THE STRONGEST CREATURE OF THE BEAST PIRATES

Baron of Stomach Island.

The submarine of the Heart Pirates had arrived at its destination.

"Be careful," Law warned. "This island is not only home to beasts but also piranhas, and potentially man-eating plants. We have to be vigilant."

Law moved forward, every step taken with extreme caution.

Bepo, trying to act tough, blurted out, "Man-eating flowers? Man-eating trees? That's terrifying! Are we sure that man sent us here to get rid of us?"

Law glanced at Bepo with exasperation.

If that man had wanted to kill them, did he really need to go through such trouble? Did he think they were that easy to fool?

Well, polar bears might not be the sharpest.

Shaking his head, Law dismissed the thought. After spending too much time with Bepo, he was beginning to feel like he was losing brain cells.

He pushed forward towards the island's center, when suddenly, wild beasts and piranhas attacked.

"ROOM!"

Law activated his Ope Ope no Mi abilities, cutting through the beasts and the piranhas with a single stroke.

"Bepo, if you're scared, go ahead and help gather food."

"Yes, Captain, you're too kind to me!" Bepo exclaimed, his eyes tearing up as he gazed at Law with admiration.

"Stop trying to be cute!" Law growled, his face twitching in annoyance.

The Heart Pirates were focused on collecting food, but none of them noticed a figure watching from the highest tree of the Stomach Baron.

"Wait, that's Trafalgar Law! One of the Supernovas, the Death Surgeon, why is he here? Did he come to chase me down?" Usopp gasped, his eyes wide with shock.

"Ugh!" Usopp felt faint. "No, no! I've got some sort of sickness—can't look at people right now!" And with that, he dashed off.

Now only the members of the Heart Pirates and Rebecca were left on the island.

Rebecca swung her sword with precision, effortlessly cleaving through a wild wolf that was dozens of times her size.

The wolf's hot blood splattered across her face, but she simply wiped it off, not missing a beat, as she searched for her next target.

This sight stunned Bepo and the others, who had never seen such raw determination.

Rebecca, however, was too focused on her goal to notice their surprise. She was single-minded in her desire to grow stronger—recklessly so.

In the past, she had been limited by her natural talent, and despite working hard, her progress had been slow. But now, after consuming the precious Artificial Green Dragon Fruit she had obtained, she could feel an immense power surging within her.

"I can do this. I will do this. Brother Alastor believes in me!" Rebecca thought to herself, her small face hardening with resolve.

She then confronted another beast, unaware of the additional danger lurking behind her.

Just as Rebecca engaged the beast in front of her, another larger one leaped from behind and sent her flying.

"Not good!" Law, who had been observing from a distance, shouted.

If anything happened to Rebecca, he'd have no way of explaining it to Thunderbolt.

"ROOM!" Law expanded his ROOM, trying to move Rebecca to safety—but he was too late. Rebecca had already risen.

Blood stained her clothes, but she ignored it, her face set in a fierce expression.

"Don't worry about me, I can protect myself."

With her words, she threw herself back into battle against the two beasts.

Law couldn't help but be surprised. This girl had far more strength than he had given her credit for.

"This girl... has a power I overlooked before. Is she also a Devil Fruit user?" Law mused.

Over the next few days, while the Heart Pirates continued hunting and gathering food, Law kept a close eye on Rebecca. To his astonishment, the pink-haired girl seemed to be growing stronger before his eyes, her injuries healing almost instantly.

One day, when Rebecca was surrounded by five ferocious beasts, she suddenly transformed into a pink dragon.

The moment the Fenlong appeared, the five beasts froze in fear, sweat pouring down their fur.

"Wait... besides Kaido, are there other dragons in this world?" Law wondered, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.

After several days, the entire island of the Baron of Stomach had been swept clean of beasts.

The time for the final battle had come. They were preparing to join Alastor.

"It's going to be unstoppable," someone declared. "This era of chaos will be unparalleled!"

"This is nothing to be afraid of, I'm Whitebeard!" another voice shouted.

The red-haired Shanks and Whitebeard clashed, their power splitting the sky.

Looking back at the time he had tried to persuade Whitebeard to stop Ace from chasing after Blackbeard, Shanks still remembered that moment. But in just over a month, things had spiraled into something far more uncontrollable than he ever anticipated.

Shanks' bad feeling had been proven right.

No, to be more precise, it was worse than he had expected.

The Marines had plans to publicly execute Ace, something Shanks hadn't anticipated.

"What will you do now, Shanks? Ace is the son of your former captain, Gol D. Roger, isn't he?" Beckman asked calmly, his sharp eyes never leaving Shanks' face.

No matter what Shanks decided, Beckman would stand by him as his most trusted right-hand man, even if it meant clashing with the Marines.

Around them, the key members of the Red-Haired Pirates looked at Shanks with trust and determination.

Among them was Usopp's father, Yasopp, Lucky Roux, Limejuice, Bonk Punch, Monster, and the sharpshooter, Ben Beckman himself.

Together, they formed an iron wall of comradeship—each one with bounties in the hundreds of millions, with many surpassing the billion mark.

They were indeed worthy of being called the Red-Haired Pirates.

These eight individuals alone could form a force capable of shaking the seas, and with their support, it was no surprise that the red-haired Shanks had become the youngest of the Four Emperors recognized across the world.

