"How interesting!? Pirate Emperor Sovereign!?"
Aboard the Going Merry.
Although they still had not returned to the Pokémon Sea, over the past few days, every single report about the Straw Hat Pirates had made it onto their ship without fail.
Red waved the latest newspaper in his hand and beckoned at Luffy, who was not far away, before shouting:
"Hey, Luffy! Your new title's already out!"
"Want to know what it is?!"
"What, what!?"
Luffy, who had been fishing, immediately crowded over the moment he heard that.
Jinbe, Redfield, Usopp, and the others who had been fishing with him also all cast curious looks over.
"As expected of Luffy. To earn glory surpassing the Four Emperors this quickly."
"Hehe, that's only natural~"
"After all, Luffy's the man who's about to become the Pirate King!"
"Pirate King, huh~ That really is a title that feels both familiar and strange."
Usopp and the others put down their fishing rods one after another and gathered around Red.
Then they saw the latest report in the paper...
[Exposing the Demon Heir Bullet's scheme and defeating one of the Four Emperors, Beasts Kaido—the sea has finally welcomed an entirely new summit!]
[Pirate Emperor Sovereign — Monkey D. Luffy!!!]
"Pirate Emperor Sovereign!? That's so cool!!!"
Looking at the newspaper's coverage of Luffy, Usopp let out an excited shout.
The others also had light flickering in their eyes. Clearly, everyone was extremely satisfied with Luffy's brand-new title.
Only Luffy, after a brief burst of joy, scratched the back of his head a little awkwardly.
"Hehe~ But Red was the one who saw through Bullet's scheme, and I wasn't the only one who put in work against the Beasts Pirates..."
"But this report makes it look like all the credit belongs to me."
"Isn't that a good thing~"
Red folded the newspaper with an amused smile.
"That way, if strong enemies come after us in the future, they'll only lock onto you as the target. The rest of us can relax a lot more."
"Exactly, exactly~" Usopp nodded repeatedly, thoroughly agreeing with Red's point of view.
After that, everyone launched into another lively round of chatter.
Even Nami and the others, who had originally still been inside the cabin, were called onto the deck by Little Merry and learned about Luffy's new title.
"All right~"
In the end, it was Red who lightly clapped his hands, cutting off the conversation that had somehow drifted from Luffy's title to the proper methods of resisting skin aging.
"No matter what, we're already standing at the pinnacle of piracy now. We're only one final step away from the Pirate King's throne."
"From here on out, countless eyes will be fixed on us—the World Government, Red-Haired Shanks, Whitebeard, and all sorts of ambitious figures across the seas..."
"I'm sure none of them will let us reach the top that easily."
"So before that..."
A mysterious smile suddenly flashed across Red's lips.
"To be safe, we'd better build up a force stronger than... all the powers in the entire world combined!!!"
"Hey, hey, isn't that being a little too cautious!?"
"Do we really have to go that far!?"
Hearing this, Nami immediately shot Red a sidelong glance.
After all, not even the Pirate King of that era had faced something as terrifying as the way Red made it sound.
No!
If they really counted it up, the power they currently possessed was probably already greater than that of the Pirate King back then, wasn't it?
Even Roger couldn't possibly have been as monstrously overpowered as Luffy.
"What's the harm~ Getting stronger is never a bad thing."
"So, for the great war that might break out next, let's set a small goal first."
Red smiled faintly, his gaze sweeping over each of his companions one by one before he slowly declared:
"Everyone... Admiral level!!!"
"Nani~!!!?"
Hearing such an absurdly unrealistic statement, the Straw Hats froze on the spot, staring at each other with wide eyes before turning to look at Red in utter disbelief.
Even if they already possessed considerable strength.
Even if they had already become figures all pirates looked up to.
The goal of making everyone Admiral level was just too outrageous.
Yet when faced with everyone's doubtful looks, Red merely smiled noncommittally.
