On August 15, 1498 of the Sea Calendar, the Dual Government World War finally ended. The world order dominated by the World Government collapsed in one violent breath, and the Age of Discovery began.
The battered Marine forces fled back to the Grand Line, turning the New World into a nightmare the World Government Navy could no longer afford to face. Meanwhile, a large number of captured Marines quietly switched banners, joining the new Navy of the Universal Government.
The Seven Warlords system collapsed completely.
Naguri vanished without a trace.
Dorodo died.
Captain John was captured while fleeing, then executed by Wang Zhi and Jennifer. Yet Captain John's treasure disappeared, and rumors spread that some kind of John Treasure had been left behind.
Crocodile joined the Hell Pirates.
Morley joined the Revolutionary Army.
And Kurt Wagner's whereabouts remained unknown.
Across the seas, pirates and merchants began rushing toward the New World for one reason, seastone warships.
Only those ships could make world travel easy, letting people cross the Four Blues, glide through the Calm Belt, and move between seas for trade, treasure hunting, or pure madness disguised as adventure.
On January 1, 1500 of the Sea Calendar.
The Universal Government held a grand ceremony, awarding medals to the newly formed Navy.
Vice Admiral Tsuru, once the World Government Navy's chief of staff, finally joined the new Navy after a tangled mess of threats, inducements, pressure, and mutual hostage games revolving around Gion and Tokikake. From that day on, she served the Universal Government as the shield of the West Sea and the North Sea.
Even Sakazuki, a North Sea native, had no choice. Once he realized there was no escaping Brook's grasp, he joined the new Navy and became a vice admiral assigned to guard the North Sea.
But the most outrageous move came next.
To provoke the World Government and the remnants of the old Navy, and to calm the hearts of the captured Marines, Brook promoted Tsuru to Navy Admiral as a public symbol.
A benchmark.
A banner.
A knife twisted with a smile.
After Zephyr's family was captured by the Hell Pirates, he had no choice but to submit as well. Yet he never appeared publicly, never stood on a stage to "betray" the old Navy, so his role was pushed into the shadows.
He became the New Navy's chief instructor.
Brook even shamelessly seized the title of "Navy" itself, as if the old era had never owned it.
New Navy Admirals: Kizaru Borsalino, Aokiji Kuzan, Tsuru Shirazawa.
New Navy Vice Admirals: Fujitora Issho, Momousagi Gion, Tokikake, Akainu Sakazuki, Bullet.
…
The Hell Pirates became history.
Their name was changed to the Hell Guild, the national defense guild of the Universal Government. Pirates were now called adventurers, and on paper they stood alongside the New Navy, both labeled as subordinate institutions of the Universal Government.
But the world knew the truth.
The Hell Guild ruled the Universal Government.
That same day, Gol D. Roger's son Ace was born.
The Portgas girl, a half blood from the Ice Witch clan, had the same blond hair as Stussy. Her name was Jiulu.
Her pregnancy lasted longer than a normal Ice Witch hybrid's, and the child only entered the world after Roger's neck had already been stretched long.
Shanks, seventeen, and Buggy formed their own adventure groups and left the New World. Their first stop was the North Sea, searching for partners and hunting treasure.
Doflamingo, nineteen, returned to the North Sea as he'd always wanted, building his own power base. His task was to disrupt the Grand Line's order and search for Devil Fruits.
Teach, eighteen, carried Brook's mission as well.
Marshall D. Teach slipped back to Drum Island in the Grand Line, searching for the Swallow Swallow Fruit, the one that could wield the abilities of two fruits.
And that villain blessed by fate actually found it.
After gaining the Paramecia Swallow Swallow Fruit, Teach returned to the New World to hunt the Paramecia Copy Fruit, capable of copying some Devil Fruit abilities.
And that bastard found it too.
The moment he obtained the second ability, he copied Newgate's Tremor Tremor power. It was not as strong as the original, but it was still terrifying, and it looked far too cool for a man who should have been punished by the sea.
Along the way, Teach captured a pug named Pazu, a dog that had eaten an Eagle Zoan.
Teach frequently swallowed Pazu, using the Swallow Swallow Fruit to fuse with it, taking on the Eagle's power and soaring over the sea like he owned the sky.
Then he obtained a third fruit, the Swamp Logia, granting him internal space and the ability to trap people.
By then, Teach was using five abilities by himself.
Even Brook sometimes wondered who the real protagonist was, him or his cheap apprentice.
Teach had been brainwashed since childhood by the Memory Seahorse. The great villain did not grow into a monster after all, but into an adventurer who respected his teacher. Brook regularly had the Memory Seahorse and Redfield keep watch over him, like someone guarding a bomb with a smiling face.
