One Piece: My Evolving Aircraft

Next Bonus, 100!!

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

Inside the captain's quarters.

Law finished examining Whitebeard and stepped back. "As long as you don't overexert yourself, these organs have another decade in them."

Whitebeard sat tall, entirely unfazed by the diagnosis. He let out a booming laugh. "Gurararara... Jin sent you all this way. I doubt it was just for a check-up."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Is this about Ace?"

Whitebeard was no fool. He had weathered countless storms on these seas. Fools didn't survive long out here, let alone rise to the rank of a Yonko. At the very least, when it came to matters of life and death, his instincts were razor-sharp.

Having no good choices was another matter entirely.

Law set down his medical instruments. "King Jin asked me to deliver a message."

"Oh?" Whitebeard rumbled. "Let's hear it."

"'Flowers may bloom again, but youth never returns. Take care.'"

Whitebeard paused, turning the words over in his mind.

It was an ambiguous phrase, open to two interpretations.

First, a word of caution.

Second, a subtle show of support.

It all depended on how Whitebeard chose to read it.

Suddenly, he threw his head back and roared with laughter. It echoed through the cabin for a long moment.

He waved a massive hand. "Go back and tell that brat... he doesn't get to dictate how I handle my family."

Law said nothing more. Jin had made it clear: deliver the message and leave. With a man like Whitebeard, there was no point in arguing.

—————————

The Florian Triangle!

Luffy and his crew had encountered Brook here, drifting through the haunted fog.

They had boarded Thriller Bark.

They had defeated Hogback, who was manipulating Moria.

They had rescued Lola and the others.

But this entire sequence of events had actually been orchestrated by Jin.

As the global political climate shifted, the seas were growing increasingly volatile. This stretch of ocean was no longer as secure as it once was.

Furthermore, to prepare for Ace's impending execution, the World Government had issued a mandatory summons for all Warlords. If they discovered that Moria had been dead all along—and that Jin had been pulling the strings from the shadows—it would undoubtedly be used against him.

It wasn't that Jin was afraid of a "scandal." The World Government had already churned out plenty of smear campaigns against him. He just couldn't be bothered to deal with the Five Elders' inevitable bureaucratic whining.

So, he took the simple route.

He had Brook and Viola guide the Straw Hats right into the thick of it, essentially handing them the "credit" for dismantling Thriller Bark.

Of course, it was also a test for Luffy.

Jin wanted to see if the pressure could force Nika to surface ahead of schedule.

Moria, despite being reduced to a zombie and stripped of his Shadow-Shadow Fruit, was actually far deadlier now, thanks to Judge's cybernetic enhancements.

His overwhelming attacks had battered Luffy to the brink of death.

Fortunately, by absorbing a massive amount of shadows to become "Nightmare Luffy" and utilizing his newly developed Gear Third, Luffy had barely managed to secure the win. Exhausted beyond his limits, he had immediately blacked out.

Then, Kuma had made his sudden appearance.

It was a completely one-sided massacre.

Zoro, desperate to save his captain, had stepped up, taking all of Luffy's accumulated pain and fatigue onto himself.

Viola then quietly escorted the battered Straw Hats away from the crumbling ruins of Thriller Bark.

"Hoghoghog... I take it the show's over?"

Inside the old castle, Hogback slowly picked himself up, rubbing his bruised ribs.

"That actually hurt!"

For the past two years, Hogback had been stationed on Thriller Bark, capturing wandering pirates and conducting specialized experiments to gather combat data.

It was all part of the "Seraphim" development project. That was the only reason Jin had kept him around. The man's morals were questionable at best, but his surgical expertise and scientific genius were undeniable.

As long as he didn't cross any fundamental lines, Jin could tolerate him.

—————————

Outside the ruins.

"Is there something special about Luffy?" Kuma asked, his towering frame standing beside Jin as they watched the Straw Hats' ship disappear into the fog.

He was genuinely curious. Jin seemed unusually invested in the boy.

"Or is it simply because he's Dragon's son?"

Jin chuckled, seeing no reason to hide the truth. "It's because the Devil Fruit he ate is... unique."

"Unique?" Kuma looked surprised. "Isn't it just the Paramecia Gum-Gum Fruit?"

"Normally, yes," Jin replied. "But once it awakens, it takes on a completely different form."

He glanced at Kuma. "You've felt it yourself, haven't you? The true nature of a 'demon's' will."

Kuma, having achieved dual-awakening with both the Paw-Paw Fruit and the Triceratops Fruit, knew exactly what the psychic backlash of a "demon's" will felt like.

