The moment Brook's temper flared, Marshall D. Tim's last bit of courage shattered.
She did not dare to run again.
"Lord Brook, please, don't be angry! I surrender! I'll go with you, just please, put your power away!"
Tim reappeared in front of him with both daughters clutched in her arms. Fear was plastered across her face. Ice crystals crawled over her body, and the two little girls looked half dazed, stunned senseless by the sheer weight of Brook's Conqueror's Haki.
Brook's eyes were cold.
"Then why were you running?"
His hand shot out and locked around Tim's throat. The witchlike woman stiffened as if her spine had turned to glass.
"Pah!"
A sharp slap cracked across her face.
Brook had no time for this nonsense.
New Beehive Island was already burning, and he still had to return and stamp his name onto the war that would unify the New World.
As the captain of the Hell Pirates, how could he be absent from a battle this meaningful?
"Lord Brook, I won't do it again! Never!"
Tim's face turned red as she choked under his grip, her voice shaking with panic. In her heart, she was cursing Teach until her teeth hurt. That ungrateful brat really did betray her.
Brook snorted.
He pulled on a pair of white gloves and calmly took out a set of seastone cuffs.
Click.
Tim's Devil Fruit power died instantly.
He tossed her to the ground like trash, then lifted the two girls and placed them on the back of Quetzalcoatl, the massive creature formed from his Seven Star Demon Sword.
Brook looked down at Tim.
"Anything in your lab you absolutely need to take?"
"I'll get it right away!"
Tim scrambled back into the ruined hospital, crawling more than walking. The purity of the seastone robbed her of her ability, yet she did not collapse from exhaustion. She moved with stubborn, ugly efficiency, stuffing whatever she considered precious into bags.
While she packed, Brook contacted Antonio to check the situation on New Beehive Island.
"I didn't expect that old thief Barbossa to surrender so fast."
Brook sighed. If the Hell Pirates had not been tangled up with Rocks and the World Government, and if he had not vanished for eight years, they would have caught that old man long ago.
Still, it meant Barbossa had enjoyed another decade or two of family peace.
As the third in command of a dominant crew, he should have been satisfied.
Soon, Quetzalcoatl rose into the air. With Brook, Tim, and Tim's daughters in tow, the massive beast cut through the fog and left Silent Island behind.
··
On the other side, New Beehive Island.
It took Kaido only three hours to smash Jennifer out of the sky and drive her back into the earth.
The giant female warrior had transformed into a two winged unicorn holy horse, a full mythical beast form that shook the battlefield with every beat of her wings.
And yet, Kaido did not simply crush her.
He taught her, relentlessly, as he fought.
He forced her to understand what she lacked, what she needed, and what it meant to stand at the top.
By the end of his tireless instruction, Jennifer had even found an opening, a real chance to awaken deeper power within her mythical beast ability.
She lost.
But she gained far more than she expected.
Even the way she looked at Kaido had changed. Giants worship strength, and Jennifer was no exception. More than that, Kaido's direct, detailed guidance had stirred something in her chest.
It was almost… moving.
"Hey."
Kaido rested his Kanabo on her shoulder and frowned.
"That look doesn't belong to a prisoner."
He clicked his tongue. He preferred Yamato, that petite Red Horned Demon Clan girl. A giant woman like Jennifer was not his type at all.
Jennifer's eyes burned as she stared down at him.
"When I join the Hell Pirates, we'll be partners."
"Kaido."
"Be my man."
Her heart was pounding. Strong, Conqueror's Haki, a mythical beast ability, everything about him screamed power. If she had children with him, they would be terrifying descendants.
Kaido's face twisted like he had bitten something rotten.
"Get lost. I don't like your type."
He swung his club without mercy and sent her flying again.
An old woman over a hundred years old was looking at him like that? What kind of nightmare was this?
After this war, he was taking a vacation. He would go to Ghost Mountain, find his little lover, and marry her fast. He was not about to let some giant auntie keep eyeing him.
Jennifer spat blood, her jaw clenched tight. Her resentment was obvious, but the determination in her eyes only sharpened.
This man.
I will have him.
The next moment, Hell Pirates soldiers rushed in and locked seastone cuffs around her.
Jennifer, the mythical beast giant warrior, was officially captured.
Meanwhile, the remaining Rocks stragglers were crushed under Newgate's advance. Wherever he went, enemies either fell or dropped to their knees.
Only one battlefield remained truly fierce.
Shiki versus Wang Zhi.
Wang Zhi refused to surrender until Brook arrived.
