Pirate: I'm about to do something big!

Sabaody Archipelago, Peninsula 60, Naval Base.

Smoker paced back and forth on the deck, two cigars dangling from his mouth, glancing at the sea every now and then.

Alyosha, along with Arlong and Tesoro, had been diving into Fishman Island for a whole day. If Smoker hadn't had absolute confidence in Alyosha's abilities as a fellow warrior, he would have already taken his men to Fishman Island to investigate.

"Hey cigar uncle, aren't you coming for dinner?"

"Shut up! You heartless brat! As Ran's student, shouldn't you at least worry about your teacher's safety?!"

Hearing Luffy's carefree words while eating grilled meat, Smoker was furious and threw a smoke punch at Luffy's head.

Unfortunately, his Armament Haki, which only worked intermittently, was completely ineffective against Luffy, a rubber man.

Little Luffy scratched his head as if nothing had happened, swallowed the grilled meat in his hand in one gulp, and then said with a grin:

"Don't worry, Master is a man as powerful as Shanks!"

Upon hearing Luffy mention Shanks in Windmill Village, Smoker clenched his fists even tighter.

Just as she was about to give Luffy a good scolding, Tina interrupted her as she brought over a plate of grilled meat.

"Smoker, don't you trust Ran as much as some of those kids? Tina doesn't understand."

"Tina, why are you joining in this? Ran is always so self-centered; does he even consider us friends?!"

Seeing Tina chime in, Smoker was even more speechless.

But before he could say anything, they heard a commotion coming from the sea.

The sea was boiling as a merchant ship, coated but riddled with holes, rose from the seabed. Alyosha and Tezoro stood at the bow, greeting Smoker and the others.

"Hey, I'm back from my business trip. Let's pack up and get ready to head back to Marineford."

As they were talking, Alyosha had already jumped onto the deck of the warship with Tesoro, but Smoker also noticed that Aaron did not come back with Alyosha.

"Hey, Ran, what's going on with this merchant ship? And what about that fishman Arlong? Did you let him go?"

"This one, oh, it's a smuggling ship. They were trying to kidnap mermaids on Fishman Island, but I caught them. Fishman Island is a member state, so I arrested them all. As for Arlong, I released him back to Fishman Town. And this one, a fishman criminal who harassed the Fishman Island royal family, who is also a Devil Fruit user, I caught him too. We'll send them all to Impel Down prison later."

Upon hearing Alyosha speak so calmly, Smoker rushed over to him, grabbed him by the collar, and roared, "Damn it! What are you talking about?! You didn't even discuss this with us! Do you even consider us your friends?!"

"Hey, don't get so worked up, Smoker. I decided to handle these things myself because I consider you all my friends. That way, even if things go wrong, only I, the commander, will have to take the blame. You guys won't be in any trouble."

"If you still consider us your friends, you should let us stand with you through this. Don't make decisions on your own, you bastard!"

"Ran, this time, Tina agrees with Smoker."

Seeing that Tina was also on Smoker's side, Alyosha knew that he had angered everyone this time.

But he had no choice. If he were to confront Smoker and his crew about the things he was secretly planning, the only option left would be war, and he might even implicate Smoker and his crew.

As one of the few friends he had made during his years in the navy, Alyosha didn't want to implicate them, so he had no choice but to do this.

"I know I was wrong, and I won't make the same mistake again, Smoker, Tina, and Lieutenant Dol, I promise you."

"You should save those words for when you get back and figure out how to explain them to Marshal Sengoku. Is everything settled?"

Seeing that Alyosha was sincere in admitting his mistake, Smoker finally let go, saying irritably.

"That's about it. If nothing unexpected happens, the Sun Pirates' matter should be resolved in six months. Then you, Tina, and Dor will be able to stand on your own."

"I already told you not to make decisions for us without our consent, Ran!"

"Alright, alright, you can choose for yourselves then, I won't interfere."

Alyosha waved his hand repeatedly, and Smoker finally gave up.

With the Fishman Island incident considered over, Alyosha returned to his warship and ordered the crew to relax for the night before setting sail back to Marineford the next day.

As the night deepened and everyone slept soundly, Alyosha stood at the bow of the ship, feeling the sea breeze, and carefully recalled in his mind the various stories that followed Tiger, the captain of the Sun Pirates, after his death on Forsythe Island.

First, he was certain that after he helped Tiger avoid death on Forsythe Island, everything related to Tiger was affected by this change.

First and foremost is Queen Otohime.

In Alyosha's recollection of the Fishman Island arc, Tiger's death led to the split of the Sun Pirates. However, Arlong, the Fishman, altered the cause of his death to be a surprise attack by the Marines, where the islanders refused to give Tiger a blood transfusion, resulting in his fatal injuries.

When this news reached Fishman Island, Neptune immediately issued a decree prohibiting fishmen from giving blood transfusions to humans. All of Queen Otohime's efforts to advocate for coexistence with humans and improve relations were rendered futile.

In an effort to redeem herself, shortly after Tiger's death, Queen Otohime embarked on a week-long voyage with the Celestial Dragon Donquixote Musgard, bringing back a signature from the Celestial Dragons, a group of world nobles, agreeing to establish friendly relations between the Fish-Men and humans.

However, while collecting signatures from the citizens of Fishman Island, he was assassinated by Hody Jones, a fishman from Fishman Street, and the collected signatures were burned.

But now, thanks to her help, Tiger has safely returned to Fishman Island to take refuge, and Queen Otohime's original plan to sail with the Celestial Dragons for a week has also been temporarily shelved, thus avoiding death as well.

Even Vander Decken IX, who had been harassing the mermaid princess Shirahoshi and trying to seize her power as the Ancient Weapon Poseidon, has now been captured by him.

In other words, Fishman Island will be in a relatively safe and stable environment for a long time to come, if all plans go smoothly.

"Ha, I'm really looking forward to it, the feeling of stirring up a storm."

Alyosha thought to himself, a smile he couldn't suppress appearing on his face. Just then, footsteps came from behind him; it was Gild Tesoro, the "Golden Emperor," who was also awake.

"Good evening, Mr. Tezzolo. Can't you sleep?"

"Aren't you the same? Are you afraid I'll report your plan to rob the Heavenly Gold to your colleagues, Alyosha Ran?"

"No, I was just thinking about what I should do to continue my plan if Mr. Tezzolo reported me."

"Interesting man, you're nothing like the Marines I remember, Alyosha Ran, you're a dangerous fellow."

"Is this your opinion of me, Mr. Tezzolo?"

"That's right, but the more dangerous it is, the more interested I am, because if I succeed, I will receive an unparalleled reward. Alyosha Ran, you have made me make a choice."

"Then we are partners, Mr. Tezzolo."

A shadow flew out of Alyosha's arms and landed in Tesoro's hand. It was the trophy Alyosha had obtained from Doflamingo, the Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, the Gold-Gold Fruit.

Tesoro looked at the Devil Fruit in his hand, not expecting Alyosha to so readily hand it over to him—a Devil Fruit that everyone on the sea desired.

"Make good use of the power of this Devil Fruit, Mr. Tesoro, and together we will usher in a new era."

Alyosha patted Tezzolo on the shoulder before returning to his captain's cabin.

On the deck, only Tesoro remained, looking at the Devil Fruit in his hand and watching Alyosha's calm departure, lost in thought.