Chapter 48: The Old Era and the New! Waves Across the Blues!
The ripples of the cataclysm at the Twin Capes didn't just stay in the Grand Line. Like a tsunami triggered by a massive earthquake, the news traveled outward, crossing the Calm Belt and the Red Line, touching every corner of the world. It ignited fires in hearts both young and old, forcing the world to acknowledge that the era was shifting gears.
East Blue, Loguetown – The Town of the Beginning and the End.
A torrential downpour lashed against the windows of the Marine Base commander's office. The sky was a bruised purple, weeping over the city where the Pirate King was born and executed.
Inside, the air was thick with gray smoke, swirling like a storm cloud.
CRACK!
Captain Smoker slammed the newly delivered newspaper onto his heavy oak desk. The force was enough to splinter the wood. His favorite cigar, usually clamped firmly between his teeth, was ground down to ash.
"What kind of joke is this..."
Smoker's voice was a low, vibrating growl, squeezed out through clenched jaws. He sounded like a wolf that had let a rabbit escape, only to watch that rabbit tear out the throat of a lion.
He stared at the front page. The paper was damp from the humidity, but the headline screamed in bold, terrifying letters:
"SENSATION! SUPER-ROOKIE SUZAKU BREAKS ADMIRAL BLOCKADE!"
Beside the text was the photo—the humiliating, glorious photo—of Suzaku laughing arrogantly in the sky. In the background, blurred but unmistakable, were the figures of Admiral Aokiji and Admiral Kizaru, looking up like helpless spectators.
"That brat..." Smoker exhaled a dense cloud of smoke, obscuring his furious expression. "Not only did he escape from us... but now even two Admirals couldn't handle him? Is the Justice of this world a farce? Are we just playing soldier while monsters roam free?"
Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi stood beside him, clutching her beloved sword, Shigure, to her chest. She adjusted her glasses nervously, her face pale as she read the fine print of the article.
"Captain Smoker," she said softly, her voice trembling. "It's not just the escape. Look at the bounties. They have increased significantly."
She pointed at the numbers.
"Especially Suzaku... his bounty has reached 830 million Berries. That's... that's almost a billion. In his first bounty."
"And that Ace!" Smoker slammed his fist onto the desk again, ignoring the pain. He pointed a gloved finger at a smaller article below the fold.
"He defeated a Shichibukai immediately upon reaching the Grand Line! Hanafuza the 'King of Lizards' fell!"
Smoker walked to the window, staring out at the execution platform in the distant plaza. The rain slicked the metal where Gold Roger had smiled in the face of death. The image of Suzaku effortlessly defeating Ace with a single blow right there—and then effortlessly blocking Smoker's own jitte—was still vivid in his mind.
It burned. It burned hotter than magma.
He remembered the feeling of helplessness. The feeling of being a small fish in a pond that had suddenly been invaded by sharks.
"We are rotting here, Tashigi," Smoker muttered, his forehead resting against the cold glass. "We call this the 'Town of the Beginning', but for us, it's becoming the 'Town of the Left Behind'."
"Captain?"
"Tashigi." Smoker suddenly turned around. His eyes were hard, resolute. The indecision was gone, replaced by the steel of a hunter who had found his trail.
"We cannot continue staying in this 'Weakest Sea'. Guarding the gate is meaningless if the monsters are already inside the house."
He grabbed his heavy, fur-lined Justice coat from the rack and threw it over his shoulders.
"I plan to request a transfer to the Grand Line immediately. If headquarters refuses, I'll go rogue. I don't care."
"But Captain Smoker..." Tashigi stammered, her eyes wide. "We have orders! We are the gatekeepers!"
"Screw the orders!" Smoker interrupted her, his voice booming like thunder. "If we don't even have the courage to pursue them, what good is our Justice? Are we watchdogs or hunters?!"
He clenched his fist, smoke swirling around it, forming the shape of a fist ready to strike.
"I must capture those two pirate crews with my own hands! I will chase them to Alabasta, to the New World, to the end of the world if I have to! I will not let them laugh at Justice!"
Tashigi looked at her superior's determined eyes. She felt a fire ignite in her own chest. She tightened her grip on her sword.
She straightened her back and saluted perfectly.
"I understand! I will follow you, Captain! I will collect all the Meito swords from those villains!"
East Blue, Cocoyasi Village.
The storm in Loguetown had not reached here. The tangerine groves were bathed in soft, golden sunlight. The air smelled of citrus and sea salt—the scent of peace.
But for one man, peace was a stressful affair.
