OP: My Aircraft Carrier Evolves#102+103: In the Name of Justice, Sengoku's Shock, and the Storm on the Horizon!

Cocoyasi Village.

With the cruel threat of the Arlong Pirates finally gone, the villagers welcomed a long-overdue warmth back into their lives.

They could finally sleep soundly through the night—without the fear of Arlong’s men kicking down their doors before dawn.

And that king—he had been true to his word. He hadn't harmed a soul in Cocoyasi Village.

It wasn't just him, either. His crew was just as respectful.

They paid for their food, for their drinks.

It was a miracle.

—————————

"Ah, the sun feels good."

Law strolled through the streets with Wolf, soaking in the feeling of the natural world he hadn't experienced in far too long.

It wasn't just Wolf.

The craftsmen recruited from the South Blue and other regions were also given shore leave, free to explore the island and relax.

The demonic carrier was spacious, and the amenities were excellent, but it was still a ship. It lacked sunlight.

Stay inside for too long, and it starts to wear on you.

Of course, Wolf wasn't just here to relax. He was scouting for a suitable, open space to conduct an experiment.

A flight test.

After countless hours of research and refinement—and with the help of a team of dedicated craftsmen—the first One Piece version of the Me-262 fighter jet was complete.

Now, it needed to be tested in various environments to collect data for fine-tuning. The climate and conditions of this world were vastly different from Earth's, no data could be simply copied over.

Besides, this initial phase of intensive testing served another purpose: training the craftsmen. It would lay the foundation for the next generation of cargo planes and fighter jets.

To this, Wolf and his team were passionately devoted.

To fly... to soar through the sky as free as a bird. It was the dream of a lifetime.

And once they entered mass production, the barriers of the Red Line and the Calm Belts would no longer be an issue. People could travel freely between the four seas by plane.

It was a technology that would go down in history.

—————————

"The Marines! The Marines are here!"

Suddenly, someone came running from the edge of the village. "Captain Nezumi from the 16th Branch is heading for Arlong Park!"

"What?"

"The Marines are here?"

"Hmph. Where were they when Arlong and his crew were here? What are they doing now?"

"Exactly."

"I hear that Captain Nezumi is a real piece of work."

The villagers murmured among themselves.

Law heard them and raised an eyebrow, but he wasn't concerned. What was a captain from a branch base?

The king he served was no simple man. He was audacious enough to shelter even the Tyrant Bartholomew Kuma, on his ship. The Warlord Crocodile was one of his subordinates.

Law couldn't guess Jin's ultimate goal, but he knew one thing for sure: he had a Grand Plan.

Under his guidance, avenging Corazon and taking down Doflamingo was no longer just a dream.

And there was another, fatal attraction for Law.

The Calm-Calm Fruit.

Its previous user, Corazon, was the most important person in Law's life.

By extension, the Calm-Calm Fruit held a special meaning for him.

And that fruit—that power—was on this very ship.

Law felt a wave of gratitude.

Choosing to stay... had been the right decision.

—————————

"So, you're the ones who took out Arlong and his crew?"

At Arlong Park, Jin was fishing leisurely by the pool.

Captain Nezumi was shocked to hear of the Arlong Pirates' demise. His expression flickered, then he broke into a sycophantic smile. "Ah, yes! I had just heard that such a vile pirate crew was operating in my jurisdiction. I was furious! I reprimanded my men—what were they doing, allowing such scum to run rampant? As a Marine, I cannot abide the existence of pirates. And so, I personally led my men here to crush them. But it seems you've beaten me to it, Your Majesty."

Captain Nezumi declared, puffing out his chest as if he were the very model of justice.

He had already heard about what had happened in Loguetown. He knew this king was not someone he could afford to anger.

But...

His eyes darted around. He cleared his throat. "By the way, Your Majesty, Arlong and his crew... did they happen to leave anything behind?"

Jin smiled. "Leave anything behind? No, not a thing. Why? Is something the matter?"

Nezumi's mind raced. His dealings with Arlong had always been discreet. There shouldn't be any evidence. As for the treasure... he would have to bide his time. He would spread the word that this king had killed Arlong and taken his treasure.

Let them tear each other apart.

"Good, good. As long as they're all gone," Nezumi said smoothly. "I was just worried some of them might have escaped. Well then, I have urgent matters to attend to back at my base. I won't disturb Your Majesty any further."

As Nezumi and his men departed, Reiju brought Jin a drink. "You're just going to let them go?" she asked, surprised.

"What else would I do?" Jin said. "Invite them for dinner?"

"That guy was a weasel, I thought for sure you were going to take him out." Reiju said.

"I am the king of a member nation," Jin said, his expression perfectly straight. "How could I just kill a Marine captain? Even if he is guilty, it's a matter for the Marines to handle. If people found out, they might get the wrong idea."

