"No way. I'm only interested in adventure!" Luffy declared, shaking his head with his usual grin.
Jack smiled warmly. "I believe you, Luffy. But as your strength grows, you'll become a pirate with real influence. I just hope you can set an example for others."
"An example?" Luffy echoed, tilting his head in confusion.
Rayleigh, standing nearby, shot Jack a thoughtful look—as if he could already see where this conversation was headed.
After parting ways with Luffy, Jack returned to his mission: training and capturing pirates across the seas. With Kaku and Issho by his side, his operations progressed smoothly and efficiently.
But just as Jack arrived back at Marineford, a messenger hurried up to him.
"Admiral Kurohyou, Fleet Admiral Aokiji is waiting for you in his office!"
Handing over custody of the captured pirates to Lena, Jack made his way alone to meet Aokiji.
Pushing open the door, Jack found the usually laid-back Aokiji buried under a mountain of paperwork. For a moment, even Jack was caught off guard—this wasn't the Aokiji he knew.
Aokiji glanced up with a tired smile. "Actually, I've been meaning to thank you for what you did back then."
Jack shrugged lightly. "I only did what I thought was right."
It all went back to the succession ceremony after Sengoku stepped down. Though Akainu's plan to seize command failed, Jack had unintentionally stolen the spotlight. Worried that resentment might grow, Sengoku convened a high-level meeting to settle the matter once and for all.
The debate was fierce—who should lead, Akainu or Aokiji? When talks went nowhere, Akainu slammed his fist on the table and insisted that only strength should decide, challenging Aokiji to a duel for the title of Fleet Admiral.
But Jack opposed the idea. "When two tigers fight, one is bound to be wounded," he warned, refusing to let the navy tear itself apart. His intervention shifted the balance. Without Jack's voice, Akainu likely would've rallied enough supporters to force the fight. But now, many top officers stayed neutral, waiting to see how things played out.
Kizaru, in his usual fashion, quipped that he'd work for whoever paid him, which nearly made Akainu flip the entire table in rage. In the end, to maintain peace, Sengoku and Tsuru appointed Akainu as the nominal head of the three admirals—a compromise that prevented outright war within the ranks.
Aokiji sighed, still feeling that Jack had paid a political price to keep the peace. But Jack simply smiled, unconcerned.
Switching gears, Aokiji leaned back and spoke with more weight. "Right now, most of the escapees in the Grand Line have been rounded up. Your mission there is complete. But our plans in the New World… they've hit a wall. The Yonko haven't said it outright, but their actions make it clear—they consider the New World their domain, not ours."
Jack's brow furrowed. "Even Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates?"
Aokiji nodded grimly. "Red Hair hasn't made any big moves, but the crews under his flag have been openly targeting our forces. They're drawing a line in the sand. So—I plan to send you to the New World to help stabilize things."
Jack crossed his arms thoughtfully. "So, the Whitebeard Pirates' old territories… they've been divided among the other emperors?"
"Not entirely," Aokiji replied. "Blackbeard took two-thirds for himself. The remaining third got split between the other three. They still have to unite against us, after all—unlike Teach, who's playing his own game."
He sighed again, heavier this time. In the past few days, he'd sighed more than in his entire career. Leading the navy wasn't as glorious as Akainu thought. Yet, no matter how exhausting, Aokiji wasn't about to surrender the role—not to Akainu, not to anyone. If he ever left the post, it would be by his choice, not because someone pushed him out. And so, the lazy admiral buried his idleness and threw himself into the mountain of work, even sacrificing his own training time.
Jack's eyes narrowed. "And what about Marco and the Whitebeard remnants? They're just letting Teach take over?"
"They've got their own problems." Aokiji rubbed his temple. "A man calling himself Whitebeard's son—Edward Weevil.—has been hunting them down. Sixteen of their captains have already fallen to him." He slid a photo across the desk to Jack.
Jack studied the picture, raising an eyebrow. He knew this man from his past life, but even then, he'd doubted whether he was truly Whitebeard's son. If it were true, Jack figured, that woman claiming to be his mother would've shown up at Whitebeard's doorstep long ago.
"He does… look a bit like Whitebeard. Especially the beard," Jack muttered, still skeptical.
"Exactly. Kizaru encountered him and claimed the kid's strength matches Whitebeard's when he was young," Aokiji said, eyes narrowing.
Jack blinked. "So, what's the plan?"
Aokiji offered a thin smile. "Simple. True or not, we treat it as real. That way, the Whitebeard Pirates will stay too busy defending themselves to retaliate against us."
Jack crossed his arms. "So, what do you want me to do? Hunt him down?"
"Not this time," Aokiji shook his head. "The World Government plans to invite this so-called Whitebeard son to join the Shichibukai. After all, the original system has pretty much fallen apart."