A D clan member with monstrous fortune, Teach was expected to reach the same level as Straw Hat Luffy by the age of nineteen under Brook's training.
Even Brook's own descendants never received that kind of treatment.
But after gathering so many abilities, Teach began to grow arrogant. His development became chaotic, his foundation unstable, and his strength started to stagnate.
That meant Brook and Newgate would eventually have to beat some sense into him.
Villain luck was still not the same as protagonist luck. Teach did not truly have that fate. How many years his strength would remain stuck before a breakthrough, no one could say.
Meanwhile, Brook's descendants pushed forward one by one toward admiral level.
Hades, Osiris, Kanna, Satan, Anubis, Mephisto, and Hel were all stronger than the Seven Warlords, hovering at the level of quasi admirals.
If they all matured fully, crushing the World Government would be effortless.
But Brook's soul injury still had not fully healed.
He did not know whether Imu had recovered either.
The God of Hell's high level soul strike had nearly taken Brook's life.
Yet Brook gained something from that hellish power as well, something that made his fingers itch to test it.
Fear held him back.
Fear of the Devil of Hell.
And fear of leaving his women and children behind before he had killed Imu and unified the world.
…
Ballon Island, in the Skypiea region.
Office of the Universal Government.
Antonio stood by the window with a pure gold ring on his hand. He had not aged much, but his temperament had changed completely. The foolish boy from before was gone. In his place stood a man with calm eyes and sharpened judgment.
"Brother Brook," Antonio said, "we still haven't found the Op Op Fruit. But the North Sea and the West Sea are already under our control. If it's reborn in the North Sea, it will be ours."
His voice firmed.
"And once we have it, I will heal your soul trauma completely. Then we will defeat Imu and the World Government."
Brook chuckled softly.
"Do your best. No need to rush."
He had spent the last two years recovering, while still holding the Universal Government's direction in his hands. Yet he deliberately stepped back from the throne of daily authority, handing power to the people who could carry it.
Over these two years, he searched for Devil Fruits like the Sun Nika Fruit, the Op Op Fruit, and the Gold Gold Fruit, but found none of them.
Even Crocus's Healing Fruit could not mend Brook's soul injury, and Brook refused to let Crocus sacrifice his life to treat him. So Brook could only recover slowly, while studying that higher level dark energy in secret.
For now, the only hope was the Op Op Fruit.
To see whether its power could touch the soul.
To shorten the long, slow healing that even Brook could not hurry.
---------------
Skypiea, Cake Island, Elite Training Grounds.
A group of children trained as if their lives depended on it. Their respected teacher would be checking on them soon, and nobody wanted to be caught slacking.
At the front stood a small girl with black hair styled into a neat princess cut. Her posture was straight, her gaze proud, her presence refined. Beside her, another black haired little girl moved just as gracefully, like nobility was something you were born wearing.
"Sister Hancock, you're amazing!" the younger one blurted out, eyes glittering. "That Fragrant Kick just hit five hundred and twenty Doriki!"
Kikyo, sixth years old.
Fifth princess of the Universal Government, princess of the Amazon Lily Kingdom, and Shakky's daughter.
She looked at Boa Hancock with pure envy.
Hancock was also from Amazon Lily, and even as a child, she carried herself like a queen in training.
"Princess Kikyo," the nine year old Hancock said modestly, though the pride in her eyes could not be completely hidden, "I'm only a few years older. That's why my power looks bigger. In two more years, you'll do it too."
Kikyo clenched her fists, visibly motivated.
Nearby, a boy charged with all the subtlety of a cannonball.
"Watch my Pig Rush!" he shouted. "I'm going to be a man as strong as my father!"
Kozuki Inosuke, also six.
Young master of Wano, with blood from the boar fur tribe. He sprinted at a white haired, two horned girl who held a small samurai sword.
"Inosuke is a pig, what a perfect name!" the girl laughed. "Now eat this, Thunder Bagua!"
Yamato, six years old as well, swung a small mace with the confidence of someone born under Kaido's shadow. One clean hit sent Inosuke flying.
"Sister Robin…" a calm voice muttered from the side. "They're all so violent."
Prince Nika, six, remained in a steady horse stance, throwing slow, repeated punches to build his body. He trained, but he was clearly the type who would rather read a book than smash a boulder.
The more he read, the longer he could talk to the Elephant Lord.
His father had told him he was born with the ability to listen to everything, to hear and feel what others could not.
