One Piece: My Evolving Aircraft

Next Bonus, 100!!

<><><><><><>

Syrup Village.

On the coast, Usopp stood with his rifle, staring out at the sea.

"Mr. Ron... Kaneshiro... your names have finally been cleared. And you've been avenged."

He'd been lucky. After drifting for two days, he'd been rescued by a fishing boat. The fisherman, who had once been helped by the trade guild, had hidden him and treated his wounds.

After Lambert was taken away, Usopp had contacted the guild through the fisherman and had eventually made his way back to the village.

He looked out at the sea, so deep, so cruel.

The experience had left a deep impression on him.

He was afraid.

Suddenly, he was afraid of the sea.

Afraid of losing his friends.

And so, he had lied to the people from the guild, had lied to himself, saying he wanted to stay on the island to train, to become stronger.

"Usopp! Come play pirates with us!" the three kids from the village called out, waving their pirate flag.

"Eh? Are you crying?"

"Huh??" Usopp quickly wiped his eyes and stood up, his hands on his hips. "Crying? I would never! I'm going to be the bravest warrior on the sea! Hahaha...!"

—————————

Goa Kingdom, Mt. Colubo.

"Gum-Gum... Gatling!"

In the forest, a young boy's arms stretched out, his fists flying like bullets, pummeling a giant bear.

The Lord of the Mountain, the same beast that had once chased Ace, Sabo, and Luffy, was quickly knocked unconscious.

"Hee-hee!"

Luffy retracted his arms and wiped his nose, a proud grin on his face.

He turned and jumped onto a tree trunk, climbing up to a small treehouse high in the branches.

This had once been Ace's secret base, then it had been his, Sabo's, and Ace's. Now... it was just his.

He sat on a branch, looking out at the sea. The wind rustled the straw hat hanging on his back and stirred something in his heart.

"Just one more month," he said. "Ace, Shanks... just you wait."

He dreamed of the day he would meet them on the Grand Line, of the day he would become the King of the Pirates.

—————————

West Blue.

In a ruined village, Ace was dividing the last of his food among a group of children, listening to their story.

Teach and "Demon Sheriff" Lafitte had fought here, taking out a pirate crew and destroying the village in the process.

"Too late again," Ace muttered, his brow furrowed. He had followed Teach's trail to the West Blue.

"I heard... they were heading for a place called 'Paradise'."

"Right. Thanks for the information."

With a heavy heart, Ace left the village. It wasn't the first village that had been destroyed by Teach. The man was unpredictable, capricious. He was a menace.

—————————

New World, on the deck of the Moby Dick.

Whitebeard listened as Marco read the news, a slight frown on his face.

"Something's definitely going on in the East Blue," Vista said.

"The story changed too fast," Izo added. "Working with the Marines, impersonating the CIU... do the revolutionaries really have that kind of guts? Impersonating a Celestial Dragon? Impossible."

"Maybe the two sides fought, and Jin won," Marco suggested. "That's why the World Government is reporting it this way."

"In any case," Izo said, "it's strange."

"And," he continued, "have you noticed? Since last year, and especially this year, there have been a lot of negative stories about Jin and the Winter Blossom Kingdom."

"Controlling the news, the papers, building someone up or tearing them down... that's the World Government's game," Vista said. "A lot of seemingly normal articles are just propaganda. It's hard to tell what's real and what's not."

"Contact him," Whitebeard said. "Find out what's going on. I still owe that kid a favor."

"Right, Pops," Marco nodded.

Just then, Jozu's ship pulled alongside.

"Pops!" he called out. "A rookie from Red-Hair's crew, a guy named Rockstar, says he has a letter for you."

"A letter?" Whitebeard said, leaning on his hand. "Shanks? What's he sending me a letter for?"

In the New World, the Four Emperors weren't exactly friends. They were rivals, a system of checks and balances. If Shanks and Whitebeard had a conflict of interest, they would fight.

Whitebeard glanced at Rockstar as he came aboard. "So this is the letter from Shanks?"

"Yes, sir," Rockstar said, his voice steady. "It contains a matter of great importance. The captain ordered me to deliver it personally."

He might have been a "rookie" on Red-Hair's crew, but he wasn't exactly a newcomer. His bounty was already close to a hundred million. But on Shanks's crew, he was still just an errand boy.

Right in front of Rockstar, Whitebeard tore the letter to shreds.

"Wait!" Rockstar exclaimed, aghast. "The boss said that was an important letter! Our boss is 'Red-Hair'! Are you crazy??"

"And I," Whitebeard said, his voice a low growl, "am 'Whitebeard'."

He picked up a massive gourd of sake and took a long drink.

"Captain, you can't drink anymore!"

"Nonsense. How can drinking what you want be bad for you?"

"Our boss said that letter was important!" Rockstar insisted.

"I'm well aware," Whitebeard said. "And if it's so important... then tell that little red-haired brat... if he has something to say, he can come say it to my face! And he'd better bring some good sake! That is the pirate's code! Do you understand? Now get out of here! I'm not wasting my breath on some snot-nosed kid!"

"Dammit..." Rockstar stormed off the ship, fuming. He immediately called Shanks.

"The pirate's code... my mistake," Shanks said with a laugh, talking Rockstar down from his desire for revenge. "You're no match for them. Just wait for us."

He hung up, his expression turning serious.

The turmoil within the Whitebeard Pirates had been kept under wraps until Teach's wanted poster had come out. When Shanks had seen that face, the scar over his eye had throbbed. He had made some inquiries and had learned a little of what was going on.

"Looks like he's not very receptive, Captain," Benn Beckman said, exhaling a puff of smoke.

Shanks scratched his head. "I know I shouldn't be getting involved in this, but... Ace and Teach..."

He knew who Ace was. And he knew how strong Teach was. He didn't think the current Ace could beat him.

And Ace was the Captain's son. He had to do something.

But the matter between Ace and Teach was an internal affair of the Whitebeard Pirates. As an outsider, for him to interfere in another crew's family business was a breach of etiquette.

That's why he hadn't gone himself, why he had sent a rookie.

But in Whitebeard's eyes, it was a provocation. That's why he had called him a "little red-haired brat."

'You're still just a kid in my eyes. Don't you dare try to tell me how to run my crew. If you want to talk to me, you come here yourself.'

In this day and age, the only ones who still followed the old "code" were the old-school pirates from the previous era, like Whitebeard.

"Set sail," Shanks said. "I'm going to go see Whitebeard."

He had decided to go and try to reason with him himself. Even though he knew Whitebeard was unlikely to change his mind.

And Ace... he was just as stubborn.

—————————

Cocoyasi Village.

On the hill where Bell-mère was buried, a memorial had been built. Nami and Nojiko had given their consent.

Jin, Issho, Van Augur, Nami, Nojiko, the mayor of the Conomi Islands, and other high-ranking officials were all in attendance.

They were there to pay their respects to all those who had died in the battle, who had been posthumously granted the title of "Hero."

Jin gave a speech.

"They defended their homes, their country."

"They were brave and fearless warriors."

"Their stories will be written into history and will be told forever."

"I promise that their families, their descendants, will be well taken care of, and their names will be honored for as long as this nation stands..."

<><><><><><>

~ 70 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)