side. It was from Popeye D. Anchor.
Hina gave a frustrated sigh, "Him… but he's not a marine."
Smoker laughed, "Well, after I pull this stunt I might not be either." He said, chuckling, taking a drag from his cigar. "But I have to do what is right."
"Heh, that sounds like some last words," Anchor said, grinning from the other side. "But if that's the case… then Hina, please tell Vice Admiral Gion that I loved her."
"Yes, as if you hadn't mentioned that to her multiple times already," Hina face palmed herself. "You guys are complete idiots, you know that?" She said, "But I will see what I can do. When will you guys strike?"
"First thing in the morning." Smoker said. "Also you will have to do us a favor… clear out the people in the area if the battle happens. We will go to Rainbase so the rest of Nanohana needs protection. Crocodile might not care about casualties, and even use the civilians to his advantage."
Hina sighed, "Okay, I will see what I can do." She was about to say more, when the door to her office opened.
A marine walked in with panic. "Captain Hina, 'Fire Storm' Ace is fighting the 'Fallen Hero' Luffy!"
"Why can't things be easier…"
———————
A/N: Ace has Enma. Surprise! Surprise!
Well, Zoro won't be getting Enma. He already has his Nozarashi. I gave it to Ace, cause it kind of made sense to me.
I might be wrong but Ace visited Wano maybe two times. (In my fic at least) And he was trained by Rayleigh. With how much good his father was with a sword. I think he might pick up one as well.
But at the same time he would be stubborn enough to not take a sword that he was technically named after.
Also, Ace is known as Firestorm Ace, because other than the fact that Ace is stronger than his canon counterpart, and uses both sword and fist.
He was also hard-headed enough to storm into Wano a second time. Also, he was strong enough to retreat after Kaido beat him. However, it might have something to do with Masked Deuce.
Also, I didn't like how most of Ace's crew had little to no feats on display. That's why I made Masked Deuce stronger, though he's more support-based rather then attack-based.
Anyway, the marines named him Ace, Fire-Storm. Because wherever he goes, he leaves a trail of destruction similar to a storm.
229
"Aaace!"
"Luffy!"
Both of their weapons met in the middle, coated in Haki, creating large sparks of red and black lightning as both of their eyes bled red.
"Shishishishi…"
"Hahahahah…."
Fire on one end and wind on the other end blew any nearby buildings in the nearby area.
"Fight me, Ace. If you can beat me I will let you in on a secret," said Luffy, his eyes turning sharp as a heavy pulsating aura suddenly exploded from him. It suddenly became difficult to breathe, as if the air thinned.
But Ace knew that oh too well. "Sure, it shouldn't be too hard." He said, pushing back with Enma. Ace's Conqueror's Haki burst open as both of their Haki clashed, sending wind and lightning everywhere.
Around them, things were blown away. The sand behind them swirled, creating a small sandstorm, the coast's water turned turbulent, and the ground beneath them started to shake.
"Shishishi… this is fun!" Luffy said in glee, jumping back with the Nameless Naginata in hand. He placed the weapon on his back, as his fists took on a metallic color.
"Sure is," Ace agreed, sheathing his own sword as his own fists were covered in Haki and flames. "Flame on!"
"Gear First! Gear Second!" Luffy pumped his blood kicking his body immediately into second gear, as his body increased in mass due to the first gear. "Gomu Gomu no…" the Straw Hat pirate disappeared from his spot.
Ace sensed Luffy's presence with his Observation Haki. "Flame Commandment!" he shouted as fire enveloped him. Ace turned around facing his brother with his own fist.
"Red Hawk!"
"Fire Fist!"
A large explosion of flames stretched around outwards, destroying anything that was near. Cracking the ground, and demolishing the surroundings.
"You can use flames?" Ace asked, grinning. "That's kind of cheating."
"Heh, you are just jealous!" Luffy said, pulling back his hands and giving another punch which counters with his own.
With that, both of the pirates' fists turned into a blur as they started punching one another.
"I can't believe I'm seeing this in this part of the Grand Line! I thought they said this only happens in the New World!?" An old pirate said, hiding behind some thrown rubble. "I'm too old for this shit!"
First was 'Fire Storm' Ace and 'White Lady' Kuina. Now the opponent changed to 'Straw Hat' Luffy. The town would have been destroyed if the pirates hadn't changed locations.
