Pirate: I'm about to do something big!

Navy warships adorned with seagull flags sailed across the sea, heading towards their destination, Marineford.

The three Luffy brothers, who were brought out of Windmill Village in the East Blue by Alyosha, stood at the bow of the ship. On their first time at sea, they had different feelings as they looked at the Marineford Marine Headquarters, whose outlines were already visible in the distance.

Ace, the eldest brother, already knows that he is the son of the Pirate King and that he is alive because Garp is protecting him. Under Alyosha's guidance, he meets two of Roger's crew members, Shanks and Rayleigh, and learns about part of Roger's past from them.

Although it's not comprehensive, it's still much better than hearing about Roger from other people all the time.

As Ace faced the imminent arrival of Marineford, his emotions were written all over his face: unease and guilt.

He now understood why Garp had always insisted that he become a Marine, because only in this way could Garp protect him and keep him alive.

If he were to choose to become a pirate after training at the Marine Headquarters, the only one who would be most heartbroken would be Garp, hence his guilt.

Similarly, if his identity as Roger's son were exposed, death would be the only thing waiting for him, even though Alyosha repeatedly assured Ace that his identity was currently known only to himself, Alyosha, Garp, and Fleet Admiral Sengoku.

But the fear of the unknown and death still lingered in Ace's mind at this moment. After all, Ace was just a twelve-year-old child, not yet thirteen.

No matter how grand his ambitions were, they could not erase the various emotions in Ace's heart at this moment.

"To become a marine...?"

As Ace watched the naval warships gradually appear on the sea, he muttered to himself with a sense of unease.

Sabo, the second brother, has a much better mentality than Ace.

His idea of ​​going to sea to become a pirate was simple: to escape his family and the Goa Kingdom, where nobles treated commoners like dirt.

Sabo at this time has not yet developed a revolutionary ideology; he simply instinctively believes that the aristocracy's practice and concept of treating commoners as worthless is wrong.

Sabo didn't object to being brought to the Marine Headquarters for training by Alyosha. The perceptive Sabo also noticed Ace's anxiety and immediately went to Ace's side and put his arm around his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Luffy and I are here."

"Hey, I just imagine the look on Grandpa and Teacher's faces when Luffy shouts 'I want to be a pirate' in front of the Marines."

Encouraged by Sabo, Ace's earlier anxiety disappeared.

Sabo was taken aback by Ace's words, because he knew that Luffy was capable of doing such a thing.

As they were talking, Ace and Sabo heard hurried footsteps behind them; it was their younger brother, Luffy.

Ten-year-old Luffy had already mastered some of his Devil Fruit abilities during his time on the ship. He stretched out his hands, grabbed the mast, and swung himself to the bow.

Looking at the Marineford port that was already close at hand, and the naval warships at sea that were either setting sail or returning, he announced his arrival to them with his loud voice.

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to be the freest man on the seas!!!"

Luffy's voice echoed across the sea, startling countless seabirds into circling overhead and drawing the attention of nearby warships.

"Hey, isn't that Commodore Alyosha's warship?"

"That's right, it seems that Brigadier General Alyosha brought back some very energetic little devils from this recruitment trip at sea."

"But that little guy said he wants to be the freest man on the sea, the freest man on the sea, isn't that...?"

"Keep your mouth shut, Lieutenant Colonel. Nobody says the freest man on the high seas has to be a pirate. Pass the order: return to Marineford before Alyosha's warships!"

"Yes, Major General Huoshaoshan!"

A group of warships, eager for a good show, suddenly accelerated and headed towards Marineford port.

Meanwhile, on Alyosha's warship, Alyosha was guarding the prisoner he had brought back from Fishman Island, Vander Decken IX, a fishman who possessed the Target-Target Fruit, in the warship's temporary prison.

He originally intended to hand Vander Decken over to Fishman Island to deal with, since the latter knew the secrets about the ancient weapon Poseidon and was also harassing the mermaid princess Shirahoshi.

This is also something Alyosha doesn't understand. In the original timeline, Vander Decken started harassing Princess Shirahoshi from the day Queen Otohime was assassinated. Shirahoshi's mother's death triggered her abilities as Poseidon, which is when Vander Decken noticed her and began harassing her.