Jack cocked his head. "So my proposal to abolish the Seven Warlords system didn't pass, huh?"
"It's still too early," Aokiji replied with a helpless sigh.
Jack gave a small nod, accepting the answer. "Understood."
Then, his gaze hardened. "In that case… let's start with Blackbeard Teach."
His voice was quiet, but his intent was razor sharp.
"If you're thinking about going after Teach, I'd advise against it," Aokiji said with a weary sigh. "The New World is far more chaotic than you realize. Right now, the Navy is struggling just to keep its footing there, let alone muster the strength to take down Blackbeard."
Jack chuckled, a glint in his eye. "Is that so? Sounds like Teach is aiming to claim his spot among the Four Emperors. I always knew he was dangerous, but I didn't expect him to seize the moment so effectively. Looks like the Navy will be facing a serious threat soon enough. By the way—who's in command in the New World right now?"
"It's Sakazuki. He's running things over there. Borsalino's busy guarding the scientific division, so we're counting on you to go and back him up," Aokiji replied with a faint smile. "Don't worry—Sakazuki's due for a transfer back to headquarters. You'll be in charge of New World operations."
Jack's grin widened. "Perfect. I don't care to linger around headquarters anyway. Whenever trouble stirs with those… unpleasant folks, it's the admirals stationed here who get thrown into the fire first."
Aokiji's smile faltered. Jack's distaste for the Celestial Dragons wasn't exactly a secret—and while Aokiji shared that sentiment, his position forced him to play along. After all, the Navy's massive military budget came straight from the World Government.
If they ever wanted to cripple the Navy, they could do it easily: just cut off the funding. Without it, everything would grind to a halt—especially the scientific division, which burned through resources like a bottomless pit. If it weren't for the World Government and the Celestials propping it up, the whole operation would've gone bankrupt long ago.
Technically, the science division wasn't even a true branch of the Navy—it served the World Government. Still, since the Navy relied on their weapons and provided the security personnel, the two were deeply intertwined.
Jack didn't waste time after leaving Aokiji's office. He immediately summoned Lena, Issho, and the others, and set out for the New World without so much as a break. Their destination: the G1 Division—the nerve center of the Navy's New World operations and its strongest outpost. After the Marineford War, Akainu had even proposed moving Navy headquarters there to signal their intent to dominate the New World.
That plan never materialized. Not because of Jack's interference, but because Aokiji had blocked it. As for why, Jack still wasn't sure.
But after completing the handover with Sakazuki at G1, Jack got a grim taste of how dire things had become. With Whitebeard's death, his former territories had become battlegrounds, wracked by constant skirmishes. The Whitebeard Pirates were exhausted, their strength drained, until Blackbeard swooped in and devoured them whole.
Whether Sakazuki and Blackbeard had struck some kind of secret deal or not, Jack couldn't say. But under Akainu's leadership, the Navy had followed the example of the Yonko—slowly annexing Whitebeard's territory piece by piece. And during that time, they'd conspicuously avoided confronting Blackbeard, letting the best chance to check his rise slip through their fingers.
To make matters worse, the Navy's advance had stirred up hostility from the remaining emperors, who now seemed to be aligning against them. As a result, their progress was slow and costly. Meanwhile, Blackbeard, unopposed and bolstered by the fearsome criminals he'd freed from Impel Down and strong ones who joined him, swept through Whitebeard's old domains like a plague.
Back at the base, Lena approached Jack. "Sir, what are your orders?"
Jack let out a slow breath. "This isn't the time for an offensive. First, we focus on rescuing the civilians caught in the crossfire." His eyes hardened. "Also—check in with Jabra and the others. See if they're interested in getting back into action."
Kaku raised an eyebrow with a crooked smile. "Jabra? You're not worried about bringing them back, sir?"
Jack gave a wry chuckle. "To be honest, I am. You and Kalifa still have some conscience left, but as for the others... they don't care about right or wrong. They only care about whether the mission gets done. That's why I never planned to use them. I just hoped they'd find some peace and let that violent streak fade away."
Before Kaku could answer, Lena spoke up with a grin. "It's fine, sir. Sure, they're a little cold when it comes to life-and-death matters, but they're not bad people. Actually, they're a bit... simple. Naive, even? Maybe that's not quite the word, but after all their years of isolated training, they just don't think too deeply about things. Look at Jabra—his lies are so obvious that no normal person would fall for them!"
Jack paused, thinking it over. Lena had a point. He'd never analyzed the CP9 members too closely, but Lena, who spent more time around them at the base, had seen through their true nature.
"Alright, ask them. Anyone who wants to come is welcome. Anyone who doesn't can stay back and guard the home front." Jack nodded, then added with a firm smile, "But one rule—once they join, no harming civilians. We're not just fighting pirates here—we're here to protect the ordinary people too."
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