"I'm planning to..."

Shanks began to speak but stopped suddenly, sensing a familiar presence approaching the shore.

He turned his attention to the visitor, his expression growing serious. "If you're coming here now, it'll be a real problem if the Navy finds out."

The person approaching was none other than the world's greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk.

Mihawk gave a brief glance to the Red-Haired Pirates and spoke in his usual calm tone, "It seems you're preparing to intervene in the conflict between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Navy Headquarters."

"No," Shanks clenched his fist, his tone resolute, "We're not here to intervene, we're here to stop it!"

"Stop it?" Mihawk's gaze hardened, and he eyed Shanks closely. "Once this war begins, not even you will be able to stop it before the outcome is decided."

It was true. The Red-Haired Pirates, even with their strength, could not halt the course of the war once it had started. No matter how much Shanks was respected as one of the Four Emperors or how powerful his crew was, both the Whitebeard Pirates and the Navy would proceed as planned. If they weren't ready to fight, the war wouldn't have even begun.

In the original timeline, the reason Shanks' presence had been significant was because by the time he stepped in, the war's outcome was already set—Whitebeard and Ace's deaths signaled the Navy's victory.

Shanks knew this as well as anyone.

So why hadn't he acted sooner?

The truth was, if he rushed into the conflict too early, it would only make things worse. The war would become even more chaotic, and the most likely outcome was that the Red-Haired Pirates would be forced to join the fight regardless.

Furthermore, Shanks had learned that the Beast Pirates were also preparing to make a move. Kaido, the strongest creature alive and the most ambitious of the Four Emperors, was about to make his play, clearly eyeing Whitebeard's territory.

But Shanks wasn't just concerned about Kaido. He had also been following the movements of a certain individual: Alastor, the so-called "Thunder Calamity" with a bounty exceeding 2.8 billion. Alastor was gaining a reputation for stirring up trouble, and Shanks realized that all of his actions weren't being orchestrated by Kaido. It was Alastor who was the true mastermind, with Kaido merely playing a supporting role after the fact.

Shanks couldn't help but feel anxious every time he thought about Alastor's next move. Kaido's ambitions were clear, but what was Alastor planning? The fact that Kaido hadn't yet acted in tandem with him made Shanks even more uneasy.

"Goodbye, Shanks," Mihawk said, preparing to leave. "I've already agreed to the Navy's mandatory summoning order. I hope we won't meet on the battlefield."

With those words, Mihawk departed. His purpose in visiting was simply to inform Shanks that he was heading to Marineford. The Navy had issued a compulsory summoning order to all of the current Warlords of the Sea, and those who refused would lose their titles.

The Navy usually overlooked the Warlords' illegal actions, but during critical moments like this, they needed the Warlords to step in. If they didn't, what was the point of having them at all?

With Mihawk gone, Shanks and his crew fell into a brief silence. Ben Beckman took a slow drag from his cigarette before speaking thoughtfully.

"Mihawk's right. If you want to stop this war, you can't act too soon. And with the Beast Pirates making moves, the situation is too uncertain. We need to wait and see," Beckman advised.

Shanks nodded silently, deep in thought.

Meanwhile, at Naval Headquarters.

In the Marshal's office, senior naval officers rushed in and out, preparing for the war that was about to unfold. The stakes were high, and too many arrangements had to be made.

The most crucial task was the deployment of troops.

Marshal Sengoku had gathered 100,000 elite sailors—veterans from all the world's branches—to face the imminent attack of Whitebeard, the strongest man alive. Sengoku had spared no expense in preparing for this war.

In addition to the 100,000 troops, a mechanism had been set up in Marineford's Plaza. If the Whitebeard Pirates came too close, the gates would rise, essentially locking them out and turning the plaza into a trap—a strategy that would give the Navy double protection.

"How are the Whitebeard Pirates moving?" Sengoku asked, not looking up from his paperwork.

The intelligence officer replied quickly, "In addition to the 1,600-strong main fleet, Whitebeard has summoned all 43 affiliated pirate crews, amassing a total strength of at least 60,000."

"Sixty thousand?" Sengoku muttered. "On paper, we have the advantage, but Whitebeard has the power to shake the world. We cannot afford to underestimate him."

"Yes, Marshal Sengoku!" The officers responded in unison, standing at attention.

Sengoku continued, "Send all the scout ships in the New World to keep an eye on Whitebeard's movements and report back to me immediately. What about the summoning of the Warlords?"

A lieutenant general stood up. "So far, Donquixote Doflamingo, Bartholomew Kuma, Marshall D. Teach, and Mihawk Dracule have accepted the summons. The only remaining Warlord is Boa Hancock, the Pirate Empress, who hasn't yet responded."

The lieutenant's comment about Hancock's absence was no surprise. While the other Warlords had agreed to the Navy's demands, Jinbe had not only refused the summons but had sided with Whitebeard, intending to rescue Ace.

In a fit of rage, Sengoku had Jinbe thrown into the Impel Down's Level 6.

Sengoku frowned. The Navy was already missing Jinbe and Moria's combat power. The absence of the Pirate Empress was a major issue. Her strength and influence in the coming war could prove pivotal, and he couldn't afford to have her out of play.

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