Shiki wanted to defeat him before Brook returned.
"Hahaha! Your Bind Bind Fruit is really disgusting!"
Shiki was pinned in place again. Armament Haki surged through him as he burned power just to break free, barely twisting aside from Wang Zhi's lethal slash.
Wang Zhi narrowly avoided a spike of earth that shot up from the ground.
"And your Float Float Fruit is just as disgusting!"
That Devil Fruit could lift islands, but it also controlled the land and even stirred the sea. It was beyond unreasonable.
Shiki's twin swords crashed against Wang Zhi's supreme blade, the Code of the Emperor, sparks exploding with every collision.
"Hahaha! I thought you'd refuse Devil Fruits and become a pure swordsman!"
"But in the end, even the great swordsman Wang Zhi couldn't hold out!"
Wang Zhi's smile was sharp.
"To become stronger."
"Nothing shameful about that."
He locked Shiki again.
Shiki roared, Conqueror's Haki surging in violent waves as he tore himself free.
If this dragged on, Shiki's Haki drain would climb higher and higher. Wang Zhi could keep holding. And as long as Newgate and Kaido did not interfere, neither side would break quickly.
In single combat, the Bind Bind Fruit was brutal.
The Float Float Fruit was better for wide destruction.
Even with stronger Haki, Shiki could not end it fast.
And their swordsmanship was evenly matched.
As Kaido finished smashing through other battlefields, New Beehive Island collapsed. Captives were dragged into the square and bound in rows.
Kaido turned toward the final duel, His kanabk itching in his grip.
Newgate raised a hand and stopped him.
"Kaido."
"Let them fight."
Newgate laughed. He respected Wang Zhi's strength. If a man like that could be made to join wholeheartedly, it would be a serious boost to the Hell Pirates.
"Worororo! Brother Newgate, let's fight when we get back!"
Kaido grinned, eyes gleaming. He wanted to climb past the other Hell Kings one step at a time and become the strongest. Right now, he felt he had already surpassed Shiki.
Next would be Newgate, then Linlin, then Redfield.
And finally…
Captain Brook.
"Gurarara!"
Newgate laughed louder.
"Kaido, you're getting too cocky."
"I'll teach you reality when we get back."
He watched Kaido's growth closely. He knew exactly how dangerous this brat had become.
------------
South Blue, Sorbet Kingdom.
A town lay in chaos.
Buildings had collapsed into piles of rubble, cries echoed through broken streets, and hundreds of wounded civilians stared at the royal prince with terror in their eyes.
Bartholomew Kuma had not expected his furious Bear Paw strike to be so overwhelming. The shockwave had nearly erased the town.
He never wanted to hurt his people.
So why were they listening to the World Government's whispers? Why did they riot again and again, attacking towns, burning streets, screaming for the Bartholomew royal family to be overthrown?
As the unrest spread, the Sorbet Kingdom turned into a boiling mess. The royal family understood the truth.
This was pressure.
The World Government wanted Kuma, and it was willing to tear a member nation apart to get him.
Kuma knew it too.
Because it was his Devil Fruit that made the World Government so obsessed, the kind hearted prince grew to hate that aggressive regime even more. And because of that hatred, he did not hesitate to use real force to crush the instigators they had planted among the crowds.
He had considered yielding for the sake of the kingdom.
Becoming the World Government's dog, just to spare his parents and his homeland.
But his father and mother rejected that path without hesitation.
Sorbet was an old and powerful kingdom in the South Blue, a veteran member state with strength that ranked among the best. How could they hand over their heir? Where would their pride go?
So the Bartholomew royal family chose to fight.
They began reaching out to other member states, preparing to raise a formal protest at the World Conference.
··
Meanwhile, after completing his pirate arrest mission in the South Blue, Monkey D. Dragon passed near Sorbet on his return route.
A storm rose.
Dragon stepped off his warship, became wind itself, and in a blink found the prince Brook had specifically ordered him to recruit.
"Are you pitying those rebels?"
Dragon's voice came from beside Kuma, calm and sudden.
Kuma stiffened and turned. A man in a green cloak stood there, as if he had always been part of the air.
"Who are you?"
Kuma's guard rose instantly. The man had appeared within arm's reach without triggering his perception. That alone was frightening.
Dragon spoke evenly.
"The World Government is after your ability. If you don't want to become their slave, and you don't want to drag your royal family into the mud, then the cleanest option is to sever ties and leave."
His eyes were steady.
"Become a pirate. Take the target off the kingdom and put it on yourself."