But due to his own chain reaction, Vander Deikun began harassing her without knowing the secret that the mermaid princess was Poseidon.

Even so, the Fishman Island royal family has not given a definite answer on how to deal with Vander Decken.

Seeing that the other party was so weak, Alyosha had no choice but to take Vander Deiken to the warship and keep him under guard, in order to find out whether the other party knew the secret that the mermaid princess Shirahoshi was the ancient weapon Poseidon.

"So you're just after the beauty of the mermaid princess from Fishman Island? How old is she anyway, you scumbag."

"Hehehe, how could you, a human, possibly understand the innate beauty of our mermaid princess? Don't think that throwing me into Impel Down will solve everything. Maybe I'll be able to come out soon and pursue Princess Shirahoshi legally."

Despite wearing Seastone handcuffs that suppress Devil Fruit users, Vander Decken spoke of Alyosha with an air of pride rather than shame.

His words prompted Alyosha, who had been pretending to leave, to close the cell door, sit back in his seat, and take an orange from his pocket and place it on the table.

"So, you do know the secret of the ancient weapon 'Poseidon,' right, Vander Deikun?"

Alyosha's words also caused Vander Deiken's expression to change. Looking at Alyosha, who still had a gentle smile, the shadow of death enveloped him.

"Who are you?! This is a secret passed down through our family for generations, how could you possibly know?!"

"I can also tell you definitively that the current Princess Shirahoshi is none other than the ancient weapon 'Poseidon,' which your family has always coveted."

Alyosha decided to let Vander Decken be the one to know the truth. Vander Decken's words just now confirmed one thing for Alyosha: Vander Decken was not sure that Shirahoshi was "Poseidon".

The reason he harassed Shirahoshi was partly because, as the other party said, he coveted her beauty, and partly as a test to see if he could stimulate her and make her unleash her abilities as the ancient weapon "Poseidon".

That's why Vander Deiken said that even if Alyosha sent him to Advance Island, he would still have the opportunity to leave openly.

All he had to do was tell the World Government's CP intelligence agency what he knew, even if it was just uncertain information, and there was a high probability that they would bail Vander Deiken out.

However, this meant that Alyosha no longer needed to send Vander Deikun to Impel Down.

Alyosha extended his index finger, aiming it at Vander Deikun, who was unable to use his Devil Fruit powers.

Finger Pistol - Shockwave!

An invisible shockwave shot out from Alyosha's index finger and struck Vander Deiken squarely on the forehead.

The powerful shockwave twisted Vander Deacon's neck into a bizarre angle, making a cracking sound as his bones broke. The force it contained even penetrated his body and turned Vander Deacon's brain into a pulp.

Vander Deikun's lifeless body fell to the ground, and the Devil Fruit he had eaten, the Target-Target Fruit, immediately converged on the orange placed in front of Alyosha after his death, and he was reborn.

This is one way to obtain a Devil Fruit.

After a Devil Fruit user dies, the Devil Fruit they ate will randomly regenerate in some corner of the ocean.

However, this randomness is not insurmountable. If there is fruit nearby when the Devil Fruit user dies, then according to the principle of proximity, the Devil Fruit will first use that fruit as a carrier to transfer to it and form a brand new Devil Fruit.

As for Alyosha killing Vander Decken on the ship, no one would care about Alyosha, the brigadier general, and no one would care why Alyosha wanted to kill Vander Decken, this fish-man criminal.

After carefully storing the target fruit, Alyosha left the cell without even glancing at Vander Deiken's corpse.

"Captain Roy."

"Yes, Commander Alyosha."

"Have two people clean out the cell. Once we're ashore, dispose of this guy's body. We should be almost at Marineford by now."

"Reporting to Commander Alyosha, we are ten nautical miles from the port. Marshal Sengoku, Vice Admiral Garp and his men are already waiting for you at the port."

"Oh dear, it seems Mr. Garp is getting a little impatient. Well then, notify the whole ship to prepare for docking. I'll go and say hello to Mr. Garp and the others first."