"Hey, hey, what kind of expressions are those!?"
"Don't tell me... you actually think that would be hard to achieve!?"
"Isn't it?" Chopper looked up in confusion, only to meet the confident divine light in Red's eyes.
"If it were before, then yeah, it really wouldn't have been easy."
"But now~"
Red raised his brows, but did not continue. Instead, he turned his eyes toward another part of the deck—toward Caesar and Queen, who were already curious beyond belief yet still pretending to fish.
And that was not even counting Vegapunk, who was in the middle of relocating to the Pokémon Sea, or the Vinsmoke Family, who had long since settled there.
The current Straw Hat Pirates possessed the world's top scientific minds, as well as endless resources.
And under the pressure of overwhelming military strength, Red was confident he could make Caesar and Queen obediently research whatever he wanted them to research.
With such a scientific team in hand, he believed they could accomplish anything!
Including...
Figuring out why Blackbeard could possess multiple Devil Fruit abilities at the same time!
That was right!
Red had always carried a plan in his heart—to thoroughly unravel the secrets of Devil Fruits, and then...
Develop a method that would allow someone to wield multiple abilities.
No matter how slim the chances of success were, Red believed those top scientists would definitely be interested in such a subject.
Of course, before tackling that problem, they still had plenty of immediate work to deal with.
...
...
Two days later, Pokémon Sea.
Dozens of bizarrely shaped pirate ships were anchored in the middle of the sea, arranged in neat formation as though they were waiting for something.
At that moment, a gigantic pirate ship, accompanied by five Marine warships, slowly approached them.
At the same time...
"They're here! They're here!"
"Boss Luffy and Boss Red are back!!!"
On a pirate ship with a red-nosed figurehead, a lookout dressed like a circus performer suddenly shouted in excitement.
"Good!"
Below the lookout tower, Buggy the Clown sprang to his feet at once upon hearing this, then excitedly tapped open his Personal Terminal and shouted:
"Everyone, inform the other island leaders at once and tell them to get ready!"
"Our Pirate Emperor Sovereign is about to return!!!"
"Roger that~!"
Almost only a second later, Bartolomeo's voice immediately came through the Personal Terminal.
Then the voices of the various island leaders rang out one after another from the device.
Some were brimming with passion.
Some sounded limp and lifeless, even tinged with helplessness.
But one thing was unavoidable: under Buggy's leadership and persuasion, every last one of them had come here...
To welcome the return of the Straw Hat crew.
Just as Buggy and the others spotted the Going Merry, the people aboard the Going Merry also noticed the pirate ships anchored across the sea.
Luffy shaded his eyes with one hand and said curiously:
"Looks like it's Buggy and the others~"
"Weird, why are they over there?"
Whoosh~!!!
At that moment, a brilliant streak of fire suddenly shot up from the distant cluster of pirate ships, soaring straight into the sky.
In the next instant...
Bang!!!
Along with a soft explosion, a firework that was still clearly visible even in broad daylight suddenly bloomed before the Straw Hats' eyes.
Then huge numbers of fireworks shot into the sky one after another, blossoming at their highest point and displaying their most beautiful moments without reservation for the Straw Hats to see.
And among them, the largest burst of all, after blooming, left behind in the sky the comical face of a red nose.
Around that face was a line of neat and distinct words:
[Welcome home, Straw Hat Pirates!!!]
The words lingered for a long time, refusing to dissipate, as though branded into the heavens themselves—leaving the name of the Straw Hat Pirates forever in this world, for everyone present to admire.
Everything in the world had two sides.
When Buggy the Clown gave up his talent for cannonballs and instead devoted himself to the study of fireworks...
Every firework in this world would pale in comparison.
Bang!!!
The rainbow-colored fireworks were like a sun replacing the daylight at the horizon, illuminating the entire world in dazzling colors.
Buggy: "I just want to improve so badly!!!"
(End of Chapter)