Sea Circle Calendar 1519.
As time passed, Ace and An's fame grew. During this period, they encountered the Buggy Pirates, and Ace and Sabo competed fiercely every time.
Until An suddenly reminded Ace: "As a captain, fighting fiercely with another crew's pirate apprentice is a bit embarrassing, isn't it?"
That's right, the captain of the Spade Pirates wasn't An, but Ace.
So Ace suddenly realized, avoiding direct confrontation with Sabo each time, instead verbally provoking Sabo. Sabo, angry, left the Buggy Pirates to start his own.
Not long after, the Heart Pirates were born.
The Marines' nickname for Sabo was actually what the crew he gathered called him—"Young Master."
But compared to the Spade Pirates, who had experienced several years of trials on the high seas, the Heart Pirates' fame was still relatively small.
Now, like all the arrogant pirates who entered the New World, Ace began planning to challenge the four pirate crews at the top of the sea.
"Are you crazy?" An looked at him as if he were an idiot.
They themselves were crew members who had left a Yonko crew; how could they not know the strength of the Yonko?
The earth-shattering battle between Buggy and Shanks in the East Blue was still fresh in An's memory. Let alone these two Yonko were the least experienced among the Four Emperors.
The Raiden Shogun and Whitebeard had come from the era of the Pirate King!
Challenge the Yonko?
If you don't want your hands, just chop them off yourself. Why trouble others?
"Why not? Didn't Shanks rise to power after defeating a legend? If he can, we can!" He had heard the story of the Red Hair Pirates challenging the Big Mom Pirates countless times.
Back then, Shanks was just like him now, and he had defeated the Big Mom Pirates!
And according to Beckman, if that old hag Big Mom were placed today, the sea would have five emperors instead of four.
"But the reason Shanks succeeded was because he allied with Jester Buggy and many powerful pirates, forming an alliance to barely win. With just us, defeating a Yonko is impossible," An said helplessly.
Her brother was just the type to get hot-headed and carried away.
"Unless you're willing to ally with the Heart Pirates," An said helplessly.
"What? That's impossible!" Ace immediately rebutted. "I won't team up with that blonde apprentice brat! That guy even copied my pirate crew's name!"
Ace was furious about his pirate crew being copied. If the Marines couldn't help him protect his copyright, he would have sent a cease-and-desist letter long ago.
Ace: Bring you and your pirate flag to court!
Actually, he had tried to seize the opponent's flag in pirate battles, but without success. Sabo, a Logia Flame-Flame Fruit user, was a bit troublesome.
And Sabo's physical skills were excellent. Without mastering Advanced Conqueror's Coating, Ace really couldn't handle Sabo.
If he and An attacked together, they could defeat him, but Ace couldn't bring himself to do that.
"Big Sis, actually the captain is already very strong!"
"Yeah, I feel like even a Yonko is nothing special."
"…"
The crew members chattered one after another, very confident in Ace's strength. They unanimously believed their captain had the bearing of a Pirate King.
An could only say these people knew nothing about power.
"Alright then, who are you planning to challenge? Buggy?" An could only hope Ace was targeting Buggy, and then Buggy might show mercy for Shanks' sake.
After all, they were old acquaintances; he probably wouldn't cut off Ace's hand.
But Ace had his own ideas.
"Buggy? That guy is annoying, but he's on good terms with Shanks. For Shanks' sake, I'll let him go," Ace said confidently.
An: ???
Who are you letting go?
An was speechless. Did Ace even have that strength?
Letting Buggy go? If he could even beat the kappa on Buggy's crew, that would count as significant progress over the past two years.
Before An could continue speaking, she heard Ace say: "I plan to challenge that Whitebeard! I want to see how strong the so-called man closest to the Pirate King really is!"
An: "…"
She didn't know how to respond.
"Haha, don't worry, sis. I'm not an idiot. How could I not know the gap between me and Shanks?" Ace suddenly laughed.
He had just been joking.
Hearing this, An finally breathed a sigh of relief. After all, on the high seas, Whitebeard was still called the World's Strongest Man. Although this title was actually controversial—some thought the Raiden Shogun was the world's strongest.
But this showed how terrifying Whitebeard's strength was.
After all, among the Yonko, neither Shanks nor Buggy had been given the title of "strongest."
That's right, Shanks' strongest Conqueror's Haki was still in Ren's head.
"But I still want to see the legendary Whitebeard who was equal to the Pirate King. According to Shanks, Whitebeard's strength was about the same as the Pirate King's?" Ace asked back. "Don't you want to learn more about the Pirate King? Not from his crew, but from his opponent's perspective?"
Hearing this, An was tempted.
Unlike Ace, An had deep feelings for her father. Hearing Ace's proposal, she was immediately convinced.
"But…"
"Don't worry, sis. We're not really trying to take his head. It's different from that Crocodile earlier." Ace thought this was still feasible.
Someone like him, who came from the Red Hair Pirates, naturally idealized pirates. In reality, true pirates were cruel things.
Locking people in cells like Teacher Kaido was already merciful. If it were Blackbeard facing such challengers, he would probably kill them outright.
Fortunately, the target he chose was Whitebeard. If it were Ren instead, he would probably teach him a lesson.
So the Spade Pirates set their sights on the Whitebeard Pirates and began heading toward Whitebeard's territory.
…
At this time, in Inazuma, the Hakumai region.
Kurozumi Higurashi and Kurozumi Semimaru passed away one after another. After holding funerals for the two elders, Kurozumi Shinjo wiped away her tears and pulled herself together again.
But having witnessed life, old age, sickness, and death, she also had thoughts of cultivating a successor. Although she had no children herself, over the years, Higurashi and Semimaru had already recovered some of the surviving members of the original Kurozumi clan.
Among those people, there was a child named Tama who she quite liked.
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