BlackStar_BH:
Just so you know, I've finally defeated the cursed writer's block that slowed me down during this arc, and the arc is already fully completed on Patreon and Ko-fi.
I've already started writing the next arc, and the chapters are coming out at a record speed! We're also incredibly close to a huge milestone… only 18 chapters left before this novel reaches Chapter 1000!
Can you believe it? 1000 chapters… That's insane.
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In the Sorbet Kingdom, Garp burst into laughter at that moment.
"Bwahahahaha! That's my amazing grandson!"
"Look at all their faces! Bwahaha! They're all trembling before the majesty and aura of my grandson! He's even better than that fancy Roger in my memories!"
Garp's mind drifted back to one of the most important moments of his life, his days chasing Roger.
His most vivid memory was the battle at God Valley.
At that time, Roger was still young, though much older than Luffy is now.
But what truly shocked Garp was how different Luffy's current spirit was from Roger's back then — like night and day.
Even though Roger was clearly stronger, to Garp, who had been obsessed with chasing him, Roger was just a brat without any true ambition.
That only changed after the complex incident at God Valley, which ultimately led him to become the Pirate King.
It was only after that battle that Garp began to respect Roger.
But now, it seemed that Luffy would earn the respect of the entire world even before becoming a Pirate King.
Dragon glanced at his overjoyed father and nodded with a pleased smile. He was truly happy to see what his son had achieved after two years of real training.
"It seems Luffy has officially stepped onto the path of kings… It won't be long before he joins the elites."
Seeing more than fifty thousand fishmen collapse unconscious from a single wave of Luffy's Conqueror's Haki filled Dragon with great pride.
That was his son, a true man with the will of a king.
The same son who had been born only a month ago and was still under the care of nannies here in the Sorbet Kingdom.
Dragon felt a sudden urge to go see his precious newborn son right then, but he suppressed that feeling and continued watching the scenes unfold.
In the manga, Luffy was leaving behind a legacy for the real Luffy born into this world, the one who would grow up to become Pirate King one day.
Not under Roger's influence… but under his own counterpart's.
"Pirate King… Monkey D. Luffy," Dragon murmured with a smile.
"Straw Hat Boy sure is fierce~" commented Ivankov, thrilled.
Crocodile ignored Ivankov, but he was genuinely surprised by how much Luffy had grown in such a short time.
Crocodile himself had been improving since the manga appeared, but the speed at which Luffy, who had risen from almost nothing, had caught up left him in the dust.
"Is everything really about talent?" Crocodile thought bitterly.
"My dad deserves all the credit for how far the Straw Hats have come! Their rapid growth, all of it, is thanks to my dad!"
Bonney shook her head proudly, gazing at everyone while sitting beside her father, Kuma, who looked at her with a loving smile.
"Bonney, you're talking about my counterpart, not me, right?"
"Your counterpart is you! That fact doesn't change! But…"
"Emm, but what, Bonney?" asked Kuma.
"I don't understand why my counterpart feels so different from me…"
This question had troubled Bonney for a long time.
Ever since her counterpart first appeared, she hadn't felt that surreal bond, as if they weren't the same person at all.
Sensing Bonney's unease, Kuma gently patted her head. None of this was her fault.
This poor girl had lost her mother, Ginny, right after birth, leaving her in his care.
He had almost gone mad when Ginny died, but Bonney had become the hope that Ginny had left behind.
Bonney was now seven years old…
The God Valley incident, from which he, Ginny, and Ivankov had escaped, happened fourteen years ago.
It had all started because the World Government had kidnapped Ginny.
What Kuma didn't know was that Rob had arrived in this world when Ginny was in the hands of the World Government.
His presence had drawn the attention of the Five Elders — including Saturn, who was directly responsible for the harm that befell Ginny.
This influence had changed Bonney's fate entirely; she didn't inherit the illness that killed her mother, and Kuma never had to desperately search for a cure as he would have in the manga.
That was why Bonney felt her counterpart was nothing like her, especially the earring under her right eye.
She didn't know the story behind it… and neither did Kuma.
…
— — — — — — — — — — — —
Chapter's Events:
— — — — — — — — — — — —
"Fifty thousand may have fallen!! But fifty thousand more remain!!" Zeo tried to restore morale by shouting that.
"The Straw Hat Pirates are the greatest obstacle to our proud ambitions!!"
"And Jimbei!! He's the very embodiment of Otohime's dream!!"
"The model of a detestable future where our kind makes peace with the human menace!!"
"HAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" The remaining fifty thousand roared with passion.
But Luffy and the others seemed to ignore them again, talking among themselves instead.
"Fifty thousand, Luffy? Seriously?"
"Leave some for us, would you?" said Zoro in exasperation, preparing for battle.
"Oh, right. Sorry," Luffy apologized earnestly.
"I'm going for thirty thousand! Hear that, marimo?!" Sanji raised his leg, ready to bargain with Zoro.