The heatwave from 'Fire Storm' Ace can be felt even from here. His opponent, 'Straw Hat' Luffy turned partially into a giant and hammered a coast cliff clean into the ocean with rapid punches of obsidian giant hands.
Due to the flames, the night sky was constantly lit up as if there was a second sun on the ground.
"That's so cool!" Chopper cheered, on top of Gin's head. The man-demon was in his full zoan form and holding onto the ground for dear life, so that he wouldn't get thrown back. His tail was wrapped around White Fury, who was still fast asleep.
"Well, that's my captain!" Gin said, grinning.
"Wow, they aren't holding back, huh." Zoro said, his body wrapped in bandages.
"There really are some monsters out there," Sanji said. Flames were his thing, but with what Ace and Luffy's fight were generating, even he was a bit shocked.
"Hmm… it seems my brothers really do know how to put on a show." Sabo mused.
"Heh, speak for yourself." Sparky said, who was hanging off Sabo's shoulder.
Nami nodded, "Sparky is right you know. Your fight in Little Garden caused the same amount of damage."
Sabo just chuckled, the monkey had grown quite talkative after he got the ability to speak.
"Why is Luffy fighting with Ace!? They're brothers, aren't they?" Vivi asked in mortification.
"That's the exact reason why they are fighting," Sabo said flatly. "Blame Grandpa Garp for instilling this bullshit way of greeting each other."
"I mean… no wonder all three of you got this strong," Coby said in awe and admiration.
"Hmm… I heard a rumor that Big Bro Jinbei and Ace fought for five whole days." Hatchan said, on his shoulder was a small Momoo, who was sweating a bit from the heat.
"Wow, really?" Usopp said, "There really are many people that are stronger than you'd think, huh." He had a backpack on, mainly the same backpack Sparky used. In there was Going Merry, shrunken down so that it could fit there.
"I can't wait to meet more strong people!" Johnny said, pumping his fist up in the air.
While Bartolomeo and Yosaku nodded vigorously.
"Fire Pillar!" A huge column of fire rose, with Ace at the center. Gathering his energy, Ace launched a building-sized fireball toward Luffy, "Firefist!"
This time, his attack was unavoidable.
So Luffy didn't dodge. In fact, he stood still, placing his arm in front of taking in a breath of air. "Gear Fourth…" The fireball landed, but was snuffed out by a volley of steam that was released from Luffy's body. "Lion Man!"
Ace looked at his brother and he could barely recognize him. He was tall, taller than him, and had a very well-built body. The hair on his head stretched long, and moved in the air like a mane. But that wasn't all, the most distinct thing was the red Haki and how it coiled around Luffy's chest like some sort of tribal tattoo. Luffy grinned while taking out his Naginata.
"So finally getting serious, huh?" Ace said, as his whole body turned to flame, as he unsheathed his sword. Enma.
"Shishishi…Let's see how strong you are with your toothpick." Luffy said, Flame-like red flames fluttered around his fist along with black sparks before it ran down towards the tip of his naginata, indicating his use of Advanced Armament haki.
Luffy didn't notice at first, but it seems his theory was true. His haki did have fire properties. And unlike the original Luffy it might be even more prone to fire, as he didn't make Sakura leaves but sparks from using the advanced technique. He made a mental note to look into it later on. This was also the reason why it didn't take much time to learn Red Hawke.
"Why am I even surprised," Ace sighed. A similar thing happened to Enma. "Let's see whose Haki is stronger."
"Oh, you're on…"
With that, both brothers moved. The fight between the two brothers only ended after the sun rose. By then 'Fire Storm' Ace and 'Fallen Hero' Luffy had wounds all over their bodies and big smiles on their faces.
230
The next day,
"Wahhhhhhh!" Kaido of the Beast Pirates was drunk, and the said drunk was crying. "Jack! Ugh Jack! How come you got beaten!" He wailed, his teardrops drenching the ground below.
In front of him, were his three All-Stars and the remaining members of the Tobiroppo. All of them had serious expressions on their face, and all of them were pissed.
But that wasn't all, they were on an elevated platform, a few floors high. A bit further almost all of the members of the Beast Pirates had gathered. The army of Beast pirates looked at their leader with fear and anticipation.
"Wahhhhh! Jack!" Kaido cried, taking a swig from his jug of ale, "I thought you were strong! And yet, you were beaten by some kids in the first half of the Grand Line?! Poor Jack! But it's your own fault for being so weak! Wahhhh!"