Kuma's footsteps retreated by instinct.
"Are you a pirate?"
"I'm not."
Dragon's answer came immediately.
"But I'm planning to build something that will oppose the Celestial Dragons and tear down the World Government's darkness. Something like the West Blue Self Defense Forces, but aimed at freeing the oppressed."
He paused, then asked plainly.
"Do you have the courage to join us?"
Kuma's brow tightened.
"A chaotic army too? I'm not interested."
He started to move away, but Dragon flicked his wrist and tossed several books toward him.
"Read these."
They landed in Kuma's arms with surprising weight.
"Our ideals. Our program. If the World Government's pressure ever becomes too heavy, come find me."
Dragon then handed him a Den Den Mushi.
Kuma hesitated, staring at it as if it were a ticking bomb, but in the end he accepted it.
The next second, he vanished on the spot.
Dragon watched the empty space and exhaled.
"Such a convenient power. No wonder Captain Brook and the World Government both want it."
He turned back into wind and returned to the warship, sailing once more toward Marine Headquarters on the Grand Line.
Dragon did not expect recruitment to be that simple. For now, it was enough that Kuma had taken the books. If the prince truly read them, he would call sooner or later.
Perhaps Dragon would head to the West Blue next, speak with Morley, and pull that Self Defense Army into the core of the organization he wanted to build. With his friendship, and with Brook's support, the Revolutionary Army could be born sooner than anyone imagined.
··
Kuma returned to Sorbet Palace.
He read.
One book became two, two became all of them, and by the time he finished, it felt like someone had torn open the ceiling above his head and shown him a different sky.
He wanted to summon that stranger immediately, to talk through the night until dawn.
But he had been reading for a day or two. Of course the man would be gone by now.
Kuma stared at the Den Den Mushi, his desire burning in his chest, and forced himself to calm down.
He still could not abandon his father and mother. They were fighting, so why should he retreat?
And yet, the world described in those pages pulled at him like a tide.
··
New World, New Beehive Island.
After more than a day of high speed flight, Brook finally caught the war's tail.
Even Marshall D. Tim did not expect she would be dragged back to this familiar island.
But Rocks was finished, and this island itself was about to become Brook's territory.
When the enormous Quetzalcoatl appeared in the sky, the battered, exhausted swordsman Wang Zhi felt his chest loosen for the first time in hours.
He had endured.
He had waited for Brook.
Shiki's face darkened. He had been so close. Another little push and he might have beaten Wang Zhi head on before Brook arrived.
Brook looked down at the battlefield.
Captured pirates filled the square. The remnants were already bound and stacked like cargo. Across the entire island, only one fight still raged.
Shiki versus Wang Zhi.
So I made it in time.
If he had arrived any later, the three Hell Kings would have wiped the last of Rocks clean without him.
The Hell II rookies rushed up the moment Brook descended, excitedly shouting their victories, bragging about which famous pirates they had defeated, how many men they had captured, how little help they needed.
Newgate could only look on, helpless.
He had spent most of the day babysitting, but he had to admit, the second generation was strong. They rarely needed saving.
In the final duel, Wang Zhi suddenly laughed, then snapped free of Shiki's pressure and shot toward Brook.
"Shiki, I'll be under your care from now on!"
He leapt through the air with Moon Step, closing the distance so fast Shiki could only watch, disgruntled, as the man surrendered directly to Captain Brook.
Wang Zhi hovered midair and called out loudly.
"Captain Brook! If I join the Hell Pirates, can I get the position of Hell King?"
He believed it was reasonable. He had been the strongest cadre under Rocks. He had held off a Hell King for hours. He was not some small fry.
Brook's smile widened.
"Yohoho! Awaken Conqueror's Haki, or defeat any Hell kings, and kill an admiral level enemy."
His eyes gleamed with amusement.
"Do that, and you can sit on the Hell King seat."
Wang Zhi went silent for a moment.
Then he exhaled and nodded, accepting reality. If he wanted that position, he would earn it.
"Understood. Then can I form my own squad right away?"
"Yohoho! Of course."
Brook laughed.
"Welcome to the Hell Pirates, my direct commander."
With Wang Zhi joining, the Hell Pirates gained another top tier blade for the future war against the World Government and the Navy.
Below them, Jennifer, bound in seastone, was also shouting that she wanted to join. If she was not allowed to form a team, she would join Kaido's division instead.
Brook looked from Jennifer to Kaido, surprised.
He did not expect Kaido's luck with women to keep getting better.
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