"Shut up, Mr. Nosebleed," Zoro shot back immediately.
"What was that?!" Sanji forgot about the enemies altogether, focusing instead on his eternal rival.
"…So you think you can protect the gigantic mermaid princess…" Taking advantage of the distraction, Hody Jones fired a Water Bullet at Shirahoshi.
"Right in the middle of this open plaza?"
"Let's see you try!! Uchizumo!!!"
"!? Ahh!"
"AAAHHHH!!!" Just when Shirahoshi thought she was hit, another Water Bullet shot from her side, deflecting Hody's attack, much to his frustration.
"She… didn't even need my help?" Luffy retracted his arm.
"The sheer power of Captain Hody's Uchimizu enhanced by his newly-awakened monstrous strength was deflected with another Uchimizu!!!"
"That man really is a monster!!!" Daruma was stunned, commenting on the scene and Jimbei's strength as he stood protecting the princess.
"Hmph… I don't know where you got that power, but in Fishman Karate, you're little more than a child…!!" Jimbei crushed Hody's pride with those words.
"That's the first fishman ever to serve as a member of the Royal Shichibukai!!"
"I heard his bounty went over four hundred million after he left the post!!" The fifty thousand fishman pirates took a few fearful steps back.
"Quit your jabbering and fight me!!!" Jimbei roared with a terrifying expression.
"You'll only take the princess's life if you can take all of ours first!!!"
His resolve to protect the princess, even at the cost of his life, was clear as day.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
Back on Fishman Island, Jimbei shivered as he watched the scene unfold.
In contrast, Hody's heart filled with shame and bitterness with every frame.
"Well, looks like Jimbei's finally getting serious…" Tiger commented with a grin.
"It's impossible to kill the princess in front of Jimbei. Just don't do anything stupid, you fool…"
Even Arlong felt pity for Hody, trapped as he was.
It was like watching a distorted version of himself, full of hatred, malice, and resentment, letting negative emotions devour all logic.
That was the Hody Jones of this moment.
Whether by luck or misfortune, he had crashed into a steel wall this time.
The Straw Hat crew was no longer the same fledgling team that had once taken down Arlong's own.
They were now terrifyingly strong individuals.
"Especially the man who defeated me…"
Arlong looked at Luffy, who stood there radiating an overwhelming presence.
"…" At this point, Hody could no longer run away.
He envied Vander Decken, who had managed to escape long ago.
"My counterpart alone is enough to crush all those rebellious bastards," Jimbei said calmly.
"I can see that in you, but not in your counterpart… It's not that he isn't strong enough, but he lacks sharpness."
"Hody Jones has completely sold his soul to the devil…"
Tiger looked deeply at Jimbei, his expression cold.
"Only if your counterpart has the sharpness and resolve to kill him will he win… Sadly, I don't see that yet."
Hearing this, Jimbei fell silent, lost in thought as he watched his counterpart fighting desperately to protect the princess.
"At least… he has the sharpness and resolve to protect Princess Shirahoshi," he said quietly.
"You're right about that," Tiger nodded with a smile.
…
"It seems the battle has finally begun…"
King Neptune watched the following scenes with relief, as both Brook and Zoro charged into the enemies like wolves into a flock of sheep.
"Especially Zoro… what a monster…"
The Right Minister commented in fear as Zoro's blade unleashed a cyclone that swallowed everything in its path.
Especially when he coldly said, 'To the end of hell.'
Sweat ran down the foreheads of both ministers and even Neptune's soldiers.
"You're right… he's terrifying…" Neptune swallowed hard, staring at Zoro's fierce scene.
Next came Sanji's turn, recalling the hell he had endured over the past two years on Kamabakka Kingdom.
Compared to that, these spiky fishmen were nothing.
He finished them off by kicking into the air, making them crash into each other, defeating themselves in the process.
Not only Luffy and the others were astonished — readers all around the world were stunned, especially within the World Government.
…
In the Holy Land of Marigoa, the Cipher Pol agents were in an uproar.
"How did he do that!? He mastered Moonwalks!?"
One CP0 agent trembled; he had spent his whole life torturing his body to master Geppo, yet Sanji had done it after just two years of running from the okamas. It made him want to crash his head into a solid tofu and die.
"Does escaping from the okamas make a man fly!?"
Another agent muttered in terror.
Just imagining the same ordeal Sanji went through to learn to kick the air and flee that hellish island made him shiver.
"Man… if I were him, I'd have learned to fly for real just to escape that island! Who in hell wants to become an okama!?"
"I'm happy for Sanji-kun."
Another agent wiped tears of joy from his eyes; he turned out to be an okama himself.
The others around him trembled and quietly shuffled several meters away.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 962: The Legendary Kraken Enjoys the Manga!
Chapter 963: General Franky Dominates!
Chapter 964: The Promised Ship Moves.
Chapter 965: Shirahoshi's Sacrifice and the Awakening of a King!
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