He gave a slow nod.

"A Devil Fruit is an amalgamation," Jin explained. "It's a chaotic blend of the residual emotions of every past user, combined with the collective desires of countless people who yearned for that specific path of evolution. If the current user's will isn't strong enough, they run the risk of being completely overwhelmed—reduced to a mindless husk, or having their personality entirely overwritten."

"But it goes both ways."

"If the user's will is overwhelmingly powerful, it can actually alter the fundamental properties and the evolutionary trajectory of the fruit itself."

"The Gum-Gum Fruit is one of those fruits."

"Eight hundred years ago, its user was a man named Joy Boy."

"And in an even older era, it was wielded by someone the people called... the Sun God, Nika!"

Kuma's eyes widened in profound shock. "Luffy?! He is Nika?"

He was completely stunned.

For the longest time, Kuma had truly believed that Jin was the legendary "Nika" prophesied by the Buccaneer tribe. After all, everything Jin did, everything he said—it was all focused on saving the oppressed and reshaping the world for the better.

But now, Jin was telling him that "Nika" was someone else entirely?

It was like a devout believer dedicating his life to a man he thought was the reincarnation of his god, only for that man to turn around and say, 'Nope, the god is that kid over there.'

Had he put his faith in the wrong person?

Jin saw the conflict on Kuma's face and smiled gently. "Are you disappointed?"

Kuma shook his head firmly. "No."

"You were the one who taught me that true freedom and liberation... they must be fought for with our own hands. We cannot simply wait for a savior to descend. Nika is a symbol of liberation, but a symbol alone cannot free the world. True liberation requires the awakening of everyone's will."

Jin's smile widened. Over the past few years, Kuma had truly changed. He had developed his own independent will; he was finally thinking for himself.

"Excellent. You've graduated," Jin said approvingly.

"The truth is, Luffy can be Nika. You can be Nika. Anyone can become Nika."

Kuma gave a slow nod of understanding. 'You're doing this to force Luffy to grow,' he thought. 'You're trying to push him toward awakening the Nika form sooner.'

"I admit, I'm curious to see how Nika plans to liberate this world—if he even can," Jin added, his tone light. "If he pulls it off, that's fantastic."

He meant every word. Jin bore no ill will toward Luffy or Nika. He had never once considered the boy a threat.

Unless, of course, Luffy suffered a sudden lapse in judgment, decided to follow in Roger's footsteps, and teamed up with the Marines and the Celestial Dragons to take him down first.

"It's just a shame that Luffy and his crew are growing a bit too slowly for my liking," Jin murmured.

"When the heavens are about to place a great responsibility on a man... they first must severely test his resolve."

"Looks like I'll have to give them a little push."

The Empress, wreathed in golden flames, opened its cavernous maw and swallowed the entirety of Thriller Bark in a single, earth-shattering gulp.

The island ship had served its purpose. It had no further reason to exist in these waters.

—————————

That very same day, the Five Elders received the report: The Straw Hat Pirates had defeated Gekko Moria, and Thriller Bark had completely vanished.

"Useless trash!"

The Five Elders were exasperated. A full-fledged Warlord of the Sea, taken down by a crew of rookies who had barely been on the Grand Line for three months?

What kind of pathetic shut-in had they hired? He was utterly worthless!

"However, this does confirm our suspicions. Straw Hat Luffy indeed possesses that Devil Fruit..."

"Nika!"

The Five Elders' expressions turned grim.

"It is time for another purge. A reshuffling of the deck."

"Whitebeard and his precious 'sons' are a dying breed. Their usefulness to us has run its course. It is time to eliminate them."

"By executing them, we can restore the Marines' morale and reaffirm our absolute authority."

"We've allowed them to roam free for this long. Now is the perfect moment to cash in on our investment."

Hunting pirates was a daily routine. But when to strike, and how to strike—that required precise political calculation.

A regime needs enemies to justify its own existence.

Without the looming, terrifying threat of the Yonko and the rampant pirate menace, the affiliated nations might start questioning the necessity of the ever-increasing Heavenly Tribute.

But you couldn't just let the pirates run completely unchecked, either.

When the time was right, a major culling was required.

It would strike fear into the hearts of the remaining Yonko and restless pirates, while simultaneously serving as a bloody demonstration of power for the member nations. Look what happens to those who oppose us.

Right now, the aging, fractured Whitebeard Pirates served only one purpose in the eyes of the Five Elders: they were the perfect sacrificial lambs.

"Inform Sengoku. This upcoming war must end in an absolute, crushing victory for the Marines!"

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

~ 70 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)