One Piece: Rising to Power as a Warlord of the Sea

One year later, in the year 1517 of the Sea Circle Calendar, the Smile Pirates entered a phase of rapid development after resolving the issue with Big mom.

Crew Growth

Thanks to the efforts of the crew members, they managed to clean up nearby pirate crews, with those who submitted to the Smile Pirates being spared, while those who resisted were either driven away or killed. By using a mix of soft and hard tactics, the Smile Pirates expanded rapidly, growing to an impressive 8,000 members. They now had 36 subordinate pirate crews, with the average bounty of their captains around 100 million Berries. Some of these captains were even more notable, with bounties reaching as high as 350 million Berries.

Internal Strengthening

Aside from the expansion of subordinate crews, the core troops of the Smile Pirates also saw significant improvement, thanks to training by the main members. Although the number of people didn't change much, with each division having around 200 members (Beasts), their strength grew rapidly. After summer, when Natsu awarded Devil Fruits to the top performers, the results were astounding. For instance, one of the division's squad leaders gained the power of the Bear Bear Fruit, while another gained the power of the Hedgehog Fruit.

The Bloodsucking Vine Devil Fruit was given to Gin, who distributed it to those loyal to Natsu. Gin, being Natsu's faithful companion, followed his orders without question, unlike Enel, who always dreamed of defeating Natsu and becoming the leader.

Weapon Production and Cooperation with the Revolutionary Army

In addition to the crew's growth, the Smile Pirates' weapons and Smile Ideologists produced on Smile Island were quickly sold, thanks to their cooperation with Doflamingo. Of course, most of these were immediately seized by the Revolutionary Army, though no one found this particularly strange. After all, who would suspect a pirate would collaborate with the Revolutionary Army? At this time, most people didn't know much about the true identity of Dracule Mihawk.

With Natsu's cooperation with Dragon, the Revolutionary Army also grew quickly, especially in terms of weaponry. Many war-torn nations were liberated by the Revolutionary Army, and Dragon's ideals of peace and freedom spread across the world. In response, the World Government strengthened its CP operations against the Revolutionary Army, but they still couldn't find their main base of operations.

East Blue, Goa Kingdom's Windmill Village

A small wooden boat docked on the shore. On the boat was a handsome young boy with freckles, his face full of excitement. On the shore, villagers of all ages gathered, watching the boy with smiles on their faces.

"Ace, you're sailing out first! I'll go in two years!" Luffy waved his arms excitedly, thrilled that it was finally time for Ace to set sail.

"Ace, I'm off! See you in two years!"

"Goodbye, everyone!" Ace waved, then sat down on the boat and began rowing. The small boat slowly drifted away, leaving behind a long shadow as it disappeared from view.

"Wait for me, Natsu, Ace! In two years, I'll surpass both of you! I'm going to become the Pirate King!" Luffy gazed out at the sea, took a deep breath, and shouted.

"Boss, aren't you going to say goodbye to Ace?" a bandit asked, looking up at the tall Dadan.

"Eh, I don't need to. I'm glad this little brat is leaving, finally some peace and quiet," Dadan turned her head away, speaking in a tone that didn't match her true feelings, wiping away a tear when no one was looking. After all, in a sense, Dadan had raised Ace like a mother. It was incredibly hard for her to let him go.

Meanwhile, Ace's small boat had already drifted far away. As he looked at the setting sun, he quickly searched for the nearest island, planning to dock and rest for a while.

Alabasta Kingdom

Crocodile, who was defeated by Natsu, returned after two years of careful planning. He found an opportunity to use the Dancing Powder to bring a drought to Alabasta. With the help of Nico Robin, he successfully infiltrated the kingdom, and his Baroque Works became a nightmare for new pirates, destroying many of them.

"Is the information about the Dark King really here?" Crocodile muttered as he looked around in the vast desert. He turned to the purple-clad girl behind him as if asking for confirmation.

"I'm not sure. We need to find the records first. The Baroque Works members are working hard to gather information about Alabasta, but so far, we haven't found anything useful," Robin replied, resting her chin thoughtfully. She was also intrigued by the legendary weapon that could destroy an island with a single shot. After all, Ohara's goal was to study the world's history.

"Fine, keep searching!" Crocodile frowned and took a deep puff of smoke, his deadfish-like eyes staring ahead, lost in thought.

Water 7

In the same year, Iceburg successfully became the mayor of Water 7. The CP organization, led by Rob Lucci, began to approach him. After two years of investigation, he was the most suspicious. The main reason was that Iceburg was Tom the shipwright's disciple, making it likely that the plans for the Dark King were passed down to him. Now, they were focused on finding the location of the treasure.

Iceburg had already prepared for the World Government's actions two years ago. He had secretly investigated but found no useful information, as he was only an amateur compared to the professional CP9 operatives.

Meanwhile, Franky, who had taken control of the island's local thugs, was preparing to make money or rob others to fulfill his dream of buying a branch of Adam's Tree to build a ship capable of sailing the world.

Three Months Later

Ace's boat was blown off course into a violent sea, with fierce winds tossing him and his boat onto an unknown island.

If nothing else, this would be the place where Ace would first consume the Mera Mera no Mi (Flame-Flame Fruit), and where Fire Fist Ace's rise as a super rookie would begin.

"Is anyone here?" Ace rubbed his sore shoulders and snapped a branch off a tree to use as a walking stick. He slowly walked toward the island's interior, looking for something to eat.

As a child trained by Garp, Ace may not have been particularly strong in battle, but his appetite was outrageous, as if he could eat an entire cow in one sitting.

In the depths of the island, another person, who had also been stranded there for days, was lying on the ground. He hadn't eaten in five days, and without food, he would likely die soon.

Just then, footsteps approached. The figure on the ground, Dōju, turned his head weakly to look at the approaching person. His dark eyes sparkled with a glimmer of hope for survival.

To be continued…

Support me!!!

( Follow me on Patreon.com/ Pirate_Kingman!) To read up to chapter 100+

} Don`t forget to give Power Stone if you like this story {