'As if you're not a bad guy,' Reiju thought, eyeing him suspiciously.

"By the way," she said, changing the subject, "where's Ace? Doesn't he usually show up for a beating whenever he has a spare moment?"

"How should I know?" Jin replied. "It's not like I have him on a leash. Maybe he went fishing."

—————————

On his warship, Captain Nezumi was already on the Den Den Mushi, contacting other pirate crews.

The East Blue wasn't as rife with "official pirates" and "privateers" as the West Blue, but there were still plenty of royals and nobles who kept pirates on their payroll to do their dirty work. Some local Marine officers even collaborated with them, using the pirates to increase their own importance.

The East Blue was known as the "weakest" sea, but that didn't mean it was free of pirates. On the contrary, it was swarming with small-time crews.

Captain Nezumi had connections with many of them, acting as a middleman and taking a cut from both sides.

"Arlong and his crew have been wiped out... And a king from the Grand Line—he's here for the legendary treasure... The information is solid, I'm telling you... What? Smoker? He's not as righteous as he looks. He was in a panic, trying to cover his tracks with Arlong when the king showed up, and he slipped up! That's how the whole thing came to light. I'm telling you, they fooled me too. Everyone's greedy, Smoker included. Where do you think the criminal underworld in Loguetown comes from? He's the one running it! He's a cunning one, that Smoker. A real credit to Headquarters."

Back in Loguetown, a series of sneezes rattled Smoker’s office.

"Are you sick, Captain?" his adjutant asked. For the past few days, Smoker had been sneezing non-stop. Whether it was from the two punches Jin had landed on him or something else, he didn't know.

"I don't know," Smoker grumbled. "But I've got a bad feeling. Like an ill wind is blowing."

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

Captain Nezumi continued to spread his rumors, trying to draw more pirates, more players, into the mix. When the situation devolved into chaos, he, as the ranking Marine officer in the area, would have the opportunity to intervene and claim a piece of the pie.

"Heheheh—"

Just as he was on the phone, he heard a sharp whistling sound. Was that... a cannon? Were there pirates fighting nearby?

BOOOOM!

The warship lurched violently. The explosion was deafeningly close.

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"

"PIRATE SHIP! PORT SIDE! THEY'RE GAINING ON US!"

"LOOK OUT!"

Cries of panic erupted from the deck.

Pirates? Attacking a Marine warship? Impossible.

Nezumi rushed outside and collided with a soldier who was running to report.

"Sir! A pirate ship is firing on us!"

Nezumi was furious. "What??"

Another cannonball screamed through the air.

Nezumi looked up just in time to see it arcing toward his ship.

CRASH!!!

The mainmast splintered, the top half teetering for a moment before snapping and crashing to the deck.

"Bullseye!"

"The mast is down!"

"Nice shot, Mihar!" Masked Deuce said, observing through a spyglass.

"These Grand Line cannons are no joke," Mihar said, patting the howitzer. "They pack way more punch than anything in the East Blue."

The howitzer was a gift from Jin. It was powerful enough to obliterate a sloop with a single shot.

Ace stood at the prow, one hand on his hat, the wind whipping around him. "Deuce! Full speed ahead! Get us in close!"

Fire burned in his eyes.

Before they had set out, Jin had said to him, "You want to make a name for yourself, Ace? Go take out Captain Nezumi and attack the 16th Branch. You'll be ridding the world of a pest, and you'll make a name for yourself in the process."

"A pirate, doing good deeds?" Ace had scoffed. "All I ever hear is people cursing pirates. Especially... Roger."

"Not all pirates are bad," Jin had replied, his tone measured, profound. "And not all Marines are good. The world isn't black and white. Good and evil... it's a matter of the heart."

Ace wanted to be famous. So Jin had given him the chance.

Unleash the Ace.

"Aye, Captain!"

This time, Deuce didn't try to talk Ace out of his reckless plan. He took the helm himself, ready to teach the Marines a lesson.

They had already heard what the Arlong Pirates had done to the villages of the Conomi Islands.

"A human Marine captain... not only did he not help his fellow humans, but he protected those Fish-Men?" Deuce seethed. "Unforgivable. Killing him isn't enough."

Deuce didn't hate Fish-Men, but he was proud to be human. He despised what Arlong and his crew had done, and he despised Captain Nezumi—a man who, for the sake of profit, had turned his back on his own kind—even more.

And so, the four-man Spade Pirates had launched an all-out assault on a Marine warship carrying a crew of 138.

"That flag... it's the Spade Pirates!" a soldier on the warship shouted.

"Dammit! Open fire! Sink them!"