"Yes, Commander Alyosha."

-----------------

Marineford port, where warships are moored.

Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Garp, Zephyr, Tsuru, Kizaru, Akainu, and Aokiji were all waiting for Alyosha's warship to dock.

Garp, who is regarded as a hero by the Navy and deeply loved by the Marines, stands in the center and foreground.

This naval hero, who made his name on the seas during Roger's era, or even earlier, a powerful figure who chased Roger's pirate crew all over the seas and experienced countless battles, now looks just like an old man.

Even though Alyosha's warship was right in front of him, time seemed to pass very slowly. While waiting in the port, he could only relieve his nervousness and anxiety by constantly eating senbei (rice crackers).

"Shut up, Garp! Keep your senbei-eating noise down!"

"Don't worry about such details, Sengoku period."

"You bastard, you ate my senbei!"

Sengoku snatched the senbei from Garp's hand and devoured it in one gulp, as if drinking water.

"Sengoku, you bastard!"

These two old guys, who had supported each other since they were low-ranking marines, completely disregarded the presence of others and started a full-blown brawl on the dock.

After all, only the two of them knew what Alyosha had done during his recruitment campaign across the world, and what little guy he had brought back from Alyosha's warship.

This was also a tacit gamble between Sengoku and Garp, the old partners.

The reason Garp placed Ace in Windmill Village in the East Blue was to protect Roger, his only son who was both an enemy and a friend. The same reason he wanted Ace to become a Marine was that only by becoming a Marine could Garp better protect Ace.

Sengoku, being one of the few people who knew what Garp was doing, also remained indifferent to Garp's actions.

Roger is dead, but the Great Pirate Era he started has not ended.

As the Fleet Admiral of the Marine Headquarters, he knew that the World Government's rule was rotten to the core, and even killing Ace wouldn't end the Great Pirate Era that Roger had started with his life.

Personally, he didn't think killing a mere child like Ace would change anything. If he could, he wouldn't want to kill Ace either, since Roger's crimes couldn't be attributed to Ace.

In the original timeline, Sengoku did make efforts, such as cooperating with Garp to submit a proposal to the World Government to recruit Ace as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

But Ace refused and was defeated and captured by Marshall D. Teach, who handed him over to the World Government and also revealed Ace's past.

At this point, it was no use for Sengoku to consider Garp's feelings. As the Fleet Admiral, he had no choice but to act impartially and publicly execute Ace.

But now, it's not too late, especially for Sengoku, who personally trained Rosinante, Doflamingo's younger brother, to become an excellent Marine. He doesn't want Rosinante's tragedy to happen to Ace.

Otherwise, Alyosha's plan to recruit students from all over the world would not have been approved in the Warring States period.

Because of his status as a naval hero, Garp often had to go to the New World to fight pirates, so he couldn't teach Ace. Alyosha, on the other hand, noticed the unspoken secret between the two of them, so he decided to take a gamble on Alyosha.

But even if they thought about it, when the moment actually came for Alyosha to bring Ace, Roger's son, back, Sengoku and Garp, the old partners, could only relieve their inner turmoil in this way.

The two old men were fighting, and the few people watching from the sidelines were having a good time.

"Tsuru, Sengoku and Garp are still so energetic."

"Zeffa, they just haven't grown up yet."

Vice Admiral Tsuru mercilessly mocked Sengoku and Garp for their childish behavior.

However, the three younger men, Chi, Qing, and Huang, said something completely different.

"I heard that Alyosha brought Mr. Garp's grandson back with him. As Mr. Garp's disciple, why don't I become Mr. Garp's grandson's teacher?"

"Kuzan, let this old man do the lazy work. Sakazuki, are you interested?"

"Don't forget your identities. As soon-to-be admirals, we are responsible for upholding justice on the sea. Don't always try to shirk your duties. There are other people who will take care of educating the children."

"Mr. Sakazuki, I don't agree with your point of view. In my hometown, parents are the best teachers for their children. If you also have children, would you just leave them unattended?"

While everyone was chatting, the warship had already docked.

Alyosha leaped from the bow of the ship and landed in front of Akainu.