"Prince Nika," an eight year old girl said evenly, still doing her own horse stance, squats, and punches without breaking rhythm, "there aren't many children like us who enjoy reading anymore. Become a scholar with me. I'm about to earn a doctorate in archaeology."
Nicole Robin.
Eight years old, calm as still water, and already talking like she belonged in a library older than the world.
"I've learned most of the ancient languages," Nika answered seriously. "But I still want to become a peerless expert like Father. Being a scholar is just a hobby."
He glanced down at his own name as if it were a weight.
Nika.
Brook's expectations were written into him from birth.
His father was still helping him search for the legendary Mythical Zoan, the Sun God Nika Fruit.
Robin's eyes sparkled with admiration.
"Yes. Everyone admires Master Brook. I'm even slowing down my archaeology studies just to attend his training class."
She had grown up listening to her mother, Nico Olvia, tell stories about Lord Brook.
Brook was famous for being strict when choosing students. Robin had never believed she, an archaeology student from Ohara's scholar island, would ever be selected.
She had signed up simply to try.
And yet she was here.
For the children of countless kingdoms and islands under the Universal Government, this was a dream too far to even speak aloud.
Robin also knew the truth.
Among these students, she was the weakest in battle. Knowledge aside, she could not match even the younger Yamato or Kozuki Inosuke in raw force.
And she had only just joined Brook's class, yet she had been given a Devil Fruit, the Paramecia Flower Flower Fruit, as a gift from Brook himself.
That alone made her feel both honored and terrified.
Aside from Yamato, who had been rewarded a Mythical Zoan, the Inu Inu Fruit, Model Okuchi no Makami, when she was still small, even Princess Kikyo and Prince Nika had not eaten Devil Fruits yet.
Robin could only guess that Brook was helping Kikyo, Nika, and even Hancock search for stronger fruits.
As for Inosuke, he was already searching alongside his father, Kozuki Oden, hunting for Wano's legendary beast fruits.
There were rumors of a Mythical Zoan Kappa fruit.
And a Mythical Zoan Nine Tailed Fox fruit.
Two legendary beasts of Wano, spoken of in the same breath as Yamata no Orochi.
This class had only a handful of students, not because Brook lacked interest, but because he was still recovering from his soul injury. He did not have endless energy to teach.
After Brook, Linlin, Stussy, Shakky, Daenerys, and Antonio finished handling major affairs of the Universal Government, they headed to the Cake Island training grounds.
A void gate opened.
The air rippled.
Robin and Nika stopped chatting instantly and began punching harder, their faces turning serious.
Hancock's eyes lit up. She drove a sharper strike into the latest version of the force testing machine, upgraded by Dr. Vegapunk.
Unlike the others, she did not have a powerful background.
So she worked harder.
She was also the oldest student here. That meant she had to be the strongest. Even if she faced Princess Kikyo and Prince Nika, she would not accept defeat.
Brook stepped out of the void gate.
"Master Brook!" four voices called at once.
"Father!" two more followed.
Six little figures stared at him with open adoration.
Brook nodded, satisfied.
"Good. None of you slacked off."
His gaze swept over them like a blade, measuring, judging, approving.
"A strong body awakens Haki faster. If you want to climb high, you build the foundation young."
He had already seen Hancock's Doriki value.
Five hundred and twenty.
At nine years old.
Even CP9's Kalifa, a master of the Six Powers, only had six hundred and thirty.
That meant Hancock might surpass Kalifa before she even turned ten.
Brook was not surprised.
In the original era, Hancock awakened the three types of Haki by eighteen, became Amazon Lily's empress, led the Kuja Pirates, and was invited to become a Warlord, the Pirate Empress herself.
Back then, she had been sold to Mary Geoise by human traffickers somewhere between the ages of twelve and sixteen, becoming a slave of the Celestial Dragons.
Then Fisher Tiger's liberation shook the Holy Land. Hancock escaped, and Rayleigh and Shakky escorted her back to Amazon Lily.
In only two years, she awakened Conqueror's Haki and rose to rule.
Talent like that was monstrous.
Or perhaps, Brook mused, she was simply the kind of genius Rayleigh and Shakky could forge.
Either way, the hatred she carried left a shadow in her heart, a shadow that in another timeline had stalled her growth at a certain ceiling.
Now, that future had been torn apart.
"Master Brook…"
Hancock stepped forward, eyes sharp, voice controlled.
"Have you found a suitable Devil Fruit for me?"
The hunger in her tone was obvious.
Not for power alone.
For acknowledgment.
For approval.
For the kind of reward that said, you belong at the top.
[TL: My new fanfic is out now—One Piece: Pokémon Master of the Seas! Check it out!]
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