The cannons roared, and a volley of cannonballs flew toward the pirate ship.

"Fire Fist: Heat Haze!"

Ace's arm transformed into a pillar of fire, and he unleashed a beam of flame that intercepted all the cannonballs.

As the explosions subsided and the two ships drew within twenty meters of each other, Ace leaped into the air, a fiery meteor streaking toward the warship.

Flames engulfed the deck.

A short while later, Captain Nezumi was dead, and the warship was a sinking wreck. Only a handful of sailors, clinging to pieces of driftwood, survived.

Ace and his crew didn't stop there. They sailed for the 16th Branch base and wreaked havoc.

While Ace and Mihar drew the soldiers' fire, Deuce and Skull found Nezumi's secret vault. Inside, they found a massive stash of Berries, as well as ledgers detailing his dealings with various nobles.

They even found evidence of crimes committed by the commanders of other branches.

"Just as the king predicted," Deuce thought, a sense of awe washing over him. "A treacherous man like Nezumi would definitely have an insurance policy."

Jin was not only terrifyingly strong, but his intellect, his methods... they were on another level. He was the perfect hero for the novel Deuce wanted to write.

If he hadn't met Ace first, would he have chosen to follow him?

—————————

News of the Spade Pirates' attack on the warship and the 16th Branch sent shockwaves through the Marine bases of the East Blue.

"THIS IS A PROVOCATION!"

"A HUMILIATION TO THE MARINES OF THE EAST BLUE!"

"THEY MUST BE PUNISHED!"

When the report reached Headquarters...

"Ace?"

The moment Sengoku saw the picture of Ace, his eyes widened in shock.

What the hell??

He was the spitting image of a young Roger.

Sengoku and Garp had chased Roger all over the world. He knew that face better than his own. He would have recognized it even if it had been burned to ash.

Roger's son... he's really alive. And he chose to become a pirate, starting in the East Blue?

Wait... East Blue?

Sengoku's stern gaze fell on the laughing Garp.

"Issue an order to all branches in the East Blue," Sengoku commanded. "The capture of the Spade Pirates is now top priority. And increase all their bounties. The captain, Ace... set his bounty at 100 million Berries."

"One hundred million Berries?" the officer taking the notes said, stunned. "For a rookie from the East Blue?"

"Is there a problem?" Sengoku growled. "For such a vicious criminal to appear in a peaceful sea like the East Blue... this is a special case. It requires a special response."

The Marines of the East Blue mobilized, all of them in pursuit of the Spade Pirates.

The Conomi Islands were about to become the stage for a pirate "carnival."

Captain Nezumi dying rumors, fanned by various interested parties, had ignited the pirate world.

—————————

Under the cover of night, Nami and Carina, in a small lifeboat, finally made it back to the island. They ran, breathless, all the way to the tangerine grove.

"Nojiko! We have to run!" Nami burst through the door. The light from inside spilled out, and she froze.

Jin, Maya, Law, Robin, Reiju, Tashigi, and Genzo were all sitting around a table, eating and drinking.

Nojiko, to thank the king, had made a special tangerine cake and was hosting them for dinner.

"Nami!" Genzo shouted happily.

"Nami?" Nojiko came out of the kitchen. "You're back! Are you alright?"

"Nojiko! Genzo! We have to get the villagers out of here, now!" Nami said, her voice filled with panic.

"Huh? Run?"

"There are a ton of pirate crews heading this way, looking for Woonan's treasure! They're vicious! We have to let them and Arlong's crew fight it out! We have to hide!"

Nojiko just laughed.

"I'm not lying!" Nami shouted, frustrated. "I risked my life to get back here! This isn't a joke! They'll be here tonight! Carina can vouch for me!"

She pulled Carina into the room.

Carina smelled the food, and her stomach rumbled. She swallowed hard. "Nami's telling the truth."

They'd been on the run for two days without food.

"Are you hungry?" Nojiko said. "Why don't you have something to eat?"

"Hey! Are you even listening to me??" Nami shouted.

Genzo cleared his throat. "Nami... Arlong and his crew are gone."

"The villagers have already been moved to a safe place."

"And with His Majesty and his crew here, everything will be fine."

"Huh??" Nami said, a look of utter confusion on her face. "Genzo, what are you talking about? I don't understand. You said Arlong's crew..."

Nojiko walked over and gently stroked Nami's hair. She pulled her into a hug. "They're all dead, Nami."

"The sky over Cocoyasi is clear now. You don't have to carry that burden for us anymore."

"Arlong and his crew... are dead."

Nami was stunned. She couldn't believe it.

"It's true," Nojiko said softly. "It happened four days ago. I placed his skull on Belle-mère's grave."

Belle-mère?

Nami pushed away from Nojiko and stumbled out the door.