Genzo, the village policeman with the pinwheel on his hat, was running down the dirt path faster than he had in twenty years. His face was flushed red, his breath ragged, and he clutched a newspaper in his hand as if it were a live grenade.
He sprinted up the hill to the small house overlooking the groves.
"Nojiko! Nojiko! Come out quickly!"
He banged on the wooden door, nearly knocking it off its hinges.
Nojiko opened the door, wiping soap suds from her hands onto her apron. She looked alarmed. "Genzo-san? What's wrong? Is it the Fishmen? Are they back?"
"No! No!" Genzo gasped, bending over to catch his breath. "It's Nami! There's news about Nami!"
Nojiko's heart skipped a beat. Nami had gone to the Grand Line—the graveyard of pirates. Every day without news was a torture, but news could be worse.
"Is she... is she hurt?" Nojiko whispered, her face paling.
"No! Look!"
Genzo shoved the newspaper into her hands. He fumbled and pulled out a bounty poster that was tucked inside.
Nojiko took it. Her hands shook. She looked at the image.
It wasn't a mugshot of a captured criminal. It was a photo of Nami standing on the deck of a ship that was flying above the clouds. She wasn't cowering. She wasn't crying behind a forced smile like she did for Arlong.
She was holding her Clima-Tact high, her orange hair whipping in the wind, commanding the elements. She looked fierce. Beautiful. Free.
[Cat Burglar Nami]
[Bounty: 80,000,000 Berries]
[Alive Only]
"Eighty... eighty million?!" Nojiko gasped, her knees going weak. She slid down the doorframe, sitting on the floor.
"That's... that's four times Arlong's bounty," she whispered, staring at the numbers. "For a first bounty? In the Grand Line?"
"It's absurd!" Genzo shouted, pacing back and forth, his pinwheel spinning furiously. "She's a wanted criminal! The whole world will be after her! Bounty hunters, Marines... she's in danger!"
But then Nojiko saw Nami's face in the photo. Really saw it.
There was a spark in her eyes that hadn't been there since Bell-mère died.
"She's happy," Nojiko whispered, tears welling up in her eyes and spilling over her cheeks.
"What?" Genzo stopped pacing.
"Look at her, Genzo-san." Nojiko pointed at the photo, laughing through her tears. "She's not a thief anymore. She's not a slave to a map room. She's a pirate. A real, free pirate. She's exploring the world, just like she wanted."
Genzo looked at the photo. He sniffled, adjusting his hat to hide his watery eyes.
"She's a big shot now," he grumbled, his voice thick with emotion. "Our Nami is a big shot. But... with a bounty like that, she can never come home."
"It's okay," Nojiko smiled, pressing the poster to her chest. "The ocean is her home now. And she's with that Captain... Suzaku. He's protecting her."
"He better!" Genzo shook his fist at the sky. "If he lets anything happen to her, I'll arrest him myself!"
East Blue, Foosha Village.
The Party Bar was lively as always. Makino was wiping down the counter, a gentle smile on her face as she watched a young boy wolf down his lunch with the ferocity of a starving beast.
"Luffy, slow down!" Makino laughed. "You'll choke. The meat isn't going anywhere."
"Nom nom nom! But it's sho good!" Luffy mumbled, his cheeks bulged out like a chipmunk.
Makino placed a newspaper on the table next to his plate.
"I have news about Ace."
"Ace??"
Luffy's head snapped up. He swallowed a bone whole.
"Really? Let me see!"
He snatched the newspaper with greasy hands. His eyes scanned the pages until he found Ace's picture. It showed Ace smiling, fire surrounding his fists, standing over a defeated Warlord.
"Wow! Ace is amazing! He beat a Shichibukai!" Luffy cheered, jumping onto the table and waving his arms. "I knew it! Ace is strong! But I want to become a great pirate like that too!"
He pumped his fist.
"When I set sail, I'm definitely going to become the Pirate King! I won't lose to Ace!"
BAM!
A fist of love, hard as iron, landed accurately on the top of Luffy's head. The impact drove him face-first into the wood of the table, cracking it.
"Ow, ow, ow! Grandpa! What was that for?!" Luffy cried out, clutching a massive, throbbing bump on his head.
Vice Admiral Garp stood there, looming over him like a mountain. He was picking his nose with his pinky finger, looking thoroughly displeased.
"I told you two brats long ago!" Garp shouted, his spit flying. "You must become Marines! Strong, respectable Marines!"
"Not pirates! You two idiot grandsons, both wanting to be pirates—are you trying to make me die of anger?!"
"I don't wanna be a Marine! Marines are boring!" Luffy yelled back.
"Boring?!" Garp raised his fist again.