The others didn't say anything as Kaido drank his booze, they just watched, but suddenly Kaido's eyes turned sharp. And he started to laugh.
"Worororororo! The Marines have Jack right?" Kaido asked to particularly no one, as a grin spread on his face. "Then we will declare a war against them! Worororo!"
"It seems that's what the Marines want." King, for the first time, spoke. The large man with flames on his back looked at the newspaper one last time, before it burned into ash.
"Let them set the date! We will come there on their own terms and destroy them!" Kaido said, holding his spiked metal club in the air.
Loud cheers came from almost all of the members of the beast pirate.
"Worororo! We're going to take all of those pampered noble-born rulers and drag them off their ivory thrones down to the battlefield with us!" Kaido said, with a massive smile on his face. His body shaking with excitement, there was no more boredom for him. "That's what I call equality and freedom! A world where war decides a man's true worth!"
The Beast Pirates roared again with cheers. There was a war brewing on the horizon. Things would get complicated from now on. But the bloodthirsty pirates there were thrilled with the prospect for battle.
While this was happening, no one noticed King moving away from his spot. On his hand was a transponder snail. If there was a war, he needed to prepare.
A few moments later, Queen also excused himself going towards his lab. He had things to prepare as well.
.
Donquixote Doflamingo looked serious as he read the newspaper. He had a frown on his face before he ripped the newspaper with his strings. This was bad.
Even before the newspaper was released, he knew what had happened. Vergo had called in the night before telling about what happened at the G-3 base. And about Jack getting captured.
He thought that the newspaper would keep this stuff under wraps. But it seemed the Marines had gotten bolder.
A part of the ripped-off newspaper layed on the floor. And it had a few lines.
[Jack the Drought, one of the Commanders of the Beast Pirates, got captured by the Marines. Vice Admiral Sinbad and 'Fallen Hero' Luffy temporarily allied themselves to save the people of Nanimonai Island (G3 base).
It then showed the picture of Luffy and Sinbad standing side by side, all bloodied against Jack.]
"It seems there's a war brewing," Doflamingo said, looking up. Before a smile dawned his face. "Fufufufu! Now which side to choose!"
.
"Gurarararara….. Ace's brother did something amazing again. Gurarararara…" Said a very large pirate taking a swig from his jug, before running his hand over his white beard.
By his side a certain pineapple head grinned, "That he did, yoi! He said, "He's certainly the grandkid of Garp."
"Gurararara!"
.
A certain red-haired pirate smiled upon seeing the news. "Bring in the booze! This calls for a party!"
"Yeah!"
"For Luffy!"
"For Usopp!"
"Let's party!"
.
"Mamma Mamma! The sea is about to get wild!" The only female Yonko said, "Prepare my children, we will grab the world when we get the chance! Ma ma ma ma ma ma!"
.
"Zehahahaha… the world will burn. And a new age will rise, the old will fall, and the young will ascend. And I will be at the top!"
.
Around the world, similar reactions were happening. The newspaper revealed two important things. Firstly it solidified Luffy's position as being a hero and secondly, it showed that marines weren't afraid of any Yonko.
The newspaper was an unofficial declaration of war. The people were excited, some were wary, and others were scared. But everyone had hope.
Hope for a better future. 'Straw Hat' Luffy and Vice Admiral Sinbad had gotten much fame in the short news. And people were already looking up to them as heroes.
The newspaper also revealed key players and what they did. Of course, it went into detail on how the Marines beat the Beast Pirates.
But people were more interested in other things. Amongst them, there were pictures of Pirate Hunter Zoro and Black Leg Sanji beating down a former Supernova. Hatchan of the sea cutting down the Caribou Pirates. Other members of the Straw Hats helping the civilians and helping them get to safety.
There was even a picture of Gin and Kuina helping people in the first evacuation ship. In the picture, if one looked closely, they would also see a mink and the body of a snake.
But among them, two of the Straw Hat pirates had gained quite the fame. A certain pink-haired pirate, along with a long-nosed sniper.
'Hero of the Navy Port,' Coby. There was a picture of him helping the people, in the background a certain female marine was also shown cooperating.
'The Gunner', Usopp. There were two pictures of him, one where he took out a group of pirates with his dual revolvers. Another one is where he is helping the civilians and carrying them out of the rubble.
The Straw Hats Pirates might have not gotten a new bounty. But their fame spread across the sea. And everyone was looking forward to them for what they might do in the future.