One Piece : Rise of Thunder King

You can read the advance chapters here : patreon.com/Vigilante04

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The mysterious disappearance of Oven caused a big stir.

The Big Mom Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates already had territories next to each other. So, when a powerful, experienced fighter like Oven vanished, the Whitebeard Pirates were naturally blamed.

Tensions between the two crews grew, leading to seven or eight small skirmishes where neither side gained the upper hand. Eventually, the conflict escalated. Since Oven was the triplet brother of Katakuri and Daifuku, the two realized that Oven might have died.

Katakuri and Daifuku deeply value their family, so they were furious about Oven's unexplained disappearance. The two decided to personally go to the seas where the fights were happening.

Both are strong, especially Katakuri, who is second only to Big Mom herself. To avoid losing ground, Whitebeard sent Marco, along with Ace and Jozu—the second and third division commanders—to face Katakuri and his crew. Whitebeard also saw this as a chance to train Ace.

Since Arthur had recently risen as a strong rival of Ace's age, Whitebeard had been focusing on helping Ace grow stronger whenever possible.

After a less intense clash, Marco firmly told Katakuri that the Whitebeard Pirates had nothing to do with Oven's disappearance.

Seeing that they couldn't gain much from the fights and knowing that Whitebeard's crew doesn't pick fights unnecessarily, Katakuri and Daifuku eventually retreated. They also trusted Whitebeard's honor—he wouldn't lie about something like this.

Big Mom seemed to stop searching for Oven, but secretly, the crew kept investigating. Their intelligence network in the New World was powerful, but they found nothing about what happened to Oven.

Meanwhile, in the first half of the Grand Line on Rusukaina Island, Arthur had started training on the sixth rocky mountain. Since there was no risk of being exposed, Arthur didn't bother worrying about the conflict between the Big Mom Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates.

In the East Blue, at the top of a mountain in the Goa Kingdom, Luffy stood in front of a wooden house. Wearing his red vest, blue shorts, and straw hat, he grabbed the doorframe and shouted with a slightly annoyed tone.

"I'm leaving now! Aren't you going to see me off?" he said, looking at everyone in the room.

"You're so noisy!" snapped Dadan, a tough, sturdy woman whose build was stronger than most men. She turned her back to the door with an irritated look, but there was sadness in her eyes.

"Even if we wanted to go down the mountain, the village chief and Makino are one thing, but those folks in Windmill Village would freak out if we showed up," Dadan said while glancing at Luffy.

Luffy pouted like a child throwing a tantrum. "But still..."

"Alright, just go!" Dadan said impatiently.

"Fine, I'm going!" Luffy's mood shifted immediately. Smiling brightly and full of excitement for the sea, he said, "Thank you all for taking care of me!"

"What are you saying? Stop being so formal!"

"Yeah, it's embarrassing to hear that!"

"Hahaha! Take care out there, Luffy!"

The bandits, who seemed like dangerous criminals to outsiders, all scratched their heads in embarrassment, smiling warmly.

"Got it!" Luffy grinned, showing his teeth, and ran out the door.

After he left, everyone's expressions grew somber. They felt the pain of saying goodbye to a kid they had raised and lived with for ten years.

Especially Dadan, whose face looked gloomy, and her eyes seemed misty.

"B-Boss, are you crying?" one of the bandits, with a rooster-like hairstyle, asked cautiously.

"Huh?" Dadan hurriedly wiped her eyes and glared at the bandit with the cockscomb hairstyle. "Are you blind? Can't you see the sand got in my eyes?"

"Ah, that's right!" Luffy's voice suddenly came from the door. The bandits froze and quickly hid their emotions, pretending to be indifferent.

Dadan, now flustered, sat back down and acted as if nothing had happened.

"Hey, Dadan," Luffy said with a bright smile. "Even though I hate bandits..."

"You're so noisy, brat!" Dadan snapped, her face darkening in anger.

"...I like you!" Luffy finished cheerfully.

The room fell silent for a moment. Then, Dadan's head shot up, and she shouted, "Ahhhhh! You little brat! You're just like your brothers—so annoying!"

Even as she yelled, tears streamed down her face. The bandits around her, happy to hear Luffy's words, grinned and looked at their boss with teasing smiles.

"Huh? What, are you crying?" Luffy tilted his head, picking at his nose.

"Who's crying?!" Dadan barked, turning her back to him. "Now get out of here!"

"Okay, I'm leaving!" Luffy laughed. With a wave, he dashed out of the house, excitement shining on his face.

At the Windmill Village port, villagers watched as Luffy loaded supplies like water, fruit, and food onto a tiny, worn-out boat.

"Luffy, you're really going to sea in that old fishing boat?" one villager asked, frowning. "That thing doesn't even have sails!"

"Yeah!" another chimed in. "It'll sink as soon as you leave the shore!"

"It's fine!" Luffy said confidently, standing on the boat and adjusting his straw hat. "This is just the start. I'll get a better ship eventually!"

Seeing his determination, the villagers stopped arguing and instead offered him advice on navigating the sea. Luffy nodded along with his usual cheerful smile, even though he didn't fully understand everything they said.

When they finished, Luffy turned to the endless horizon. Taking a deep breath, he raised his arms and shouted, "Sabo! Look, I'm finally going to sea! Ace, you went first, I'm the last, but I won't lose! One Piece will be mine! Just wait, Ace—I'm coming to catch up!"

"What's he saying now? Is that some kind of sea chant?" one villager asked with a laugh.

"It's not a chant—it's a declaration of war!" Luffy replied, grinning.

With that, he untied the rope securing the boat and shouted, "Goodbye, everyone!"

The villagers waved and cheered as Luffy set off into the sea.

Unlike in the original tale, the Sea King didn't appear this time. As a sea beast, it rarely showed up in this area, so Luffy's departure went smoothly.

Despite the changes, Luffy was still destined to stir the seas and become a major force in this era of pirates. However, Arthur's interference with events, like taking Nami earlier, might send the Straw Hat crew down a very different path.

On Rusukaina Island, Arthur sat on a floating throne, reading the latest newspaper.

"It's May," he mused. "Luffy's probably out to sea by now. Hmm, I can't wait to see what happens."

Arthur's thoughts shifted. "The Summit War should be over by now. If that's the case, some of my plans might need adjusting... Hmm, maybe this approach will work. But will it interfere with the 'world's correction power'?"

Resting his chin on his hand, Arthur's expression grew serious.

"Either way... Ace, Whitebeard, and the others—they all have to die."