But as he did, his gaze unconsciously drifted toward the newspaper on the table. His eyes locked onto the front-page story.
When he saw Suzaku's face, and the headline about the Admirals, the anger vanished from Garp's face.
"Bwahahaha!"
Garp burst out laughing, slapping his knee so hard the floor shook.
"Look at this! This kid! Causing such a huge commotion right after setting sail!"
Luffy leaned over, rubbing his head. "Nani? Nani? Grandpa, what happened?"
Garp picked up the paper and pointed at Suzaku's photo.
"A brat I met on the way back. He has guts! Not only did he run away from me, but now even those two boys, Aokiji and Kizaru, couldn't handle him! He slipped right through their fingers!"
He picked up Luffy's cup of juice, drained it in one gulp, and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
"He's quite an incredible newcomer! Maybe the Navy needs to train harder if rookies are this scary, eh? Sengoku must be losing his hair over this!"
"What the heck," Luffy pouted defiantly, looking at Suzaku's 830 million bounty. "Ace is still the strongest! And Suzaku... I'll beat him too! I'll beat everyone!"
He stood up on the chair, striking a pose.
"When I set sail, I am absolutely the man who will become the Pirate King!"
BAM!
Another iron fist of love sent him flying into the wall.
"I TOLD YOU TO BECOME A MARINE!"
New World, The Moby Dick.
The flagship of the strongest pirate crew in the world cut through the turbulent waves of the New World. It was a moving island, a fortress of family and power. The massive Jolly Roger with the white mustache fluttered proudly in the breeze.
"Hey, Marco!"
A pirate handed a stack of newspapers to the Commander of the First Division, who was dozing against the railing.
"Today's newspaper has arrived. It's a big one. The Marines are in a panic."
Marco lazily opened his half-lidded eyes. "Yawn... thanks, yoi."
He took the paper. When he saw the front-page headline, his drowsiness instantly vanished. His eyes widened.
"Pops! You have to look at this!"
He walked quickly toward the massive figure seated on the throne at the bow of the ship. The man was hooked up to medical equipment, surrounded by beautiful nurses, but he radiated an aura that could crush mountains.
Whitebeard, Edward Newgate.
He opened his golden eyes slowly. "Gurararara... What is it that makes you so serious, my son?"
Marco spread open the newspaper.
"The Suzaku Pirates," Marco said, pointing at the headline. "They broke through a blockade of two Admirals. Aokiji and Kizaru both failed to stop them."
"Two Admirals?" Vista, the Commander of the Fifth Division, twirled his mustache, looking incredulous. "For a rookie crew from the East Blue? That's unheard of. Usually, a Buster Call is enough."
"Even we Commanders would have trouble with that lineup," Jozu grunted, crossing his diamond-hard arms. "Escaping Kuzan is hard enough on the ocean."
"Look here," Marco pointed to the details in the report. "They possess the ability to fly. Captain Suzaku and his officer Albedo are both Mythical Zoan users. And... they have Shiki's old fruit."
Whitebeard's eyes narrowed slightly. The name brought back memories of the old era.
"Shiki's fruit...?"
He took the newspaper in his massive hand. He read the report carefully. Then he looked at the photo of Suzaku holding the dead Celestial Dragon.
"Gurararara..."
Whitebeard let out his signature laugh, the sound vibrating through the deck plates like an earthquake.
"Interesting. The sea is getting noisy again."
He looked toward the distant horizon, past the calm waters of the New World.
"The tide of the new era seems to be coming more fiercely than I imagined. First Ace takes down a Warlord, now this Suzaku kills a God."
Izo, the Commander of the Sixteenth Division, adjusted his kimono elegantly. "It seems both of them came from the East Blue. I didn't expect the 'Weakest Sea' to produce such monsters."
Whitebeard placed the newspaper aside. He picked up his enormous sake bowl—a barrel, really—and drained it in one go.
"Gurararara... No matter what kind of newcomer he is, if he wants to gain a foothold in the New World, he must first ask for our permission."
He looked around at his sons, his eyes shining with a benevolent yet majestic light.
"But... this is what makes it interesting! The sea has been too calm for too long. It's time for some waves."
"Indeed, yoi," Marco smiled. "But no matter what kind of newcomer comes, they won't get past us."
"That's right!" Thatch cheered, raising his sword. "Pops is the Strongest Man in the World!"
"WE ARE THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES!"
The roar of the crew echoed across the ocean, a challenge to any rookie foolish enough to enter their waters.
Whitebeard smiled, looking at his family.
"Well said, Thatch! Bring me another bowl!"
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