One Piece: The Strongest Female Pirate Crews

"More newspapers already?"

"Ever since Kuke appeared, newspapers seem to be filling the seas faster than ever," Diamond Jozu said, looking up at the news birds flying overhead.

A few times a day now. Before, you might not see one for days. Sixteenth Division Commander Izo stepped forward, coins in hand to purchase a paper.

"I wonder what happened this time. Surely it's not just more news about Cake Island, right?" Izo muttered, shaking his head. It had been less than two hours since the last report. Nothing new could possibly happen at Cake Island in such a short time.

Most of Whitebeard's crew barely paid any attention to it. Whitebeard himself was busy analyzing the likely outcome of Cake Island for his sons, speaking with utmost confidence. To hear him speak, it sounded like he had everything figured out, drawing admiration from his sons.

Izo opened the newspaper casually, lowering his head to read it.

"Huh?!"

His sudden exclamation caught everyone's attention. Whitebeard and the others turned towards him, perplexed.

Izo, who already had a complexion as fair as a woman's, suddenly went pale, and stumbled back a few steps.

"What's wrong?" Whitebeard asked, a deep frown crossing his face.

What could possibly be shocking enough to cause such a reaction?

"F-f-father, this is... this is bad," Izo stuttered, unable to string together a coherent sentence.

Whitebeard's frown deepened even further. "What could be so shocking that you're yelling like that? Remember, you're one of my sons. As long as I'm around, there's nothing in this world that we can't..."

Whitebeard was halfway through reprimanding Izo when he snatched the newspaper out of his trembling hands. He glanced down at it, still speaking.

"...nothing that we can't... WHAT?!"

His voice came to an abrupt halt. He stared at the paper for several seconds, before letting out an involuntary shout. He stood up suddenly, eyes bulging in disbelief.

"Father, what's the matter?"

Diamond Jozu, Vista, and the rest looked at Whitebeard in concern.

They had never seen him like this before. Not when Sengoku died, not even when they received the news about the Wano war. What could possibly be written in the newspaper to provoke such a reaction?

"This can't be true. It's impossible," Whitebeard muttered, shaking his head as if trying to clear away a fog.

On the front page of the newspaper, it was clearly written:

The duel at Cake Island between two Emperors had concluded. Kuke was victorious. Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin, had officially joined the Sun and Moon Pirates.

There was even a photograph accompanying the story, showing Big Mom boarding the Sun and Moon ship.

The article went into great detail about the final battle at Cake Island, documenting the fight's duration, outcome, and all significant details. Nothing was left out.

"This isn't something Linlin would ever do. Something is definitely wrong here," Whitebeard muttered. He was so stunned that he didn't even notice the newspaper slipping from his hand. He simply slumped back into his seat, accidentally knocking over several jugs of sake as he reached for one, desperately drinking to calm himself.

"What's happened?" Diamond Jozu picked up the fallen newspaper. Vista and the others crowded around him, craning their necks to see what was written.

One by one, expressions of disbelief spread across their faces. Their reactions were even more exaggerated than Whitebeard's.

The infamous commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates, one by one, sank to the deck, looking as though they'd seen a ghost. Just like Whitebeard, they kept mumbling to themselves, "It can't be, it can't be..."

The strongest pirate crew on the seas for over a decade, the Whitebeard Pirates, now looked utterly dumbstruck.

"F-father, is it true?"

"I don't know," Whitebeard replied, regaining some control over his emotions and body after a moment of silence. He shook his head, still baffled.

"The newspaper says it clearly. There doesn't seem to be any falsehood in it. But I know Linlin well—she would never willingly become someone else's subordinate. Even if she lost, she'd run. And if she decided to run, who could stop her?"

This was the core of Whitebeard's confusion. He knew Linlin well enough to know that even if she was defeated, she wouldn't stay. Not for anyone.

"Could it be that Linlin didn't even have a chance to escape?" Whitebeard muttered, shaking his head. He couldn't believe it. There was no one capable of such a thing—not Roger, not even Rocks D. Xebec. As much as he respected Kuke's strength, Whitebeard simply couldn't imagine such a scenario.

"We should wait and see if more news comes in before making any judgments," he concluded.

Whitebeard waited for more updates for a long time. But what came was not news of Linlin's escape; instead, it was the official announcement from the Big Mom Pirates—Katakuri was now their new captain.

"So, it's true," Whitebeard murmured, setting down the jug of sake.

Empty sake jugs lay scattered around him, and he couldn't even remember how many he had downed to calm himself.

"Father, what do we do now?" Jozu asked, instinctively wrapping his arms around himself. The sea breeze that day felt unusually cold.

Two hours. It had only taken Kuke two hours to defeat Linlin. Just the thought of it was terrifying. It was half the time it had taken him to defeat Kaido.

"Is Kuke really human? Is he truly only twenty years old? No, it doesn't matter if he's a hundred years old—it's still terrifying," one of the commanders muttered, looking as though he was in shock.

"What do we do now?" Whitebeard echoed, equally at a loss. Kuke, whose depth of strength was unfathomable, was now allied with Big Mom and had the existing strength of the Sun and Moon Pirates on his side. The confidence and pride that Whitebeard had built over decades was shaken. Even the sea breeze seemed colder now.

"Father, what about Marco?" Jozu's voice trembled slightly, as if on the verge of tears. Under normal circumstances, they could ignore whoever was getting stronger, since the Whitebeard Pirates weren't interested in conquest or becoming the Pirate King—they just wanted to live freely.

But now, their First Division Commander, Marco, was with Kuke. They were certain of it.

The Vivre Card Marco had left behind pointed toward Wano when the Sun and Moon Pirates were there, and now it pointed toward Cake Island. Marco had to be with them, and it was clear from the condition of the Vivre Card that he was in critical condition.

"Marco..." Whitebeard's drunken vision seemed to show Marco's face before him, pleading with him for help.

He was filled with an overwhelming sense of regret. If he had known, he would never have let Marco go after the Sun and Moon Pirates. It wouldn't have come to this.

"What do we do now?" Whitebeard asked again, feeling a chill run through him at the prospect of confronting Kuke. He had no desire to provoke the Sun and Moon Pirates or Kuke. It seemed that every powerful force with a name—the Navy, the Warlords of the Sea (even if only for an hour), Kaido, and now Linlin—had all suffered at Kuke's hands.

Only Whitebeard remained. And Whitebeard wasn't foolish. He had seen the consequences, and had no intention of recklessly provoking them. But Marco... Marco needed saving. He was still alive, and as long as he was, Whitebeard couldn't abandon him.

"Even if it costs me my life, I will save Marco," Whitebeard said, gritting his teeth. He looked at his sons. "Are you afraid?"

"No, we're not!"

"Good." Whitebeard gave them an approving smile. "Then it's our turn. Once again, we'll announce to the world that Whitebeard is the strongest man alive. If anyone wants to challenge that, let them come and take it themselves."

His booming voice echoed across the sky, followed by the resounding roars of his sons. Their collective shout of defiance filled the air, thunderous and unyielding.

Whitebeard held up a show of bravado for his sons, but deep down, he was anxious. Whitebeard had no real desire to butt heads with Kuke—not if he could avoid it. But for Marco's sake, he had no other choice.

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DONT FORGET POWER STONE 

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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up 40+ chapters at patreon.com/Emik01.

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