"Is this... eight hundred years ago?"
Carrying a sword and a gun on his back, dressed in a black suit, Orin slowly opened his eyes.
The familiar laboratory was gone.
Instead, before him stretched an open wilderness, the ground blanketed with endless yellow sand.
Having arrived here for the first time, Orin still felt somewhat unfamiliar with the place. He wandered aimlessly forward—until a woman's voice called out.
"Hello there, are you also a warrior heading to the Alliance of Twenty Nations?"
Orin slowly turned around. In truth, he had already noticed this group earlier, but in this strange time and place, he recognized no one.
The woman with blue hair took the initiative to introduce herself.
"Nice to meet you, unknown strong one. My name is..."
"Nefertari D. Lily."
...
After Orin disappeared, the sea fell into tranquility.
Of course, it was only a surface-level calm.
During this time, Buggy continued to lie low in the East Blue, reigning over his small domain. Occasionally, he would silently wonder when Orin would return again.
Shanks, relying on his overwhelming Haki and swordsmanship, had successfully risen to the throne of the Yonko. Under his lead, the Red-Haired Pirates' fame skyrocketed.
After all, he was the friend of [Black Gun]Orin—the notorious criminal who destroyed Elegia.
His bounty: 4,489,000,000 Belly.
Mihawk remained the drifting swordsman of the seas, steering his small coffin-shaped ship across the Grand Line. Ever since Shanks lost his arm, Mihawk had lost a worthy sparring partner—a matter he found quite regretful.
Still, his life was far from idle.
He often had to clean up Orin's messes, for every year there were new Supernovas rising, and sometimes they could cause quite a bit of trouble.
The world continued to move forward even without Orin's presence.
Yet, as he remained unseen for years—half retired and shrouded in mystery—it was inevitable that pirates around the world began to forget the true weight of his name.
Even the three monsters of the Marines had now officially become Admirals.
...
Time passed in the blink of an eye.
The year was now 1517 of the Sea Circle Calendar.
East Blue, Goa Kingdom, Foosha Village.
"Then... I'm setting sail!!!"
Ace sat in a small sailboat, wearing his orange hat marked with the smiling and crying faces. With simple travel gear, he embarked on his journey to sea, a youthful smile bright on his face.
Rouge stood on the shore, crying uncontrollably. Yet she didn't say anything to stop him. After hugging Ace tightly, she waved him off.
"Once you're out there, make sure to stay safe!!!"
"I got it!!!"
Young Luffy stood beside her, laughing heartily and waving his hands in excitement. He was happy for Ace.
"When I go out to sea, I'll get strong too!!!!"
Nearly the entire Foosha Village came to see Ace off.
As the sailboat gradually disappeared from sight, Rouge, who had been quietly holding back her tears, could no longer suppress her sobs.
It wasn't only the pain of parting with her son.
The scene reminded her too much of that day, many years ago—when Roger left her, smiling and waving the same way.
Father and son truly did look alike.
Makino gently supported the heartbroken Rouge. Seeing her so distraught, Makino felt her own worry too, yet she comforted her softly.
"Don't worry. Once Ace goes out to sea, Orin-san's people will be looking after him. He won't be in any danger."
"Orin-san..."
Hearing that, Rouge's tears paused for a moment.
She remembered that mysterious figure who always appeared whenever she and her son were in trouble.
Looking at Makino, she nodded, her eyes filled with both complexity and hope.
"Let's hope so~"
...
The age was steadily reaching its climax—an era of chaos and monsters was about to begin.
Yet across these seas, Orin's legend still lingered.
As the brightest Supernova among pirates, Ace's name soon caught the Navy's attention.
"This brat... actually became a pirate!!!"
Garp's face darkened with rage as he crushed the newspaper in his hands.
In contrast, Sengoku remained calm and composed—as expected of a Fleet Admiral. Holding Ace's wanted poster, he turned to a nearby officer and asked,
"D? Where did that come from?"
...
Ace's journey went smoothly. Cutting through obstacles and defeating challengers, he eventually met Deuce on a deserted island—where he ate the destined Flame-Flame Fruit.
With newfound confidence, he set his sights on recreating the legend of his Uncle Orin—by marching into the New World and becoming a true great pirate!
But first, he arrived at a mountain range shrouded in blizzards.
Inside a cave, a group of pirates huddled around a fire for warmth.
"Spade Pirates?"
"Are you the newcomers of the sea, here to pay me a visit?"
Shanks slowly picked up his sword. His expression was unreadable, but Ace raised a hand, exhaling a puff of cold air.
"No..."
"It's just that I've often heard my little brother talk about you as his benefactor. And I also heard you were a good friend of one of my elders, so I came to pay my respects."
Shanks looked a little puzzled.
"A good friend?"
"Yeah..."
Ace sat down across from him, completely unfazed by the presence of a Yonko's crew.
"I've heard on the sea that you were good friends with Orin-san!!!"
At that, the atmosphere immediately lightened. Shanks loosened his cloak and smiled.
"You actually know Orin?!"
"Your name is... Ace, right?"
By this point, Shanks already had his suspicions.
After all, he had been close to Captain Roger—but what he cared about most was the inheritance of Roger's will, not necessarily the identity of his descendants.
The two drank together.
They didn't fight.
After all, among the Yonko, Shanks' temper was considered gentle. As long as you didn't cross his bottom line, he wouldn't casually make you taste Divine Departure.
Especially someone like Ace—who was tied so closely to both Roger and Orin.
...
Well then...
Now that he had entered the New World, the first step to becoming a great pirate—
Was to challenge Whitebeard.
Ace pointed forward decisively, his crew fully agreeing with him.
But before they could reach Whitebeard, Ace was stopped by a certain blue-skinned man.
"Jinbe the Knight of the Sea? If I remember right, you're one of Orin-san's subordinates, aren't you?"
Ace didn't want to fight—he respected Orin deeply, and Jinbe was someone from his circle.
But Jinbe's expression was serious.
"Ace, that's not quite accurate... I'm not only Orin-sama's subordinate—I also owe a great debt to the Whitebeard Pirates!!!"
"Water Shot!!!"
After all, half of Fish-Man Island was under Whitebeard's protection. Since they now stood as opponents, Jinbe couldn't back down—not without betraying his convictions.
Even though he had come with a mission left by Orin-sama—to find Ace.
"Guess there's no helping it, then. But even if you're one of Orin-san's men... I won't hold back!"
"Fire Fist!!!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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