"I'll make them pay for everything!!!"
The thunderous declaration of war rang out.
All the captains and crew felt their blood boil with excitement, shouting at the top of their lungs.
"For Oden's revenge!!!"
"Revenge!!"
"Let the Beasts Pirates know who they're messing with!!!"
...
Boom!
The tremor from Whitebeard's weapon silenced the uproar.
"All of you, go and get ready."
"Yes, sir!!!"
The crew and several squad captains quickly dispersed, leaving behind only Marco and the other top division commanders.
"Old man," Marco stepped forward, worry written all over his face.
Whitebeard's condition didn't look good. It made him uneasy.
"Isn't this... rushing things a bit too much?"
When they first heard about Kozuki Oden's death, Marco had been furious beyond words.
Even though Teach's words had been harsh, there was some truth to them.
Had Oden really seen them as family?
And now, the Beasts Pirates...
Kaido, who had faced Oden head-on and killed him, was terrifyingly strong.
And his subordinates were no slouches either. His army of half-beasts was growing stronger by the day.
On top of that, Kaido had allied with Charlotte Linlin.
Maybe Big Mom wouldn't jump into the fight immediately... but if she saw a chance to stab them in the back, she definitely wouldn't miss it.
And lurking in the background was the unknown factor—Heavenly Yaksha, Doflamingo—waiting for an opportunity.
Could they really bear the cost of this war?
"Marco," Whitebeard patted his son's shoulder gently.
He could guess what Marco was thinking—he was his father, after all.
But did he himself not realize it too?
The New World had changed.
Old friends like Roger, Golden Lion, Redfield, Miss Bakkin, Kurozumi Higurashi, Kurozumi Semimaru, Ochoku, and Captain John—most were dead, captured, or missing.
Kaido, Linlin, Doflamingo—they were the face of a new era.
They were scrambling to carve up territories, staking their claims, building their power.
And him? Just a remnant of a bygone age, no different from Rocks back then.
Sooner or later, the tide would come for him too.
Now was as good a time as any—to show the world that his blade could still cut!
If he waited for the tide to swallow them, how many of his sons would survive?
Running a hand through his hair—where white strands were starting to show—Whitebeard let out a mighty roar:
"I am Whitebeard!!!"
...
West Blue.
Pando Kingdom, Port City.
Once famous for its Gothic architecture, a renowned tourist destination.
Now, the air was thick with smoke. Ships burned fiercely at the docks.
The pirates who had occupied the city lay in pools of blood.
Inside the royal palace—
"Still nothing!"
Moria stood among the corpses, clutching a bundle of documents, his face twisted with frustration.
Ever since crossing the Calm Belt by airship to reach West Blue, he had been searching.
But anything related to Ohara had been deliberately wiped clean. Not a single scrap of extra information left.
As pirates born in West Blue, they had of course heard of Ohara—once the most famous center of knowledge in the world.
But with no treasure, it had never interested them enough to visit.
Now they had finally come.
They'd visited the ruins of Ohara, only to find a vast, lonely lake.
The Boss had given him just one clue—a name: Nico Robin.
But in a place like West Blue, there could be four or five girls with that name in any random town.
Scowling, Moria trudged back to his ship. The thrill of battle was already fading.
Thud thud thud...
The crew came rushing in, carrying a massive treasure chest between them, all shouting over each other.
"Captain, look what we found!!!"
"It's heavy! Gotta be valuable!"
"It was hidden super well—no way the last pirates found it."
"I spotted it first! I'm best at finding hidden stuff!"
"No way! It was me!"
The cheerful unity from earlier instantly dissolved into squabbling over who would get the biggest cut.
"Heeheeheehee! Enough!" Moria barked, cutting off the noise.
He could sense it—there was something alive inside the chest.
The pirates didn't seem concerned.
"Huh? Captain! It's gotta be treasure!"
"Yeah, look at this fancy lock! Once it's shut, it can't be opened from outside—only by breaking the chest itself or unlocking it from inside. Definitely something precious!"
"Exactly! I once grabbed a treasure chest just like this from some noble's mansion!"
...
"Idiots."
With a single swing of his blade, Moria sliced through the lock.
A bear's head popped out, chomping down on the nearest pirate's scalp.
Because of the size difference, the scene looked... almost comical.
It wasn't very painful, but it was incredibly humiliating.
"Hahahahahaha!"
"Heeheeheeheehee!"
Everyone, Moria included, burst into laughter.
The bitten pirate's face turned beet red with fury, but before he could react—
A wave of tiny ghosts phased through the crowd.
"I'm sorry! I'm alive! I'm so sorry!"
"Captain Moria, we're useless... we couldn't help you at all! So sorry!"
"Boss... I'm pathetic... I couldn't find the person you're looking for."
One by one, the pirates collapsed to the ground in full-on despair, assuming classic Orz poses, radiating waves of negativity.
From inside the chest, a girl's voice called out:
"Now, Bear A! Let's run!"
"Rooaar!"
Out of the chest crawled a young girl—twin pigtails, a frilly dress, clutching a little doll.
She grabbed the bear and tried to bolt.
But Bear A wasn't exactly fearsome. He looked like he'd struggle just to gnaw through a carrot.
Whoosh!
Before they could make a move, Perona felt herself lifted into the air—along with Bear.
Twisting around, she found herself staring into the grinning face of a giant with an onion-shaped head.
"Heeheeheehee! So you're a Paramecia user, huh? No wonder you managed to survive in this country!"
Moria laughed heartily, clearly delighted by the unexpected find.
With his mastery of Haki, he could tell—this little girl didn't have the strength to threaten him.
But her powers, and that attitude—he liked her already.
"Heeheeheehee!"
Perona mirrored his laughter, trying her best to act relaxed while secretly building up another Negative Hollow attack.
She flashed a sweet smile.
"Mister, I really need to go home now. Could you put me down?"
Moria's gaze flicked to the crown still sitting in the chest.
"Home? Little lady... you're the princess of this country, aren't you?"
Perona stiffened, falling silent.
Meanwhile, the pirates shook off the despair effect, gathering around to ogle the two tiny captives like overexcited puppies.
"Oooh! A Paramecia Devil Fruit user!"
"So cool! I wanna experience that gloomy feeling again!"
...
Seeing all those eager faces crowding closer, Perona trembled with terror, squeezing her eyes shut.
Bear didn't stop struggling either, thrashing wildly despite being dangled in the air.
"What's your name, little girl?"
Moria lifted Perona closer to eye level, giving her a surprisingly kind smile.
Despite the monster-like appearance, Perona suddenly felt a weird sense of warmth from him.
"Perona," she said quietly.
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg