Because of the strict secrecy surrounding it, no one outside the group knew about this secret meeting.
After spending two days together on Wenmigudan Island, everyone who had attended the meeting returned to their own posts.
They were no longer the lone individuals they had been when they first set out to sea twenty years ago. Behind each of them now stood countless people from different races and factions, all relying on them to survive.
There was no such thing as true freedom in this world.
No matter the race or people, they were all social beings. Without a leader to guide them, they would only slowly head toward extinction.
And three weeks after the meeting ended, another piece of huge news arrived, once again stirring up the entire sea.
...
Alabasta.
It was a superpower located on the Grand Line, and one of the twenty nations that had once founded the World Government. It possessed a standing army of nearly six hundred thousand.
Yet even a great nation like this had now fallen into chaos. The rebel army opposing the rule of the current King Cobra was no smaller than the royal forces, which only proved how powerful this country truly was.
Blackbeard had arrived in Alabasta three weeks earlier with his crew: his helmsman Jesus Burgess, ship's doctor Doc Q, sniper Van Augur, and navigator Laffitte.
But clearly, they had underestimated Sir Crocodile, a man who had managed to become a Shichibukai.
They had spent three weeks searching across Alabasta, yet they could not find Crocodile's location at all.
When it came to schemes and intelligence, that man was clearly far beyond the idiots in Blackbeard's pirate crew.
Even though they had found Baroque Works, the organization Crocodile had established, and captured a few of its members, the structure of the organization was so tight that Blackbeard's pirate crew still had no way in.
Just as Blackbeard was laughing with his usual "Zehahahaha," admitting defeat and preparing to look for another target, they ran into a strange group in the large port city of Nanohana.
They called themselves the Straw Hat Pirates, and their target was the same as Blackbeard's: Crocodile.
The difference was that they were trying to save the entire country.
So Blackbeard made a swift decision and had his men secretly follow them.
Sure enough, after following this group of pirates, Blackbeard was lucky enough to locate Baroque Works' headquarters and find Crocodile himself. Then something that sent Blackbeard into wild delight happened. From the conversation between the Straw Hat Pirates and Crocodile, Blackbeard heard that the legendary Ancient Weapon, Pluton, was actually in Alabasta.
He was utterly shocked.
He had originally planned to take advantage of the chaos, get rid of Crocodile, and replace him. But in that instant, he decided to wait. He would act after he obtained definite information about Pluton.
For that reason, Blackbeard even pretended to be a good person for a while, saving the Straw Hat Crew from the brink of death.
They had never thought the Straw Hats could cause Crocodile any real trouble. After all, how could people who had not even mastered Haki defeat a Logia user?
When the time came, all they had to do was follow Crocodile, wait until he found the legendary Ancient Weapon Pluton, then step in at the end and take it. That way, they could get everything at once.
But during the final battle, something happened that no one had expected.
Luffy's Haki, which had shown no progress even after a month of training on Skypiea, broke through during the final battle.
Not only that, he also displayed the power known as Conqueror's Haki for the first time.
With a full strength blow driven by rage, Straw Hat Luffy miraculously defeated the Shichibukai, Sir Crocodile, who had been affected by Conqueror's Haki.
Everyone was stunned.
Especially Blackbeard. He had still been counting on Crocodile to get information about Pluton.
And this was the result...
But it no longer mattered...
So, just as everyone was celebrating the victory and Crocodile's defeat, Blackbeard finally revealed his true face.
"Shichibukai Sir Crocodile, plus Straw Hat Luffy, the man who defeated him. That should be enough to make me a Shichibukai, right...?"
Under everyone's disbelieving stares, Blackbeard displayed overwhelming power and defeated every member of the Straw Hat Pirates. He planned to hand them over to the Marines as the bargaining chip that would make him a Shichibukai.
But at that moment, an even more powerful Conqueror's Haki, filled with rage, swept across the entire battlefield.
In the despair of the Straw Hat Pirates and Princess Vivi, hope appeared...
...
Before Alubarna, the capital of Alabasta.
Surrounded by countless soldiers of the Royal Army and the Rebel Army, Luffy was covered in blood, beaten black and blue, and barely clinging to life. As he looked at the familiar figure standing in the desert beneath that dazzling light, he broke into a joyful smile.
"Ace..."
Ace descended from the sky with a leap, a small bundle on his back, and landed between the Straw Hat Pirates and Blackbeard's pirate crew.
"Thank goodness, we're saved!"
Nami and Usopp hugged each other in joy, almost bursting into tears.
"Huh... So that's Ace?"
The newly joined ship's doctor, Chopper, and Princess Vivi of Alabasta did not know Ace, but they had heard their companions mention his name more than once aboard the Merry.
Just then, Chopper saw the man called Ace look at him with a gentle smile.
"You're Luffy's ship's doctor, right? Please take good care of Luffy. Leave the rest to me!"
"Huh!"
Being entrusted so gently filled Chopper's heart with joy.
"Leave it to me!"
With that, he ran to Luffy's side and began treating him.
Luffy looked at Ace, who had just appeared, and spoke in an extremely weak voice.
"Thanks, Ace! I'm counting on you now. You have to help Vivi save this country!"
"Leave it to me!"
With Ace's appearance, the war that had fallen into despair was suddenly turned around.
Everyone in Blackbeard's pirate crew stared fixedly at the young man before them, not daring to make a careless move.
The entire battlefield fell silent, until Blackbeard's voice broke the strange atmosphere.
"Zehahahaha... What terrifying Conqueror's Haki. I can't believe I've never seen someone like you on the sea before... My name is Marshall D. Teach. You can call me Blackbeard. And you? Anyone with Conqueror's Haki like that can't possibly be some nobody..."
Standing in front of all his crew, Blackbeard cautiously extended both hands as he asked.
Ace looked at the man before him, the one missing several front teeth, and also sensed extreme danger from him. This was a powerful enemy unlike any he had ever encountered.
But that was what made it interesting...
Hadn't he come from Angel Island to this sea precisely to challenge powerful enemies?
"My name? I'm Portgas..."
Suddenly, Ace, who had been about to say his name, seemed to think of something. After silently apologizing to his mother in his heart, he looked at the man before him and gave another name.
"My name is Gol D. Ace..."
***
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